India-Inspired Homewares: Designs That Follow the Race Across the World Route
We loved watching the season five of Race Across the World, a BBC show that for the 2025 route follows contestants racing their way 14,000 km from the Great Wall of China across India to Kanniyakumari on India's southernmost tip. Navigating trains and buses they explore everything from busy cities to stunning countryside, soaking up the sights, sounds, and chaos along the way - all on a very tight budget (no money for flights) and without a phone!
Part of the show's charm is the contestants stories; sisters Elizabeth and Leticia and brothers Melvyn and Brian were reconnecting after difficult childhoods. For young couple Fin and Sioned it was their first time venturing beyond their small-town life in Wales, and we saw Sioned struggle initially, feeling totally overwhelmed by hectic Indian cities. Mother and son Caroline and Tom bonded over the adventure, and it was really lovely to see Caroline having the time of her life, embracing all that India has to offer.
India Inspired Homewares
The other attraction is of course the scenery, and this year the show felt like a journey through the Safomasi archive - many of the places they explored in India have inspired our prints! So thought we'd share our favourite souvenir-worthy homewares, reflecting the 2025 Race Across the World route across India.
Teams had to navigate their way from Varanasi up to Mcleod Ganj in Himachal Pradesh... and there’s no avoiding those winding roads - a route we know well from our own trips from Delhi!
Sisters Elizabeth and Letitia travelled from Mcleod Ganj to Sasan Gir via Pushkar - famous for its annual camel fair, the inspiration behind our Camel Traders print. The fair wasn't on when they were filming, but Brian and Melvyn encountered similar scenes in Rajpura, where they stopped at at a camel dairy farm, had a go at milking camels and tried on the herder's colourful turbans!
On reaching Sasan Gir they set off on safari. Our own safari adventures have taken us to other parts of India, but cheeky langur monkeys are everywhere!
From Panaji to Kanniyakumari the landscape shifted to one of lush palm groves, a sign they were heading south. Our Coconut Palm Pickers print was inspired by scenes just like these on our travels through Kerala.
Coconut Palm Pickers Quilted Basket
If you have acess to BBC iPlayer it's well worth a watch!
Explore more India Inspired homewares with our Himalayan Collection, Pushkar Collection, Alleppey Collection, Tiger Safari Collection, Lodhi Collection and Mithai Collection.