Leaving Them...

I'm leaving Mexico. Bye, Odyssey. Bye, Wilk. Bye, bye, bye. It was not easy to decide to leave Wilk here for two weeks all on his own, but he's not gonna be on his own. He's actually staying with two people that I would trust with my life and probably two of the only people in the world that I would really trust with Wilk. And here they are, Marianne and Chris. So, what do you think? Are you gonna manage him? I reckon that's pretty trusting of you. Yeah? I think if I can handle him, I think he's gonna be okay. So, Chris and Marianne have had so many dogs in their lives. They've fostered and rescued dogs, and Wilk absolutely loves them. All that love, all that love. Yeah, thanks. Thanks, Wilk. No. I know, I know. Yes, good boy. You are. He's in good hands. I was feeling quite torn about this. Wanna get inside? You wanna get inside with me? On the one hand, I really needed to see my family halfway across the world. On the other hand, I was worried about leaving Wilk behind for such a long time. Would he be okay? See you in two weeks. Whoa. You're gonna come with me? I know, I know. I can't look at his little face. I'll miss him so much. So, this here is Trudy. This is Chris and Marianne's amazing van. Yeah. And they're taking it on an around the world tour, which is pretty ambitious. Crazy and ambitious. Check her out. Oh my God, look at all these awesome stickers. You have great stickers. People describe her as the ice cream van, and they might be right. Ooh, nice. Look at that. Wow, that's fancy. We've got a reversing camera. What? And I do all the driving. Yay. Girl power. Obviously. So, terminal area. Suddenly, this is feeling real. I have kind of like blocked this trip out for the last month, trying not to think about it too much because I knew that I would just miss Wilk so much. But here we are. Marianne and I were just talking about how, you know, puppies really, you just become so attached to them. You know, when he was much smaller, it was a lot easier for me to, you know, leave him for a few hours with someone. He did a training board, but now I just feel like my heart is just calling out to him. Wilk. He'll be very resilient because he's so well trained. And you handed us over all the information. And we'll keep up the training, I promise. I'll video call you. It's gonna be fine. Yes. He's gonna be okay. Yeah. I understand how painful it is. Yeah. It'll be okay. We'll love him. He's in really good hands. Bye! And I'll need it, very much need it in Europe. So, I've just asked Marianne and Chris to see if they can find it and bring it to me at the airport. It's exactly 18 minutes to bring it back to me at the airport because in 18 minutes I have to go through the gates and start boarding the plane. I wondered for a second whether this was a sign that I shouldn't leave after all. I have nine minutes left. She's really close. We're cutting it very close. Oh my God, there she is. Can you see her? I'm just gonna like run up to the start of this stretch so I can catch her at the very beginning. You are the best! You are the queen! Kore, kore, kore, kore, kore, kore. This feels like a relay, you know? I've gotta run to the gate. I've got the middle seat. Let's face it, this is the hell seat of economy class. My head was buzzing with so many questions on my flight over to Europe. Would Vuk be okay with Chris and Marianne? Would he recognize me when I get back? Was it really worth the logistical effort to head home for Christmas? It can be really tricky to switch off the self-questioning, but there comes a point of no turning back. So at that point, you just have to go with the flow. Okay, I just found a quiet little corner at the very busy airport because I need to record some voiceovers for one of these videos. So this will have to do. Okay, so the reason why I left everything behind in Mexico and why I'm flying all the way to Europe is because I made a mistake last year. I made a really big mistake by not spending Christmas with my family. And I regretted it so much. I miss them a lot. And I promised myself that this year, whatever happens, I will make the time and space to go and see them. So the plan is to board a plane to Geneva. That is my last flight of today. Thank God. Pick up my brother. Together, we're gonna drive all the way to a skiing town to meet my mom and my other brother. And all of us together are gonna go and see our grandparents in Poland. I really hope that I can share a little slice of Polish Christmas with you. But before that, a couple of days of skiing. It's pretty surreal to be here. It took me about 24 hours to fly the 7,000 miles from Baja to Europe. Especially if I put it in the context of overlanding, it's so crazy. Because, you know, it took me six weeks to cover that same distance, driving from Oregon to Alaska and back last summer. Yeah, flying is great. So convenient. But it can really mess with your perception of the world and its actual size. Hello, hello, hello. Hello. Just woke up and for a second, I was like, where am I? So this is the little apartment that my family always stays in whenever we go skiing here in France. Because that's why I'm here. I've come to ski with my family. Now, I've just been kind of like sleeping off the really, really, really long journey. But now I need to get dressed, hit the slopes and go and find my mom and my brothers. They are somewhere out on the mountain already in the world's largest skiing area. Because that's what this is. It is literally the world's largest skiing area. So I hope that I can find them. The weather is looking glorious. Let me show you. Here, let me just go out onto the balcony. How do you open this? Oh, that is so nice. Let's go skiing. Things in the entire world. I can see them. Oh my God, look at this. That's my mom and my littlest brother. Hello. Valleys is the largest ski area in the entire world. And it can get quite busy, but not if you come at the right time. So we are here just before Christmas. And there's basically nobody here. Because most kids are still in school. Unlike this one. So no queues, no lines. Just go straight onto the lift. Oh no. Hang on. Let's stop right here. Skiing is fun when you're doing it, but watching other people ski, not so great. So let's fast forward a few days to Christmas. I want to show you how we spend it in Poland. Hi Misha. Hi. Hey Michal. What's up? You good? Okay. Today we are getting ready for Christmas Eve, which is the main event at Polish Christmas. Like that is the day we celebrate the most. So my grandma here is making some dough for pierogis and for little ears. I'll explain it all a little bit later. Who taught you how to make this dough? My mom. Of course. That is the best way to celebrate Christmas. And this is exactly why I've come all the way from Mexico just to see my family, just for a few days, because I just knew that I couldn't miss it. Hi. Filming you. It's a live action, live skill. You're doing good. Perfect. Oh, the palec, okay. So these here are called uszka, which literally means little ears. They are like tiny little dumplings filled with, I think it's cabbage and mushrooms. And we put them in our Christmas borscht, which is beetroot soup. So they are amazing. On a popular opinion coming up, I think I may enjoy the preparation of Christmas more than actual Christmas. Because, you know, this is the time before everybody gets all super festive and official. This is the time to just joke around and be goofy. These are definitely the moments that I remember best. Here they are, boiled for just a few minutes. So they're a little bit al dente, little ears. They're so delicious, but wait until Christmas Eve. Meanwhile, I was wondering whether Vilko was okay back in Mexico. Was he missing me? And as you may have noticed, I have changed into some very lovely smart clothes. I do this about once a year on Christmas, so. Traditionally in Poland, Christmas Eve is a pescatarian affair. You're not supposed to have meat. So most families will cook up something like carp, because that is the most traditional kind of fish that we would eat on Christmas Eve. But I believe my grandma is making some other kind of fish. I'm not sure what it is, but my grandpa is frying it up. According to Polish tradition, 12 dishes should be served on Christmas Eve, and none of them should contain meat. Well, apart from fish, that is. 12 dishes used to symbolize wealth and abundance. And since it's a festive day, the tradition remains. No, it's my fault, because I told him that the bed was on the left. Well, where? First the bed, then the spoon. So we have to do all of this all over again. Little baby Jesus. So some of you might be wondering, how do you reconcile not being part of the Christian church, and yet celebrating Christmas? For me, Christmas is not really about the religious significance, you know? I don't really participate in the prayers. I don't go to church on Christmas. But it is an opportunity to see my family, and it's not very often that we get to get together and spend some time together and have nice food together. So this is just, for me, an excuse to do that. And that's the most important thing for me about Christmas. None of the other stuff. It could as well be a different day. Thank you. Thank you for your presence and for being here. I am incredibly happy. I wish you a Merry Christmas. Me too. When I was a bit younger, I rarely gave much thought to the reality of death. The idea that someone might not be there anymore, it always seemed unthinkable. You know, it feels like there will always be another Christmas, another holiday to be had. But as the years pass by, more and more I realize that we're all moving in death's direction. And while I don't want that to prevent me from living, it just makes me realize that we can never take these family reunions for granted. Because you just don't know how many are left. All that time flew by so fast, like in a flash. And now it's been 32 hours that I've been in transit. I've just landed back in Baja, California. And you know what? I'm kind of happy that time flew by so fast because I just realized that while I'm okay, like I can imagine living a life without full-time travel, I can no longer imagine a life without Wilk. I miss him so much. Well, let's get out of here and go and see him. Oh, how are you? Did you have a good time? Yes, I did. We did. We had a lovely time. Yeah, you did? It was lovely. I'm not sure who missed who the most. I don't know. But I think I probably missed him more, honestly. His head is tilting. Hi! Oh, hi! He's so big! He has grown! Your puppy has all grown up! So chubby! Look at your feet! We've been... Hi, little boy! I think you're already planning his keto diet. Oh my God, we are going on a run immediately! Oh, look at his ears. They're all back. He's so much... You are so big! You are such a big boy! Oh, I miss you so much! Wilk clearly had the time of his life with Chris and Marianne. As for me, I took this as a sign that maybe, just maybe, I don't have to keep everything under such tight control. That maybe worrying so much doesn't always lead anywhere. Maybe, sometimes, letting go isn't such a terrible thing.