Sandy’s Note: A Road Trip to Remember

Welcome to my first letter for our Living Well With Dementia Sisters website. My plan for these short pieces is to write about what I hope will be relevant and informative within the ever-changing world of Dementia.

Throughout much of the media today, including movies and television, we see dementia and more specifically Alzheimer’s represented through a side character and a family issue, but with little depth to the situation. Simply a character within a story.

So, I’m going to open with a recommendation: “A Road Trip to Remember”, a National

Geographic documentary, released November 2025. This 1-hour piece follows Chris

Hemsworth, yes, the Mighty Thor of Avengers, Marvel movie fame, and his father, Craig

Hemsworth as they take a motorcycle road trip across Australia in search of memories.

You may have seen some, or all, of Chris’s series “Limitless”, also with National Geographic.

During the filming of “Limitless,” Hemsworth's intention was to research ways to live better and longer. A blood test he took to identify his blood chemistry and genetics; he was informed that they identified two alleles of the APOE e4 gene (an allele is a variation of a specific gene within an individual’s code). According to the Mayo Clinic website, “having two APOE e4 variants increases that risk even more. Someone with two APOE e4 variants is 8 to 12 times more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease". Understand that having these genetic variations does not mean the individual will progress with Alzheimer’s.

Chris knew that his grandfather had passed with Alzheimer’s, and watching “Limitless,” you can see and hear his new depth of reasoning to live better and longer. Shortly following that

identification, he found out that his father received a diagnosis on early onset Alzheimer’s

disease. He continued his research to see how best extend his father’s cognitive strength.

The documentary "A Road Trip to Remember” has no acting, just life discussions, recognitions of the present, and realizations for the future. We are invited, openly, to travel with Chris and Craig as they move through some of their past refreshing memories, discuss the reality of the present, and open a dialogue around fears of the future.

Hemsworth has open discussions with Dementia specialists within the documentary to help

understand how refreshing memories, visiting past locations, old friends, and enjoying social

interactions can support cognitive strength.

This is an emotional open presentation, so don’t expect answers, just know that others, at all levels, are working through similar progression through dementias. Watch, experience, acknowledge.

I plan to bring segments on recent findings, studies, and discussions to this letter in the future.

Sandy Reilly, LWWDS Co-Director

https://www.natgeotv.com/za/programs/natgeo/chris-hemsworth-a-road-trip-to-remember