If you think you’ve got what it takes to create 10 films, in 10 countries, in 100 days \u2026 all while travelling solo and shooting and editing your own films on the road, read on.<\/p>\n
What’s it about?<\/p>\n
If you’re not familiar with the juggernaut that was Race Around the World, the series first aired on the ABC in 1997 and 1998 and proved an unlikely hit.<\/p>\n
Eight aspiring documentary makers travelled to all corners of the globe, angling for an edgy and original story.<\/p>\n
Inside an unlikely ’90s TV hit<\/a><\/p>\n Eight young filmmakers took on the adventure of a lifetime, and delivered a series of compelling stories, for Race Around the World.<\/p>\n With no mobile phones, email, Google Maps or network of contacts, each contestant was flying by the seat of their pants.<\/p>\n They had just 90 minutes of videotape \u2014 and a whole lot of grit.<\/p>\n The series went on to launch the media careers of many young people, including Walkley-winning journalist Olivia Rousset and prominent media personality John Safran.<\/p>\n While things will look a bit different for the 2026 racers (thanks to some, you know, minor changes in the way we live, and create and consume our favourite content), the show’s DNA will remain close to the original.<\/p>\n Destination: Unknown. The mystery is all part of the thrill of the game. (Reuters\/ABC News)<\/p>\n The inside word from a former winner<\/p>\n Olivia Rousset was 25 when she won the inaugural season of Race Around the World.<\/p>\n She describes it as an exhilarating, transformative and exciting opportunity, with a whole heap of hard work thrown in.<\/p>\n During her time on the show, she travelled to the US, Canada, Belize, Ghana, Greece, Hong Kong, Mauritius, Japan and Scotland.<\/p>\n Tracking down a story started with tapping a stranger on the shoulder in a bar or on a bus and asking for leads.<\/p>\n “It was like walking blind into a terrifying adventure that I didn’t know if I would fail or succeed at, but it was an incredible ride,” Rousset said.<\/p>\n “We were so young. We had so much potential that we didn’t even know we had.<\/p>\n “The experience was like this wide-open door saying, ‘Go and show us what you find.'”<\/p>\n Olivia, during her experience filming the original series in 1997. (ABC Archives)<\/p>\n But Rousset doesn’t mince words about the size of the challenge they took on, with very little help.<\/p>\n “It was exhausting and it was hard trying to find and craft a story that was worthy of going on television,” she said.<\/p>\n “We just had a plane ticket and were honestly out there alone with our dinky little cameras, desperately hoping we would find somewhere to stay, something to eat and, above all, a really cracking story that we’d be able to shoot and cut in time to send back and move on to the next place.”<\/p>\n In the hunt for stories, Rousset went on an archaeological cave-diving expedition in Belize and found the remains of a Mayan human sacrifice. In Los Angeles, she went behind the scenes of the city’s burgeoning sex industry.<\/p>\n “I basically followed a guy who wanted to be a porn star onto his first job,” she said.<\/p>\n Since competing in Race Around the World, Olivia has become a Walkley-winning video journalist. (Supplied: Olivia Rousset)<\/p>\n In winning the 1997 competition, Rousset earned herself a spot on the ABC’s Foreign Correspondent, as well as $8,000 in short courses at the Australian Film Television and Radio School.<\/p>\n She has since gone on to work on the ABC’s Australian Story and Compass, and has won two Walkley Awards for her video journalism.<\/p>\n Rousset says the show’s gruelling nature \u2014 the pace, deadlines and unsupported format \u2014 isn’t suited to everyone.<\/p>\n “You need to be willing to put everything into it \u2014 not just be funny or beautiful,” she said.<\/p>\n “You need to be curious and willing to step into the void, to make something of what you find, and then go past that.<\/p>\n “You need to be open, fearless, willing to push yourself really hard and really have a thirst for life.”<\/p>\n ‘Fearless’ and ready to apply?<\/p>\n If you’re already dusting off your passport in preparation, here’s what you need to know:<\/p>\n Applicants:<\/p>\n Must be 18 or overMust be an Australian citizen or a permanent residentBe available for shooting between April and August 2026<\/p>\n Put it in your diary:<\/p>\n December 22, 2025: Applications close at 9:00am (AEDT)\u00a0<\/p>\n Head to the Race Around the World<\/a> casting page to apply.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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