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Walking Alone in the Wilderness: A Story of Survival (Part 1) | Nat Geo Live


one day I was sitting in Australia in a
desert the land was rape I was next to
an old man all a virgin man and after we
gaze in the horizon after a few minutes
he looked at me and he said hey little
one you’ll be careful and I look at him
a bit wondering about what’s going on
here
you be careful who you tell your story
to because this is the most precious
thing you would never own that isn’t
little man welcome to my world
it’s a really important night tonight we
need to connect and feel connected I’d
like you to come with me in my life
journey let’s go walking so that start
actually here in State High this amazing
ID like I saw this little trail called
PCT had no idea what was going on there
I read was amazing journey going from
the northern part of the States in the
Canadian border crossing all the West
I’m reaching the Mexican border I
thought this is for me right let’s do
this anyway I’ll start my journey in a
Canadian border in May 2000 I come from
the mountain right so I know about snow
a little bit anyway I thought makes a
good time you know
I start walking not knowing much about
the bear story because I thought it was
over bird story out there about bears
grizzly bear I thought I better do that
on my own way so I do not get scared
right I start walking into the forest
and I had my plan B going on you know I
thought if anything goes really wrong
I’d just jump on a tree this is a good
plan anyway I keep walking over the dais
and I look at the I look at the tree
they had this funny mark on the side of
the of the tree also what is this thing
going on there and I saw this you
Clow Marcus early early early car those
things climbing you know I can see this
mark on a tree I thought oh this is
gonna be tough one anyway a few days
later I climb a submit’ full of snow and
unfortunately the weather change his
cold front become a really hot front
really warm from going on and that was
my first time I nearly fine death I was
on this slope going like really really
really like that on the lateral Way of
the mountain suddenly I feel my legs
going like that under snow falling down
the avalanche was nearly taking me I had
this surviving skills of running hop
Hill find this big rock hiding behind a
rock and I’ve been staying there for six
days well I survived right that’s all
mirror really so I did what everybody
will do wake up every day at 3 o clock
in the morning and testing the snow one
day that snow will be hard enough for me
to go on I did exactly that
but first mistake I didn’t have all the
topographic map you know you’ve got a
trailer full of a trail so you’ve got
the trail map right but this is wrong
you always have to have a plan B if
anything goes wrong you need to go you
need to know what’s going on around that
so I didn’t have those map so I follow a
Green Valley down the hill arrived there
and after a few days finally a rich like
old still car park and this old woman
was there she looked at me and she was
like oh what’s going on a bear somewhere
or something and this woman look at me
like she saw the devil in me
her husband ran so what’s going on as I
don’t know
and you look at me say are you alright
I say I’m just fine are you sure I had
second-degree burn on my face and my old
face was a big blister who actually
we’re falling down piece of skin was
falling down my face but I didn’t care
about that I was just about surviving
anyway the story goes on so I get to
that little village I was starving and
get into the first pub and I start to
eat my fish and chips you know first
plate second plate on my second plate
the police come behind say miss Marcus
yeah come with us please
did you walk to those land there so well
I just get off the mountain was
dangerous yeah you walk on FBI land like
well there is I didn’t know that there
was some snow everywhere well well okay
so give me a ticket and was like a
$5,000 warning like if I don’t get out
of that Washington state in 48 hour I
will get arrested so I was like all
right Plan B anyway
I make connection I flew all the way
down to Santiago and started walking
from the Mexican border this time I
thought as can be safe well safe kind of
because I had at that time the Mojave
Desert in front of me in full July a bit
more complicated anyway I finished this
incredible journey I can go on all night
about this journey because it’s been
really incredible we save a guy in a
river nearly dead John and he survived
after a long journey of running away
from them from the guy for two days to
get help in this really remote area but
Owen well I finished and then back home
had my mind it was like if I open little
door inside my mind how do we
I dreams big dreams and had this dream
of Australia what’s the bad if I start
in a middle and I go all around it and
finish in the middle it’s like a 14
months Joanie 30 kilometers a day 14,000
kilometers and I just did that
I start after one year preparation after
three months I met my dog Joe he was in
a farm not really happy I stole the dog
run away with the dog arrived in a
forest completely exhausted out of
breath I was like okay I’ve got a dog
let’s do this talk to the dog I say well
we’re gonna walk together right we’re
gonna do 10,000 kilometres together look
at me say yes I mean and we took off and
we had this amazing journey
I finished my expedition with him and I
bring him back to Switzerland he’s a
wild dog it’s off dingo of Red Hill ER
and he survived and he lived until it
was 17 years old in the snow so just two
weeks before the end of this expedition
I walk in a place a special place an
Aboriginal community anyway I had a bit
of a health problem there I wake up near
a fire pit and I all again here was I
was like right this looks interesting to
me and I was like what’s going on they
had they save me I just collapse in a
dune and they save me and accept me in
the community like they own I had a mum
this is my mum I’ve got sisters and what
happened we go hunting together and I
was like oh yes I can go hunting with
them imagine what I’m gonna learn
because I was hunting myself so I was
when I was hunting I was something like
that
just try to make no noise at all I just
got to be one with nature what didn’t
work really well I was I was hunting
with those woman and they had they’ve
got this big butt going on you know and
you can see them moving through the
landscape and they were talking to each
other they online other I’m moving there
but but suddenly one result one Guana I
was like what I didn’t see anything they
were yelling at each other
well I make the point and I’m gonna fall
over her from behind all the way I did
that for a long time never find a hurt
trick she knew where the laser the
gunner was and where to find food those
people got this amazing connection with
nature you will never believe how
connected they are and from the day one
it was a bit of a problem me be there
you know so what happened
it’s they decide to marry me yeah they
marry me to George
one morning I realized that I was
married how cool is that right nope no
wedding preparation for months and
months you just married like that and I
said can I see my husband you know
innocently which one is it and she
pointed this guy behind the tree out
there
he was cross-legged with painting he was
painting his name is George it was 80
years old
so the young woman they used to marry
them with the old one to make the
community quite stable
but those people those are my people for
me was it that was it that was my family
that was my place that was the where I
belonged to you know everything was so
natural so pure in a lot of ways for me
that was the answer and one day they say
well you know everybody’s got a totem so
some some are
kangaroo some of the EMU some of the
snacks and they give me a taught em and
they say to me are you you are a shabby
rule see a shabby room
what is it ribeirão you know oh it’s a
bird
oh wow I’m a bird I’m a beautiful bird
I’m so happy I was so proud you know
like what can be better than a bird
really
so this is the bird the most egregious
bird I never see so but they weren’t
they were not that wrong look at the
legs long legs
big nose right anyway I finished my
expedition I finally walk away from from
my family this family and I promised
myself if I walk away from here
I have to talk I have to communicate
with the world
about this possible connection with
nature and that’s what I start doing
soon as I get home I start writing and
giving conference then meanwhile I was
doing this I dis wire dream I I saw one
of the little story about those Inca
people during the Inca Empire where they
were running on the top of the Andes and
I thought what what’s going on there and
I hadn’t been doing some research and
that this wild expedition start
I plan to walk from Santiago de Chile
the capital all the way following the
Ender’s go through Bolivia arriving to
Peru and then go have the mat-su Picchu
well I did just that eight months of
really surprising journey and to arrive
in my to be two in one piece
really skinny well I lose a lot of
weight and I get arrested by the Special
Forces there too after three minutes on
bunch with you but I made it so with the
help
my brother my little brother we were
really a big help at that time because
he did resupply point all the way
through babe because there is no much
food on water about expedition and then
I had this relaxed time in Switzerland
you know I got time between two
expedition where I just breathe you know
and leave and so I was going to my
little grocery store and it’s a little
organic store where I go to buy all my
stuff and I had all my bags and get out
of the shop try to cross the road was
too many cars going on and I thought
okay I put my bag down and just look
around a little bit turn around and I
see this little travel agency behind me
and this big picture they’re massive
picture green picture with like a
Mongolian steppe you can actually feel
drawn into the picture was so great like
with a wah anywhere when home didn’t
think about it then this picture growing
me and I start to search about Mongolia
then the biker lake not far from it
Siberia and then south of it you’ve got
the Gobi Desert right and then if you go
south is it China amazing China and then
Lao and Thailand then if you we could be
the water but then you’ve got Australia
well I just I just did that I build this
incredible expedition two years
preparation to walk from Siberia all the
way down to Australia took me three
years
well didn’t didn’t you know things
happen on the way we’re going to see
what happened what when an expedition
really started it’s not everything has
you plan you know Mongolia has been
surprising and needed to start three
time to go to Mongolia to it’s not
enough don’t don’t take no for an answer
never do that you know I first know it’s
a good safe know
and first no it’s mean you not in a
right door you could feel the door to go
in and really the Gobi Desert in
Mongolia was about that
howdy terminate our Wars this land not
gonna let me go through the first time
and I hope I hone my passage there
because every step I was doing I was not
following a trail I make my own Trail I
make my own reality one step at a time
took me through years oh you know take a
bit of time but imagine you can go
around the world on foot imagine the
thing is you can do this but you have to
know how you brain works a little bit
you know if you if you tell your brain
right you know I’m going to go around
the world on foot it’s gonna say yeah
right you know sit on the couch watch TV
relax have a drink you you will see you
forget about this idea later on so don’t
let your brain you little computer makes
funny decision for you right you need to
be on charge in this one you dream it’s
the most important thing then you can
have well how big is the dream go for it
but it’s one step at a time so I reached
three years later this little tiny
amazing tree look at this picture so
that was a tree then I met on my
Australian journey between 2002 and 2003
I made that tree I make a promise to
that tree I say darling don’t worry I
will be back and when the ID of
finishing my expedition where I could
finish my expedition and my team was
saying well Sarah you’re going to finish
in town so we can we’ve got the media
we’ve got the TV station coming in I
said no way we can
finish there it’s middle of nowhere and
I finish exactly near my tree
[Music]
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