Eleven teams of two favourites from previous seasons with unfinished business to settle travel from Palm Springs, California to Sydney, Australia. The last team to find the first clue receives an Automatic U-Turn, compelling them to do both choices when they reach the first Detour. Written by Allister Coots

The eleven teams stay in Australia as they continue the leg by travelling from Sydney to Broken Hill, where they dress as kangaroos for a task. Tempers start to flare when one person reverts to their old habits, while utter exhaustion forces another team to break down in tears. Written by Allister Coots

In the rest period, a train takes the ten remaining teams from Broken Hill, Australia back to Sydney, from where they travel to Kurihama, Japan. One team's hopes are shattered when a car crash sends them toward the back of the pack. Some of the teams get down and dirty in a pile of frigid mud at the Detour. Written by Allister Coots

The nine remaining teams travel from Kurihama, Japan to Lijiang, China. Frustration threatens to get the best of one person after their team loses all sense of direction on the way to the airport.

The nine teams stay in China as they continue the leg by travelling from Lijiang to Kunming. The pressure builds when one person is pushed over the edge by a prehistoric Road Block. A Double U-Turn causes panic among the teams as they race to avoid elimination. Written by Allister Coots

The eight remaining teams travel from Kunming, China to Kolkata, India. One team, overwhelmed by a swarming sea of people on India's congested streets, narrowly avoids a traffic collision. Clumsiness threatens to spoil another team's chances of acing the Detour. Written by Allister Coots

The seven remaining teams stay in India as they travel from Kolkata to Varanasi. At India's most holy city, they have to retrieve and assemble some pieces of a phrase at the Road Block.

The six remaining teams travel from Varanasi, India to Salzburg, Austria. When they are confronted by a psychological Detour, a quick and easy meal proves to be too big for the stomachs of some teams, while others have to try to avoid making a Freudian slip in Vienna's slick streets. Written by Allister Coots

The six teams travel from Salzburg, Austria to Zermatt, Switzerland. The stress of the race begins to take its toll when another Double U-Turn is revealed. At the Detour, one team struggles to consume a local delicacy, while other teams become acquainted with Swiss hospitality. Written by Allister Coots

Teams brave bone-chilling temperatures as they come face-to-face with the world famous Matterhorn, and tempers flare in the most intense argument of the season. Written by CBS Publicity

The four remaining teams travel from Zermatt, Switzerland to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where a hairy situation causes several people to cry out in pain. The final three teams then travel to the Florida Keys, where the first team to finish has to overcome some past demons and tough competition in order to win the US$1 million prize. Written by Allister Coots