From Racetrack to Reset: Quitting My Job for a New Life After Racing Across the World

After zooming around China and India, Race Across The World contestant Tom Bridge has returned to the UK and started a new life for himself.

Tom, aged 21, along with his mother Caroline, who is 60, submitted their application for the incredible race after binge-watching the show’s second season where six groups traversed the full extent of Latin America. America .

Tom had traveled with buddies before, yet his mother never got the chance to do so.

They never imagined in their wildest dreams that they would find themselves embarking on such an adventure together, racing against five other teams over 14,000 miles from the Great Wall of China all the way down to Kanyakumari at the southern end of India, with no assistance whatsoever. phone Or simply the price of a one-way airplane ticket paid in cash.

Few contestants return from the experience the same person they were when they left, but Tom has revealed he was inspired to quit his job as a labourer and start his own company after leaving school without GCSEs.

He tells 'I worked as a labourer for about two to three years, intermittently, and it was a decent job, but I didn’t truly challenge myself.'

‘I never really stepped out my comfort zone, I was happy lifting heavy things and just doing repetitive stuff because it paid me and it was good but since I’ve come back, I’ve branched out, and I’m trying to start my own little handyman business helping people around the village.

‘It’s really scary, I’ve already messed up a couple of times, but then I found a way around it and I fixed it. It’s just pushing me a bit more.’

Above all else, Tom has released his grip on the fear of failing.

‘I want to learn from failure now rather than letting it get to me too much,’ he says. ‘I was always a bit scared of trying something new in case I’d mess it up or just in case it didn’t go my way. I think a lot of time on Race it didn’t go our way, but then we learned from it, or we found another way around it.’

Before the competition, Caroline mentioned that she aimed to show everyone she's more than merely a 'mom'.

'I feel much more assured nowadays,' she stated. 'It seems like I'm more competent and I've gained significantly greater self-assurance.'

'I sense that if I wish to embark on an adventure nowadays, I am free to do so; previously, I would have been too anxious and thought that maybe I didn't merit it or wasn't capable enough.'

Caroline and Tom faced the toughest journey among the five pairs in this series. When they were in China, they struggled significantly during the race. From the outset, they felt overwhelmed and seemed to have nothing but poor fortune. However, their fortunes shifted dramatically once they arrived in Nepal; this marked a significant turnaround for both of them.

“India really gave me this sense of being fully alive and incredibly at ease,” explained Caroline. “It’s an immensely freeing country—so vivid, so dynamic, with all the noise and smells—but it truly made me feel invigorated.”

‘Nepal was the breath of fresh air I needed,’ Tom concurred, and it was evident right from the start.

Nepal turned out to be the place where he finally felt at ease opening up about something he had been quietly dealing with during his travels—his cerebral palsy.

His condition affects the right side of his body, leaving him unable to use his right hand. ‘It feels like it’s disconnected from my brain,’ he said.

While staying at a host family’s house, Tom and Caroline were served meals and explicitly requested to use only their right hands for eating. Tom found this challenging and sought approval to switch to his left hand instead. This was not considered problematic; however, during filming, Tom courageously opened up about having cerebral palsy, despite several of his close acquaintances being unaware of his condition.

‘Before the episode came out, I was really nervous because it’s never been something that I’ve purposely told people. If it was ever to come up, I would always just say, “Oh, I’m left-handed”, instead of saying why I can’t use my right hand. The race taught me to open up about it.

‘I just didn’t know how people would react, and I really didn’t want it to define me, but ever since the episode came out, I’ve had so many just lovely messages and also people who have similar problems.

’It’s just it’s made me realise that it’s actually quite normal, and it’s not about me. It’s not something I should be nervous or shy about at all, because everyone has something.’

“I was unaware of this fact until I watched the episode where he revealed it on camera,” explains Caroline.

'I felt truly proud of him for taking responsibility. I've never pushed or held back from encouraging him to disclose this information; I believed it should be his choice based on readiness, and I thought he chose an ideal moment.'

We have only four more episodes before discovering which pair—Caroline and Tom, Elizabeth and Letisia, Fin and Sioned, or Brian and Melvyn—will claim victory in Race Across The World and take home the £20,000 prize. However, every contestant emerges as a victor in this journey.

No matter what happened, Caroline and Tom returned home with a connection that wealth cannot purchase.

“We now share a profound understanding of one another and the experiences we've gone through, which may also bring us increased mutual respect,” explains Caroline.

'I believe Thomas now views me more as an individual he can enjoy spending time with and grow closer to, instead of merely seeing me as his mother. And I make sure not to criticize him because I find him utterly amazing.'

We've always been close," asserts Tom. "My mum quit her job to take care of me, which meant we had lots of time together as a child, but eventually, we turned into individuals sharing the same space yet leading different lives.

'We neglected to truly understand one another, despite getting along well and having fun together. Participating in Race Across The World significantly aided us in forming that connection.'

However, the expedition isn't over yet. They've already mapped out their subsequent escapade, an additional month of diving into the vast mystery with nothing but each other for company, sans any itinerary.

'We're thinking about doing a road trip through Kazakhstan,' Tom shares. 'It might seem silly, but it's mostly due to Borat, which wasn't actually shot there. Yet somehow, it has always amused me. Some of my friends have mentioned they'd like to visit the place too, so I looked into it and found out it’s supposed to be amazing.'

‘We’ll go without a plan for a month, a bit like the race.’

Caroline chuckles: 'But with a mobile phone.'

The series Race Across The World keeps going tonight at 9 pm on BBC One.

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