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After relinquishing their cash, credit cards and personal phones, the intrepid and audacious three-person teams of Red Bull Can You Make It? 2024 have set out from the five starting cities of Amsterdam, Barcelona, Budapest, Copenhagen and Milan. Now, these determined travellers are making their way to the finish in Berlin, Germany, whichever they can, taking on once-in-a-lifetime challenges and using their wit and charm to barter RedBull for food, transportation and a place to rest their weary heads.
It’s not about the first team to the destination – it's the adventures along the way that really matter. Each day, we'll round up the highlights from across the continent and share them with you here.
You can also learn more about RedBull Can You Make It?, and follow the teams’ own posts and vlogs, at www.redbullcanyoumakeit.com.
LATEST UPDATE
Day 5 – Saturday, May 25
The teams have a lot to celebrate as they look for a place to sleep tonight: In the last 24 hours of their RedBull Can You Make It? journey, they collectively travelled a distance of 66,070km, which means that they have now traversed more than 300,000km since starting their adventure on Tuesday. That’s equivalent to over seven times around the Earth!
Just since yesterday the teams have also reached 12 countries, signed in at 37 checkpoints, racked up 254 Checkpoint Challenges and completed 816 Adventure Challenges. As always, they’ve kept the cameras rolling, documenting the highs and lows for their followers in 1,697 spontaneous and heartfelt vlog posts on www.redbullcanyoumakeit.com.
And of course, in the last 24 hours the teams traded cans (2,656 of them) with generous strangers for meals, travel tickets and more – much more! Some of the best exchanges included bartering cans for festival tickets, professional hairstyling and face mask treatments, and even skydiving. Now that’s the way to spend a Saturday!
What will Sunday bring? Check back here tomorrow to find out.
PREVIOUS UPDATES
Day 4 – Friday, May 24
And onward they go. For most of the world, it’s the weekend, but for the RedBull Can You Make It? teams, there’s no time to kick back. At the halfway point of their adventure, they’re more motivated than ever to make progress toward their goal.
Since we last reported yesterday, the teams have logged 71,247 more kilometres, visiting a new high of 44 checkpoints in 13 countries. They’re ticking off the challenges, too, completing 274 Checkpoint Challenges and 875 Adventure Challenges. And the bartering has been as impressive as ever, with 2,735 cans traded.
As for telling their stories, the teams made 1,961 new vlog posts available. Among them:
Team Korea snuggled into their sleeping bags to catch some sleep on a bus station bench, which they not-at-all-seriously called the “best home ever.”
Portugal’s Ganda Lata team captured the vibe of sharing a warm meal with a kind family who invited them into their home.
The Softies from Switzerland traded RedBull for three tickets to Munich, which were bought for them by three different people.
Those Wacky Dudes from the USA not only lived up to their name by taking a polar plunge in Geneva; they did it with style – including a flip!
Germany’s Ingame carried off a wakeboarding challenge like they’d been doing it all their lives.
And finally, another US team, Directionally Challenged, vlogged about a challenge that was sparked by A1, the communications provider that is an official partner of RedBull Can You Make It? this year. Inspired by the concept of connecting people, Directionally Challenged captured a video of seven teams – 21 people in all – lined up side-by-side and doing the wave (some from inside their sleeping bags!) at 4 o’clock in the morning.
You can watch all the vlogs, searchable by team, at www.redbullcanyoumakeit.com.
Day 3 – Thursday, May 23
The teams continue to fire on all burners, and here’s the proof: In the last 24 hours, they’ve achieved their biggest collective distance yet – 64,789 kilometres - and in the process, stopped by 39 checkpoints in 14 countries. Altogether today, the teams uploaded 1,868 vlogs to their spaces on www.redbullcanyoumakeit.com to share their stories with the world. A hefty tally of 293 Checkpoint Challenges and 755 Adventure Challenges were completed, while 2,111 cans were traded for necessities as well as several bucket-list experiences.
Some of those trades have been truly next-level. For example, teams negotiating to exchange just a single can of RedBull for an experience like indoor skydiving or actually flying a plane.
These audacious adventurers have been stepping up to their Checkpoint Challenges, too, from a team recording an unbelievable original track at RedBull Studios in Paris to quite a few arriving in Salzburg bright and early for a chance to fly in a pontoon plane with a pilot from the Flying Bulls before completing a challenge at an Alpine lake.
And speaking of bodies of water, wetsuits were required in Constance (Konstanz), Germany, as team members immersed themselves in a challenge at one of Europe’s largest lakes. Yes, more teams achieved the milestone of crossing the German border today, but the Finish Line in Berlin isn’t in sight yet, and with numerous Checkpoint and Adventure Challenges still to complete, no team can rest easy…even if they're lucky enough to find a place to rest!
Day 2 – Wednesday, May 22
Teams are going strong! Shortly before 6:30pm CEST, the latest tallies show exponential progress. Today the unstoppable adventurers covered 53,349km, reaching 40 checkpoints in 16 countries. Along the way, they tackled 324 Checkpoint Challenges and 872 Adventure Challenges. They’ve also traded 2,281 cans and uploaded 2,088 vlogs to their dedicated spaces on www.redbullcanyoumakeit.com.
The Gladiator team scored a major coup by trading cans for a plane flight all the way from Barcelona to Hanover. That’s over 1,500km. And, yes, they're in Germany already, but they’re not the only ones – and remember, getting to Berlin isn’t the only criterion for winning. The points earned from challenges and vlogging are also key to success in the event.
Other forms of transport used in the past 24 hours included the Hong Kong team charming a conductor into a train trip, the Czech Chicas convincing a driver to give them a ride in a sports car, as well as something they were just as grateful for: their first warm meal since the start. Meanwhile the Potato Explorers traded cans for a comfy bus ride from Perpignan to Lyon, bringing them about 450km closer to Berlin. No doubt they'll want to visit a checkpoint soon to boost their can 'currency'.
The Checkpoint and Adventure Challenges have provided laughs along with tough tasks. For some, heights were the name of the game, with teams like Pretty Committee taking on an abseiling challenge, while in Hamburg team Pro Photographers faced down a Checkpoint Challenge that required scaling the rigging of a boat like an old-time sailor.
A Checkpoint Challenge in Sweden resulted in hilarity thanks to some uninhibited singing and at another Checkpoint Challenge, the wakeboarding fails were epic. That’s all part of building experiences that these teams will tell their grandchildren about.
And finally, if there were a category for Most Heartwarming, Team Rizz(k) would certainly be contenders: they spent the night in the outbuilding of a friendly farmer, bunking right next to fuzzy, peeping baby geese!
Day 1 – Tuesday, May 21
And they’re off! The teams set out at 2:00pm Central European Summer Time today and less than 5.5 hours later the early tallies showed that collectively they'd already covered a whopping 5,829km. They earned a lot of points as well, reaching nine checkpoints in seven countries and completing 58 Checkpoint Challenges as well as 305 Adventure Challenges. They also traded 843 cans and uploaded 1,056 vlogs!
What did they trade those cans for? While one team eased into the week by trading RedBull for a single banana, most of the big trades involved transportation.
One team managed to secure a ride on a fire engine, while another got 90 minutes closer to Berlin with a lift from a box (delivery) truck. And kudos to the team whose ingenuity and charm saw them make a trade for plane tickets from Budapest to Nice!
Also strategically impressive was the team who bartered for a place to sleep on a cruise ship, where they were invited to dinner with the crew.
And then there was the team who traded cans for a ride on a rollercoaster. It didn’t get them any closer to the finish, they definitely had a blast – and that’s what it’s all about!
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