GTC customer Jon Beardmore to showcase “The Great Game” at Adventure Travel Film Festival

Documentary captures solo overland journey of 30,000 miles through 30 countries from London to China and back.

Journey was tracked all the way with GTC DeLorme inReach Satellite Tracker

The Great Game capturing Kiwi Jon Beardmore’s epic solo overland adventure through 30 countries in Central Asia has its world premiere this month at the Adventure Travel Film Festival in London.

Frustrated with a 9-5 career in London as a project manager, Jon quit his job and set out to travel solo 30,000 miles across Central Asia over nine months. His aim: to find out if Central Asia is really as dangerous as we’re led to believe.

With mascot kiwi Ted for company in his 20-year-old Toyota Landcruiser, Jon experienced breakdowns and a drunk mechanic in Uzbekistan, flooding to navigate in China, and a hitchhiking armed border policeman in Georgia. But it wasn’t all drama, with Jon’s friendly and mischievous spirit seeing him gatecrashing an all-male engagement party in Samarkand Uzbekistan, joining the daily border closing party at Wagha on the Pakistan/Indian border, and learning to Bollywood dance in India.

Jon used DeLorme’s inReach Satellite Tracker to track his 9.5 month long journey. The inReach offers complete global coverage and the ability to send and receive SMS or email messages via satellite. Another key feature is the ability to send automated track points at pre-defined intervals, a feature which Jon relied heavily on as you can see from the image below.

The original inReach device which Jon used has now been replaced by the newer inReach SE and inReach Explorer models. These include built in screens which allow the use of a virtual keyboard so that you can type you own customized messages. The inReach range also offers customized messaging, SOS button as well as being able to see you location on screen. It offers an IP67 rating which means that it is Dustproof, waterproof (submersion in water up to 1m for 30 minutes), and impact resistant (Mil-STD-810F for vibration/shock). You can view the full progress of Jon's journey at https://share.delorme.com/JonBeardmore

“The solo overland journey across Central Asia from London to China and back turned into an adventure beyond anything I could have imagined, one that constantly surprised and challenged me, sometimes to point where I questioned my own sanity.