Travel
The Swedish Red Bull Can You Make It? team who charmed their way to the win
In the 2018 edition of Red Bull Can You Make It?, Sweden's Team GIT had the adventure of a lifetime as they crossed Europe with no money or phones, but charisma to spare. Here's how they did it.
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They hadn't set out to win.
When Tobias Andersson, Isac Ottosson and Gustav Seidel were chosen to represent Sweden in Red Bull Can You Make It? – which sees teams crossing Europe using only cans of Red Bull as currency – the trio from Linköping University were just looking forward to sharing new experiences as Team GIT on the way to the finish in Amsterdam.
So, why not take time for some sightseeing at their starting point in Rome before charging north like the rest of the teams?
Team GIT plan their route
© Mauro Puccini/Red Bull Content Pool
Actually… it wasn’t a bad idea.
While there’s a seven-day time limit in Red Bull Can You Make It?, it’s not the fastest to the finish who wins. Teams have to earn points through various challenges. And Team GIT accidentally put themselves in contention right from the off.
"In the first hours, we were exploring the city," Andersson explains. "But in the process we were doing small challenges while everyone else went to the train station – where no one managed to get a ride, because something like 40 teams were trying to talk their way onto the same train."
With sightseeing and several small challenges (like obtaining six scoops of ice cream) complete, Team GIT eventually went to a different train station, where the conductor hadn't been inundated and allowed them onboard. The trio were one step ahead of the pack who started in Italy and right up there among the more than 200 teams taking off from various cities across the continent.
Even Vikings need to nap
© Courtesy of Team GIT
"All three of us are extremely competitive and at the end of the first day we realised that we were in the top five," Ottosson recalls. “So, then we said, let's push it one more day and we found ourselves in the top three. And it just continued."
Seidel says, "I remember the end of that long first day. Rolling into Bologna on our longboards – that was a great moment."
Not that a 2,000km journey without their phones, cash or credit cards was easy. And it didn’t help that they hadn't packed gear for serious touring or even warm clothes.
But when it came to accommodation, they did alright. Although they snoozed at a bus station one evening, the Swedish crew did convince strangers to take them in on three occasions and they charmed their way into some posh hotels as well.
"I managed to get us a four-star hotel one night. The next night, Isac had to beat me and got us a suite in a five-star!" Andersson shares.
Team GIT enjoy the suite life
© Team GIT
In Hamburg, they started socialising with a group of people they saw hanging out on a balcony.
"We had a great time talking and they even helped us complete some challenges," Seidel recounts. "The guy who owned the apartment was already asleep, but they said, 'Of course you can sleep here'."
Seidel continues, "Then, the day afterwards the owner woke up and he was like, 'Who are you guys?' But we explained over coffee and he was super nice."
Across the journey, the team-mates went indoor skydiving, rode in an Italian supercar, surfed on Munich's rivers and previewed a new electric luxury car right at the manufacturer's head office in Germany. They also went out of their comfort zone to take on quirky challenges like trying to get 20 people singing and dancing in a town square.
On the penultimate day, determined to lock the win, they took a detour to Luxembourg to pick up extra points. It was a gamble, because if they didn’t make the last train toward Amsterdam, they'd miss the time cut-off and forfeit everything.
Taking on a challenge with BMX legend Viki Gomez in Luxembourg
© Wilhelm Westergren / Red Bull Content Pool
Points attained, they hustled to the train station and cornered the conductor.
Andersson laughs, “He was our toughest conductor of the entire week!” After 10 nail-biting minutes of "begging… almost on our knees," the conductor acquiesced and a few hours later – exhausted and happy – the team-mates were soaking up the glory in Amsterdam.
Crossing the finish line in Amsterdam
© Jarno Schurgers / Red Bull Content Pool
All-in-all, Team GIT had traded 233 cans of Red Bull for food, travel, accommodation and more. And while across the seven days there were lows as well as highs, they "100 percent" recommend the experience.
"Going all-in for a single thing for an entire week was pretty cool. I really liked that," says Andersson. "We were really good friends before and even better afterward."
"I think that being detached from reality – because you have no phone, no money and are just focusing on one thing – was one of my favourite things about it," comments Seidel. "Not needing to constantly connect or scroll felt like freedom in a good way."
Ottosson sums it all up, saying: "It was probably the most fun week I've ever experienced."
Applications for Red Bull Can You Make It? 2024 are open now. Find out more about the adventure of a lifetime and apply here.
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