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

As a Canadian who lives at the top of a mountain. Just put your hazards on and stay ON the road. People can go around you. Especially if it's not a busy road. Better than getting stuck. Also there is a couple self rescue vechicle recovery courses you could take just to make you feel more confident with recovery. But I get how scary it is to see all you possessions tilting at a scary angle in the middle of no where! Glad it worked out.

Dear Eva, as a Canadian (living in Los Angeles) I am inclined to give you this info: when you apply the brake on snow or ice, you lose direction, totally. If you start sliding, DO NOT BRAKE, just steer as you release the accelerator. You can apply the brake a little and if it still slides release the brake and try to turn lightly. Also, sometime, if your car is at a relatively high speed and you start sliding (usualy on icy road), you need to counterintuitively full turn your wheels quickly in the direction it is sliding. This will make your car stay in line with the road while it will do a 360 degrees, avoiding the ditch (I did this extreme technique twice in my life and it worked well). But if you turn your wheel in the opposite direction at higher speed (it is a natural reflex), you will hit the ditch or whatever obstacle is on that side you are trying to avoid. In your case, you were driving slowly so this technique does not apply. You can practice these techniques in an empty parking. Also, at each beginning of a travel or if the condition changes when you travel, you need to test how the car reacts when you break, and at different levels of braking. But sometime, you slide in the ditch no matter what you do. But I suspect you did not pay attention for a second and you went too far on the side of the road, then you braked and lost direction, making the car go in the ditch. And for the return.... bon voyage! You are right, it is the pleasure is mostly in the journey as the success is very short in time... sometime sublime, sometime deceiving... but short...

Funny how Vilk's head makes yours look very little when Vilk is looking over your shoulder while you're in the driver's seat (12:28). He's an impressive companion! 😍 And, Congratulations on your accomplishment of this expedition!! Your gumption and resilience is extraordinary

You & Vilk are safe, that's the main thing. Power to those guys from the 🇳🇴 army. Someone should make a high traction, tyre width, roll up "mat" you can lay behind stuck wheels, for that extra grip, especially "bumpy" ground.

I’m almost 60 years old and I actually made a bigger mistake than you today. I made myself a chicken burrito and cooked the chicken and the tortilla in the microwave for two minutes. My tortilla is now a potato chip. Don’t be so hard on yourself. I’ve lived in Snow country most my life even the best drivers end up in the ditch sometimes.

Might add Recovery Boards, cat litter for traction, and a long tow strap to use with Your winch. Lived in Alaska 36 years and have used the all. Be safe out there.

A deserved thumbs up! Yes, there was a rookie mistake in pulling off the road for a pee, but this is an audacious mission chronicled by some outstanding filmmaking. Brava!

Vilk is the best dog EVER! He's the most perfect travel companion Eva could've ever chosen. It's so cute the way he looks at her and wants to have a conversation with her. He's a brilliant dog! 😊

Last February I was driving on an icy snow covered street in my Jeep Gladiator, accelerated, only to find it turned 90 degrees to the right. Well I had no steering and skidded sideways into a concrete barrier. Being minus 38 C, my vehicle contacted the rear wheel first, and slingshot my front wheel and axle into the barrier, and the extreme cold made my cast iron front differential pumpkin crack. I had to have the front axle rebuilt with a new axle housing, bent the left front knuckle, and bent control arms, and had to wait 3 months to get parts and have the $12,000 repair completed. We all make mistakes, but thankfully yours were not that costly, and you met good samaritan travellers, to help you on your way. Yes, you had two strikes that day, but you were able to hit one out of the park for the win! Congratulations! You need to get recovery boards, and a 90 foot extension synthetic winch rope, to add to your winch, a 7/8ths x30 foot kinetic rope, a 48 inch x 4 inch tree saver webbing strap, and a few soft shackles, which would have helped. Learning to recover your vehicle would be good content for a future video, and give you piece of mind. Don't sweat the small stuff.

Eva you should use your recovery boards!!! They work great in the snow, maybe consider a winch extension strap, not heavy and can really help! Great Video as always!! Also try different gears in 4low, sometimes 2nd or third helps!

Great that you were able to get help from some great people, Eva. Being old enough to be alive prior to the age of cell phones, I used to get stuck in forests alone and unable to call anyone for any help. Being stuck in that snow, my strategy would of been to, very carefully, block all the tires, use the tire jack, and a sufficiently large supporting flat surface, like a board, to act as sort of snow shoe for the jack, at a "safe" pre-compacted point to lift the low side, very slowly, maybe 1 centimeter at a time, and compact as much snow as possible under each centimeter of tire on the low side (maybe even lower the tire a little bit at a time, to help compact the snow), and then up again, until the vehicle is level, then do a similar snow compaction process upon an exit pathway (basically like building a new road on-ramp out of compacted snow, or other available materials, e.g. rocks, etc.). Ideally though, best to avoid the chaos of going off road, but sometimes it is not appreciated until one finds oneself accidently stuck, then the appreciating and gratuity is amplified to where it needs to be, it's reinforcement learning.

I will give some advice if you are ever stuck again. Cat liter helps a lot. Just pour it under your tires. It will give you the traction you need to get unstuck.

Thank you for sharing your experiences. Have a safe drive home and see you and Vilk in your next video

Dear sweet brave Eva....thank you for your wonderful journey. That you give us the chance to comy along with you and have a lot of fun....you did great 🌸

I can't help but find Oddysea so cozy and nice, everything within an arms reach. Your own little home on wheels :D I hope you got it warm enough inside to feel cozy as well haha. But you made it!! Congratulations and thank you for the wonderful share of this adventure!

I just love how Vilk moves his head when you’re asking him questions or when he’s figuring out what you’re doing or saying. It’s so obvious how much he loves you, it must feel even better!! The landscape of the snow & dirt reminded me of an artist who used this same landscape of brown & white and integrated American Paint Horses into his Drawing, they’re so beautiful. McDonald, maybe? I loved this video even though you may feel a bit negative about it, you seemed more laid back & relaxed, ready to deal with whatever comes at you…..🍀

Stay on the road, most roads are slightly sloped to each side for water runoff and snow melt, use your warning flashers if you stop, try and find a side road to pull into if you need to get out, safe travels !! 😊

In the deepest valley we feel so small. On the highest mountain we find out how small we really are. But in the right place with the right person we can feel larger than life.

What an adventure, so cool to see how you always seem to stay positive. Thanks for sharing! I hope this trip was everything you wished for!

🤔I find it interesting everyone is so quick to give advice on recovery/traction boards and winch accessories, which can definitely be helpful, but Eva just conquered over 3,000 miles across the Arctic in the dead of winter, on a self-sustained expedition of pure creative adventure, captured it as a solo professional film maker, and documented each episode with expert storytelling purely for our enjoyment and inspiration. Expedition North: All I have to say is WELL DONE EVA 🏆