The eleven teams arrive via helicopter in the desert outside of Las Vegas, Nevada. Their destination is unknown until they rip open the clues waiting on their backpacks. Making their way to the airport in Las Vegas, Nevada, the teams fly to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and find a clue located at the Big Man (aka the statue of Christ the Redeemer). The clue instructs them to take a ferry to Paqueta Island and kiss Fat Maria (a tree). The next morning, the boats ferry teams back to Rio de Janeiro where they travel by gondola to the top of Sugarloaf Mountain. Teams face a detour--either return back down Sugarloaf, go to Ipanema beach and track down the Girl from Ipanema or rappel 590-feet down the granite face of Sugarloaf Mountain. After the detour is complete, teams travel by boat to the finish line--located on a yacht anchored in the harbor. The last team to arrive will be eliminated form the race. Written by Missy

As the race intensifies and elimination looms, many of the teams overcome some bad luck and their fear of heights to get to the breathtaking site of Iguacu Falls.

Teams jet from Brazil to Cape Town, South Africa, where they must overcome cultural challenges and their own deepest fears to avoid elimination, Nine teams make the treacherous journey from the jungles in Brazil to South Africa, where they must interact with locals at harbor and township communities. One team sleeps past its departure time while another must decide whether to awaken the rival team; one team helps another but falls behind, and several must overcome major obstacles en route to Cape Town. A third team is eliminated.

Teams brave the deserts of Namibia and must journey more than 500 miles by truck through unmarked roads and the shifting sands to reach a distant pit stop. Meanwhile, conflict arises as one teams accuses another of cheating.

Teams fly more than 6,000 miles from the deserts of Namibia to the exotic streets of Bangkok, Thailand, where they encounter a puzzling maze of cultural challenges. En route, tensions between two teams reach a boiling point.

Teams must endure a 15-hour, third class train ride from Bangkok to Northern Thailand then drive into the mountains where they encounter elephants and engage in an intense river-rafting race that causes two teams to come to blows.

Seven teams race from the mountains of Northern Thailand to the bustling streets of Hong Kong where they face challenges ranging from controlling a 40-ton crane to consuming a 5,000-year-old Chinese remedy to avoid being eliminated.

Five teams race from Hong Kong to Sydney and into the Australian Outback in a mad intercontinental dash. Two teams fail to follow instructions at one of the challenges, resulting in a major set back for them. With an elimination looming, every decision the teams make could cost the race.

Four teams race from the Australian Outback to the South Island of New Zealand where they confront a high-speed jet boat river ride, an unruly flock of sheep and a 450-foot bungee jump, one of the largest in the world

Four teams race from New Zealand's South Island to the capitol city of Auckland, along the way encountering an imposing tribe of Maori warriors, a no-holds-barred All-Terrain Vehicle race and a 350-foot drop into the Lost World caves - the longest free rappel in the world. A seventh team is eliminated and the final three teams are determined.

As they complete their journey around the world, the final three teams race to reach the finish line first and win the $1 million prize, on the special two-hour season finale.

The best of the reality series crop is back, with 12 teams of 2 players each racing around the world, trying not to be eliminated at a series of checkpoints in which the last team to arrive is booted from the show. CBS chooses teams with relationships containing at least some tension, especially when the situation involves intense pressure. This season includes such duos as two circus clowns, a gay married couple, a father and son, a recently engaged couple, married couples, and best friends. Written by T.J. Magwire