May the tools be with you: what do a well-known franchise brand, a tool kit and a lightsabre have in common? Quite a lot now that Snap-on Tools is sponsoring Stars Wars actor Ewan McGregor on his three-month motorcycle journey around the world.

Snap-on Tools is one of the success stories of the franchise industry and has helped many ambitious entrepreneurs realise their business dreams through franchising. But now it's helping one of Britain's leading actors fulfil a life-long dream to travel the globe. Ewan McGregor has played parts as varied as Obi-Wan Kenobi and rogue trader Nick Leeson, but is currently taking on a whole new role during a 20,000-mile worldwide bike odyssey. Accompanying him on his journey is best friend Charley Boorman, star of Excalibur and Deliverance and son of film director John Boorman. They met on the film set of Serpent's Kiss in 1996 and have been friends ever since.

This adventure is a major test of endurance and friendship. The pair are currently midway through their trip, having set off from London this April. In three months they will travel 20,000 miles through some of the most beautiful yet often hostile terrain the world has to …