So I just spent the last week in Fiji getting to quasi-live out my Survivor dream.
It was truly one of the greatest experiences of my life and something I will remember forever.
My answer was obviously an immediate yes.
At one point, I even thought it might be an elaborate revenge plot byMintzy.
We flew first/business class on Fiji Airways with lay down beds and two full meals.
I’ve never flown like that before but my god does it live up to the hype.
Unfortunately, it’ll make me much less excited about my Delta Comfort Plus upgrades going forward.
But that was all stripped away one day later.
The 8 of us were marooned on one of their Survivor islands deep out in the Pacific Ocean.
We spent a total of about 36 hours there from Thursday morning until Friday night.
But even I was surprised at just how bad it can be.
Now some of that may have been just unfortunate circumstances.
We had what one camera man described as the second worst weather night he’s ever worked.
It was non-stop rain with the occasional cold breeze that didn’t help.
And there’s just so much darkness.
The sun sets at like 6 PM and doesn’t rise until 6 AM.
And however uncomfortable you may think it is to sleep on bamboo, multiply that by at least 10.
It was easily the worst sleeping conditions I’ve ever endured in my life.
At our resort on Wednesday night, I was annoyed at how flat the pillows were.
I will say one thing is I never really got hungry despite the utter lack of food.
But that was probably just because of adrenaline and having my mind focused on so much else.
Also 36 hours isn’t THAT long to go without food.
Boredom is also a major factor.
Overall, it definitely left me with a newfound respect for everyone who’s ever played the game.
But it was overall a truly surreal and life changing experience.
And you’re right.
It was a privilege of an experience and one I’m elated I had.
My overall takeaway was: Harder than it looks.
But at least now I know I can do it.
And I honestly think me and Jeff may be friends now?
I can’t release what we shot together until September but I feel like we have a rapport now.
It’s not Cochran or Penner level but like maybe one day?
He was extremely nice to all of us and helped give us such an incredible experience.
They’ve done every season there since Season 33.
They just have such a great set up.
(Oh and the tribal council set is even more epic and grandiose than it looks on TV.
And I get it.
And you’re free to tell how elated they were to share their culture with us visitors.
(It’s the 20th part of this Fiji photo dump I posted.
Not sure if it’s going to embed Part 1 or Part 20.
20 was probably too many pictures and the cropping absolutely dominated me but alas).
Well I don’t know how that started, but it couldn’t be further from the truth.
I’ve talked about my obsession with Survivor a lot through the years.
In my basement as a kid, me and my dad would play fake Survivor games.
I got hired at Barstool as an intern largely due to a Survivor: Barstool fanfiction that I wrote.
Survivor is truly in my blood and a huge part of what makes me who I am.
It’s not just a show that I watch.
It’s an obsession that has had meaningful impact after meaningful impact on my life.
I will be forever grateful to have had that opportunity.
