SHIPPING MY TRUCK on a Cargo Vessel (Across the Ocean)

The life of an adventure travel YouTuber isn't always adventure and travel all the time. I mean, it sounds kind of obvious, doesn't it? But I don't think everybody appreciates that. So, I've been having a bit of downtime over the last month. I've been staying at my grandparents' place in Poland, staying in their guest bedroom, which has felt a little bit surreal. Because I don't know when I'll see them next, really. I'm about to leave on my biggest and longest expedition to date. And I may not come back for a year or two. Certainly not with Odyssey. This video is about that. It's about that expedition, which I'll tell you about at the end, because we have a long, long, long drive ahead of us today. And about packing. I mean, how do you pack for an expedition that's gonna last two years or more? I don't know. I have no idea. But I better get packing. And yes, I have a new fringe and I absolutely love it. And I also have a new tattoo. It's so big. It's an abstract piece that represents wildness and freedom and creativity and emotion. You can see all this stuff on my Instagram, by the way. That's where I post all these kinds of dates as well. Anyway, it's like a new me. I'm Eva and I'm a full-time adventurer. I want to bring you on a journey that's all about being brave, experiencing the world and feeling truly alive. My travels have been one hell of an adventure so far. But last summer, I bought an old Land Rover Defender and converted it into an off-road expedition truck. I now wander around the world and live in my 4x4. Hit subscribe to join my adventure crew and watch real raw travel videos every week. So much stuff. I'm bringing like 50 kilograms of spare parts. It's like I'm bringing a whole new spare car, honestly. It's not because I'm crazy. I don't think. It's because the place I'm going to is the kind of place where you just don't find Defenders very much. So it's hard to get spare parts. They get shipped from like Europe and other continents. And also, I'm going to be gone for like two years. Better safe than sorry. Do I know what any of this is for? No. Will I learn eventually? Probably, yes. I'm willing to take a chance. Nope, nope, nope, nope. I don't think I can do this. Plan B. Remove. Remove what's inside. And put it back in on top of it. Anyone will tell you just how amazing overlanding is. How liberating and surprising and epic your overland journeys can be. But it's only once you dive in, once you commit, that you realize that buying spare parts, lifting heavy loads and preparing for breakdowns is a big part of the deal you've just cut. So how do you pack enough clothes for two years? I have no idea. I've never done that before. I think you just pick your favorite stuff. Don't bring too much. Only bring the stuff you actually wear. Check it in. One of the great discomforts of traveling full-time is that you don't really have a place that you can come back to. You don't really have a place where you can, you know, store all of your stuff in a safe way. So, you know, I bring my content along with me on drives like this. Not all of it, of course. Most of it. I have several boxes of these. I leave at my grandparents' place because it's the only place that I know I'll probably come back to eventually. And I know that it's safe here. But this is just like one of those behind-the-scenes things that you don't really see. You have to get used to living in this really uncertain, unpredictable way, which is how I like to live, so I don't mind it. But it's not for everyone, that's for sure. Odyssey is going to be going on a ship for about three weeks. And I was told by the shipping company that helped me arrange the shipping that I shouldn't leave any valuables inside the car. So basically, I have to give up my keys to the ship crew so that they can move the car around if need be and they'll have access to the car. Now, there's lots of places throughout that journey where stuff could get lost or stolen. Doesn't happen that much, but it does happen. So I was like thinking, how can I leave a couple of valuables inside the car that I don't want to bring with me on the plane because they're too heavy? And well, I do have a safe right here that not everyone knows about. In fact, that nobody knows about. Let me show you. It's really clever, actually. Just I trust you not to ever break into my car if you spot me. So here is the sort of cup container, cup holder. We just kind of lift it up and there's a little key hole. And I just take my key, I open it, voila. And here's my safe underneath the armrest. This is my big drone. Oh, yeah, it's going to fit, I think. Perfect. And as usual, I'm bringing an entire library of books with me. This is enough reading material for about a year, maybe more. All my pots and pans and kitchen appliances, the entire kitchen, in fact. There's so much stuff. You know, I've been away from this lifestyle for about three months now. And it's amazing. It's amazing how much planning and stuff goes into living full-time in a car or a van or whatever. You really have to bring everything with you. You know, packing is an art. Packing for a two-year journey is a miracle. Very important, high-visibility vest. I'm going to put that just behind the driver's seat, just in case, you know. And there's a few good luck charms that I want to make sure that I keep inside Odyssey. This is one of them that I got from my dear friend, Kristen. It's like a dinosaur tooth or a shark tooth or something. I don't know, but it's awesome. So that's going right here. Perfect. And this little cute Garfield that I got from a friend. That's going to go here as well. Oh, yes, perfect. And these charms that I got from Turkey. And this one that I got from Romania. So I don't know if I believe in the power of good luck charms themselves, but I definitely believe that there's energy there. That the person that gave that good luck charm to you wanted you to be happy or safe or healthy. And I think that energy is something that that's the real power, not the charm itself, but the energy that came with it. I really dreaded saying goodbye to my grandparents. No matter how much time I spend with them, it never really feels like enough. And saying goodbye never gets easier. You need to send a lot of messages. Okay, I will, I will, I will. Yeah. Kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss. Of course. Kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss. Good people are safe. They always take care of each other. I really hate goodbyes. I can't do them. They're so hard. They make me so sad. And, you know, I have to say goodbye all the time in this life that I lead on the road, but it never gets easier. I wish I could just run away, you know, and just not say bye, just casually leave. But that's not how things are done. Anyways, I had to drive off and I just quickly get out of there and stopped at a gas station. And now I'm recording this and yeah. Right now I'm on my way to a port in northern Germany, but that's not the final destination. That's just the intermediary destination. Once I reach the port, I'm going to be putting Odyssey on a ginormous ship and then she's going to be sailing off west from there. But we'll get to that a bit later. For now, I just need to get to a campsite for the night, you know, set up camp, get some rest a couple of hours from now and keep driving tomorrow. So without much further ado, that's what we're going to do. That rhymed. Anyway, I hate saying goodbye. I really hate goodbyes. It's a few hundred miles from where my grandparents live in Poland to the shipping port I need to get to in Bremerhaven in northwestern Germany. And if buying a Defender has taught me anything, it's to take things slow. Content yourself with 100 kilometers an hour and enjoy the scenery. Guys, I can't believe I'm staying the night here. I thought I would have to overnight in like a parking lot or at a petrol station. This is a legit lake. This is legit scenery. Sunset. And just to have to be back on the road. I need to perform my little trick and get the pipe set up. A lot of people passing by. Being very curious about what on earth I'm doing. I am like the only person here on this entire campsite because it's so hot. And it's freaking end of February. Who goes camping in Germany in February? Exactly. Grandmas are actually the best. When I left, my grandma packed me like two days worth of food. Sandwiches. Fried cauliflower bites. Dessert. And little cherry tomatoes, which are so cute. Feels just like being back home. This is what I'm having for dinner tonight. So here's the pipe that's bringing warm air into the tent from the diesel heater that's inside the car. So I just went downstairs just now. Downstairs. I say it like it's a house. I just went down to turn up the heater a little bit. And I was just outside and then this guy comes up to me and he really freaks me out because I didn't see him coming. And he's like, hi, I saw you here. You have a Defender. I have a Defender too. And I just wanted to give you something. He gave me his heater. So I have two heaters right now in the tent. So this is going to be a balmy, balmy night. Oh, it's like a sauna in here. Okay, well, update. The heater that I was given stopped working. So now I only have the one. It's pretty cold out here. So I just hope that I don't kick off the blanket in the middle of the night and that I can sleep in peace. It is pretty cozy in here though. Long drive ahead tomorrow, so good night. Good morning. It's so pretty out here. And it's so quiet. You can just hear the ducks on the lake. Well, and my heater. But other than that, it's just silent. I am in luck today because this is an actual campsite. I know it doesn't really look like it. That's because it's completely empty. But since it's a campsite, there's toilets and bathrooms here. So, you know, it's so comfortable. It feels almost like summer. Except it's much colder and windier. But almost like summer. Oh, no. I don't have toothpaste. I'm used to this fridge. I mean, I love it, but there's going to be high maintenance down the line. The battery complained for a second there. There was something wrong with it. But we're good, we're good, we're good. Okay, let's go. This is the last time I fill up the tank in Europe for a very long time to come. It's crazy stuff. Always assume two things. Number one, that this car consumes lots and lots of fuel. In fact, she only consumes 10 litres for every 100 kilometres on average. Which is kind of like a bigger passenger car. And number two, people also assume that the tank is massive and that it can go on for like a hundred, a thousand kilometres on a single tank. 50 litres. Oh, well, 60 litres. I've never had to use the spare tank on top because it's pretty rare to see places in Europe where there's not a gas station for more than, you know, maybe a hundred kilometres. After many, many hours of slow, slow driving, I was finally on the home stretch. Only a few short hours until I leave Odyssey behind. I'm seeing more and more trucks and lorries on the road with carrying big shipping containers. Which must mean that we're getting closer and closer to the port. Now, I'm getting really nervous right now because I'm stressed out for Odyssey. I'm realising that I'm putting this car on some random ship that's going to sail across the Atlantic. And then what? I've got like real butterflies in my stomach. As if I was going on that journey myself. Those are also overlanding trucks that I'm sure, I'm sure are being sent somewhere from this port. Odyssey is going to have some friends on the ship. This is so crazy to see. It's just like hundreds upon hundreds of new cars being either shipped here to Europe or out of Europe. I have no idea. Giant, ginormous ships everywhere that look like mountains of steel. Oh dear, BLG. I mean, the port is crazy intimidating. Oh God, oh no. This is empty. Cool. Upstairs, I guess. Ring the bell, maybe? Well, that looks very much closed. Everything upstairs looks pretty closed as well. Ja, für mich auch. Okay, I have to go 500 meters to the right to a different car park. I hate bureaucracy. You have no idea how much I hate bureaucracy. Maybe more than anything else in the world apart from stupidity. But it's okay, it's okay. I can do this. It's not that bad. Just move the car. Just drive to the right and then I'll be okay. This is the spot. But they're on a break apparently right now so I have to wait about half an hour. So I'm going to take this opportunity to pack because I haven't actually fully packed yet and sort of prep the car. Where do I even begin? Here's the thing. My shipping agent told me that I shouldn't leave any valuables inside the car but I can't bring them with me in any other way. I have to leave some stuff inside the car. So the power station has to stay. I can't bring it on a plane. This cute little neon light has to stay because I can't bring it. And a whole bunch of other things. So I'm just going to pack these and I'm going to store them in a secret spot. A new secret compartment that Odyssey got which locks so that none of these valuables don't get damaged or taken by anyone. It's a real risk. I love how I'm doing this at the port, at the parking lot 10 minutes before the car is due to be picked up. Most people I know would have done this a week ago in the comfort of their home but you know I got nothing to say about that. No comment. There is not one way to live. New secret lockable compartment. Now I haven't checked yet whether this stuff will actually all fit in here but let's have a look. Perfect! Climbing shoes, climbing helmet No! They're too big. Too big as well. Well at least the gloves fit so that's good. I'm running out of space. Coming in 10 minutes. Someone just came to check up on me. I have 10 minutes to sort out this ginormous mess. Carabiners and climbing harness pee bottle You might recognize this one from Antarctica. I really hope nobody tries to steal this thing. I mean joke's on them if they do, right? Alright, check this out. This is how I'm leaving her. There's just one more thing remaining. The water tank. This is it. This is how she's going to sail to Mexico. So the next time I see her she's going to look like this. I hope. Okay, now I have this label with my car's VIN number and details and the destination that I need to stick onto the window. And that's done. So I have to now follow this guy to I don't know where, but I'm assuming to a spot that's designed for camper vans and motorhomes of all kinds. Where eventually someone will pick up Odyssey and drive her onto the ship. I don't do that myself. I'm not even sure if the ship is already here. It doesn't seem like it anyway. Wow. Big machinery here. So these are the other two cars currently here. One motorhome and one 4x4 with a rooftop tent as well just like Odyssey. And there she is. Just a few last checks before I leave her here. Bye Odyssey! See you in Mexico! I already miss her. Danke! Alleine nach Mexico? Ja! Home! Kein Problem! You know what? I think I should just start saying see you later rather than goodbye. I think that would make the goodbyes a little bit easier to process. Anyway, right about now Odyssey is sailing across the ocean on a giant cargo vessel. So while that is happening, I'll be taking a couple of side trips to other places and meeting Odyssey out west in a few weeks from now. And that's going to mark the beginning of a very new very big expedition. In fact, my biggest and longest journey to date. No return ticket. So it's really, really exciting. It actually feels like a completely fresh start. There's been a lot happening behind the scenes in my personal life that I haven't talked about just yet because I haven't really felt ready. But I do definitely want to update you guys on everything that's going on so I hope to do that in next week's video. That's that. Everything just feels very fresh and very new right now. A little bit scary to navigate but kind of exciting in a way. Anyway, let's all wish Odyssey happy sailing and I'll see you guys in next week's video. Muah! Keep exploring!