Charley Boorman set to speak about his travels in Tunbridge Wells

T he intrepid actor, adventurer and author Charley Boorman has decided to take a break from trekking around the world and stay a little closer to home. But fret not, he hasn't lost the travelling bug just yet. Charley is instead touring the UK with a new live show.

The star of the hugely popular Long Way Round, Long Way Down, Race To Dakar and By Any Means journeys will host an evening of stories and anecdotes from his worldwide escapades at the Assembly Hall.

The king of the road's anecdotes about how he put his endurance to the test for some truly awe-inspiring experiences and white-knuckle rides will leave audiences on the edge of their seats.

The son of costume designer Christel Kruse and film director John Boorman, Charley was introduced to show business, and indeed travel, at an early age – appearing as a boy in his father's film Deliverance in 1972 and later taking the starring role in the mesmerising Emerald Forest (1985), filmed on location in the tortuous wilds of the Brazilian rain forest.

He still keeps his hand in with the occasional acting role and in 1997, while working on The Serpent's Kiss, he met fellow actor Ewan McGregor. The pair shared a love of travel and motorbikes and they formed a close friendship. Deciding to film a journey together, their worldwide travel adventures have become enormously popular.

Married with two daughters, Charley has been actively supporting UNICEF since 2004. Since then he has been on a number of visits to UNICEF projects, the majority of which have been integrated into his television programmes Long Way Round, Long Way Down and By Any Means.

His travels have become legendary and he is now rarely in the country. But for his next project, Charley has decided to take a break from trekking around the world and remain nearer to home.

On his live tour, Charley will be giving his insight into the world of the modern traveller, regaling audiences with anecdotes of his journeys, illustrated with never-before-seen footage.

"It's going to be a right old laugh," says the 43-year-old. "I'm really looking forward to it. I did a book tour a little while ago and I ended up in a theatre talking to some people about travelling and some of the crazy things I've seen and places I've been. It seemed like a good idea at the time to turn it into a proper show.

"I'm a great lover of travel, and being able to show people that the world is such an amazing place is great. I've got lots of funny stories to tell, and anecdotes about things that have happened along the way, so it should be fun.

"It's a lovely, beautiful wide world out there and I want to see as much of it as I can."

Although it seems travel and adventure are in his blood, Charley says that leaving his family behind makes any journey tough.

"It's always family you miss the most; at the end of each trip I meet up with my wife and kids and try to go back a bit of the way I came so they can see some of the places I've been to. They all love a bit of travel too. After my family it's the silly things like I miss my bed because it's lovely and very comfortable, especially by comparison when you're sleeping in a hammock in Papua New Guinea. You also miss friends a lot, and often find yourself thinking so-and-so would love to see this or would love to be here."

But having his best friend on hand some of the time has made Charley's travels all the more rewarding, and he says Ewan makes a perfect travelling companion.

"Ewan is a great person to travel with though; we both have the same mindset and ideas when it comes to the trips, but I'm a bit more haphazard whereas Ewan is the more organised one. We complement each other really well and work well together."

Despite having packed more travelling into the past six years than most people manage in a lifetime, Charley's still got places to tick off his must-visit list. And roping in Ewan for another adventure looks a likely prospect.

"I think Ewan and I will definitely do another trip together; we've done Long Way Round and Long Way Down, so I think the next logical step is to do something like Long Way Up, going through South America.

"I'm doing some filming later on this year so there's plenty going on at the moment. And there's always the Middle East and India to see, so watch this space."

Charley Boorman was speaking to Jacqui Gray.

March 15 at 7.30pm Tickets £18.50 from 01892 530613 or www.assemblyhalltheatre.co.uk