I Broke Down in the Sahara Desert (Car Won't Start)

0:00 In today's episode, I embark on my first

0:02 long distance off-road trail in the Mauritanian Sahara.

0:06 (speaks in foreign language) But somewhere between getting lost in the dunes,

0:10 that road is impossible and navigating endless dried

0:13 out river beds and outta the adventure already,

0:16 Jesus Christ, I not only get stuck,

0:19 but also experience a breakdown and odyssey will not stop.

0:23 Oh my God, not only am I stuck in really deep sand,

0:26 I'm also broken down, (intense music) looking double whammy of misadventure.

0:32 This leg of expedition Sahara feels like I've

0:34 just entered the next level of the adventure game.

0:37 And to think it all started so calmly, I came here last night,

0:41 not really out of choice, but kind of out of necessity,

0:45 ended up sleeping in some kind of Mauritarian quarry,

0:51 and there have been these big trucks passing by all night and all morning.

0:57 So you may wonder how I ended up here.

0:59 I mean, Mauritania is one of the least densely populated countries on earth.

1:04 There's plenty of empty spaces, that's what you'd think.

1:08 But yesterday, I had to go into the capital city,

1:10 no act shot, which is absolute madness.

1:13 I got to pick up my drone for Mauritania.

1:17 Yes, I'm so excited to have a drone again.

1:18 And by the time I was done with all of my errands in the city,

1:22 it was getting late.

1:23 It was the afternoon, and then when you exit the city,

1:25 there's just little like shanty towns and then these industrial areas.

1:30 But it was getting so late.

1:32 We'd been in the car for like seven hours and I was like, now we gotta stop.

1:37 So this is where we stopped.

1:38 Travel isn't always scenic and epic, and aesthetic, that just rhymed amazing.

1:46 Sometimes it's just a random quarry in the middle of nowhere in Mauritania.

1:52 (gentle music) Mauritania is just fascinating.

1:56 It's almost twice the size of California, four times the size of the UK,

2:00 but it has less than 2000 miles of paved roads.

2:03 Today, I'm gonna drive around 200

2:06 of those miles before turning off onto a little

2:09 known off-road track where I'm gonna spend

2:11 the next three days dwelling in the desert.

2:15 One thing that we normally take for granted

2:18 about home is the availability of fuel.

2:21 You know, you can definitely count on there being some kind

2:24 of fuel station pretty much anywhere within like a 20 mile radius.

2:30 And you never think that the gas station might not have any gas available.

2:35 But in Mauritania, that's exactly what happens.

2:38 A lot of the time, there are fuel shortages across the entire country.

2:43 So I'm gonna go to this gas station hoping that they have diesel,

2:48 and lucky me, they did.

2:50 One of my rules on any expedition is to keep my tank

2:53 as full as possible and fuel up whenever I hit the half full mark.

2:57 Just good practice in case the next gas station doesn't have diesel.

3:01 Okay, one more errand I need to run.

3:04 I gotta get some groceries for the next leg of the journey.

3:09 (gentle music) Okay, here we go.

3:14 (speaks in foreign language)- (speaks in foreign language)- (speaks

3:17 in foreign language)- (speaks in foreign language)- Ah, okay.

3:20 (soft music) Oh, this looks really good.

3:25 These little chili peppers.

3:26 They look pretty killer.

3:27 I'm gonna grab a couple.

3:28 (laughs softly) I thought Vielmaik appreciate a little fish for dinner.

3:32 Buffet.

3:33 Wait, okay.

3:35 Yes.

3:36 Okay, so apparently I can get bread somewhere there.

3:40 (both speaker speaks in foreign language) When?

3:43 Ah, okay.

3:45 Ah, okay.

3:46 (speaks in foreign language) Okay.

3:48 Here we got some bread.

3:50 (speaks in foreign language) Mauritanian bread is so incredibly delicious.

3:55 I'm really excited about this.

3:57 (laughs happily) I'm gonna grab some eggs as well.

4:00 (gentle music) This is my last grocery

4:05 shop for the next three days, possibly more.

4:08 Once I'm off the tarmac in a few moments,

4:10 I'll have to be completely self-sufficient.

4:13 (soft music) Mauritania is a very interesting place to drive

4:19 in as one of the least densely populated countries on earth.

4:23 There really isn't that much infrastructure or that many paved roads.

4:28 The number that really drives it home for me is, if you think about it,

4:32 there's 13 people per square mile living here in Mauritania.

4:37 13 people per square mile.

4:39 In the United States, it's more like almost 100 people per square mile.

4:44 In the UK, it's like over 700 people per square mile.

4:49 So yeah, it's pretty out there Mauritania,

4:55 (laughs happily) and I'm just about to venture into all that emptiness because

4:59 I've just turned off the tarmac road and we're back on dirt baby.

5:04 (laughs and shouts loudly) Yes!

5:07 (gentle music) Wherever I may be in the world.

5:12 As soon as my tires leave the tarmac, I feel like I've entered some kind

5:17 of magical kingdom where normal rules don't apply.

5:20 Where you may not be able to go very fast, but you can go anywhere.

5:25 Every her that's wet dream, a fantasy world where you'd be forgiven

5:28 for not being up-to-date on the latest news.

5:31 And when nobody can find you for a poor parallel parking job.

5:34 In short, these trails lead you through a land of freedom.

5:38 (gentle music) (sigh deeply) Okay, whoa, the is so dusty.

5:47 Oh my God.

5:49 (laughs happily) I think we're here.

5:52 I think this is it for today.

5:54 What a spot.

5:56 (gentle music) Not bad for a day of driving.

6:01 You're not gonna find this spot marked on Google

6:03 Maps or even on an overlanding or camping app.

6:06 Just one of those places that you have to find with your own set of tires.

6:11 Thank the goddess that places like this still exist.

6:14 (gentle music) Look what I picked up on the way here.

6:23 Yet another memento mori from this journey.

6:29 This is a camel skull.

6:33 I love collecting animal skulls.

6:35 A few years back, I would've thought

6:36 myself creepy for saying that, but honestly,

6:39 nowadays, they just remind me of how precious life is.

6:43 If you've been watching this channel for a while,

6:45 then you may remember that Vilk has a dust-mite allergy,

6:51 which requires him to take monthly injections.

6:54 Now obviously, he can't take the injections

6:58 at his regular vets right now because we're in Africa.

7:01 So I got a syringe with one-monthly dose of his medicine,

7:09 his anti-allergy medicine, and I'm supposed to inject it into him right now.

7:15 I have been stressing over this for the last month.

7:17 (laughs happily) Honestly, but it's gotta be done.

7:22 I think he's gonna absolutely hate me for doing this.

7:27 Hey buddy, come here.

7:29 Yeah, you're gonna hate me for doing this, right?

7:31 Yeah.

7:33 Can you go middle?

7:35 (gentle music) Wait, wait.

7:41 (gentle music) Yes, free.

7:52 (paging loudly) Oh my God, he didn't even wink.

7:54 He didn't blink.

7:55 He didn't burn an eyelid.

7:56 I don't think he even felt it.

7:58 (upbeat music) Good boy.

8:01 A month's worth of anxiety and in the end it was nothing to worry about.

8:06 It's funny how we all allow ourselves to spiral sometimes.

8:10 Fretting over tiny little things as if they were life-changing matters.

8:13 I think part of the reason why I love these remote,

8:16 rugged places is because they always give me a sense of perspective.

8:20 In the grand scheme of things, we're all just like these tiny grains of sand,

8:25 barely visible in the grandeur of the dunes.

8:28 Plus, we're only here for a brief flash of life.

8:32 Somehow that knowledge makes me feel very much at peace.

8:36 (cooking and frying loudly) (gentle music) This is one

8:50 of the peppers that I bought at the store today,

8:53 and I am very curious to see how spicy it is.

8:56 It looks very spicy.

8:58 I mean, it looks like the devil, doesn't it?

9:01 (laughs softly) Hmm.

9:06 Oh yeah.

9:08 Oh yeah.

9:09 That's pretty spicy.

9:12 (gentle music) Another creative concoction.

9:32 Just some veggies fried up.

9:36 That's it.

9:36 Delicious.

9:38 (soft music) Good boy.

9:49 (soft music) (shout the door loudly) (soft

9:59 music) I think that getting in bed after a long and difficult day must be one

10:12 of the most incredible feelings in the entire world.

10:15 Anyhow, that I take this opportunity to remind you guys that my memoir,

10:21 "The Wilder Way" is coming out very soon.

10:24 This is a pretty special book because in this book,

10:27 I tell you so many stories that have never made

10:30 it onto YouTube or social media because they were too crazy,

10:34 too sensitive, too vulnerable to really share with an online audience.

10:40 But I felt like writing a book,

10:42 I could be a lot more intimate and vulnerable with you.

10:45 So there's stories in there about some of the crazy things

10:49 that have happened over the last nine years of my life,

10:51 including how I got here in the first place,

10:53 and the darkness that drove me to leave a perfectly

10:56 good life behind to embark on a journey into the unknown.

11:00 (laughs softly) So it's a book

11:03 about really overcoming so many different challenges

11:06 and ultimately also a book about seeking freedom and your own purpose in life.

11:12 And I think in today's world, those are really,

11:14 really important things for us to seek out.

11:18 So yeah, "The Wilder Way" comes out on the 7th of May

11:21 in the UK and on the 2nd of June in the US.

11:24 And I will be doing book tours in both of those countries,

11:27 which I'm so excited about.

11:29 Probably the thing I'm looking forward to the most this year.

11:32 It would mean the world to me if you

11:35 got your pre-order of this book of "The Wilder

11:38 Way." Because pre-orders go a really long way

11:41 towards helping books get on like bestseller lists.

11:46 Imagine if "The Wilder Way" got on like the New York Times bestseller list.

11:51 That would be so incredibly cool.

11:54 Can we make it happen anyway?

11:56 (laughs loudly) Anyway, yes.

11:59 Links in the description box and I just genuinely hope

12:02 that you guys enjoy "The Wilder Way" once it comes out.

12:06 Okay, I'm gonna go to bed now.

12:08 Great day, everyone.

12:10 (laughs softly) Good night.

12:14 Good morning.

12:17 Hi, booboo!

12:18 (softly music) (breathe deeply) Welcome to another beautiful day in the Sahara.

12:27 (soft music) (stretching loudly) (soft music) At this point in the day,

12:45 I still have no idea that in just a few hours,

12:48 I'll be stuck and broken down in the middle of nowhere.

12:51 You know what they say?

12:52 Ignorance is bliss.

12:54 Enjoy it while it lasts.

12:57 (gentle music) I do find it a little scary driving

13:06 on sand because I never really took any lessons or didn't really,

13:11 never really had to teacher anyone to teach me how to drive in sand.

13:15 Everything I know about driving in sand is literally,

13:20 literally comes from YouTube tutorials,

13:23 YouTube tutorials and experience, which I don't have that much of.

13:27 (laughs softly) So I'm just doing my best trying to keep straight and calm.

13:37 Trying not to force anything.

13:42 Just keeping a bit of momentum going.

13:45 A little section here that looks a bit shoddy,

13:50 I'm gonna go scout it out 'cause I don't,

13:53 just don't know what's hiding around the corner.

13:57 Okay, you see all of this.

13:59 So these are tire tracks all the way around here.

14:02 Some of them go up on the dune, so of them go to the side and I

14:06 just wanna make sure that I'm going the right way.

14:09 Oh yeah, I think I can just follow

14:10 these ones because every time you turn on sand,

14:14 you lose momentum and the more momentum you lose,

14:18 the more likely you are to stop altogether.

14:21 And if you stop, then you need to start again.

14:24 And that's when problems can begin.

14:27 So I'd rather just get out of the car and rec

14:29 key the route just to make sure I'm not doing anything silly.

14:33 I'm out here on my own.

14:34 No one to pull me out if I do get stuck.

14:36 So I just need to be extra careful.

14:39 (loud sound of engine) Low range.

14:44 Let's go.

14:45 (soft music) I had very little information about this route,

14:48 aside from some out of date GPX drags.

14:51 I knew that it led across dunes, slandy plateaus, riverbeds and rocky mountains.

14:56 But exactly how those landscapes looked,

14:58 remained a mystery until I saw them for myself.

15:02 You know, we live in a world governed by so many rules and I

15:05 figure it's nice to have a little bit of unpredictable energy in your life.

15:10 Hope I can make it to the top.

15:13 (soft music) Woo hoo!

15:16 Jesus Christ.

15:18 Ooh, bumpy.

15:21 Some bumps coming ahead.

15:23 Woo.

15:25 Let's go.

15:26 Let's go, Odyssey.

15:27 You can do this.

15:27 Well, I might be outta luck because this actually is a pretty deep,

15:34 (suspenseful music) deep pit.

15:39 Oh my God.

15:40 Yeah.

15:41 I mean this is, this is horrendous.

15:46 It looks like if I went in here, I could definitely flip sideways.

15:52 We are not doing that.

15:54 I'm just gonna have to go back the way that we came from.

15:59 Okay, I see people, there's a car by a tree here.

16:03 I'm just gonna go up to them and ask them for directions 'cause

16:07 there must be a different way outta here that I just don't know.

16:11 (speaks in foreign language) No.

16:17 (both speaks in foreign language) (laughs happily)

16:22 (both speaks in foreign language) This way?

16:26 Okay, so this family confirmed what I already knew,

16:29 which is that that road is impossible.

16:32 (laughs jokingly) When I told them I went there, they laughed,

16:35 (laughs softly) (speaks in foreign language) which means big problem,

16:40 but they did tell me that there is a different route that goes down there.

16:46 Can I just say, I absolutely love the fact that I feel like

16:49 I'm in some survival game out here conquering dunes and battling the elements.

16:53 Well, this local Mauritanian family is just having a little casual

16:57 picnic under a tree right here in the middle of nowhere.

17:00 Okay, I think this is the new route.

17:04 It looks like there's a lot of fresh tracks on it,

17:07 which is great because there weren't really any fresh tracks on the other route.

17:11 So this gives me a lot of confidence.

17:15 Always rely on local knowledge, you guys,

17:17 and if there are locals around that you can ask for directions or advice, do it.

17:24 Well, I was about to heed my own advice because just as I

17:28 was approaching the first village in about 100 kilometers, I got stuck.

17:34 Oh, Jesus Christ.

17:35 I was just driving through a village and I literally got stuck.

17:39 This is the most embarrassing thing in the world.

17:42 Hello?

17:43 Okay, first thing we're gonna do is air down those tires even more.

17:48 Oh, this is really the last thing I needed today.

17:50 Pretty much immediately I got an audience,

17:53 a bunch of boys from the village came running to watch the spectacle.

17:56 Oh my gosh.

17:58 Wow.

17:58 (speaks in foreign language) Look at that.

17:59 Amazing.

18:00 Homemade recovery boards.

18:01 (both speaks in foreign language) Okay, we've air down three tires.

18:09 One more to go.

18:10 Okay?

18:11 Which way?

18:12 (speaks in foreign language)- The boys

18:14 clearly thought me incapable of recovering myself.

18:17 So they offered to get Odyssey out.

18:19 Unfortunately, she stalled and then she wouldn't start again.

18:24 This is really a bad moment for the truck not to start,

18:27 but I think I may know what the issue could be.

18:32 The problem is that I need to get under the car.

18:36 (gentle music) (speaks in foreign language) Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

18:44 (soft music) Sometimes, the connector on the start of solenoid falls out,

18:49 just a couple of little connectors that lose contact with each other.

18:53 I just have to clean them and reset

18:54 them and that normally gets Odyssey started again.

18:57 (speaks in foreign language) Let's try.

18:58 (speaks in foreign language) I really hope it starts.

19:01 (gentle music) No.

19:03 Oh my God, that didn't work.

19:06 Not a good place to be stuck.

19:09 (dramatic music) If I'm honestly shaking, I'm that stressed out.

19:14 But yeah, I guess at least I'm near a village and there's people

19:19 who are trying to help and it's very kind of them that are,

19:21 that they are trying to help.

19:23 So I'm really grateful for that.

19:25 (gentle music) Frankly, I had an unbelievable amount of good luck.

19:30 Odyssey could have decided to break down literally anywhere.

19:32 But she chose to break down in the only village for 100 kilometers around,

19:37 and that village happened to have a mechanic living there.

19:40 I just hope that he knew what he was doing.

19:42 There were glimmers of hope,

19:44 (starting revving loudly) but nothing he did was properly reviving her.

19:51 So the guys brought small wires, they brought big wires from the village

19:55 that were just playing around with wires,

19:58 hoping that one of these procedures works.

20:03 These are the moments of travel that really test you.

20:06 And it's in moments like this that you have to choose to focus on the positives.

20:10 You may be broken down alone somewhere in the Sahara.

20:13 Sure.

20:14 But there are people that genuinely trying to help you

20:17 and make you feel welcome and help you get going again,

20:20 this is typical Mauritania.

20:22 (loud sound of car trying to start)

20:24 (speaks in foreign language) The ignition won't work.

20:27 So the mechanic showed me how to hot wire my own car to get her started.

20:31 Yahoo!

20:33 Well, we still need to get her out of the sand.

20:35 (loud sound of chattering in foreign language)

20:40 (both speaks in foreign language) This way?

20:43 No.

20:44 Okay.

20:44 Okay.

20:45 (speaks in foreign language) Holy shit.

20:50 I am literally done.

20:53 (laughs softly) What on earth has just happened?

20:57 I am an utter disbelief that I broke down first of all,

21:03 but that I broke down in the middle of a village.

21:07 I could have gotten stuck and broken down 50 miles ago, five miles ago.

21:13 But no, it had to happen right in the middle of a village where there

21:19 was a mechanic no less who came right away and managed to fix the issue.

21:28 What on earth?

21:29 (gentle music) Those who know?

21:32 Call it travel magic.

21:34 It's the serendipitous series of events that unfolds

21:37 when you decide to trust fully in the journey.

21:40 When you finally choose to believe that the journey is sacred,

21:45 inherently good and magical.

21:48 (gentle music) I really wish I could have a very cold beer right now,

21:58 but this is a country where the Sharia law is

22:04 in full swing and there ain't no liquor for 1000 miles around.

22:10 (laughs softly) (gentle music) The closest thing I

22:17 have to a beer is a melon milk drink.

22:23 I have no clue what this is, but I'm gonna drink it.

22:27 I'm not gonna wait for it to defrost.

22:28 I'm just gonna eat it as an ice cream.

22:35 (soft music) (chewing loudly) It's just a little bit weird.

22:42 Note to self, just stick to Fanta.

22:47 (soft music) I absolutely shattered.

22:59 Shattered emotionally and physically.

23:04 But I've said it before and I'll say it again.

23:07 Yes, Odyssey does break down.

23:10 She's a land rover, but she always knows where to break down.

23:16 She always chooses her places to break down wisely.

23:20 She has never let me down in that regard.

23:24 Today, she could have broken down five miles before the village,

23:28 five miles after the village.

23:29 She could have broken down tonight or this morning.

23:32 But instead, she chose to break down in the middle

23:36 of like the only village that I passed by today.

23:43 A village with a mechanic, (laughs softly) can you fucking believe this?

23:51 I can't believe this.

23:52 I could not make it up.

23:58 That's 'cause you're a good friend.

24:00 It's 'cause you're a good friend.

24:01 I know you have your needs.

24:04 I know you can't be perfect all the time, but I really appreciate you Odyssey.

24:10 You are a good friend.

24:12 (soft music) It may look like just any other morning in the desert,

24:40 but I am quietly mustering up the courage to hot wire my own car.

24:45 Apparently, it's the only way to get Odyssey started now,

24:48 and I'm just hoping I don't get electrocuted or burn down the engine.

24:52 In the meantime, there's one other thing that broke

24:55 on the truck and that is these clips

25:00 that hold the roof conversion down and that kind

25:04 of clip it to the body of the truck.

25:05 So both of these have snapped, which I mean it's not a huge deal,

25:11 but it does mean that every time I'm on a bumpy track and it's, you know,

25:15 I'm kind of bouncing along the force of the roof

25:18 beating down on the body of the car is just a little bit higher because there

25:22 is nothing to kind of keep it together.

25:24 Okay, now onto the fun part of the morning,

25:26 which is hot wiring my own car to get it started.

25:30 Okay, breathe.

25:31 First, key in the ignition and turn it to position number one.

25:36 (cheerful music) And now gonna be a criminal.

25:45 (revving engine loudly) (cheerful music) This is gonna give me

25:50 an anxiety attack every single time I have to start the car.

25:58 This is not good for my nerves, huh!

26:02 (gentle music) Well, I suppose if going off into the desert was easy,

26:08 everyone would do it right?

26:10 And the reason why it's a magical kingdom is because so few choose to come here.

26:17 All is well♪♪ There's nothing new to take♪♪

26:25 There's no escape♪♪ No begging♪ (soft music)♪ You'll

26:35 be okay♪♪ You're better of this way♪♪ It's

26:42 in a bag♪♪ Locked inside♪ At this point, I'm still driving my long desert trail,

26:51 but this trail doesn't end with this episode because just

26:54 as I thought I had paid off my mechanical karma debt,

26:57 the universe decided it needed another repayment.

27:00 But more on that in the next episode.

27:03 See you next week.

27:05 Golden Bear♪♪ The sound of my this way♪♪

27:11 Possessing me♪♪ Caressing me♪ (soft music)