Hot topics close

Sue Perkins’ Big American Road Trip, Channel 4, review: More Instagram grid than off-the-grid

Sue Perkins Big American Road Trip Channel 4 review More Instagram grid than offthegrid
The comedian drove around California in her own van, meeting people who'd given up their ordinary lives for a life on the road

Sue Perkins has already explored Japan and the US-Mexico border for the BBC: now she moves to Channel 4 for her Big American Road Trip, a Nomadland-inspired look at life on the open road.

The first episode saw her hop into the driving seat of a neat, little (fully-stocked) rental van to take in the Pacific Coast Highway, the Sierra Nevada mountains, Yosemite National Park and the Californian desert.

Although the scenery was breathtaking, it quickly became apparent that gorgeous vistas were not the point. Instead, this show was interested in the more than one million people who have chosen to live nomadically in the States, and whether the lifestyle was as romantic as it sounds.

Specifically, Perkins was concerned with #VanLife, the social media movement that sees its own intrepid breed of influencers sharing their experiences online.

And thus Perkins, apparently newly on Instagram, set about sarcastically photographing her breakfast, bringing along with her for the ride her trademark wit and a preoccupation with bodily functions (though given the lavatory arrangements, this was probably understandable).

Related Stories

The Insta-shtick got tired quickly, but it is evidently true that this lifestyle, despite purporting to be “off-grid”, actually involves an awful lot of posting to the grid. Perkins visited both Blix and Bess, a beautiful YouTubing couple, representative of a younger, more diverse RV community, and veteran Bob Wells, who also cultivates a huge YouTube following (and actually appeared in Nomadland).

Glossy hashtags aside, many of these people spend years or even decades on the road and Perkins’ gimmicky stopovers – here she attempted both burlesque and belly dancing – felt too fleeting to really get to grips with any of the deeper reasons why.

There is much to unpack about the financial, societal and political motivations for living like this: I hope next week’s Colorado instalment might skip the forced fun shed some proper light.

Struggling to find your next favourite TV series?

The i on TV newsletter is a daily email full of suggestions of what to watch as well as the latest TV news, opinions and interviews. Sign up here to stay up to date with the best new TV.

Similar news
News Archive
  • TUI Airways
    TUI Airways
    Flight delayed as passenger taken ill on TUI plane from East Midlands Airport
    20 Oct 2023
    2
  • Mamma Mia
    Mamma Mia!
    Winners announced for Mamma Mia! I Have A Dream TV show
    10 Dec 2023
    9
  • Outsourcing
    Outsourcing
    Cheap-Ass Firms Are Loving This Outsourcing Thing
    28 Mar 2024
    32
  • Plugin
    Plug-in
    WordPress Faces World-Wide Hacking Spree Begins With The Plugin Bug that Uploads Malicious Files
    7 Sep 2020
    1
This week's most popular news