Expedition Happiness (2017) Movie Script
Felix is from a wine region
in South Germany.
People there work really hard
for their money,
and some even start building
their own house
at a very young age.
But he noticed early on
that he doesn't really fit in.
He dropped out of school,
later even quit his job with Mercedes,
sold everything, and went on a road trip
through 22 countries with his bicycle.
He had his camera with him,
and came back with his documentary,
Pedal The World.
Mogli was raised by an alternative family
with only college graduates.
She sang opera as a child,
made it to honor roll during high school,
but still, she isn't really interested
in a college degree or a crazy career.
She loves to travel, and turns
all her experiences and influences
during her trips into new songs.
Leave my body
Go run, go run and say you love me
Actually, we come
from two totally different worlds,
but I think the repulsion
of the traditional way is what unites us.
We became a couple during my bicycle trip
and moved to Berlin together afterwards.
We had everything you could wish for.
Um, we had a loft, we had us,
we had friends, even a puppy,
but still, we weren't happy.
Usually, everyone loves
the creative Berlin,
but for us it felt loud and dirty,
and we kind of had cabin fever.
We knew we wanted to leave again,
so we gave notice to quit our flat
without even knowing what we want to do,
or where we want to go.
We knew we wanted to travel again,
make a new movie,
and get inspiration for a new album,
so that there would be
a cool soundtrack again.
We were never really passionate
about cycling,
so we needed a new mean of transportation.
An RV was too boring,
we didn't wanna cycle again,
and walking was way too slow.
By coincidence, we saw
an old American school bus online
and decided to convert it
to a loft on wheels.
We built our first room.
Well, the bedroom is kind of a room, too,
but we don't have a door
to walk into, so, uh,
now we built a toilet.
And it's teeny-tiny,
but you don't really need much space
to go to the toilet, so we don't care.
We're here on a three-month visa,
and, unfortunately, it's running out,
so we have to be at the Canadian border
in two days already.
We didn't really make plans,
so that was probably a bit naive,
but our motto is, "Less planning
means more flexibility."
That's why we don't have a root as well.
We wanna get up in the morning
and decide where we want to go
and what we want to see that day.
Let's see how it goes
the first couple of feet here.
Let's see if the engine starts, and then,
uh, off to Canada, I guess, right?
Let's check.
Oh, and the dog...
Rudi, come.
We weren't allowed to film
the border crossing,
but everything went well,
and only took, like, five minutes.
Flying with a drone over Niagara Falls
is illegal, too,
but we did it anyway,
and it was definitely worth it.
So, today is a big day.
First time using power,
sure power, on the bus.
So, Seli and me
did 90% of the electric by ourselves.
So, I don't know if it works,
but let's see. That plug goes in here...
Boom, and the other one goes in the bus.
Oh...
- Should I try?
- Yeah.
Ooh! Power works.
So, our first night in the bus
was, uh, pretty decent.
It rained in everywhere. We are leaking
in the bus and the ceiling, everywhere.
I gotta go up to the roof today
and fix the cracks
and the leaks and the holes.
I don't know, silicone it up,
or spray it up,
or, I don't know, fix it somehow.
We got a second problem.
The water heater is leaking.
So we don't have any water in the bus.
I don't know how to fix it,
I'm not a plumber.
But, uh, I'm gonna look into it now.
Two more problems to fix.
After the 12 weeks converting the bus,
we got used to setbacks.
We try not to take it too serious,
repair all the loose ends,
and are pretty stoked
to finally start traveling.
What I love most about our school bus
is that we are pretty much
self-sufficient and live off the grid.
We don't need any camp grounds whatsoever
because of our solar system,
which generates more than enough power
to charge all of our devices.
We also got a composting toilet
and more than 40 gallons of fresh water.
So, basically, everything you need
for a night in the wild.
We're on the Trans-Canada
since a little while...
It's really awesome because
there's so much nature around you,
and we really like it.
But it's kind of boring, too,
to always go straight,
so sometimes we go to the dirt roads,
like, every hour or so,
and check them out.
And it's always a little exciting because
we never know if we can get out again.
And it's exciting, too,
because we never know what awaits us,
and there's always a little something
that we can discover.
Hey!
He just bit my ass! Ow!
Rudi, come.
Today we met
Robbie and Margaret,
an older couple
at the end of a little dirt road.
They showed us a typical
Canadian tradition called ice fishing.
In winter, when the lake is frozen,
they pull a little house on the lake
with a truck
and dig a hole through the ice to fish.
It's all insulated and with that stove...
Forty below and you can leave
the windows open. It's so warm in here.
This, uh...
You can stay in your bed,
and this lifts up and then you
put a hole in it,
and you can fish from inside.
You can just, like,
stay in bed and fish...
Oh, you can, yes. Yes, you can.
Are these to drill holes through the ice?
Oh, yeah,
these are IceHoggers, yeah. Yeah.
The whole truck went...
The whole truck,
yeah, you can see...
It's just starting to come out here.
This was all the pictures and...
And you saved the guy?
Well, the guy got out okay,
thank goodness, you know?
This is fresh... Well, it's not fresh.
It was fresh.
It's pickerel and pike that we caught
in Lac des Mille Lacs.
You just fry it in a little bit of butter
and garlic, and it's lovely.
- Awesome!
- And I hope you enjoy it.
Yeah! If you like fish, it's awesome.
- Thank you.
- We'd take you... Good.
- Well I hope you enjoy it. You're welcome!
- Thank you. That's so nice of you.
On our way to Banff,
we can't really believe
that they're supposed to be
the Alps of Canada.
Crossing Manitoba
and Saskatchewan is rather boring
because it's all flat and mostly covered
in some kind of fields.
But I'm pretty confident
we will get rewarded
once we get to the Rocky Mountains.
Hey!
- How many people on board?
- Uh, two, and one dog,
- if that matters.
- Okay, perfect.
- How long will you be in the park for?
- Um, can we buy that one seasonal pass
that, uh... What is it called,
Seli, do you know?
- Discovery Pass?
- Discovery Pass.
- Yeah, so that's $136.40.
- Perfect!
We absolutely love Banff,
so we decide to stay for a while
instead of just driving through.
We really enjoy the break from traveling
and go on day trips by foot with Rudi,
or with the bus
to explore the national park.
After a long day, we love to come back
and enjoy our cozy home.
It's breath-taking nature.
I never saw something like that before.
Awesome.
It's 5 o'clock in the morning,
and we hope that if we get up this early,
we're gonna escape all the tourists.
And, more importantly, see some bears,
because we've had no luck so far.
Bears, let's go! Bears.
Getting some rest in Banff
was more than needed
and also the highlight
of this trip so far,
but it's time to head towards Alaska.
On the map, it looks like Alaska
is right next door to Banff,
but in reality,
it's almost 4,000 miles detour
which we are more than willing
to approach
for a childhood dream like Alaska.
We are kind of
looking for happiness, right?
It's called Expedition Happiness,
and, uh, when you wake up in the morning
and open the door,
and stand across this here,
this mountain, these trees
and this river,
that kinda is happiness, I guess.
We don't have a routine, our routine
is waking up when the sun goes up,
and going to sleep when the sun goes down.
No appointments.
Just living the life, living the moment.
This is happiness for sure.
Seeing and experiencing new things
every single day
is what we love so much about traveling.
But we realize more and more,
it's traveling together as a family
that makes us really happy.
During Pedal the World, my first trip,
I cycled pretty much alone.
But happiness is the only thing
that doubles if it's shared.
As much as we love traveling,
the driving part is more exhausting
than we ever thought.
The highways are full with road holes...
I don't think I ever drove on roads
this bad.
There is stuff breaking in and on the bus,
but the little rewards and adventures
we experience every single day
pretty much make up for it.
Um, we are on the Alaskan Highway
in British Columbia,
uh, close to Yukon
and close to the border to Alaska.
I'm standing in the middle of the road
and there's no car for hours!
Pure nature, no civilization, no tourists,
just bears, moose, and you.
Stop the bus!
Woo-hoo!
The kitchen in our bus
is actually way bigger
than the one we had in Berlin.
It's stocked with everything I need
to cook delicious meals on the road
and it's quite luxurious to have
a kitchen with you wherever you go.
It gives me a really good feeling, too,
because it makes me feel at home.
So, we are five miles away from the border
to Alaska, we can almost see it.
But there's one problem.
Uh, we were in the States
converting the bus for 90 days.
On the 90th day, we left the States
because we had our ESTA visa.
Um, we left on the 90th day,
and thought, "We will just come back
to Alaska and get another 90 days."
That works,
but Canada doesn't count
as a country leaving the US.
We don't really know what to do,
we thought we'd just try it.
So, let's hope we meet someone
really nice at the border,
and they just, like, say, "Come on in."
Yeah, she thinks we'll get in.
I'm pretty sure we won't.
We made it! We're in Alaska.
Um, luckily, I was right.
The guys were really nice at the border.
They asked us, like, a million questions,
but that's normal.
And, yeah, they gave us eight weeks.
Uh, so that's plenty of time
to go through Alaska
and see all the nice nature
and everything.
The boys are pretty knocked out.
They're both sleeping.
It was a hard day. We'll get some rest,
and then tomorrow we can go to Fairbanks!
Our fuel tank is about 40 gallons,
and even if we only get
about eight or nine miles per gallon,
which is really not that great,
we can still make it to almost 350 miles
with a full tank of diesel.
There's two reasons to celebrate today.
Reason one,
yesterday, we passed
our ten thousandth kilometer
from start to here.
So, 10,000 K driving so far,
that's a reason to celebrate.
And the second one is
we are in Fairbanks now.
Yesterday, we got to the Walmart here.
You can sleep here for free,
one or two nights.
And, uh, this is...
Fairbanks is the start of our trip, kinda.
From Fairbanks, we will always go south.
So, that's two reasons to celebrate.
How do you celebrate better
than with a dance?
I would say, check us out!
So, my two-step is pretty smooth.
Seli, uh...
I would say B-minus.
And Rudi, Rudi got that swag.
You can't learn that.
So, off to the next 10,000 K.
So, we made it
to the Denali Nation Park yesterday.
The drive was epic.
It was, uh, one of the nicest rides
I had in my life.
We stay on the Teklanika camp ground,
which is, uh, on mile 30
of the road in the park.
And usually they stop you
at mile 17, I think.
But if you book that campground,
you can go until mile 30.
But you have to stay here three nights.
So, we got lucky.
Usually it's all booked out.
And five days ago, we found out,
"Okay there's an opening,
we should take it." So, we took it.
And the ride, it was all gravel
and bumpy roads,
but mountains to the left,
rivers to the right.
It was, uh...
The best ride in my life.
The campground
doesn't have water or power,
so we had to fill up our fresh water tank
and dump the used water before.
For days where it's so cloudy
that our solar panels
don't get enough sun,
we have a generator, and our stove
and water heater run on propane.
The special thing about this park is that
you don't have to be on trails
all the time.
They encourage you to go
wherever you want to go,
and I'm on a little hill right now.
There's mountains all around me,
it's so beautiful.
And I feel like the queen of the world.
Alaska!
We can check a new thing
off our bucket list.
Waking up in front of
the highest mountain in North America
and drinking our coffee
on top of our bus, looking at it.
It's hiding a little bit
behind the clouds, but, um,
sometimes we can see it,
like, every 20 minutes.
And it's really beautiful.
On the Kenai Peninsula,
we meet Eric and Kaylee
who live here, and show us
their beloved Alaska, off the beaten path.
It's nice to meet locals
because we get to know the country
on a whole new level through them.
Here.
Boondocking in Alaska is the easiest ever.
Uh, the nature's so endless here,
there's roads
leading to nothing everywhere.
And then you find
a spot like here, incredible.
Mountain view, the creek,
and there's this park in the woods, kinda.
Alaska is perfect for that.
Perfect boondocking county...
Country. State.
Um, it's fun. It's really, really fun.
We're driving to Vancouver next,
and are happy to finally be
in a big city again.
Rudi has been limping for quite some time,
so we really wanna go see a vet
and get him checked,
'cause we're scared he has joint problems.
Unfortunately, we were right.
But before he has to have surgery
on both elbows,
we visit a dog beach
so he can run around one last time.
Rudi has been crying all night.
He literally didn't even sleep for, like,
five minutes or so.
I'm pretty scared that he's in pain.
I mean, like, they cut the bone
and put metal in,
but the doctor said it's normal,
that he's just hallucinating
from the sedatives,
but I just hope it's over soon
and he feels better.
We didn't get a single minute of sleep,
all three of us.
Um, and today
we have to leave him alone, actually,
to go to the embassy to get our US visa,
but I think he'll be fine, because
I don't think it will take too long
'cause we have an appointment.
It's okay.
We have just been
to the US Embassy here in Vancouver.
We applied for tourist visa.
And, uh, we've been to the embassy
for, like, five hours.
It was, uh, craziness.
And finally, we could speak to somebody,
and then we said, "Look, we wanna go
from Alaska to Argentina
in an RV, and we just wanna go through
the US and stay for 20 days,
and then we'll go to Mexico..."
And he thought
we want to stay in the US forever,
I don't know why,
because I work online, I guess,
because my company's in Germany
and I'm not there.
So, he declined the visa.
We paid 400 US dollars
just to get declined.
This is... It's...
It's the end.
We can't fly to Mexico,
leave the bus here.
What are we supposed to do? We got
the dog. We can't fly to Germany.
We can't... Traveling is usually fun,
but right now...
We have to wait about three weeks
to get another appointment
at the US Embassy,
and it's really frustrating not to know
if this trip is going to end or not.
That's why my brother, Marco,
and his girlfriend, Sophia,
come over from Germany
and they try to cheer us up a little.
But again, there is something good
about this forced break,
because Rudi really needs some time
to heal without the daily life
on the road.
And it really worked on the second try.
We were lucky and got
a super nice lady at the Embassy
who believed us and our story.
Of course we don't wanna live in the US.
We only wanna travel through
and are really happy that
this trip is not going to end
because of one grumpy old man.
I don't even know how to start right now.
I'm so angry and sad, like...
We finally got our visa the second time
around when we went to the Embassy,
and then we went to the border today
and it didn't even occur to us
that we could face any problems.
We thought we could just pass through.
But we were very wrong, like...
We came there and they put Rudi
in a kennel in the bright sun.
It's like 30 degrees out there
and he's just had surgery.
And they didn't even give him any water.
So, we immediately decided to turn around.
We thought we can come back another time,
maybe early in the morning
when it's not so hot.
But once you apply to get in,
you have to go through with it.
So I begged them. I said, like,
he just had surgery.
It's not gonna do any good.
And they just didn't give in.
They didn't want to.
So we had to go in there
and they questioned us again
for illegal immigration.
Like, seriously, America,
I don't want to stay in your country.
Like, I don't know what part of that
you don't understand.
We're... It's all over the internet.
Like, you can look us up.
It says we wanna go
from Alaska all the way south.
So, how are we staying in your country?
But, well, they asked us again
after the Embassy,
and finally they let us in
after a couple of hours.
Which was really hard.
And, like, a few incidents happened where
one officer threatened Felix
to put him in a cell
because he got up to use the bathroom.
Like, seriously, what's up?
Why do you do that?
They made us feel so...
Helpless. Like, you're treated
like a prisoner.
It's not fair and...
At the moment, I don't even wanna be here.
It's like the last place I wanna be.
So, I don't know what to do.
Rudi is seriously ill now.
I think he has a heatstroke.
He's vomiting every 10 minutes.
He has diarrhea.
He's really not doing well.
And, so...
We should be celebrating right now
because we actually got
into the United States,
but we're not very happy at the moment.
Back on the road,
we decided to skip Portland and Seattle
even though they're super cool cities.
You can't do everything
in one trip, anyway,
and it's important to do
what feels good for you.
After the long time in Vancouver,
we had enough of big city life
and wanna be by ourselves
and in nature for a while.
So we head for
the Pacific highway instead.
When so many things go wrong,
you kinda start to question
why you're traveling in the first place,
because we weren't happy anymore at all.
It's part of traveling though, I guess.
And we learn that maybe happiness is
to get over something like that.
Not to lose your optimism,
and pick yourself up again.
That really helped us to
appreciate the smaller things
and get back into a routine again.
We are exploring
the Redwood National Park right now.
And after staying way
too long in Vancouver,
it's nice to have nature again.
Those trees are massive.
I never saw something like that before.
Rudi, come.
What you don't really think about
before you start a trip like this
is this crazy long bus with about 40 feet.
You can barely move around in big cities.
One wrong turn and you are
in the middle of chaos.
You don't really know how to get out,
and finding a parking spot
or even a place to sleep
is almost impossible.
That's why we usually just
drive through the big cities
and focus on the nature spots.
West coast of America is really nice.
Really easy.
Uh, just always on
the Highway One heading south.
The sights are really nice.
It's, uh, the reward
for all the bad parts.
It's really like a roller coaster,
this trip right now.
It's up and down, it's up and down.
But that's kinda what traveling is, right?
So, uh, I hope it stays like that.
I don't want any bad experiences anymore.
I want this.
Yeah! Awesome!
Yeah! Awesome!
Shortly after Los Angeles,
we decide to head east,
so basically moving inland.
After leaving LA, the nature
starts to change drastically.
Suddenly, you are in
the middle of the desert
and you know this has got to be the right
way to Death Valley and Grand Canyon.
- Rudi, it's okay!
- He's trembling...
Rudi...
It's okay, everything will be fine.
Everything will be fine.
It's okay.
It's okay. Yes, I know.
I know, darling.
It's okay.
Ever since we went inland from LA,
it's getting hotter every day
and Rudi isn't taking it well at all.
He overheated yesterday and broke down.
He just ran to the bus and just his...
His legs just collapsed
and we had to carry him inside,
so now I'm trying to
cool him down constantly.
So even when we're driving,
I'm, like, right next to him
and I'm putting water on him
every five minutes.
And I even have a cool pack
to cool him down.
And... I knew it would be hard
with a mountain dog in the south,
but I didn't think he would break down
the first day it gets hot,
so we really have to think of something,
'cause I know it's gonna be hotter, even,
if we go to Mexico or Peru, Costa Rica...
I don't know if he can make it, actually.
Maybe we have to send him home.
But without Rudi...
There is no Expedition Happiness,
actually. I don't wanna go on without him.
So, let's hope we figure something out,
'cause I don't want this to end now.
Without a warning,
the next setback hits us.
Our road trip's on the line,
and more importantly, Rudi's health.
But we learn to concentrate on solutions
rather than getting frustrated
about the problem.
And in this case, it simply means
to walk Rudi in the morning
and at night when it's not
as hot anymore.
Luckily, he gets used to it very quickly
and doesn't mind the heat
as much anymore after a few days.
Rudi, where's the coyote?
Where's the coyote?
In moments like these, I'm so
grateful that we have each other,
'cause I honestly don't know
how I'd cope on my own.
But in the good moments, too, everything
is more fun if you get to share it.
And I think we can consider
ourselves lucky
that we're together 24/7
in such a small space
and haven't killed each other yet.
We just enjoy our time together.
So, today we are at the most...
Magical place we ever slept in our lives.
We, uh, went right on the street
and for, like, two miles
we needed an hour,
because it was like...
It was really shady.
But now we're here.
The sun just went down.
The heat's gone. The dog's having fun.
It is amazing.
Such a magical place.
We are driving towards Death Valley.
To get into Death Valley, you have
to cross the mountains, of course.
And we have a new negative speed record.
Uh, which is, uh...
50 miles an hour. 15 miles an hour.
Um, well, we got to deal with it.
The engine is getting really hot.
So let's see. I hope it's not too long,
but we'll make it.
We, uh, celebrated a little too early.
We're going down hills for,
like, two miles,
and suddenly we were, like, smelling fire.
And I stopped... I couldn't stop.
I barely stopped.
The brakes didn't work anymore.
And I got outside and the brakes
were steaming hot. Like, melting.
So we are at the side of the road.
We'll wait for, like, 10 minutes.
A policeman already stopped behind us
to kinda guard us out here.
Death Valley for sure.
After waiting about 20 minutes,
the brakes finally cooled down
and we were able to continue driving.
Downshifting usually works pretty good,
but even without braking,
everything on the bus is
getting really hot in Death Valley.
I've never seen anything like this before.
The earth is just ripped open.
It's sick. It's like a magical place.
We're on the road since
seven months now,
and only traveled through
two countries so far.
It's kind of crazy.
In Europe, we probably would have been
in every country by now.
And while the nature changed drastically
from glaciers to desert,
the people and the cultures
they're more or less the same.
So, we can't wait for
new influences in Mexico.
It's raining for the first time in ages.
It was just really hot for weeks.
Actually, it's still hot,
but it's raining.
And at first we didn't know if it's
a good sign or a bad sign
for Mexico and the weather.
But then a really beautiful
rainbow showed up.
So we're taking it as a good sign now.
We're at the border to Mexico
at the moment,
so I'm actually in between two countries.
It was really nice so far.
They were really nice people.
They were really calm
and really sweet to us,
and they looked at the bus
and everything was fine,
so we're really happy.
And now Felix is off
to get our permission,
and he's been gone for, like,
half an hour now,
so I'm starting to worry.
At first I was like, okay,
let's just have breakfast.
I made myself some breakfast, actually.
Um, and he's gonna be back soon,
but now...
He's not coming back
and I'm getting nervous,
'cause either he's in line
and then everything is fine
or they have been talking
to him for, like, half an hour.
And I just really... I can't handle
any more border problems.
I just wanna be in Mexico
and have fun again.
So?
- We have everything.
- Everything?
I think so!
But I think we got screwed over.
Did you have to pay something?
Yeah, she said it's "Pesos"
all the time...
...but the document says it's Dollars.
$1,129.
No, that's not possible.
I don't think we paid that much.
Mexico. Mexico.
Of course,
they didn't screw us over.
The currency sign is just the same
as the one in the US.
So I thought it's dollars.
So, we just made the first
80, 90 miles in this country.
The people are nice. The food is good.
The only problem is the roads.
The worst roads you can imagine.
Worse than everything
I ever experienced.
Everything in the bus is breaking.
So, I don't know how much
longer we can go, but, uh...
This bus is definitely not made for
Central and South America.
Uh, let's see how it goes, uh,
we're pretty stoked to be here, so...
We don't care about the bus. We're happy.
We're back in no man's land again,
and I'm sure we're
the only tourists around.
But it's kind of nice, 'cause
the bus draws a lot of attention
so locals come
and talk to us all the time.
On the first evening, we get invited
for dinner by two young girls
and are super impressed
by their hospitality,
'cause it's our first day in Mexico
and already we're getting
our first bottle of tequila.
- Nuevo Casas Grandes.
- Nuevo Casas Grandes.
- Neuvo?
- Uh-huh. Casa Grandes is like a...
- How do you say it?
- Nuevo Casas Grandes.
Nuevo Casas Grandes.
Welcome to Mexico.
Without pot. Without pot.
Just with tequila.
You have no weed.
No weed.
They don't have time
the next morning,
but want us to see their hometown.
So they send a school friend who shows us
the chili factory of his dad.
They break really easily.
- They break? Oh, okay.
- Yeah.
Well, my hair is very soft, so...
- You'll have to put...
- Put it all in.
- Oh, oh, all of it?
- All of it.
Oh.
Okay.
- Where did you guys start?
- Uh, Niagara Falls.
No, North Carolina.
- North Carolina.
- Oh, okay.
Canada. Alaska.
After visiting
the chili factory of his dad,
Riley wants to show us
one more highlight of the area.
We are driving about five miles to get
to a farm a friend of his dad owns.
On our way, we passed chili
and potato fields.
Supposedly, about 90% of all potato chips
in Mexico are being produced here.
Is it that bad?
Just put it on your tongue.
Don't bite it.
- It's pretty hot.
- Pretty hot.
Is that a chili or jalapeno?
- That's jalapeno.
- Jalapeno?
- Chili and jalapeno.
- Ah, okay.
- Chili and jalapeno.
- Jalapeno.
It's pretty hot.
But it's okay. I'm not, you know...
I'm still alive.
Once we get to the farm
we are kinda freaked out.
There is several mansions
we aren't really allowed to film.
There is a Boeing used as a private jet.
And then there's these tigers
in really small cages.
Feels really weird being here,
but we don't want to be rude
and question the circumstances
or even the hospitality.
Second day in Mexico.
Our taco number 412, I think.
And we're pretty full.
And now it's time for Rudi's first taco.
Rudi, taco.
You don't want the bread? Okay.
So, two days ago we saw the tigers
and this dude with a lot of land and...
He had employees,
like thousands and stuff.
And we were like, "Okay,
this is not normal to have tigers."
And now somebody told us
that dude is famous.
He is the number one narco...
Narcos? Narco?
Drug dealer.
Uh, Pablo Escobar of Mexico, whatever.
And he's huge here.
Everybody knows him.
He gives people jobs and everything,
but still, he makes his money with drugs.
So, yeah, it's not normal to have tigers,
and he was like,
"Oh, don't film everything."
So, now we know why. We're kinda shocked
and you never know
who you meet in Mexico.
I don't know what to say.
Good times.
In Jimenez we got lucky again,
finding a good sleeping spot
for the night.
A really friendly hotel manager
invited us
to park the bus in his huge parking lot
and even offered us a room.
But we are fine with staying in the bus.
After inviting us to eat in the hotel,
he gave us a little tour
through his beloved city.
Oh.
Oh.
- Hey! Hey, how are you?
- Very well, and you?
- When do we go to Germany?
- Yes. One day we will go.
- Si.
- Si.
I'll send this guy. Son, come!
Say hi to these guys.
When locals give you a tour,
you get to places where there was
probably no tourist before you.
That's how we get a totally unfiltered
view of how the life there really is.
We don't question how they
keep their animals here in Mexico.
Kinda like the tigers before,
but once you get to another country,
there's other rules than in
Germany or in the US.
We need to respect these circumstances
and be thankful for the hospitality here.
Whoa.
There is 20 soldiers
and two tanks outside the bus.
We've just been to a little tour
around the city Jimenez,
and we came back,
the dog was in here,
and those tanks are next door.
I'm scared as hell.
They don't talk to us.
They all got 20 guns in their hands.
Like, this is war.
I don't know if they're
good guys or bad guys
or if they wanna help and protect us
or take us as, like, a hostage, uh...
I am scared. I mean, I'm shaking bad.
This is war.
I don't know what's happening.
They don't talk to us.
Uh, second day in Mexico in Jimenez
and, uh, this happens.
But, uh, I'm still positive, I guess.
We, uh, moved the bus last night.
The army didn't leave for two hours.
We didn't know what's going on.
So, after an hour...
No, after, like,
two hours we took the dog,
went outside for a walk.
And once we came back, I'm still nervous,
once we came back, they ran.
They ran off, took the trucks and left.
So I was like, what is going on?
Is this, like, a scam?
Did they put, like,
a ton of cocaine underneath my bus?
And the next day they're gonna
stop me and say
I'm the drug dealer, whatever?
So I checked everything, nothing.
So we don't know what it was.
Maybe they were just nice
and wanted to protect us,
but they didn't really speak to us.
It was weird.
So...
They're gone now.
We moved the bus last night
because we said, "Look,
let's get out of here."
First the Narco, the drug dealer,
now the army.
What's coming next, Mexico?
I, uh, took a lot
of free kicks in my life.
None of 'em in Mexico yet.
None of 'em this important.
Good goalkeeper, good field.
I'm positive.
- Oh!
- Ooh!
No.
Whoo-hoo!
Whose ball?
Oh!
Yeah!
Now a little physiotherapy
for this guy.
Good job!
Good job. You did well today.
So we are in San Luis Potosi now.
It's so hard to explore
a city with the bus.
You never find parking,
and we just found this spot.
It's in front of the Hilton Hotel,
I think.
This is the Hilton.
Dear management, I'm sorry.
I know we're not allowed to park here,
but we'll be back in one or two hours.
We just want to explore
the city real quick.
And I hope you don't tow us away.
Please don't.
Um, we like your country,
we like your hotels,
so be nice to us.
Didn't get towed, quite the opposite.
We got a little message,
uh, under our door.
That's always really nice.
From someone who recognized us
over Facebook
and just said something nice.
Mexico's full of surprises.
In the middle of the road,
Miguel stopped our bus
and asked us a million questions,
like where we are from,
what we do,
where we go, and whatsoever.
He was really interested in our story,
and without further ado,
he invited us in his house
here in San Miguel de Allende.
We got to know his family,
and everything felt really special for us.
Kind of like home, I guess.
We get along really great,
and after a little walk with Rudi,
we decide to head towards the city
to get some dinner together.
Take leaf off. You're gonna pinch.
And you have to wait
until it's clean?
- No, now you can eat it.
- Oh, now you can eat that?
Let's go for a minute
inside Mama Mia restaurant.
Mama Mia?
That's Cochinita Pibil.
Cochinita Pibil.
Take a little piece.
That's the sound you have to make.
It has to be drowned in sauce.
- Yummy.
- A lot of lime.
Well done.
I was thinking about your top knot.
I wanted to ask if you remember the name.
- Is it moving when I talk?
- Well done.
My top knot is moving.
Your top knot is moving. No.
No, it doesn't move.
How do you say in German?
This? Dutt.
- What?
- Dutt. Dutt.
- With D?
- With a D.
- Yeah.
- Dutt. Si.
For the generals who used to be working...
The city is really beautiful too,
so we decide to stay for a few days.
These short breaks from traveling
are super relaxing.
It's important not to move
every single day,
otherwise you get stressed out
pretty quickly.
Mexico is the perfect place for that,
because we make so many friends
and meet families
that make us feel at home.
Mexico in general
is such a beautiful place.
The colorful houses, the people, the food.
It definitely has become one of our
favorite countries in the world.
- 15 Tacos El Pastor please.
- 15?
Yes, 15.
With pineapple, sauce and onions
but without cilantro please.
- Eat here?
- Yes.
First tacos and later Churros!
A little bit of lime.
Mmm!
Mmm-hmm. Mmm-hmm.
We just drove off the highway
and went to the first restaurant we saw,
and here in Mexico, you get one lunch
in a lot of restaurants,
so you can't really choose
and there's no menu,
so we just order what they have,
and we didn't really
understand what it was,
so you never know what you're gonna get,
and today was really yummy
and we really loved it, and...
Let's hope our stomachs like it, too.
Back in Germany,
we mostly eat vegetarian,
or sometimes even vegan.
When traveling, this totally changes.
We always try to get to know
the culture as it is,
and how do you get to know culture better
than through food?
That's why we usually eat
wherever the locals go,
and we never got disappointed
by that strategy.
The colored lights, when the sun
is going up, the northern lights.
Yes, but we were in Alaska in summer.
In summer, there are no northern lights,
but it is beautiful.
Yeah, I heard that they are
beautiful northern lights.
They also exist in Norway
in the north of Europe.
So, we just wanted to...
Go on a little break,
here on the gas station.
I walked around the bus
to check everything,
because the roads are so bad.
And our water tank just fell.
Everything just ripped out.
Lucky the PEX lines are still fine.
One more bump and everything's
gonna rip out from the inside.
I don't know what to do.
It's, like, 100 degrees.
I don't have any tools to fix this.
Can't be any worse.
Can't be any worse than this.
We just met a truck driver,
no word English,
our Spanish is very little.
So I guess he said, "Follow me,"
and we are doing that right now.
I hope he's taking us to a mechanic.
As a kiddo in Germany,
your mom usually teaches you
not to trust or talk to strangers.
We usually trust people wherever we go,
and never had a bad experience.
I'm pretty sure most people
wouldn't have followed
this shady-looking truck driver.
While the mechanics ponder
how to fix the water tanks,
I kinda tried to thank the guy
without really speaking
Spanish that great.
But I'm pretty sure he understood
most of my Spanglish and gestures.
After about 10 minutes
and, like, five bucks,
we are back on the road.
And for the first time since Los Angeles,
we are heading for the ocean again.
Here in Campeche,
one of the biggest
national holidays is coming up.
Eighty percent
of the Mexican people are Catholic,
and on the Dia de los Muertos,
the Day of the Dead,
they prepare beautiful tables
for the deceased loved ones
with food and drinks they liked.
Rudi, we have to go.
Come, Rudi, come!
Rudi, we have to leave.
He really doesn't wanna get on the bus.
He hates the bus.
Rudi, let's go!
Good boy.
In the beginning, Rudi loved traveling.
But by now, he hates
that we're driving every day.
He got used to the heat,
but he's missing a daily routine.
And after all this time on the road,
we start to notice
that we're kind of feeling the same.
In the beginning, we were excited
to experience new things every day.
But now it's often overwhelming.
You okay?
In Tulum,
we allow ourselves a little luxury,
and rent a hotel room
with AC for a couple of days.
And you, Rudi?
Unfortunately, the break comes too late.
Both Rudi and Felix get really ill,
and while Felix recovers after a while,
Rudi only gets worse.
It's too cold. Yeah.
Okay, right now, Rudi...
I have already earlier
a diagnosis of Giardia.
So he's in treatment right now.
He's having a hard part because
he's got gastritis.
Settle down a little bit
because all the stress of the traveling
and all these medical conditions
are being a little rough to him.
- Too much?
- Too much, a little bit too much.
And especially because
he's really picky with the food,
and he's already being treated
by other diseases.
I honestly don't know
what to do right now.
We've been to the vet again today,
well, we've been yesterday,
and I think he has a tick-related disease,
and yesterday she wasn't too worried,
'cause his temperature was high
but he didn't have a fever.
But then when we came back from the vet,
I gave him the medication
that she gave to us, and, um...
He vomited it, like, after 10 minutes.
He had food and he vomited
it all out, and, um...
So, at first, I thought
maybe it's just the heat
or food-related, or I don't know, um...
And this morning, I gave him food again,
tablets first, food.
And then he vomited it again.
It just takes, like, a minute
and then it's all out again.
All over the floor.
And...
So we immediately went to the vet again,
and this time she was really worried,
so I'm worried now, too,
because at the vet he was really shaky,
and now he has a fever.
He has 40 degree fever now.
And, um...
She said if he doesn't
get better by tomorrow,
he has to go to the hospital,
and I just can't imagine him
going to the hospital,
'cause he's so scared
when he's not with us.
I don't think he can ever
go to the bus again.
I honestly am scared that he's gonna die
if we go all the way to Panama.
Rudi, it's okay.
- We're trying to be gentle.
- Hmm.
It's obvious that
he's not going to like it,
because this,
it's going to constrict the arm.
It will make him numb,
and maybe the most thing he would like...
It's okay, Rudi.
Hmm.
Well done, baby,
you're doing a great job.
She just said to us
that we can't carry on driving.
If we carry on driving with him
in this condition, he is going to die.
He already started
hiding and looking for a place to die.
Then he stopped eating,
that's the next sign.
She took his temperature
and his fever isn't going down,
that's why he is on a drip.
He doesn't eat...
Poor Rudi is preparing to die.
We're not gonna let him, of course.
But we can't carry on driving.
Rudi's health is our priority,
so we decide to fly home.
In the beginning, we're really sad
that we have to stop the trip.
But we quickly feel
that it's the right thing for us, too.
Moving every day became too much for us,
and we forgot to ask ourselves
what makes us happy.
At the end of this long journey,
the answer is quite different
from what we expected.
We had the great freedom
to travel the world,
and now all we want is settle down.
On the upside,
Rudi got ill in a really beautiful place.
We made good friends here
and there's plenty of things to do,
so we can enjoy
the last few days of our trip.
We asked ourselves pretty quickly
what's going to happen
with our beloved bus,
and had the neat idea to raffle the bus
to one of our online followers.
Camille is coming.
- Camillia.
- Camille.
Camillia. Three weeks left, so...
Nice.
Oh!
Look at that.
Whoo!
Toot-toot!
Oh, my God. What is he doing?
I thought I would just be happy
when the bus was gone,
but now I'm sad, 'cause it's kind of hard.
It's like driving off in front of me,
and we built everything
with our own hands,
so, it's...
It's kind of sad to let go.
The most beautiful thing
about this trip
is that we found friends for life.
Without Miguel and his family,
we would have collapsed at the airport,
because they didn't want to take
Rudi on the plane.
But with their help,
everything kind of worked out,
and we can't wait till they come over
to Europe to visit us.
Do you think we can still
make the boarding? Yeah, right?
Talk to this girl, my supervisor.
It's Christmas today,
and we told no one that we're coming home.
Everyone thinks we're still traveling,
and our families have no idea
that we're gonna surprise them today.
- Hello, little one.
- He's done.
- Hello.
- No way!
Rudi, go up.
Let him go. Okay, he's coming.
- Hey, Grandma.
- Are you kidding me?
Rudi.
Rudi, come.
Don't call for him, he's coming.
Help, help!
Help, help!
Rudi, it's okay. Rudi, it's okay.
Rudi, where is Marco?
Don't break the Christmas tree!
Hello, Rudi! Hello, Rudi!
It's a little much for him.
Nice to have you here, Rudi.
- You've grown so big!
- Look how happy he is.
Rudi.
in South Germany.
People there work really hard
for their money,
and some even start building
their own house
at a very young age.
But he noticed early on
that he doesn't really fit in.
He dropped out of school,
later even quit his job with Mercedes,
sold everything, and went on a road trip
through 22 countries with his bicycle.
He had his camera with him,
and came back with his documentary,
Pedal The World.
Mogli was raised by an alternative family
with only college graduates.
She sang opera as a child,
made it to honor roll during high school,
but still, she isn't really interested
in a college degree or a crazy career.
She loves to travel, and turns
all her experiences and influences
during her trips into new songs.
Leave my body
Go run, go run and say you love me
Actually, we come
from two totally different worlds,
but I think the repulsion
of the traditional way is what unites us.
We became a couple during my bicycle trip
and moved to Berlin together afterwards.
We had everything you could wish for.
Um, we had a loft, we had us,
we had friends, even a puppy,
but still, we weren't happy.
Usually, everyone loves
the creative Berlin,
but for us it felt loud and dirty,
and we kind of had cabin fever.
We knew we wanted to leave again,
so we gave notice to quit our flat
without even knowing what we want to do,
or where we want to go.
We knew we wanted to travel again,
make a new movie,
and get inspiration for a new album,
so that there would be
a cool soundtrack again.
We were never really passionate
about cycling,
so we needed a new mean of transportation.
An RV was too boring,
we didn't wanna cycle again,
and walking was way too slow.
By coincidence, we saw
an old American school bus online
and decided to convert it
to a loft on wheels.
We built our first room.
Well, the bedroom is kind of a room, too,
but we don't have a door
to walk into, so, uh,
now we built a toilet.
And it's teeny-tiny,
but you don't really need much space
to go to the toilet, so we don't care.
We're here on a three-month visa,
and, unfortunately, it's running out,
so we have to be at the Canadian border
in two days already.
We didn't really make plans,
so that was probably a bit naive,
but our motto is, "Less planning
means more flexibility."
That's why we don't have a root as well.
We wanna get up in the morning
and decide where we want to go
and what we want to see that day.
Let's see how it goes
the first couple of feet here.
Let's see if the engine starts, and then,
uh, off to Canada, I guess, right?
Let's check.
Oh, and the dog...
Rudi, come.
We weren't allowed to film
the border crossing,
but everything went well,
and only took, like, five minutes.
Flying with a drone over Niagara Falls
is illegal, too,
but we did it anyway,
and it was definitely worth it.
So, today is a big day.
First time using power,
sure power, on the bus.
So, Seli and me
did 90% of the electric by ourselves.
So, I don't know if it works,
but let's see. That plug goes in here...
Boom, and the other one goes in the bus.
Oh...
- Should I try?
- Yeah.
Ooh! Power works.
So, our first night in the bus
was, uh, pretty decent.
It rained in everywhere. We are leaking
in the bus and the ceiling, everywhere.
I gotta go up to the roof today
and fix the cracks
and the leaks and the holes.
I don't know, silicone it up,
or spray it up,
or, I don't know, fix it somehow.
We got a second problem.
The water heater is leaking.
So we don't have any water in the bus.
I don't know how to fix it,
I'm not a plumber.
But, uh, I'm gonna look into it now.
Two more problems to fix.
After the 12 weeks converting the bus,
we got used to setbacks.
We try not to take it too serious,
repair all the loose ends,
and are pretty stoked
to finally start traveling.
What I love most about our school bus
is that we are pretty much
self-sufficient and live off the grid.
We don't need any camp grounds whatsoever
because of our solar system,
which generates more than enough power
to charge all of our devices.
We also got a composting toilet
and more than 40 gallons of fresh water.
So, basically, everything you need
for a night in the wild.
We're on the Trans-Canada
since a little while...
It's really awesome because
there's so much nature around you,
and we really like it.
But it's kind of boring, too,
to always go straight,
so sometimes we go to the dirt roads,
like, every hour or so,
and check them out.
And it's always a little exciting because
we never know if we can get out again.
And it's exciting, too,
because we never know what awaits us,
and there's always a little something
that we can discover.
Hey!
He just bit my ass! Ow!
Rudi, come.
Today we met
Robbie and Margaret,
an older couple
at the end of a little dirt road.
They showed us a typical
Canadian tradition called ice fishing.
In winter, when the lake is frozen,
they pull a little house on the lake
with a truck
and dig a hole through the ice to fish.
It's all insulated and with that stove...
Forty below and you can leave
the windows open. It's so warm in here.
This, uh...
You can stay in your bed,
and this lifts up and then you
put a hole in it,
and you can fish from inside.
You can just, like,
stay in bed and fish...
Oh, you can, yes. Yes, you can.
Are these to drill holes through the ice?
Oh, yeah,
these are IceHoggers, yeah. Yeah.
The whole truck went...
The whole truck,
yeah, you can see...
It's just starting to come out here.
This was all the pictures and...
And you saved the guy?
Well, the guy got out okay,
thank goodness, you know?
This is fresh... Well, it's not fresh.
It was fresh.
It's pickerel and pike that we caught
in Lac des Mille Lacs.
You just fry it in a little bit of butter
and garlic, and it's lovely.
- Awesome!
- And I hope you enjoy it.
Yeah! If you like fish, it's awesome.
- Thank you.
- We'd take you... Good.
- Well I hope you enjoy it. You're welcome!
- Thank you. That's so nice of you.
On our way to Banff,
we can't really believe
that they're supposed to be
the Alps of Canada.
Crossing Manitoba
and Saskatchewan is rather boring
because it's all flat and mostly covered
in some kind of fields.
But I'm pretty confident
we will get rewarded
once we get to the Rocky Mountains.
Hey!
- How many people on board?
- Uh, two, and one dog,
- if that matters.
- Okay, perfect.
- How long will you be in the park for?
- Um, can we buy that one seasonal pass
that, uh... What is it called,
Seli, do you know?
- Discovery Pass?
- Discovery Pass.
- Yeah, so that's $136.40.
- Perfect!
We absolutely love Banff,
so we decide to stay for a while
instead of just driving through.
We really enjoy the break from traveling
and go on day trips by foot with Rudi,
or with the bus
to explore the national park.
After a long day, we love to come back
and enjoy our cozy home.
It's breath-taking nature.
I never saw something like that before.
Awesome.
It's 5 o'clock in the morning,
and we hope that if we get up this early,
we're gonna escape all the tourists.
And, more importantly, see some bears,
because we've had no luck so far.
Bears, let's go! Bears.
Getting some rest in Banff
was more than needed
and also the highlight
of this trip so far,
but it's time to head towards Alaska.
On the map, it looks like Alaska
is right next door to Banff,
but in reality,
it's almost 4,000 miles detour
which we are more than willing
to approach
for a childhood dream like Alaska.
We are kind of
looking for happiness, right?
It's called Expedition Happiness,
and, uh, when you wake up in the morning
and open the door,
and stand across this here,
this mountain, these trees
and this river,
that kinda is happiness, I guess.
We don't have a routine, our routine
is waking up when the sun goes up,
and going to sleep when the sun goes down.
No appointments.
Just living the life, living the moment.
This is happiness for sure.
Seeing and experiencing new things
every single day
is what we love so much about traveling.
But we realize more and more,
it's traveling together as a family
that makes us really happy.
During Pedal the World, my first trip,
I cycled pretty much alone.
But happiness is the only thing
that doubles if it's shared.
As much as we love traveling,
the driving part is more exhausting
than we ever thought.
The highways are full with road holes...
I don't think I ever drove on roads
this bad.
There is stuff breaking in and on the bus,
but the little rewards and adventures
we experience every single day
pretty much make up for it.
Um, we are on the Alaskan Highway
in British Columbia,
uh, close to Yukon
and close to the border to Alaska.
I'm standing in the middle of the road
and there's no car for hours!
Pure nature, no civilization, no tourists,
just bears, moose, and you.
Stop the bus!
Woo-hoo!
The kitchen in our bus
is actually way bigger
than the one we had in Berlin.
It's stocked with everything I need
to cook delicious meals on the road
and it's quite luxurious to have
a kitchen with you wherever you go.
It gives me a really good feeling, too,
because it makes me feel at home.
So, we are five miles away from the border
to Alaska, we can almost see it.
But there's one problem.
Uh, we were in the States
converting the bus for 90 days.
On the 90th day, we left the States
because we had our ESTA visa.
Um, we left on the 90th day,
and thought, "We will just come back
to Alaska and get another 90 days."
That works,
but Canada doesn't count
as a country leaving the US.
We don't really know what to do,
we thought we'd just try it.
So, let's hope we meet someone
really nice at the border,
and they just, like, say, "Come on in."
Yeah, she thinks we'll get in.
I'm pretty sure we won't.
We made it! We're in Alaska.
Um, luckily, I was right.
The guys were really nice at the border.
They asked us, like, a million questions,
but that's normal.
And, yeah, they gave us eight weeks.
Uh, so that's plenty of time
to go through Alaska
and see all the nice nature
and everything.
The boys are pretty knocked out.
They're both sleeping.
It was a hard day. We'll get some rest,
and then tomorrow we can go to Fairbanks!
Our fuel tank is about 40 gallons,
and even if we only get
about eight or nine miles per gallon,
which is really not that great,
we can still make it to almost 350 miles
with a full tank of diesel.
There's two reasons to celebrate today.
Reason one,
yesterday, we passed
our ten thousandth kilometer
from start to here.
So, 10,000 K driving so far,
that's a reason to celebrate.
And the second one is
we are in Fairbanks now.
Yesterday, we got to the Walmart here.
You can sleep here for free,
one or two nights.
And, uh, this is...
Fairbanks is the start of our trip, kinda.
From Fairbanks, we will always go south.
So, that's two reasons to celebrate.
How do you celebrate better
than with a dance?
I would say, check us out!
So, my two-step is pretty smooth.
Seli, uh...
I would say B-minus.
And Rudi, Rudi got that swag.
You can't learn that.
So, off to the next 10,000 K.
So, we made it
to the Denali Nation Park yesterday.
The drive was epic.
It was, uh, one of the nicest rides
I had in my life.
We stay on the Teklanika camp ground,
which is, uh, on mile 30
of the road in the park.
And usually they stop you
at mile 17, I think.
But if you book that campground,
you can go until mile 30.
But you have to stay here three nights.
So, we got lucky.
Usually it's all booked out.
And five days ago, we found out,
"Okay there's an opening,
we should take it." So, we took it.
And the ride, it was all gravel
and bumpy roads,
but mountains to the left,
rivers to the right.
It was, uh...
The best ride in my life.
The campground
doesn't have water or power,
so we had to fill up our fresh water tank
and dump the used water before.
For days where it's so cloudy
that our solar panels
don't get enough sun,
we have a generator, and our stove
and water heater run on propane.
The special thing about this park is that
you don't have to be on trails
all the time.
They encourage you to go
wherever you want to go,
and I'm on a little hill right now.
There's mountains all around me,
it's so beautiful.
And I feel like the queen of the world.
Alaska!
We can check a new thing
off our bucket list.
Waking up in front of
the highest mountain in North America
and drinking our coffee
on top of our bus, looking at it.
It's hiding a little bit
behind the clouds, but, um,
sometimes we can see it,
like, every 20 minutes.
And it's really beautiful.
On the Kenai Peninsula,
we meet Eric and Kaylee
who live here, and show us
their beloved Alaska, off the beaten path.
It's nice to meet locals
because we get to know the country
on a whole new level through them.
Here.
Boondocking in Alaska is the easiest ever.
Uh, the nature's so endless here,
there's roads
leading to nothing everywhere.
And then you find
a spot like here, incredible.
Mountain view, the creek,
and there's this park in the woods, kinda.
Alaska is perfect for that.
Perfect boondocking county...
Country. State.
Um, it's fun. It's really, really fun.
We're driving to Vancouver next,
and are happy to finally be
in a big city again.
Rudi has been limping for quite some time,
so we really wanna go see a vet
and get him checked,
'cause we're scared he has joint problems.
Unfortunately, we were right.
But before he has to have surgery
on both elbows,
we visit a dog beach
so he can run around one last time.
Rudi has been crying all night.
He literally didn't even sleep for, like,
five minutes or so.
I'm pretty scared that he's in pain.
I mean, like, they cut the bone
and put metal in,
but the doctor said it's normal,
that he's just hallucinating
from the sedatives,
but I just hope it's over soon
and he feels better.
We didn't get a single minute of sleep,
all three of us.
Um, and today
we have to leave him alone, actually,
to go to the embassy to get our US visa,
but I think he'll be fine, because
I don't think it will take too long
'cause we have an appointment.
It's okay.
We have just been
to the US Embassy here in Vancouver.
We applied for tourist visa.
And, uh, we've been to the embassy
for, like, five hours.
It was, uh, craziness.
And finally, we could speak to somebody,
and then we said, "Look, we wanna go
from Alaska to Argentina
in an RV, and we just wanna go through
the US and stay for 20 days,
and then we'll go to Mexico..."
And he thought
we want to stay in the US forever,
I don't know why,
because I work online, I guess,
because my company's in Germany
and I'm not there.
So, he declined the visa.
We paid 400 US dollars
just to get declined.
This is... It's...
It's the end.
We can't fly to Mexico,
leave the bus here.
What are we supposed to do? We got
the dog. We can't fly to Germany.
We can't... Traveling is usually fun,
but right now...
We have to wait about three weeks
to get another appointment
at the US Embassy,
and it's really frustrating not to know
if this trip is going to end or not.
That's why my brother, Marco,
and his girlfriend, Sophia,
come over from Germany
and they try to cheer us up a little.
But again, there is something good
about this forced break,
because Rudi really needs some time
to heal without the daily life
on the road.
And it really worked on the second try.
We were lucky and got
a super nice lady at the Embassy
who believed us and our story.
Of course we don't wanna live in the US.
We only wanna travel through
and are really happy that
this trip is not going to end
because of one grumpy old man.
I don't even know how to start right now.
I'm so angry and sad, like...
We finally got our visa the second time
around when we went to the Embassy,
and then we went to the border today
and it didn't even occur to us
that we could face any problems.
We thought we could just pass through.
But we were very wrong, like...
We came there and they put Rudi
in a kennel in the bright sun.
It's like 30 degrees out there
and he's just had surgery.
And they didn't even give him any water.
So, we immediately decided to turn around.
We thought we can come back another time,
maybe early in the morning
when it's not so hot.
But once you apply to get in,
you have to go through with it.
So I begged them. I said, like,
he just had surgery.
It's not gonna do any good.
And they just didn't give in.
They didn't want to.
So we had to go in there
and they questioned us again
for illegal immigration.
Like, seriously, America,
I don't want to stay in your country.
Like, I don't know what part of that
you don't understand.
We're... It's all over the internet.
Like, you can look us up.
It says we wanna go
from Alaska all the way south.
So, how are we staying in your country?
But, well, they asked us again
after the Embassy,
and finally they let us in
after a couple of hours.
Which was really hard.
And, like, a few incidents happened where
one officer threatened Felix
to put him in a cell
because he got up to use the bathroom.
Like, seriously, what's up?
Why do you do that?
They made us feel so...
Helpless. Like, you're treated
like a prisoner.
It's not fair and...
At the moment, I don't even wanna be here.
It's like the last place I wanna be.
So, I don't know what to do.
Rudi is seriously ill now.
I think he has a heatstroke.
He's vomiting every 10 minutes.
He has diarrhea.
He's really not doing well.
And, so...
We should be celebrating right now
because we actually got
into the United States,
but we're not very happy at the moment.
Back on the road,
we decided to skip Portland and Seattle
even though they're super cool cities.
You can't do everything
in one trip, anyway,
and it's important to do
what feels good for you.
After the long time in Vancouver,
we had enough of big city life
and wanna be by ourselves
and in nature for a while.
So we head for
the Pacific highway instead.
When so many things go wrong,
you kinda start to question
why you're traveling in the first place,
because we weren't happy anymore at all.
It's part of traveling though, I guess.
And we learn that maybe happiness is
to get over something like that.
Not to lose your optimism,
and pick yourself up again.
That really helped us to
appreciate the smaller things
and get back into a routine again.
We are exploring
the Redwood National Park right now.
And after staying way
too long in Vancouver,
it's nice to have nature again.
Those trees are massive.
I never saw something like that before.
Rudi, come.
What you don't really think about
before you start a trip like this
is this crazy long bus with about 40 feet.
You can barely move around in big cities.
One wrong turn and you are
in the middle of chaos.
You don't really know how to get out,
and finding a parking spot
or even a place to sleep
is almost impossible.
That's why we usually just
drive through the big cities
and focus on the nature spots.
West coast of America is really nice.
Really easy.
Uh, just always on
the Highway One heading south.
The sights are really nice.
It's, uh, the reward
for all the bad parts.
It's really like a roller coaster,
this trip right now.
It's up and down, it's up and down.
But that's kinda what traveling is, right?
So, uh, I hope it stays like that.
I don't want any bad experiences anymore.
I want this.
Yeah! Awesome!
Yeah! Awesome!
Shortly after Los Angeles,
we decide to head east,
so basically moving inland.
After leaving LA, the nature
starts to change drastically.
Suddenly, you are in
the middle of the desert
and you know this has got to be the right
way to Death Valley and Grand Canyon.
- Rudi, it's okay!
- He's trembling...
Rudi...
It's okay, everything will be fine.
Everything will be fine.
It's okay.
It's okay. Yes, I know.
I know, darling.
It's okay.
Ever since we went inland from LA,
it's getting hotter every day
and Rudi isn't taking it well at all.
He overheated yesterday and broke down.
He just ran to the bus and just his...
His legs just collapsed
and we had to carry him inside,
so now I'm trying to
cool him down constantly.
So even when we're driving,
I'm, like, right next to him
and I'm putting water on him
every five minutes.
And I even have a cool pack
to cool him down.
And... I knew it would be hard
with a mountain dog in the south,
but I didn't think he would break down
the first day it gets hot,
so we really have to think of something,
'cause I know it's gonna be hotter, even,
if we go to Mexico or Peru, Costa Rica...
I don't know if he can make it, actually.
Maybe we have to send him home.
But without Rudi...
There is no Expedition Happiness,
actually. I don't wanna go on without him.
So, let's hope we figure something out,
'cause I don't want this to end now.
Without a warning,
the next setback hits us.
Our road trip's on the line,
and more importantly, Rudi's health.
But we learn to concentrate on solutions
rather than getting frustrated
about the problem.
And in this case, it simply means
to walk Rudi in the morning
and at night when it's not
as hot anymore.
Luckily, he gets used to it very quickly
and doesn't mind the heat
as much anymore after a few days.
Rudi, where's the coyote?
Where's the coyote?
In moments like these, I'm so
grateful that we have each other,
'cause I honestly don't know
how I'd cope on my own.
But in the good moments, too, everything
is more fun if you get to share it.
And I think we can consider
ourselves lucky
that we're together 24/7
in such a small space
and haven't killed each other yet.
We just enjoy our time together.
So, today we are at the most...
Magical place we ever slept in our lives.
We, uh, went right on the street
and for, like, two miles
we needed an hour,
because it was like...
It was really shady.
But now we're here.
The sun just went down.
The heat's gone. The dog's having fun.
It is amazing.
Such a magical place.
We are driving towards Death Valley.
To get into Death Valley, you have
to cross the mountains, of course.
And we have a new negative speed record.
Uh, which is, uh...
50 miles an hour. 15 miles an hour.
Um, well, we got to deal with it.
The engine is getting really hot.
So let's see. I hope it's not too long,
but we'll make it.
We, uh, celebrated a little too early.
We're going down hills for,
like, two miles,
and suddenly we were, like, smelling fire.
And I stopped... I couldn't stop.
I barely stopped.
The brakes didn't work anymore.
And I got outside and the brakes
were steaming hot. Like, melting.
So we are at the side of the road.
We'll wait for, like, 10 minutes.
A policeman already stopped behind us
to kinda guard us out here.
Death Valley for sure.
After waiting about 20 minutes,
the brakes finally cooled down
and we were able to continue driving.
Downshifting usually works pretty good,
but even without braking,
everything on the bus is
getting really hot in Death Valley.
I've never seen anything like this before.
The earth is just ripped open.
It's sick. It's like a magical place.
We're on the road since
seven months now,
and only traveled through
two countries so far.
It's kind of crazy.
In Europe, we probably would have been
in every country by now.
And while the nature changed drastically
from glaciers to desert,
the people and the cultures
they're more or less the same.
So, we can't wait for
new influences in Mexico.
It's raining for the first time in ages.
It was just really hot for weeks.
Actually, it's still hot,
but it's raining.
And at first we didn't know if it's
a good sign or a bad sign
for Mexico and the weather.
But then a really beautiful
rainbow showed up.
So we're taking it as a good sign now.
We're at the border to Mexico
at the moment,
so I'm actually in between two countries.
It was really nice so far.
They were really nice people.
They were really calm
and really sweet to us,
and they looked at the bus
and everything was fine,
so we're really happy.
And now Felix is off
to get our permission,
and he's been gone for, like,
half an hour now,
so I'm starting to worry.
At first I was like, okay,
let's just have breakfast.
I made myself some breakfast, actually.
Um, and he's gonna be back soon,
but now...
He's not coming back
and I'm getting nervous,
'cause either he's in line
and then everything is fine
or they have been talking
to him for, like, half an hour.
And I just really... I can't handle
any more border problems.
I just wanna be in Mexico
and have fun again.
So?
- We have everything.
- Everything?
I think so!
But I think we got screwed over.
Did you have to pay something?
Yeah, she said it's "Pesos"
all the time...
...but the document says it's Dollars.
$1,129.
No, that's not possible.
I don't think we paid that much.
Mexico. Mexico.
Of course,
they didn't screw us over.
The currency sign is just the same
as the one in the US.
So I thought it's dollars.
So, we just made the first
80, 90 miles in this country.
The people are nice. The food is good.
The only problem is the roads.
The worst roads you can imagine.
Worse than everything
I ever experienced.
Everything in the bus is breaking.
So, I don't know how much
longer we can go, but, uh...
This bus is definitely not made for
Central and South America.
Uh, let's see how it goes, uh,
we're pretty stoked to be here, so...
We don't care about the bus. We're happy.
We're back in no man's land again,
and I'm sure we're
the only tourists around.
But it's kind of nice, 'cause
the bus draws a lot of attention
so locals come
and talk to us all the time.
On the first evening, we get invited
for dinner by two young girls
and are super impressed
by their hospitality,
'cause it's our first day in Mexico
and already we're getting
our first bottle of tequila.
- Nuevo Casas Grandes.
- Nuevo Casas Grandes.
- Neuvo?
- Uh-huh. Casa Grandes is like a...
- How do you say it?
- Nuevo Casas Grandes.
Nuevo Casas Grandes.
Welcome to Mexico.
Without pot. Without pot.
Just with tequila.
You have no weed.
No weed.
They don't have time
the next morning,
but want us to see their hometown.
So they send a school friend who shows us
the chili factory of his dad.
They break really easily.
- They break? Oh, okay.
- Yeah.
Well, my hair is very soft, so...
- You'll have to put...
- Put it all in.
- Oh, oh, all of it?
- All of it.
Oh.
Okay.
- Where did you guys start?
- Uh, Niagara Falls.
No, North Carolina.
- North Carolina.
- Oh, okay.
Canada. Alaska.
After visiting
the chili factory of his dad,
Riley wants to show us
one more highlight of the area.
We are driving about five miles to get
to a farm a friend of his dad owns.
On our way, we passed chili
and potato fields.
Supposedly, about 90% of all potato chips
in Mexico are being produced here.
Is it that bad?
Just put it on your tongue.
Don't bite it.
- It's pretty hot.
- Pretty hot.
Is that a chili or jalapeno?
- That's jalapeno.
- Jalapeno?
- Chili and jalapeno.
- Ah, okay.
- Chili and jalapeno.
- Jalapeno.
It's pretty hot.
But it's okay. I'm not, you know...
I'm still alive.
Once we get to the farm
we are kinda freaked out.
There is several mansions
we aren't really allowed to film.
There is a Boeing used as a private jet.
And then there's these tigers
in really small cages.
Feels really weird being here,
but we don't want to be rude
and question the circumstances
or even the hospitality.
Second day in Mexico.
Our taco number 412, I think.
And we're pretty full.
And now it's time for Rudi's first taco.
Rudi, taco.
You don't want the bread? Okay.
So, two days ago we saw the tigers
and this dude with a lot of land and...
He had employees,
like thousands and stuff.
And we were like, "Okay,
this is not normal to have tigers."
And now somebody told us
that dude is famous.
He is the number one narco...
Narcos? Narco?
Drug dealer.
Uh, Pablo Escobar of Mexico, whatever.
And he's huge here.
Everybody knows him.
He gives people jobs and everything,
but still, he makes his money with drugs.
So, yeah, it's not normal to have tigers,
and he was like,
"Oh, don't film everything."
So, now we know why. We're kinda shocked
and you never know
who you meet in Mexico.
I don't know what to say.
Good times.
In Jimenez we got lucky again,
finding a good sleeping spot
for the night.
A really friendly hotel manager
invited us
to park the bus in his huge parking lot
and even offered us a room.
But we are fine with staying in the bus.
After inviting us to eat in the hotel,
he gave us a little tour
through his beloved city.
Oh.
Oh.
- Hey! Hey, how are you?
- Very well, and you?
- When do we go to Germany?
- Yes. One day we will go.
- Si.
- Si.
I'll send this guy. Son, come!
Say hi to these guys.
When locals give you a tour,
you get to places where there was
probably no tourist before you.
That's how we get a totally unfiltered
view of how the life there really is.
We don't question how they
keep their animals here in Mexico.
Kinda like the tigers before,
but once you get to another country,
there's other rules than in
Germany or in the US.
We need to respect these circumstances
and be thankful for the hospitality here.
Whoa.
There is 20 soldiers
and two tanks outside the bus.
We've just been to a little tour
around the city Jimenez,
and we came back,
the dog was in here,
and those tanks are next door.
I'm scared as hell.
They don't talk to us.
They all got 20 guns in their hands.
Like, this is war.
I don't know if they're
good guys or bad guys
or if they wanna help and protect us
or take us as, like, a hostage, uh...
I am scared. I mean, I'm shaking bad.
This is war.
I don't know what's happening.
They don't talk to us.
Uh, second day in Mexico in Jimenez
and, uh, this happens.
But, uh, I'm still positive, I guess.
We, uh, moved the bus last night.
The army didn't leave for two hours.
We didn't know what's going on.
So, after an hour...
No, after, like,
two hours we took the dog,
went outside for a walk.
And once we came back, I'm still nervous,
once we came back, they ran.
They ran off, took the trucks and left.
So I was like, what is going on?
Is this, like, a scam?
Did they put, like,
a ton of cocaine underneath my bus?
And the next day they're gonna
stop me and say
I'm the drug dealer, whatever?
So I checked everything, nothing.
So we don't know what it was.
Maybe they were just nice
and wanted to protect us,
but they didn't really speak to us.
It was weird.
So...
They're gone now.
We moved the bus last night
because we said, "Look,
let's get out of here."
First the Narco, the drug dealer,
now the army.
What's coming next, Mexico?
I, uh, took a lot
of free kicks in my life.
None of 'em in Mexico yet.
None of 'em this important.
Good goalkeeper, good field.
I'm positive.
- Oh!
- Ooh!
No.
Whoo-hoo!
Whose ball?
Oh!
Yeah!
Now a little physiotherapy
for this guy.
Good job!
Good job. You did well today.
So we are in San Luis Potosi now.
It's so hard to explore
a city with the bus.
You never find parking,
and we just found this spot.
It's in front of the Hilton Hotel,
I think.
This is the Hilton.
Dear management, I'm sorry.
I know we're not allowed to park here,
but we'll be back in one or two hours.
We just want to explore
the city real quick.
And I hope you don't tow us away.
Please don't.
Um, we like your country,
we like your hotels,
so be nice to us.
Didn't get towed, quite the opposite.
We got a little message,
uh, under our door.
That's always really nice.
From someone who recognized us
over Facebook
and just said something nice.
Mexico's full of surprises.
In the middle of the road,
Miguel stopped our bus
and asked us a million questions,
like where we are from,
what we do,
where we go, and whatsoever.
He was really interested in our story,
and without further ado,
he invited us in his house
here in San Miguel de Allende.
We got to know his family,
and everything felt really special for us.
Kind of like home, I guess.
We get along really great,
and after a little walk with Rudi,
we decide to head towards the city
to get some dinner together.
Take leaf off. You're gonna pinch.
And you have to wait
until it's clean?
- No, now you can eat it.
- Oh, now you can eat that?
Let's go for a minute
inside Mama Mia restaurant.
Mama Mia?
That's Cochinita Pibil.
Cochinita Pibil.
Take a little piece.
That's the sound you have to make.
It has to be drowned in sauce.
- Yummy.
- A lot of lime.
Well done.
I was thinking about your top knot.
I wanted to ask if you remember the name.
- Is it moving when I talk?
- Well done.
My top knot is moving.
Your top knot is moving. No.
No, it doesn't move.
How do you say in German?
This? Dutt.
- What?
- Dutt. Dutt.
- With D?
- With a D.
- Yeah.
- Dutt. Si.
For the generals who used to be working...
The city is really beautiful too,
so we decide to stay for a few days.
These short breaks from traveling
are super relaxing.
It's important not to move
every single day,
otherwise you get stressed out
pretty quickly.
Mexico is the perfect place for that,
because we make so many friends
and meet families
that make us feel at home.
Mexico in general
is such a beautiful place.
The colorful houses, the people, the food.
It definitely has become one of our
favorite countries in the world.
- 15 Tacos El Pastor please.
- 15?
Yes, 15.
With pineapple, sauce and onions
but without cilantro please.
- Eat here?
- Yes.
First tacos and later Churros!
A little bit of lime.
Mmm!
Mmm-hmm. Mmm-hmm.
We just drove off the highway
and went to the first restaurant we saw,
and here in Mexico, you get one lunch
in a lot of restaurants,
so you can't really choose
and there's no menu,
so we just order what they have,
and we didn't really
understand what it was,
so you never know what you're gonna get,
and today was really yummy
and we really loved it, and...
Let's hope our stomachs like it, too.
Back in Germany,
we mostly eat vegetarian,
or sometimes even vegan.
When traveling, this totally changes.
We always try to get to know
the culture as it is,
and how do you get to know culture better
than through food?
That's why we usually eat
wherever the locals go,
and we never got disappointed
by that strategy.
The colored lights, when the sun
is going up, the northern lights.
Yes, but we were in Alaska in summer.
In summer, there are no northern lights,
but it is beautiful.
Yeah, I heard that they are
beautiful northern lights.
They also exist in Norway
in the north of Europe.
So, we just wanted to...
Go on a little break,
here on the gas station.
I walked around the bus
to check everything,
because the roads are so bad.
And our water tank just fell.
Everything just ripped out.
Lucky the PEX lines are still fine.
One more bump and everything's
gonna rip out from the inside.
I don't know what to do.
It's, like, 100 degrees.
I don't have any tools to fix this.
Can't be any worse.
Can't be any worse than this.
We just met a truck driver,
no word English,
our Spanish is very little.
So I guess he said, "Follow me,"
and we are doing that right now.
I hope he's taking us to a mechanic.
As a kiddo in Germany,
your mom usually teaches you
not to trust or talk to strangers.
We usually trust people wherever we go,
and never had a bad experience.
I'm pretty sure most people
wouldn't have followed
this shady-looking truck driver.
While the mechanics ponder
how to fix the water tanks,
I kinda tried to thank the guy
without really speaking
Spanish that great.
But I'm pretty sure he understood
most of my Spanglish and gestures.
After about 10 minutes
and, like, five bucks,
we are back on the road.
And for the first time since Los Angeles,
we are heading for the ocean again.
Here in Campeche,
one of the biggest
national holidays is coming up.
Eighty percent
of the Mexican people are Catholic,
and on the Dia de los Muertos,
the Day of the Dead,
they prepare beautiful tables
for the deceased loved ones
with food and drinks they liked.
Rudi, we have to go.
Come, Rudi, come!
Rudi, we have to leave.
He really doesn't wanna get on the bus.
He hates the bus.
Rudi, let's go!
Good boy.
In the beginning, Rudi loved traveling.
But by now, he hates
that we're driving every day.
He got used to the heat,
but he's missing a daily routine.
And after all this time on the road,
we start to notice
that we're kind of feeling the same.
In the beginning, we were excited
to experience new things every day.
But now it's often overwhelming.
You okay?
In Tulum,
we allow ourselves a little luxury,
and rent a hotel room
with AC for a couple of days.
And you, Rudi?
Unfortunately, the break comes too late.
Both Rudi and Felix get really ill,
and while Felix recovers after a while,
Rudi only gets worse.
It's too cold. Yeah.
Okay, right now, Rudi...
I have already earlier
a diagnosis of Giardia.
So he's in treatment right now.
He's having a hard part because
he's got gastritis.
Settle down a little bit
because all the stress of the traveling
and all these medical conditions
are being a little rough to him.
- Too much?
- Too much, a little bit too much.
And especially because
he's really picky with the food,
and he's already being treated
by other diseases.
I honestly don't know
what to do right now.
We've been to the vet again today,
well, we've been yesterday,
and I think he has a tick-related disease,
and yesterday she wasn't too worried,
'cause his temperature was high
but he didn't have a fever.
But then when we came back from the vet,
I gave him the medication
that she gave to us, and, um...
He vomited it, like, after 10 minutes.
He had food and he vomited
it all out, and, um...
So, at first, I thought
maybe it's just the heat
or food-related, or I don't know, um...
And this morning, I gave him food again,
tablets first, food.
And then he vomited it again.
It just takes, like, a minute
and then it's all out again.
All over the floor.
And...
So we immediately went to the vet again,
and this time she was really worried,
so I'm worried now, too,
because at the vet he was really shaky,
and now he has a fever.
He has 40 degree fever now.
And, um...
She said if he doesn't
get better by tomorrow,
he has to go to the hospital,
and I just can't imagine him
going to the hospital,
'cause he's so scared
when he's not with us.
I don't think he can ever
go to the bus again.
I honestly am scared that he's gonna die
if we go all the way to Panama.
Rudi, it's okay.
- We're trying to be gentle.
- Hmm.
It's obvious that
he's not going to like it,
because this,
it's going to constrict the arm.
It will make him numb,
and maybe the most thing he would like...
It's okay, Rudi.
Hmm.
Well done, baby,
you're doing a great job.
She just said to us
that we can't carry on driving.
If we carry on driving with him
in this condition, he is going to die.
He already started
hiding and looking for a place to die.
Then he stopped eating,
that's the next sign.
She took his temperature
and his fever isn't going down,
that's why he is on a drip.
He doesn't eat...
Poor Rudi is preparing to die.
We're not gonna let him, of course.
But we can't carry on driving.
Rudi's health is our priority,
so we decide to fly home.
In the beginning, we're really sad
that we have to stop the trip.
But we quickly feel
that it's the right thing for us, too.
Moving every day became too much for us,
and we forgot to ask ourselves
what makes us happy.
At the end of this long journey,
the answer is quite different
from what we expected.
We had the great freedom
to travel the world,
and now all we want is settle down.
On the upside,
Rudi got ill in a really beautiful place.
We made good friends here
and there's plenty of things to do,
so we can enjoy
the last few days of our trip.
We asked ourselves pretty quickly
what's going to happen
with our beloved bus,
and had the neat idea to raffle the bus
to one of our online followers.
Camille is coming.
- Camillia.
- Camille.
Camillia. Three weeks left, so...
Nice.
Oh!
Look at that.
Whoo!
Toot-toot!
Oh, my God. What is he doing?
I thought I would just be happy
when the bus was gone,
but now I'm sad, 'cause it's kind of hard.
It's like driving off in front of me,
and we built everything
with our own hands,
so, it's...
It's kind of sad to let go.
The most beautiful thing
about this trip
is that we found friends for life.
Without Miguel and his family,
we would have collapsed at the airport,
because they didn't want to take
Rudi on the plane.
But with their help,
everything kind of worked out,
and we can't wait till they come over
to Europe to visit us.
Do you think we can still
make the boarding? Yeah, right?
Talk to this girl, my supervisor.
It's Christmas today,
and we told no one that we're coming home.
Everyone thinks we're still traveling,
and our families have no idea
that we're gonna surprise them today.
- Hello, little one.
- He's done.
- Hello.
- No way!
Rudi, go up.
Let him go. Okay, he's coming.
- Hey, Grandma.
- Are you kidding me?
Rudi.
Rudi, come.
Don't call for him, he's coming.
Help, help!
Help, help!
Rudi, it's okay. Rudi, it's okay.
Rudi, where is Marco?
Don't break the Christmas tree!
Hello, Rudi! Hello, Rudi!
It's a little much for him.
Nice to have you here, Rudi.
- You've grown so big!
- Look how happy he is.
Rudi.