Sarah Outen – Home

I don’t normally write about films I have seen, but Home is an exception. It is about Sarah Outen’s efforts in circumnavigating the world. Worldwide travel is commonplace these days but some travellers make it difficult for themselves. Sarah’s journey comprised, kayaking, cycling and rowing and was not for the faint hearted.

The film records the emotional highs and lows. It was not an entirely solo journey as Sarah was joined for parts of the trip by others most notably Gao who travelled part of the way across China with her.

Rowing was an entirely different matter, this was a solo effort and involved many months at sea crossing both the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.

I watched the film in Oxford in early March. The screening was followed by a Q&A with Sarah. The majority of the questions were from female members of the audience and centred more on the emotional and hardship side of the journey. On her return Sarah did indeed suffer from PTSD which she has now got to grips with. As a male and a photographer any question I may have asked would no doubt been of a practical nature. How many memory cards did she use and what capacity? How long did it take to recharge her batteries using solar power? Did she do any editing whilst travelling?

Would I have attempted any of what she did? Definitely not, even if I was her age!

All in all an entertaining film. Did she achieve her goal? Well to find out you will have to see it when the cinemas reopen post Covid-19. However, if you cannot wait it is available to stream from Vimeo – https://vimeo.com/ondemand/sarahoutenhome

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