Alone in a Cabin in the Woods (Montana)

Ah, the dream. The dream of a cabin in the woods. That is the most adorable thing I've ever seen in my life. If you're watching this, then you've probably thought about it. So cozy. What would it be like to live surrounded by trees and wildlife with minimal possessions in a cabin far away from everybody else? So rare to be this alone, to experience this level of solitude. Following in the footsteps of Thoreau, as he spent two years alone at Walden Pond. I feel my brain, like, compressing. Or Alexander Supertramp as he made a short-lived home for himself in Alaska's wilderness. I mean, come on! Look, I know the feeling. Because I've flirted with that dream as well. I'll build a little shack just like this one. So as I continue to search for a place to call home, I've found this cabin deep in the forest to see what that life might be like. To reach the cabin, you have to drive into the forest, park your car, and then hike a few miles through the woods. And at that point, you end up very far from everybody else with no internet electricity cell signal. Well, is it really as great as Thoreau would have you believe? Okay, I think this is it. I believe the trail to the cabin is somewhere behind those trees. And this place honestly feels very, very remote. There is no cell signal here. The only way to get here is on this really small, really rough track. And I haven't seen anyone in a few miles. Vjok is clearly smelling animals around here. So I think the only thing to do now is just get going. You ready? You ready to go? There's one last thing I need to do before heading out, and that is find a way to transport this firewood. It's been raining quite heavily the last week or so. So I don't expect to be able to find any dry firewood in the cabin or near the cabin. How the hell am I gonna do this? Just like sling this over my shoulder. Like... Okay, I think I found a way. So now the firewood is inside. This is definitely going to work. Oh, for ****'s sake. That took way longer than it should have. All right, let's go. Let's go? Let's go. Come on, buddy. We need the tonic of wildness, wrote Thoreau. I'm not sure if he imagined that some YouTuber would be quoting his words 170 years later, wearing an ultralight backpack and filming herself do a hike on a fancy camera. But here we are. That's our reality today. All right, so there's, I know, a whole bunch of prints here. This one here is wilk. This is shoes. But check this one out. This one here, I think that's a bear. Ever so slightly unnerving. But that's why I've got this. And that's why I'm making weird sounds all the time, like talking into the camera or just shouting. I mean, I knew there would be bears in here. Um, Wilk? How'd you get there? Come on, let's go. I mean, come on. And I wonder, can I give you what you need? Don't want to find I've lost it all. Too scared to have no one to call. So can we just pretend? So in order to deter bears, one strategy is to sing. Make sounds and sing. In the United States, 80% of all people live in cities today. Within 25 years from now, 90% of us will be living in cities. Oh, wow. That's a lot of dead trees. This way. Yeah, under. Good boy, yes. It's a lot harder with a backpack than without one. How on earth are we even supposed to drink from this tonic of wildness without quitting our jobs, selling everything, moving out of the city and into the woods? Is that even realistic? Yeah, I guess that means we're close. Come on, buddy. Yeah, you're right. I did have to cross that bridge twice in order to get the two shots. That's how it works. There it is. Oh, my God, it's so cute. It's literally just in the middle of the forest. Oh, my God, that's amazing. This is our home. Let's see if I remember the combination. Yes. I am so curious about this. I know it's very basic, but I don't know just how basic. Oh, my God. That is the most adorable thing I've ever seen in my life. I'm going to feed the boy, go get some more water and relax for a second. Who the hell brings raw meat for the dog on a hike? I don't know if bears come. It's your fault, OK? Free. OK, let's go. Noodles. Oh, nice and hearty. The longer I sit here, the more I realize just how far I am from other humans right now. A few miles in every single direction, for sure. Because all around me, there's just forest, forest, mountains, rivers, creeks. So rare to be this alone, to experience this level of solitude. And it's quite refreshing, frankly. I know it's hard to believe because it's so light outside, but it's almost 9pm. Check this out. See? So I'm going to move this party inside because there's actually a stove inside, which is so exciting. All right, so bit by bit. All right, move away, move away. OK, I want to show you something. The most Instagram-y, bougie thing I've ever done while camping. But I love it. So cozy. Suddenly, it just got a little bit dark the moment that the sun set behind the mountain. So I think I'm just going to close the door in a few moments and prepare my bed. Because right now, it's a bit of a mess. Figure out where Vilka's going to sleep. Probably on the floor in his sleeping bag. And maybe write a little bit, maybe read a little bit. Somehow, I managed to bring only one single tea bag today. And I really want to have tea for breakfast. So I'm just going to dip it in the warm water to flavor it a little bit now. And save this one for tomorrow. It's not too bad, actually. It's quite nice. I'm going to switch off the lights, keep the fire going. See you tomorrow. You ready to go? You ready to go play? Well, get it. Get stick. Where's stick? Good boy. Spin. Twist. Yeah. A day and a night is just that. A day and a night. The novelty is there, the excitement, the wonder. I'd love to come here again, but stay for a longer period of time. A week, a month. Would you last a month out here in the woods with no human contact? Nobody to talk to or share your feelings with? Would you be happy with just your thoughts for company? How long do you think you'd last? Well, I have to say it. I slept like ----. I don't know what it was, whether it was veal whooping around or, you know, being out here in this completely new place, new environment for the first time. I don't know, but I just did not get a good night's sleep. I just kept waking up. But that's fine because this, all of this here this morning, more than makes up for it. It's beautiful. We're ready to see the outhouse. Oh my god, this is so awesome. Imagine having this as the place where you live. Voila! Yep, it's just a hole in the ground, pretty much. No running water. This is it. It's quite cosy actually. If you ignore the spiders. You know how in recent years people have started building like meditation rooms inside their houses? Well, one day when I have a piece of land in the forest I'll live in, I will build myself a meditation cabin. Like on the very edge of that land, I'll build a little shack just like this one that has no amenities in it beyond a wood-burning stove, a mattress, anything that's in there. That's exactly what I'll have. And that will be my place to go to, to decompress, to just be silent. And I don't want to say disconnect because in reality, I think I would go there to connect, just not to the noise and the pressure. But go and connect to this, all of this. We need the tonic of wildness, wrote Thoreau. And I agree. I don't think I need to preach to the choir here. But if you've ever seen or read Into the Wild, you know there is an important lesson at the end of that story. Happiness is best when shared. And as much as I love the dream of a solitary cabin in the woods, I don't think I could live in one full time. See, I need that human connection. I need to see the eyes of a person I love, their lips smiling at me. Well, perhaps one day I could bring that person to the cabin with me. I don't want to go, but it's time to go. Just swept, cleaned the place up a little bit, left some extra kindling for the next person. And well, it's time to hike back out to civilization. This backpack just won't give me a break. Let's go. Good boy. Yeah, let's go. Let's go, buddy. Come on, let's go. Let's go. Yeah, let's go. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I know, I know, I know. I know. Spin. Good boy.