This Didn't Go Well (My Expedition is Over)

Today isn't going according to plan Come on little girl You've got this I was supposed to finish my solo expedition to the northernmost point of Europe but instead this happened Oh God I'm getting deeper and deeper stuck And I hate this place I've spent the past two months driving all the way here just to reach the North Cape I've driven over 3 000 miles across Sweden and Finland sleeping in extreme cold and in winter I traveled alone through the Arctic Circle But now it seems my journey is in danger Oh no she's really stuck So how will this end I've already been digging for half an hour Exactly Will I reach my goal It seems the North Cape doesn't want me Well then here we go morning begins Let's go baby Come on I got stuck How could I have gotten stuck here Oh no So what happened I was driving at maybe ten miles per hour and slipped gently to the side It's incredibly slippery here and suddenly I'm in the ditch How on earth am I supposed to get out of this It's 7 a m on a Sunday along a country road I have no idea where I am I don't think anyone will be by here anytime soon so I'll shovel some snow and take a look whether I can get out this way Just clear away the snow so I might have a better chance of getting out of the ditch more easily Okay let's see Come on Odyssey You've got this baby come on Before I dig further I'll just check whether my winch reaches the tree Oh my God They literally just drove right past me They only waved at me smiled and kept going That is a no I've been digging for half an hour already Exactly that should be enough Come on Nothing I'm getting more and more stuck Damn it Yes I think I can't go any further now But there are a few houses down there I'll go and ask if they can help me It's always fun to suddenly show up on someone's private property in a foreign country—it's not at all unsettling I don't think there's anyone here I'm just checking my Google Maps and it seems There are a few vacation rentals just down the road I'll go check if anyone's there Hello Hi um I'm calling because my car got stuck in a ditch in the snow Yes Okay I'm sending the location and hopefully they can come soon I think I know why this happened It's because I pitched my tent right behind the sign that said " Camping forbidden" last night That 's karma That's definitely karma Oh no she's really stuck I find this tilt absolutely terrifying Absolutely terrifying Hey Boba I was still waiting for help and of course tried to distract myself and then finally a car drove by The driver got into Odyssey and tried to pull her out but he succeeded just as little as I did To be honest I felt a bit better because it meant I wasn't completely useless You know it's just about ego I tried He couldn't do it He fought his way through Finally help arrived in the form of this massive machine That could be my tow truck That's a damn tractor Well if this thing can't pull off the Odyssey then I don 't know what else could Here we go He pulled and pulled And I think I'm now stuck in the opposite direction Yeah I didn’t realize I was supposed to brake when he pulled me out Now I’m stuck again only this time facing the opposite direction Second round Good And we're outside Crisis averted I have a long journey ahead of me today as I plan to drive all the way to the North Cape e northernmost point of Europe And that is precisely the purpose of this journey Being stuck set me back a few hours behind schedule But I'd hoped I'd still make it today Alright I'm going to stop for gas and pick up a small snack That's 230 euros for one liter of diesel That's probably the highest price I've ever paid for diesel I think it's more expensive than in Kudu Bay up north in Alaska Well I need it Here we go On we go I still have about five hours of driving ahead of me That should get me to the destination of this journey When you set a goal and get so close to it it feels almost surreal as if you're running a whole day in a single moment Hopefully there won't be any more hiccups this time Oh wait I'm stuck again already I can't believe it Oh I just wanted to pee quickly really quickly and then got stuck Oh this time it's really bad really bad I think Oh damn it Oh my God there's so much wet snow lying there I just slipped in here I meant to pull over by the side but I just ended up sliding in Oh God I hate this angle Alright let's give it a try Come on come on you've got this hold on Come on you've got this little girl come on for heaven's sake Yes please Yes my saviors So these guys are from the Norwegian Army They happened to pass by and were kind enough to offer me their help They tried to pull Odyssey out of the ditch And the angle at which she landed frightened me so much I could barely bring myself to look Despite their best efforts this mission appeared doomed to fail There was nothing left to do but pull out Odyssey for the second time today Oh my God these guys were so kind They stopped immediately and did whatever they could to help me Seriously if you're seeing this thank you You've saved my day Good heavens here we go But seriously this time I've vowed not to get stuck anywhere else I mean I managed to stay in the Arctic for quite a long time without getting stuck even once But today I don't know the energy was everywhere It was just something special Enkäp is a kind of community here in Norway And only 3 000 people live here year-round Honestly I'm not even sure whether this number refers to people They live here year-round But around 200 000 to 250 000 tourists come here each year Can you imagine that The majority of people who live here Work in fishing in these small fishing villages around the North Cape or in tourism Of course there's not much going on otherwise I drive around wondering if I could live out here Could I live in one of these small villages And I think the answer is that it would truly be difficult Not even due to the seclusion as that's an advantage because of the wind o the wind Alright I'm almost there I've nearly reached the North Cape which was the goal of this journey You know the ultimate objective of this entire expeditio and I'm just about to arrive I'm fairly certain it will be dark by the time I get there So this is a good exercise in delaying gratification since I have to wait until tomorrow to see it Quick work I can't believe it Okay normally there's a convoy in winter that takes you to the North Cape You can't go alone and this convoy starts here But I just drove past the barrier and headed toward North Cape since the road is open now It's open today because there's no snow on it So it's pretty much certain And I'm truly happy and excited about it If I'd had to wait for the convoy I'd have to wait until tomorrow So I can sleep at the North Cape tonight Oh my God I can sleep there I can sleep at the northernmost drivable point in Europe Isn't that crazy Okay we're here And there are a few other people camping as well One two three four five And that actually puts me at ease It's supposed to get really windy tonight I was a little worried something might go wrong if I were alone Today has gone badly wrong Okay so we'll start the engine set up the tent and take a short walk But I'll show you everything tomorrow as it will be late and dark I think it'll be lovely to wake up tomorrow Or it will be lovely to wake up tomorrow Hey Boba wanna go hiking You want to go hiking right now You hungry What would you like Would you prefer to eat go hiking or swim Imagine reaching a goal you've been pursuing for a long time You're here but you can't see it Sleep one more time and hopefully this journey will feel truly complete Guess what I'm having for dinner tonight Excellent So this is the northernmost dinner I've ever had in my entire life Exactly because Prudhoe Bay in Alaska where I was a year and a half ago is actually farther south than the North Cape where I am now I'm definitely bringing my noodles and tomato sauce to this remote cold and windy place Good night Boba Oh my God this is paradise Oh you know it was a pretty stressful day I got stuck twice and ended up driving much farther than intended I think I drove for about eight hours today What's quite a lot for me considering that this truck is really uncomfortable to drive I'm also tired and can hardly wait to wake up tomorrow and begin the next chapter of this journey—returning home So good so happy Good morning Hello good morning everyone It's been a somewhat windy night The car wobbled a bit here and there but we made it through Alright I think it's time to get ready for the day Oh I could easily stay here in this sleeping bag for another week Alright I spent last night here You can see it now in daylight A few of us are camping here And M the northernmost point in continental Europe accessible by car is just behind that building there So we'll drive there Let's see what this is all about Alright I guess this is it—the northernmost point in Europe We did it Apart from the fact that there are a few butts involved it's not actually the northernmost point in Europe since that's located elsewhere So this is merely the northernmost point in continental Europe But even that isn't true since it's actually over there This is the northernmost point in continental Europe accessible by car But we made it We made it I mean this place is a wonderful reminder that it's really about the journey not so much the destination I mean this trip was all about winter adventures camping in the car and the people I met along the way The cool things and the fact that I was here aren't really important I think I'm just here to say that I was here But the entire journey and everything that was supposed to happen on this journey It didn't really happen That was funny then What happens next Good question I've got a very long drive home ahead of me so I'll think about it then