A team of three UW-Milwaukee students has been given the opportunity of a lifetime in the form of an all expenses trip to Europe. They will travel from Florence to Paris, with six stops in between.
What’s the catch? They will only have cans of Red Bull to use as currency.
This is all a part of the Red Bull “Can You Make It?” competition which is being orchestrated by the extreme sports loving energy drink company. The participants, who have dubbed themselves the Balboa Brothers, consist of Charlie O’Dwyer, Dan Frederick and Patrick Ruhland. These UWM students first uploaded their entry video in hopes of a chance to satiate their appetites for adventure. Nearly 4,000 votes later, three college students who have never been out of the U.S. are on their way to Europe for the experience of a lifetime.
The competition, which includes over 50 teams of college students from all over the world, will be live streamed on Red Bull TV and shared across social media platforms. We met up with the Balboa Brothers to talk about how they were chosen and what they are doing to prepare for their journey.
How did you guys meet?
Dan: Me and Charlie went to high school together. I met Patrick in the dorms. He lived a floor above me my freshman year. We became great friends after that.
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Patrick: We had some great times in the dorms.
Dan: Yea we had very similar views and interests so we just hit it off and became real good friends.
How did you find out about the Red Bull competition?
Patrick: I found out about it through a Facebook post. It sounded interesting to me. It said 165 teams of college students would compete in this challenge. So I read the rules and it said to make a one-minute video, but the deadline was in like 10 days. I immediately texted Dan and got Charlie involved and we got right to work on making the video.
Dan: Yea we just went for it and ended up getting picked.
That’s great. So how did you come up with the name ‘The Balboa Brothers?’
Dan: Like we said, we had 10 days to get the video done. We just kept brainstorming all of these ideas. We had some really bad ones at first.
Charlie: Yea we had a lot of bad ideas. We took like three pages of notes. Everything that came to mind we just went to town.
Patrick: After about a week we got the Balboa idea, and it all clicked. Rocky Balboa always has a big training montage. We wanted to make it into a short movie, and have it be a little different. Everyone else was just introducing themselves and saying, “Hey, I’m so and so, and I like to travel”. So we decided to make Rocky 7 or maybe it’s Rocky 8, I don’t even know what it would be at this point they’ve made so many.
Did you recruit someone to make the video for you or did you do it yourselves?
Dan: We just shot it on my phone. The three of us just filmed it without a real cameraman. It came together much better than any of us would have thought. It worked out great.
What happened from there?
Dan: Then it went out for people to vote on, and it just took off. Our friends and families were super into it. Way more than I ever thought anyone was going to be. Even now that we’ve made it people are always asking us about it. They’re so into it, which is really cool.
Then one day we got a phone call while we were all hanging out, and it was from Red Bull, telling us we were finalists and going to Europe. I think I almost pooped my pants. We really couldn’t believe it. There were thousands of entries just in the U.S., not to mention from around the world.
How exactly did you get chosen? Was it all based on votes or was there a judge?
Dan: You had to be in the top 18 for votes in your region, ours was America North which is basically the Midwest, from there a panel of Red Bull judges picked four teams per region that they thought were the most creative or funny. I think they also picked based off of who they thought would do well.
Were you expecting to be chosen?
Patrick: We had some good vibes. We obviously couldn’t know for sure.
Charlie: Yea there is really no way to know, but we were definitely confident that we had a good chance.
Patrick: You just have to be positive. Just like with us going to Europe. We don’t know what the hell is going to happen once we get over there, but we’re still pretty confident and positive about it.
You will definitely have to be. When are you going over to start the competition?
Dan: On April 10 we fly from Milwaukee to Atlanta, Atlanta to Amsterdam and then Amsterdam to Florence, which is where the competition will start.
What does the competition all entail?
Patrick: We’re really in the dark about it right now. They’re trying to keep it a secret. As far as we know, we’ll get there and they will give us 24 cans of Red Bull, take away our phones and wallets, then we have to use those 24 cans of Red Bull as currency. We’ll have to trade and barter for food and places to stay. We’ll most likely have to do things like hitchhike as well.
Dan: We’ll have to get from Florence to six different locations, and then end in Paris.
Charlie: At every stop there are these “Mind and Body” challenges that you have to do that will allow you to get more Red Bulls to trade.
Dan: There’s also an “Adventure List” that you don’t have to do, but it will give you extra points in the competition. There are three ways to get points: social, adventure and checkpoints. The adventure list includes things like skydiving, getting a tattoo and a bunch of other random things.
So this is points-based and not a race?
Dan: No it’s not a race. The first team that gets there isn’t the winner. It’s about the journey along the way.
Patrick: You get points for views on social media and completing challenges. We’re going from Florence to Paris, which is where everyone ends, but some teams are starting in Barcelona, Prague and other places I can’t remember off the top of my head.
How do you like your chances of winning?
Charlie: We’re gonna win! (Everyone laughs)
Dan: Absolutely, 100%.
There’s no fear of getting stranded out in Europe with no money?
Patrick: I think we’ll get by with trades. Dan is pretty charismatic.
Dan: A while back, Patrick and I went on a road trip out west. Just being college kids with no money, we only brought money for gas, some food and a propane grill. I didn’t want to spend any money on a hotel because I didn’t have any money to spend on a hotel. We slept on the side of the highway in the car every night. I did the same thing over spring break. I spent about $110 to get out to the Smokey Mountains, and camped out there. I really only paid for gas. I think that experience will help out a lot in the competition, and like they said I just like talking to people.
Patrick: Also, I think that humans can live about 30 days without food (laughs).
What do you think will be the biggest challenge while you’re in Europe?
Patrick: I honestly think we’ve gotten past the hardest part already. I think getting the votes and the support to get this far will be harder than the competition itself. That was tough.
Dan: I think getting around to the locations will be tough, but that’s what I’m most excited for. I’m excited to hitchhike. It’s a challenge I think we’re all looking forward to tackling.
Charlie: I think the hardest part might be the sleeping arrangement. We don’t have a set place to sleep, so we might be sleeping on the street one night or staying in a hotel lobby for a couple hours until they kick us out.
If you win what is the grand prize?
Dan: Whoever has the most points at the end wins an entire summer in Europe. You become a Red Bull travel ambassador. You’ll get to do all of these awesome adventures with Red Bull and some other teams. Second place wins a trip to any Red Bull sponsored event in their home country with two nights hotel paid for and a few other perks. We’re definitely shooting for the summer in Europe.
You can follow the Balboa Brothers’ journey here.
