Everyday Life Living Alone in my Mountain Camp

When I bought my land in the mountains last year, a huge big swathe of it, a lot of people told me that I was an idiot. Because the land is raw, it has no amenities, no infrastructure, no road access. But I bought it because it made me feel something. It made me feel a sense of wonder and awe. And I bought it because I want to preserve that childlike wonder and curiosity and appreciation I want to preserve those things in my life. And I found that one of the best ways to do that is to deprive yourself of some of the things that you take for granted, so that you can come back and rediscover them again. So that's why I'm here. That's why I'm here. I have not been here very long this season, which is why the tent is looking a little bit barren right now. It's very very minimalist. I don't have my usual setup of like my sofa and my nice mattress here. They're still in storage but I will go and grab them at some point when I have a little bit of time. But for now I want to get something really special from town, something that I've been dreaming about for a little while. And then we're going to come back and spend a beautiful day of not taking things for granted out here. This place is teaching me so much about just being grateful and appreciating things. It's so nice. I'm so happy to be here. It's ridiculous. It's ridiculous. So I live in the Carpathian Mountains in Poland. This is one of the few regions in all of Europe where you still see shepherds herding sheep across pastures all summer long. And it's all to make this amazing sheep's cheese that we're going to melt into oblivion later today. Okay this is our cheese spot. I am so excited to show you this cheese. It is amazing. Traditional mountain cheese is made in a bacufka or a mountain hut just like this one. It's made 100% by hand by a handful of people who still make cheese for a living. Last year I made a film with some of the local shepherds so if you want to learn more here's the link. Anyway, back to the cheese. I've got my cheese. It smells like a campfire high up in the mountains. That's exactly what it smells like. So good. This is gonna be amazing baked over a fire later tonight. Okay one more quick stop to get something that I have been meaning to get for my land forever but just never got a chance to. So now is the time. Do not ask me how I am going to bring this all the way up to the tent but I am determined to make it happen. Whatever it takes. One last stop. This one's for Vilk. Okay yeah go swim. You spin. Twist. Yes. Excuse me. Did you just enter the car via the driver's seat? Mr. Is that a naughty boy? Okay let's go back home. Yes life in the mountains can be really inconvenient but every day I wake up and I have to pinch myself because I'm just so excited and blissfully happy to be living in such a wild place and so connected to nature. I have a feeling like this might be a little bit tough but we'll manage. We'll make it work. So I've got my backpack which is just stuffed full of groceries and other things that I need to survive and then we've got this bad boy which weighs probably like a good 16 pounds something like that. Not the lightest thing in the world but you know what once it's up there it's going to be up there and I'll be so glad that it's up there so we'll manage. Let's do this. That was exhausting. So worth it. You live in a pretty crazy world huh so being able to be out here in complete silence and solitude and peace being able to throw off my top and sunbathe naked if I want to that feels like the ultimate luxury. But before we sit down and start making dinner which is going to be incredible with my new cooking setup we need to get ready because cooking here is not as straightforward as just turning on the stove and or turning on the oven you know. This setup involves a little bit more work so let's go and get ready. I am running low on drinking water on water in general so we're gonna grab this and uh I'm gonna go grab water from the spring. Let's do it. Yes even this feels luxurious to me honestly to be able to fetch your own mountain water straight from a mountain spring water that's never touched plastic pipes or chemicals and being able to fetch it yourself with the power of your own muscles oh my gosh what a privilege this sometimes happens too on the sharper terms no problem we just pick ourselves up dust ourselves off and we keep going come on this was a lot harder before I had the trolley the trolley is actually a game changer makes my life so much easier out here you know I spent literally an entire lifetime taking things like running water for granted as I'm sure most of us do because like you know most of us live in houses apartments where there is running water you just turn on the tap and it starts flowing and it's so easy you never have to think about it when it stops it's an inconvenience right so I really appreciate being out here and having to grab my own water from the spring because not only is it delicious but it also just reminds me of how freaking good we have it most of the time and honestly just makes me think like these are not things that we should be taking for granted ever because what an incredible luxury to have running water 24 7 from the tap I kind of love this though even more so little things like this really make you feel really make me feel so grateful for everything that I have you know I don't know I guess it just changes your perspective a little bit that's all in a place like this if you don't fetch the water yourself you don't get water simple as that this is always the hardest part hauling it back when it's full this happened again this happened again I guess it will always keep happening water why did you go so far why did you go so far you're heavy well I might as well just carry it to the tent and since we are on the subject of water I want to say a big thank you to the sponsor of today's video and my long time partner bottle bottle I've been using their water bottles for well over a year now and I absolutely love them they have some really cool new designs so these are the camouflage designs for the hydrox and the magic cube bottles these are made from stainless steel which means that they'll keep your drinks hot or cool for 12 hours they are such a great alternative to keeping your things in plastic bottles because we all know just how much junk there is in plastic that we do not want to touch and they're just really comfortable to carry around to drink from in a billion different ways I just love these things mine are a little bit scratched up sorry about that but also not sorry because I know that these bottles are adventure proof and I can bring them anywhere and they'll be just fine bottle bottle have also just released a very cool new product which is honestly a bit of a game changer if you like a nice carbonated drink like sparkling water or coke or fanta or just a nice sparkling non-alcoholic beer this is the bottle for you because this bottle actually keeps drinks carbonated I didn't know that even existed I didn't even know that that was possible most other bottles like this are a little bit difficult and iffy to open this one is really cool because you just press on this button right here and it pops open it's so convenient so I actually put some sparkling water and a little bit of juice into this bottle last night oh my god this is actually so good it's like perfect on a day like this you know out in the mountains you just need that little little bit of bite a little bit of pizzazz in your drink this is pretty great I have arranged for a little discount for you so if you'd like to get a bottle bottle bottle then go to the description box of this video click on any of the links use my code at checkout and enjoy okay let's go grab some wood you know I don't I don't know if you guys watch the office but whenever I hold the chainsaw I'm always reminded of this like of that really awkward scene in the American office where Pam goes like zing zing slashing the competition all right let's go get some wood into the trolley yes yeah go please go please drop it yeah okay yeah go go please yes drop it good boy okay so the potatoes are just boiling on the stove inside and I'm gonna get slicing got some onions here got some carrots and other things and I am so excited to test out this little bad boy I don't know what is what is the name of this thing in English is it like a bribe is that what they call it a cauldron oh it's a cauldron it's a witch's cauldron that is perfect that is a witch anyway I don't have a cutting board so this will have to do it is basically the same idea just a little piece of wood as I'm sure many of you know I am not a great chef but you know what I'm just so excited to make this meal happen in my freaking cauldron it's so good it is so good it is so good I'm so happy and now tell me honestly would you rather be sitting in a michelin-styled restaurant at a table filled with like 20 different types of forks and knives that you have no idea what to do with paying hundreds of dollars for a single meal let's do this hell yes or would you rather be sitting here around a campfire making your own improvised stew in your own cauldron and feeling free so incredibly free I know which one I choose well that is all cooking inside the pot I'm going to show you the best way to eat this cheese real Polish mountain sheep's cheese oh my god I am so excited about this seriously these are just like very normal things and yet they feel so freaking divine when you're doing them because I don't know honestly these are just very very simple things and I feel like the best things in life are simple you know I would have honestly never guessed that like having some cheese over a fire on my land would be the thing that would make me the happiest in the world but here we are okay I think the cheese is ready but are you ready to see this it is gooey it is warm it is melty and it is going straight into my belly thank you very much have you tasted a cheese that is hot crispy on the outside soft on the inside tastes like it tastes like the mountain oh this is what I want to eat for the rest of my life you know what I reckon the reason why food always tastes better when you cook it outside over a fire is because it is a little bit more like hard earned you have to work just a little bit harder to make it happen I feel like that's why it just tastes that little bit sweeter do you know everything that you had to work harder for always feels a little bit more rewarding at the end and the same goes for food that's why I'm so excited about it all I think it's ready and it looks incredible it smells divine smells like heaven heaven in a oh my god yes is this the most nutritious delicious hearty meal you've ever seen in your life because it is definitely all of those things to me right now and I'm gonna eat it with this wooden spoon because why not I think one of my favorite things that I've learned over the last 34 years is that there is not one single recipe for a good life and that your recipe might well change over time and that you know you can do whatever the hell you want really you can do whatever the hell you want in your life because it's your life I've met people who gave up amazing careers just to move out into the wilderness I've met people who never left their tiny little mountain villages and I've met people who traveled the whole world and one thing that I've noticed that there is no pattern for happiness you kind of have to make your own either be satisfied with what you're given and be happy with that or pave your own happiness pave your own path towards joy either way it feels like it's an active decision you know not just something that happens to you not something you can expect every night I spend here I'm just so grateful for you know