It's half way point for Race Across the World

Many people love to get away from it all, unwinding and unplugging from the hurly burly of the modern world to enjoy some fun in the sun.

Some go for seven days on a sun lounger, while others go in search of culture and adventure on foreign shores.

No matter where they ended up, the chances are a good number of them would probably also clutch their pearls and gasp at the mere thought of going without good internet access or a mobile phone for a week.

So you have to hand it to the participants in the third run of this breathtaking global competition series.

If you’ve not yet managed to catch it, cameras have been following the progress of five pairs of intrepid travellers, not as they enjoy a quiet holiday in a faraway place, but as they race from one side of Canada to the other.

The epic journey started at the Pacific Ocean in Vancouver and covers 16,000 kilometres across six time zones to the finish line, perched on the Atlantic coast in North America’s most easterly city: St John’s Newfoundland

At first glance it sounds like a breeze, until you read the fine print: none of the duos can use air travel to get from A to B. Nor can they avail themselves of any modern-day trappings, including smartphones and credit cards – all transactions have to be paid for in cash.

Taking on this mammoth challenge are best friends Cathie and Tricia, brothers Marc and Michael, husband and wife Mobeen and Zainib, and two father-daughter duos: Kevin and Claudia, and Ladi and Monique.

Each had their own reasons for taking part in the show, but for Mobeen it was “an amazing opportunity to switch off from life, which can sometimes seem to become a bit mundane.”

For Ladi, it was the thought of spending quality time with Monique: “This is probably going to be the last time ever that we’re going to be like this,” he says. “I need to explain to her life and everything that goes with it. It was a great opportunity to do that.”

This edition catches up with the duos at the half-way point of the journey, and it’s genuinely nail biting stuff.

The teams start the race to the fifth checkpoint, which lies more than 3,000 kilometres away on Manitoulin Island.

Unfortunately for them, there is only one way out of Churchill: an overnight train south, followed by two bus journeys that can only be described as from hell.

Following their decision to splash out on a taxi during the previous leg, the current leaders do their best to struggle on with only a quarter of their budget remaining.

Meanwhile, Zainib is racked with homesickness, leaving her and husband Mobeen facing a difficult decision, as Monique and Ladi try to make a quick break from the other teams.

However, bad news from home has Tricia fearing she may have to cut her race short. As emotions run high and the clock continues to tick, is it only a matter of time before one of the pairs cracks?