No Longer Alone on the Road

I've just embarked on the Alaska leg of Expedition Wild. So it seems like I'm running a little bit low on coolant. There's a lot of holes in my car and one of them is so unfortunately positioned. Got my bear spray. Okay, so vehicle is just barking and... So I'm just about to meet the people that I have committed to driving about 3,000 miles with all the way from here BC, Canada to Prudhoe Bay. We have never met before. We've only met on Instagram. We've met on Instagram. It's kind of like if you imagine meeting someone on Tinder and going on a holiday with them right away. I'm meeting these strangers from Instagram in Prince George, BC, Canada and together we're driving 4,000 miles all the way to Prudhoe Bay on the northern tip of Alaska and back. There's a lot of things I'm asking myself. Will we get along? Are we going to be safe? Are we going to see bears, snow, ice? How will my five-month-old puppy take to my new friends and this whole adventure? There they are. How's it going? Good. I have joined Mathilde and Nick, a French couple traveling the world in their Defender called Albatross and Tom, a Kiwi traveling the Pan-American Highway in his Defender called Jerry. Yes, you got it. Tom and Jerry. We spent the first evening with the camera switched off, just getting to know each other. You know, it's kind of funny. I hesitated quite a bit before agreeing to join Nick and Mathilde and Tom and it's not for the reasons that you might expect. I struggled with this decision whether to join them or not because I'm so used to being this solo female traveler and having this label attached to my style of traveling that I kind of thought that maybe if I travel with them, that would like diminish my solo female travel stuff vibe, you know? And it's so silly because I don't travel for a label. At the end of the day, I travel because I want to. Because I love it. When I realized that, I was like, of course I should travel with them. It doesn't matter if I do a trip that is not solo. Who cares? I don't. This is all part of the adventure. On mornings like this, I always promise myself to seek out good weather and spend as much time of my life as possible outside. But it was time to get going on day one of our journey together. Odyssey, Albatross, Jerry. For the first time ever, I felt like Odyssey was a superhero. Joining forces with the Arctic Overlandese convoy, that's what we called ourselves, owning the streets and setting off on an epic adventure. Except we're actually really slow and we definitely don't own the streets. Oh well, one can always dream. Anyway, on the first day, we drove about 200 miles north and every single mile brought us closer to Alaska. All right, we found ourselves a beautiful campsite by the lake. You ready to go out? Let's do it. Hey, Vir. No. Vir, do you want to come along? Do you want to go fishing? Okay, so Vir was just barking and really loudly and something in the woods. He is our alarm system that Mathilde went to check out to see what it is. I just really hope it's not a grizzly because this, this is grizzly country. How's it going, Mathilde? She says she doesn't see anything moving. Luxury number one of traveling in a group. You get to cook together, which is infinitely more fun than cooking for yourself, as it turns out. Except there was still one person missing. Tom, are you around? Here's the situation. We picked a campsite all together for tonight and then Tom went off on a mountain bike ride by himself and he said that he would join us in the evening. Now the issue is that the campsite that we were meant to go to was closed and then we picked another, there was like another entryway. It was just a bit complicated. So we're wondering whether Tom will even make it tonight. My bet is no. Really? Yeah. What do you think? I think we'll find him. I'm sure we'll find him. Made it! We weren't sure you'd make it. Yeah, no, it took a bit longer and I stopped at the shops as well. That looks great. And as it turns out, eating together is also infinitely more fun than eating alone. Well, I call that a very successful day one on the road together. Everybody's still asleep, I think. Before setting off, I wanted to run a quick check of Odyssey's fluids and I'm so glad I did because it turned out that I was running really low on something very important. ------- dry all the way in. Oh, ----. So it seems like I'm running a little bit low on coolant. So we're just consulting the Land Rover Bible just to make sure that we're adding the right thing because we've all had different things. We've all been taught different things. The final thing that we should all remember about coolant is if we have a Land Rover, as long as it's 50-50 mixture and it's probably for your engine Land Rover. Probably. I mean, it's an Asian vehicle. Although technically, this vehicle was made in Turkey. So that is Asia. Right, there we go. So we went from one problem to another. We just added a little bit too much coolant. So Mathilde is for some reason stuffing a Ziploc bag into my coolant container. And it's the wrong load. That all looks ridiculous. Oh my God, that's amazing. What are we doing here? Full service. I don't know. I just took out the air filter and I saw some stuff. So you won't see much coming out anymore because it's clean. But let's show you. Nice. Just a bit of DIY service in the middle of the Canadian wilderness. Another 200 plus miles north to go today. So this is super exciting. We're just taking a quick detour to see if we can find some grizzly bears. A local gave us the coordinates to this spot. Apparently, this is the spot where there's been two grizzlies catching salmon from the river. You guys actually want to get out of the cars? I'm not getting out of the car. They just got out of the cars and there's supposed to be grizzlies here. Yeah, we are not getting out of the car. We are staying right here. Where's Mathilde? I think she got eaten by a bear. No! Oh my god, that is a risky spot to go to the bathroom. No bears? No bears here. I think the river is too wide and too much pressure. But the other two dots that we have is like really smaller and it feels like it could be more. All right, cool. There she is. Run Mathilde! There's a bear behind you! That's a bad joke to make. Attempt number two at bear spotting. There's some people here who look like experts when we know exactly what they're doing. So you're actually just carrying this like anywhere you go? It's like a seat belt when you're around here. Seat belt, that's a good way of putting it. Is that a grizzly? Yeah. I got my bear spray. Those guys basically said that every time you are in the outdoors in this area, you should expect to see a bear. So come prepared. Any luck? No bears here either. Perfect. Let's keep going. It's a long way to Alaska. We all found ways to entertain ourselves inside our cars. For some of us, that was listening to music or audiobooks or chatting on the radio. For others, it involved something rather unusual, like Tom attempting to bake a potato in his engine. So we're going to have baked potatoes for dinner. And I was thinking, you know, we make them on the fire or something nice. But Tom has come up with a different idea. Wait, so how much time are you giving it? So we're going to do an hour and a half like this. An hour and a half for a potato? And then an hour and a half the other direction. So three hours. Right. What are they doing, huh? Yeah, I don't know either. I don't know either. Let's go in. Want to go in? All right, let's go. Good boy. So I know the scenery here in British Columbia is beautiful and all, but I bet you're all dying to know whether Tom's potato had baked. What's the verdict on the potato? It's very room temperature. It's not good. So now we put it in a different place where it should boil. All right, OK. We have two more hours. So hopefully, hopefully we'll get there. Oh my God, look at this place. This is actually starting to feel really real now. We're like out very, very far north in Canada. It's so gorgeous out here. The next services, there was a sign that said the next services are in 130 kilometers, which is like 80 miles. So yeah, you can imagine the vast distances out here. Unbelievable. Initially, when I decided to travel with Mathilde and Nick and Tom, I was a little bit worried that we might have a different pace or that we might not share the same vibe. But every lunch break, fuel break and campsite convinced me that I had been right to abandon my solo traveling ways just for a little while. Anyway, of course, we're all desperately trying not to forget about Tom's engine potato. I'm for an update on the situation. Is it still not hot? It's going to be steaming. Oh no, let me touch it. It's very hard though. Yeah, unless it's like baked solid. I just burned to the core. I just feel like there's a reason why people use fires in their car engines. I could be wrong. I was dreaming on the drive here, like I should get like a little metal box and then I can have it as my oven. Just like every day in the morning, you could bake yourself a potato for lunch. That would be awesome. You're not giving up. Fuel station somewhere deep in the wilderness of BC, Canada. So it's two and a half Canadian dollars per liter, which is 1.3 US dollars per liter. It's not cheap. The further north you go, the more expensive the fuel becomes. And that's just normal because the logistics of bringing it there get harder and harder and more expensive and more expensive. So this is to be expected. Now my tank doesn't hold that much. So I'm going to have to be refueling at every possible opportunity just to make sure that I don't run out of gas. Okay, 130 Canadian dollars, 52 liters. So I want to see what kind of stuff they have in a tiny gas station store in a tiny, tiny, tiny town village, I should say, in the middle of BC, Canada, like in the middle of the wilderness. And I'm very surprised to find that they have pineapple. That is wild. Well, I'm going to get some of these potatoes. There's all kinds of vegetables and fruit. I wonder how much it actually costs. All this stuff, cereal and oats, all the standard things, a big freezer, meat, bread, butter, cream, all kinds of cleaning products, lots of coffee and tea and juices. We're all tacked up. We're all filled up, ready to go to our next campsite. Hey, beautiful, go back. Good boy. We got a tip from some other overlanders who had been here before, who were like, if you want internet, if you want Wi-Fi, there's only two spots, one where you have to pay and the other one that's free, but you have to go to someone's helicopter pad and there's like public Wi-Fi here. So we're at this helicopter pad and there is Wi-Fi. Yay, internet, so good. All right, I managed to sort out all of my internet things ahead of time, ahead of everybody. That's because I decided to take an offline break during this trip mostly. So I have scouted our campsite for tonight and this is it. It's pretty spectacular. It's funny how quickly you get used to traveling with other people, you know, especially like-minded friends, nice people. So when I was just doing this stretch alone, it's just 20 miles from where the Wi-Fi spot was, suddenly I felt a little bit lonely. I was like, where are my friends? Where are the other cars? So I'm really, really, really grateful that I get to do this with them and not alone. Are you excited about them coming too? Come, Vilk. Vilk, come. Let's feed you. Feed you, little boy. Yeah, good boy. Here they are. They're coming. Yes, good boy. Can you do a spin? A happy spin. Spin, spin. Happy spin. Yeah, good boy. Oh my god. That is Tom. No, it's Tom. Go join Tom. Go for it. No time to waste. No, no, no. No, Vilk, Vilk. That is fabulous. Hero. Though it might be a little bit too late for jacket potatoes. Because... So we are about to check out Tom's jacket potato. Engine jacket potato. Smelling like a... Really? Yeah. Is it soft? Oh my, maybe it's just burned to the core. Maybe it's just turned to like a charcoal. I don't know. It's a bit disappointing. It's a nicely warmed potato. How is it? Well, so turns out... No, you cannot cook a jacket potato even over... Not yet. I mean, this took us like... A few more miles. This took us like, well, 450 kilometers only. I reckon another 2,000. Yeah, another 2,000. By the time we get to the Arctic Ocean, it should be done. So... I'm putting it on the fire. That's really hot. Imagine looking out of your tent and seeing the entire world light up like this. The sky is dancing around you and there you are. A breathing, living speck of cosmic dust. Tiny but connected to everything and everyone. It's just like magic. So the night ended with... If you look, barking at something in the bushes that was making sounds. And so we all obviously assumed that it was a grizzly bear since the campsite is called Rabbit Grizzly. So we just cleaned up and we're now in bed. It's another early morning and long driving day tomorrow. But somehow it's just... There's a good energy here. And that in turn gives you a lot of good energy. So for once, I'm pretty happy not to be solo traveling. Crossed into the Yukon, which means that we are well, well on our way to Alaska because this is, this is pretty far up north in Canada. How do you feel? We're in the Yukon. Proud? Yeah, we've made it this far. It's good. Yeah, so far so good. Look at that. This makes it feel so official. All the stickers that you see here are from people who have been here who are probably doing the Pan-American Highway or some other crazy massive road trip. And it's awesome to kind of see all these memories. Oh, there they are. I put myself through. Tripaclan! Oh, my God. Shout out to Chris and Marianne. Two of my favorite vanlifers ever. Guys, you rock. You got to check out their channel. They are awesome, awesome, awesome people and not your typical vanlifers at all. This is so cool. It's like a wall of memories and amazing experiences. Look at all these people doing awesome stuff. I think it's just proving that anyone can do awesome stuff. There it is. Next Meridian. Expedition Wild in the Yukon. Not sure what Mathilde is doing. Or Nick. Your turn. What are you trying to touch? See how high we can get. If I touch a dinosaur. Whoa! All right. Nice. I think, can you do it? Can you do it? Can you touch it? Go and touch it. This repairs workshop doesn't look like it would do many repairs. Looks a little bit closed. All right, let's fuel her up. Feels pretty old school. I like it. Here we go. Here we are in the shop. Hello, how are you? We're just making a video of our travels to Alaska. Did you get the window of shame? Yeah, of shame. Those are the people that made it to the top of the world. If they don't make it, they don't get their sticker on those. So we only get to put our stickers on on our way back. Yeah. Challenge accepted. I made a mental note of this gas station. And if I do make it to the north of Alaska and back, I'll make sure to pass through and leave an Expedition Wild sticker on Dan's wall of shame right here at Junction 37. There's a lot of holes in my car. And one of them is so unfortunately positioned that it just blows cold air onto my arm every time I'm driving. So I've decided to insulate it temporarily with some silver tape. I actually won't surprise anyone. This guy, on the other hand, has his air con unit on the entire time. He just loves it. It could be our campsite for tonight. There's someone actually here. Oh my god. That's surprising. This is like really in the middle of nowhere. Oh, it's cold. When you're on the road, you often end up meeting other fellow travelers on a similar route. This couple from Switzerland were traveling south on the Pan American Highway and joined us for the evening. I mean, I dare say much better than continuing in an engine. Hey, give me a break. That's just my opinion. This is just one of the small things that makes life on the road so amazing. The openness, the shared sense of journey, the love that we all have for vagabonding. So one of the coolest things about traveling with other overlanders is that you get to check out their rigs, which is always fun because they're all completely different. So right now, I think Mathilde and Nick are going to let us check out their rig, Albatross. Oh, beautiful. You guys are so neat. It's crazy. I've been telling them that I just don't understand how they stay so neat and so clean. My car is just a total mess all the time. I'm impressed. So the bed's up there. You see where the two pillows are. So that's a wooden bed that you pull. It's an older system because a new system to push up like in your car, which is really cool. We have our little shared compartments. That one's mine for all the sleeping stuff on the right. The net on the left is for Mathilde. Very nice. Our bags are up there, backpacks. Here, for example, for the next few years is all of Mathilde's clothing. They all fit in this box right here. That's incredible. Well done. How do you do that? It was a lot of suffering and eventually I'm fine. And I have the one next to it. Yes. And that over there is your fridge. That's our fridge. And look, there's a picture of Ava that we took last night. That's us. All right. There's one more person whose car I really want to show you. We call him the granddad of the group because he's got the oldest car, but also an amazing homemade setup. So let's go and meet Tom. Hi. So this is your rig. So Jerry. All right. Do you want to show us inside? Yeah, of course. Well, where do we start? I guess we've got a handy table at the back door. Nice. Yeah. And then up here, there's like a bench top with a little sink. The wind really messed up my sound here, so it's barely audible. What Tom was saying was that his car was the best car in the world, that there's no better car than Jerry, and that all other cars can basically just go hide in a hole somewhere because there's only one spot at the top. Nah, I'm kidding. Tom would never say anything like that. He's a really nice guy. And you made it yourself, right? Yeah, yeah. It was kind of a COVID lockdown project. A lot of time went into this. But I've been super stoked with the rest of the result. Amazing. So three Defenders right here on this beach, three completely different builds, three very different personalities as well. And each build, I guess, just kind of reflects our personalities. Mine is just extremely chaotic, so I guess that works for me. Let me know in the comments which build is your favorite. Don't disappoint me. Is it me? Is it Tom? Or is it Mathilde and Nick of Next Meridian Expedition? Tonight is our last night together because Tom is not heading up to Prudhoe Bay. He is headed to... Tuktoyaktuk. Which is on the Arctic Ocean in Canada. Right now we are in Dawson City, well, on a hill overlooking Dawson City. So tomorrow we are actually going to be crossing into Alaska, so back into the US. I'm really nervous about that as usual, but let's hope it goes well. The biggest priority that we have right now is to just get rid of all of our fresh produce, eat everything, because you really can't bring anything into Alaska. Except for Tom. Yeah, no, he's good. He's staying in Canada. I have a little issue because I have half a kilogram of ginger. I really love ginger, but I just haven't managed to eat enough of it during this trip. So I'm just thinking maybe I'll make tea, ginger tea. Ginger infusion, anyone? Yeah. Yeah? Yeah. Yeah, you'll drink it? Yeah. Cool, well, I'll make two liters. We can take it with us tomorrow as well. Ginger tea, right? Yeah. Yeah, let's do it. Nice. Also, fruit hammock. Still, I still think it's like the best investment I've ever made. Ever. Oh my god, that is caveman food. Sausage and mince. What are you chomping on, huh? So sweet. Vilk also needs to finish off some of his treats. So he's having a feast tonight. Want this one? Sit. Leave it. No, leave it. Leave it. Okay, free. Good boy. Oh, nice. Paneetas with a little bit of cheese. Oh, wow, those do look good. Yeah. Broccoli. Oh, nice. Oh, check this out. This is our dinner tonight. With that view. Dawson City. The last big town in Canada before the American border. There's a couple of things that you need to do before you enter the United States from Canada. And the most important thing that you have to do is sort through your food. Because you're only allowed to bring very specific things. These are mostly Vilk snacks, but since they're not labeled, I'm not allowed to bring them into the USA. All right, let's do this. Here we go. No, don't. It's been awesome. You look sad, dude. Look at him. Bye, Tom. And that's how things can change, sometimes for the better, when you take a break from traveling alone. Meanwhile, now we're really off to Alaska. In next week's video, we attempt to cross into Alaska just a few hours before the border crossing shuts for the season. Okay, I've just messaged Mathilde and Nick. Will we make it? Will I have more trouble on the American border? Subscribe to the channel and I'll see you next week.