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To the untrained eye, this may look like Paris, but it is not because it is Vegas. I mean, well, I'm not excited about being in Vegas, but I am very excited to be back in the United States. It's been far too long. It's been 2 and 1/2 years since I was last here to do like a trip. And this time I'm here for my book tour. So, I thought why not extend it and make it into an adventure. And do not ask me why I ended up in Vegas. It just happens to be a good gateway into the desert. Anyway, I've got some very cool adventures planned. So, in order to make them happen, let's go pick up my truck. Yeah, Vegas, hmm, not exactly the outdoor lover's paradise. I'm just here to meet up with my friend Dan, who you'll meet in a moment. First though,
that truck. And a big thank you to Titus Adventures who have these very cool overlanding rigs for rent in Vegas and Denver. What a beauty. Oh my god, I'm so excited. I actually started bugging them a few months ago and they agreed to lend me one of their Land Cruisers for a couple of weeks. Yay! So, the plan is to take this Land Cruiser out into the desert for a few days. I'm so excited. But before we get going, I need to do a little induction. So, let's get it done. All right, so show me how this works.
Yeah, so here's the keys to Mr. Willy. Yay! Um, like I said before, all of our vehicles are named after country western singer-songwriters. So, we're going to go over a couple things on the outside and the inside. You could like fit an entire family in there. Grab all the guts like this right here. Yeah, there's your alley cab right there. Amazing. French press, it's got a compressor, water jugs on the back as well, propane tank, foldable table, some chairs, two pillows are back here. You have heated seats, but cooled seats, climate control. This is going to be emergency battery pack.
We can also plug that into your lights for the mood lighting. And then a Leatherman. I am so excited to go into the desert. So excited. So nice. I think at this point you can probably tell I'm excited since I've said it about a hundred times in the span of two minutes. The thing is the United States got into my bones the last time I was here. There's just something about the wide open spaces and that sense of freedom that keeps me coming back. There is one thing that I've noticed about Vegas. There's all these weird street names like MGM Avenue, Bruno Mars Drive, Tropicana Avenue, and it makes me wonder are street names for sale in Vegas?
Can you just rock up and like buy a street name? You're like, "Oh, the Ava Zubek Drive." Maybe someone can answer. This is a legit question. There's Dan. Hello, Dan. How's it going? You look very surprised to see me. You're in the United States? Oh, good to see you. How are you? Can't complain. I've driven almost 3,000 miles this week. I'm in America. Well, we've got some errands to run before we set off for tonight. So, we're going to go to REI and then we're going to go to my favorite store, which is Whole Foods.
I haven't spent enough of my paycheck this week, so let's let's do that. What did you say that you call Whole Foods? Whole Foods is Whole Paycheck. That's what we call it here. And REI is not much better, so I probably say I spend more of my paycheck at REI than Yeah. Whole Foods. Yeah. All right, let's do it. Definitely not sponsored by REI in any way. Can't a girl like a good outdoor store? I need to get a few little things in here that I've been really missing back home. And then there's Dan. You're not doing American consumerism correctly unless you have at least 10 items in your hands. We need to fix this.
Now, of course we do have outdoor stores in Europe, so this is not exactly like a massive novelty, but I think it's just about like the choice. There's just so much nice stuff here. So, I am generally not allowed to come into REI, but I haven't been here in like 2 and 1/2 years, so All of this stuff is basically essential. You definitely need a camping shoe mat for your tent. Absolutely. I mean, how do you camp without one? What's a bathroom wipe? Toilet paper? Oh my god, that's insane. You squirt water onto these little tabs, unfold them, and they become like toilet paper. Have you come across bathroom
wipes which are tablet-shaped? Yes. Oh, well. Wait, you guys don't have those in Europe? We do not have them in Europe. This is a very American thing. I can't live. Not just one type of shovel, one, two, three, four, five types of shovels to dig cat holes. I've got gas. Such a dad joke. But we actually need this. Right, yes. The biggest French press I have ever seen in my entire life. Look how huge this is. Okay, next up, Whole Foods.
Again, not sponsored by Whole Foods, I promise. Also, I just found out that Amazon owns Whole Foods, and that is no good. For those of you who don't know, maybe if you're not from the United States, Whole Foods is just a very bougie grocery store, probably like My wallet. Yeah. As bougie as it gets. Dan has just died. Um but they just have so many nice things. Guess how much the soap is. So, one bar like this, right? It's a pretty standard size. You ready? Oh, handy $6 for a bar of soap. Pasture-raised eggs, organic pasture-raised eggs. That's not the top tier. The top tier is organic restorative eggs. Now,
there is one thing that just absolutely puzzles me about the United States. And that is eggs in a box. Dan, does anyone actually buy these? What is it? Eggs in a box. Never heard of her. You've never heard of eggs in a We do real eggs here. What? You've never heard of eggs in a box? That's like the most American thing in the world. No way. What? You're not a real American. I think that's some sort of European lie. This is about as close as I see her to get having a religious experience. It's I am I feel like I'm having a religious experience right now. But we haven't
even gone to the best section. So, here in the grocery. Now, there is a product that I have been missing in my life for a very long time. It is my absolute favorite thing to get in the US. And it's this. It's a tomato sauce with truffles. here we say tomato. Actually, I should probably respect that. Tomato sauce with truffles. And it's so damn good. Some of these products have like incredibly good marketing. For example, hot girl pickles. You cannot walk by with a sense of indifference, right? You can't walk past these and not be like intrigued. I feel excluded. What do you mean you're not a hot girl? Not today. I think we're going to have to grab some of these. You can take the Eastern European out of Eastern Europe, but you
can't take Eastern Europe out of the Eastern European. Ooh. Unbeatables. Yeah. Actually excellent. Look at this. Olive oil in a beer can. I mean, that seems extremely impractical, but it's kind of cool. Thank you. So, there's one thing that I've kind of forgotten about and have just now remembered about the US. Just how car-centric it is and how there's so many parking lots everywhere and you can literally park anywhere. You like you never have trouble finding parking, I guess. Which is not the case at all in Europe.
It's like the opposite in Europe. We always struggle with parking. But, I'm kind of curious what percentage of like urban areas in the United States is taken up by parking lots. I'm willing to bet it's quite a lot. Obviously, I didn't come to the US to indulge my consumerist fancy. I came for the places and their spirit. So, Dan and I headed over to a valley not too far from Vegas where we planned to camp for the night. This looks pretty amazing, actually. So, the there was a sign just outside the campground which said campground full. However, when I came to check this little sign, here's Dan. When I came to check this little sign, it actually says that the next people
are coming in on the 22nd, which is tomorrow. Never trust the signs. Right? No, use. Like, this place is empty. Yeah. to check. I mean, it's pretty amazing, so I think we're going to stay here for tonight. You know, I think to a lot of people visiting the United States right now is like almost a political act, which is interesting. I kind of get it, but I also truly believe that two things can be true at once. Number one, you may disagree with a country's politics. Number two, you can still love that country for so many other things, whatever it may be.
The people, the nature, the diversity, the traditions, you know? And uh Cuz frankly, I have really missed all of this, you know? I really missed these amazing landscapes, these amazing places, this vastness, this wildness. You know, a few years ago when I was traveling here, I really wanted to live here, to find a spot and a piece of land and move here, move to the United States. And then I ended up moving away from here and buying my land in Poland. But that that dream of potentially living here one day hasn't really fully left me. I haven't abandoned it completely. It's just it's not going to happen now, but maybe one day, you know? There is something truly, truly special about the United States.
Something that you don't find anywhere else. Whether it is this vastness or whether it is a certain kind of spirit that people here have and share that has always been here. I don't know what it is. I can't put my finger on it. But to be American means something or has always meant something. And as someone who only comes here to visit, I sense that very deeply. I love my home. I love Europe, but it's a completely different state of mind.
left to do anything. Ah. Yeah. Well, it's just me, all alone again. I'll be seeing Dad in a few days, so you'll see him in another video. Um, a very exciting video coming up in a little while. In the meantime, I've got to take a call. I know that this is a bit of a unusual place to be taking a call, but it needs to be done. So, my book, The Wilder Way, my memoir of adventure and growth and just my, you know, really personal journey, it's coming out on the 2nd of June in the United States, which is basically like
now. Um so, get it. Go get it. I'm so excited for you guys all to read it. Um but we're also doing a book tour in the United States around it. So, I'm about to chat to my um agents, my book agents, to kind of finalize some of those events. I know that San Francisco and Seattle are both sold out uh for like the event the book event and the signing, but there's still some spaces left for New York City on the 1st of June and Denver and Austin. So, if you want to come have a chat, hear me talk, hear me read from the book, get your book signed, that's where you should go. I'm going to be posting the links somewhere here.
All right. Let's get it done. Woohoo. Okay, all done. It's kind of amazing actually how, you know, like the writing of the book was a bit of a solitary process, but the publication of the book and all the events around it is super social. And all the events I've done so far in the UK, um you know, the book signings and stuff have been so much fun. It's been so great to meet so many of you. Like really one of the absolute highlights of my like my entire career, which yeah, is very cool.
Anyhow, um come see me at the book events. Come buy my book. And now I'm going to pack up the car. One of the things that never ceases to amaze me about the United States is just how big the cars are. I feel like my truck, with all of its kit, with all of its camping gear, it's quite big. But, in the US, this is a pretty standard size car. There's pickups everywhere. Nobody's hauling anything, ever. Like, I never see anyone hauling anything in the States, but everybody seems to have a pickup. And they're all like lifted. Look at this one.
Look at that lift. What would you need a lift like that? I have literally never seen a lifted pickup truck in Europe. Okay, maybe one. And I looked at it and I was like, "What is that?" So, this is very unusual. I mean, I got to say, I am partial to a good a nice pickup truck. I would love to have a pickup myself one day. But, I just feel like what would I haul? I'd need to have something to haul first before I can justify getting a pickup. But, I am excited to be here. And I am excited to adventure in the United States, cuz this is like this is adventure paradise, truly. I am just in awe. Oh my god, look at these freaking rocks. Can I just say that Americans are so spoiled? So spoiled with these views. The majesty
of nature, you guys are so spoiled. I'm so jealous. You know, it's always so much fun to do these side-by-side comparisons of Europe and America, because there's just so many tiny little everyday differences that feel quite mundane, but are actually quite fun to spot. So, I love doing that. But, on a more serious note, and I don't want to get political here, but on a more serious note, I do sense a difference from the last time that I was here, about 3 years ago. And I don't know if it's because of the timing right now, you know, with the whole situation in Iran still not being resolved, or if it's because where I sit on the political spectrum and where I guess most of my audience, most of you
guys probably sit on the political spectrum. But I can't be sure of that. But it feels a little bit heavier being here, you know, like I don't know. There's just something like it's it's harder for me to be completely politically neutral and have completely politically indifferent thoughts. I'm still just in awe with the landscape. I'm still really excited by just like the spirit of America that's still here very much so. But there's always a little like niggling thought at the back of my mind which is just like you know the politics and the economic crisis and all that stuff. Uh, so yeah, so I thought I'd share that with you guys because yeah, again, this is not a political channel, but I just
wanted to share that observation with you because it's been on my mind since I got here. And uh, I'm guessing it will disappear. You know, I've traveled to over 90 countries and people often ask me, "What's your favorite?" And I always say that I have two favorites. It's Mongolia and the United States. And do you know why I say the United States? Because regardless of the politics and everything that's going on there in the United States, you can come out to places like this. And you can just camp here. And I
I just don't get it. It's overwhelmingly freaking beautiful. I just don't get it. One big difference I see between the US and Europe is the trail culture. Of course, we have endless beautiful trails in Europe, but for the most part, they're quite well-maintained and well-groomed and well-frequented. Nowhere near as remote or rugged as the trails out here. It's almost like back home we've tamed nature and then tried to sell it back to the people as something wild. Out here in the US, the nature has always remained wild and may it long remain so. But, it sometimes strikes me that not
all Americans appreciate the incredible natural beauty that makes up so much of their country. So, if you're American and watching this, just know that I'm a little jealous. The only thing missing here is Fjolk, my dog, of course. I know he would love it here. After all, this is where I got him. But, I couldn't bring him this time because of how short and intense this trip is. And if anyone has any recommendations for 3-day mini adventures in Texas or Colorado, cuz I will be there in a very short while, let me know in the comments. See you in the next video. In the meantime, I've got some really wild and really cool adventures planned here in Utah and Arizona. So, I guess
I'll see you in the next video.
