Planning, packing and nerves: Six Aussies kick off Race Around The World

Preparations, packing (and a little panic) for Race Around The World filmmakers Sun 7 Jun 2026 at 4:30am If you were dropped in an unfamiliar country and told to make a film, where would you start? The brief for ABC's Race Around The World contestants is simple (albeit daunting): create 10 films from 10 countries across 100 days. But how do you prepare for a trip when you don't know where you're being sent, and you've only got one 23-kilogram suitcase for the entire journey? That was the first challenge for six Australian filmmakers selected for the reboot of the 1990s ABC series. Spoiler: preparations involve quitting your job, pants that zip into shorts and lots of therapy. Meet the contestants Mikaela Read moreDescribe yourself in three words: Artistic, poetic, magazine. My motto for Race Around The World is: Art is subjective. Not everyone is going to like your film, so as long as you make something that you're proud of, it doesn't really matter if people don't like it. One item that's making the suitcase no matter what: Wired headphones. There's too much travel to rely on a charged set of AirPods. My greatest fear while overseas is: Having luggage go overboard and get wet. With all our filming gear, water is really hard to recover from. Elliot Read moreDescribe yourself in three words: Chaotic, introverted extrovert. My motto for Race Around The World is: I always liked this saying in Portuguese, "Viva como se fosse morrer amanhã", which is like, live as if you will die tomorrow. I think you just need to enjoy every day. One item that's making the suitcase no matter what: My glasses, but I'll lose them. I've lost three pairs of glasses in the last month. My greatest fear while overseas is: Something happening to people that I love while I'm away. Jayden Read moreDescribe yourself in three words: Easy-going, lively, passionate. My motto for Race Around The World is: I think this one's actually plagiarised from the big man David Attenborough, but if people don't care about something, they won't protect it, and people won't care about something they can't see. One item that's making the suitcase no matter what: My long lens. It's a really long, stupidly heavy, big thing that no-one in their right mind would want to carry when you're running around to 10 different countries. My greatest fear while overseas is: Getting to day nine and a story having completely fallen through, or if I shot a full story with someone, and then I'm ready to submit it, and for whatever reason, the person in the story pulls the pin. Lucinda Read moreDescribe yourself in three words: Bubbly, curious, unconventional. My motto for Race Around The World is: YOLO [you only live once]. One item that's making the suitcase no matter what: A necklace that means a lot to me, that's my talisman. My greatest fear while overseas is: The logistics. I dread not getting sleep. Kate Read moreDescribe yourself in three words: Curious, Wollongong, humorist. My motto for Race Around The World is: Water off a duck's back. One item that's making the suitcase no matter what: My nan's ring, that would be my lucky charm. My greatest fear while overseas is: A misunderstanding would be really dreadful. Being Australian, I feel like we have a very good sense of humour, but it can also be a little bit different. You don't want people to think you're making fun of them, but that's sometimes how that can be interpreted. William Read moreDescribe yourself in three words: Content, introspective, disorganised. My motto for Race Around The World is: Have fun. One item that's making the suitcase no matter what: My Nintendo Switch. My greatest fear while overseas is: My reputation for being a machine learning engineer getting tarnished by the fact that, I don't know, maybe I say something about not wanting to do it when I really, I love my job. What's making the suitcase When it comes to loading up a suitcase for Race Around The World, the saying "look good, feel good" rings true for content creator-turned-filmmaker Lucinda Price. "What's important to me is being able to take my makeup and clothes," she says. "I'm going heavy on the accessories and some core basics in bright colours. And if I go somewhere cold, I'll get a jacket when I'm there." Pants that zip into shorts and T-shirts for travel are all part of her plan. Looking the part is particularly important to Price, who aims to be both in front of and behind the camera. "I think I'll be in a lot of the stories, but it would be more like a thought that I've had and then following it," she says. But if you are familiar with the work of Price, who goes by Froomes on social media, she says you should expect the unexpected. "I'm going totally different. I want to focus on other people. I really like how Louis Theroux does it because he's in it, but he's pushing the narrative along and giving it a steer, but letting people speak for themselves." For Jayden O'Neill, it's not about packing his personal possessions; his focus is on the technical side. "I think my non-negotiable is my long lens," he says. As a self-described conservation and natural history filmmaker, O'Neill says he's sacrificing other equipment to capitalise on his cinematic technique. He knows he may only do a wildlife angle for a few of his stories, but getting it right is essential. "It's my style. For those stories, if I didn't have that extra zoom to be able to get the really beautiful crisp shots … "If I was doing a story on gorillas, and all I had was a wide shot of a gorilla, I'd be so unhappy with it." Preparing for adventure Before they leave for the real deal, the filmmakers have been in Sydney for a week-long bootcamp. On the final day, Mikaela Zuiderduyn admits to being exhausted already. The six contestants have been familiarising themselves with camera equipment, getting caught up on safety information and all the less-exciting parts of being part of a TV show. "There's been a lot of information thrown at us every day, and then the time you have off, you're absorbing it all," Zuiderduyn says. Not to mention the rush to sort out their lives at home before this grand adventure. "I had to quit my job. I had to sell things that wouldn't be in use, get your whole life prepared at home," she says. As they process all the new information buzzing about their brains, tinker with editing software and jot down film ideas in their notes, the restlessness is palpable. Each contestant has a different way of handling it. For Elliot Constable, who has travelled the world and produced films for the likes of SBS, the sooner he gets on a plane, the better. Kate McGuinness, meanwhile, is taking a calm "wing it" approach. But software engineer William He says his planning includes "talking to my therapist a lot". It's a stark reminder that these filmmakers, while talented, have been plucked from obscurity. "The idea of travelling and making movies doesn't scare me. I think the frightening thing has just been the idea of being on TV, me as a character being on TV," He casually admits. "I've really been thinking about setting up mental anchors, having friends that I know I'm going to talk to all the time. If I'm lucky, they'll send me to places where my time zone lines up better with some of my friends in Europe." He hopes all of this groundwork will help him better embrace the experience. "This whole thing is just a privilege to be able to do, and it's important to enjoy it and do what you want with it," he says. "It's amazing to just go to 10 different countries and make 10 different films, and you can make the most out of that; you don't have to think about the competition." Stream Race Around The World on ABC iview, or watch Sundays at 7.30pm on ABC TV. Sun 7 Jun 2026 at 4:30am - Share options - Copy link - X (formerly Twitter)