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Race Across the World stars say they wish they brought same must-have item
Race Across the World contestants wish they brought a calculator
The Race Across the World contestants have shared the one item they wished they packed into their rucksacks that could have totally changed the race.
This year they definitely get creative when it came to their packing. Eugenie and Isabel impressed Race Across the World viewers at home when they brought flash cards with them. Meanwhile, Stephen and Viv had a similar idea when they packed a whiteboard for the trip in their rucksacks. As the competition continues, the stakes are higher than ever so packing well is essential. But there is the flip side that stars must be able to lift and carry their own rucksacks too.
In separate interviews with Yahoo, two different teams from Race Across the World both said the same thing about what contestants for 2025 should pack in their rucksacks. They were all convinced it was such a good idea that they wished they thought of it beforehand. Of course, hindsight is a wonderful thing.
Retired couple Stephen and Viv as well as Alfie all agreed a calculator would be one of the most useful items to have on their person while doing the epic trek. Of course a calculator would fit in snug to a rucksack.
Why is a calculator useful on Race Across the World?
Stephen told Yahoo UK: "I know exactly what we should have taken and didn’t. And that is a calculator." Viv spoke exactly at the same time to say "calculator" too.
He explained: "Trying to work out currencies, change of this. We had three currencies on the go at one point."
A calculator hadn't even crossed the couple's minds ahead of doing the BBC show. His wife Viv said: "I think it didn't occur to us to take one because we're so used to having a calculator on your phone. It just didn't occur to us to bring one."
The retired couple were in complete agreement that they would have been better off had they thought to pack one, especially as they revealed they had faced some "nightmares" while doing the maths on the race. "Working out the long multiplication and divisions," Stephen said.
Viv said: "It was a nightmare wasn’t it?"
Stephen agreed: "It was definitely."
In a separate interview with Yahoo, Alfie said bringing along a calculator would be the best advice he could give to contestants for the 2025 series — as well as having a creative approach to the show and strategy.
"Take a calculator," Alfie told Yahoo. "Think outside the box because you forget that because obviously when we do maths at home, we just swipe down on our phone and the calculator is there. A calculator would have been really helpful."
Alfie also highlighted it would be especially helpful when changing currencies while travelling. He admitted that he only packed the day before going on the journey. The best friends had only thought about where they might be going, rather than doing any serious preparation ahead of their travels.
Race Across the World rules
So, the question everyone wants to know now is: would a calculator break the rules? Stephen didn't think so.
He explained his reasoning behind this saying: "I think you are allowed to take one, I could have got one on my watch for instance. But that’s a big tick for anyone else next year on the race."
We can't wait to see how they all get on.
