Kailey Luzbetak, senior at UIUC, and her two teammates, Dave Smulson and Tim Lalla, traveled from London to Berlin using Red Bull as their only currency as participants in the Red Bull Can You Make It? Challenge last month. They embarked on the journey of a lifetime, meeting hundreds of generous people willing to help them along the way. Her Campus was lucky enough to sit down with Luzbetak and learn all about her experiences abroad!
Her Campus: How did you get involved in the Red Bull Can You Make it Challenge?
Kailey Luzbetak: Actually, the original team consisted of Timmy, Dave and my roommate and close friend, Kelsey Vlamis. About 3-4 weeks before the race, Kels found out she had an exam during that time and knew her professor would not cooperate. Though I felt terrible about the fact that she had to sit out, I was naturally more than happy to take her spot. Dave is also one of my close friends and we’ve traveled quite a bit together already, which was an added bonus. It all happened so fast, and before I knew it, I was on a flight to London.
HC: What was the most challenging part of your journey?KL: While we had our fair share of speed bumps along the way, I think the hardest part of the whole experience has actually been trying to reintegrate myself back into the real world since it ended. I’ve been restless, a little disoriented and definitely craving movement. We were all just living in this little bubbly, traveling community for nine days, and returning to Champaign has definitely required some adjustment.
HC: What was your favorite part about the journey?KL: This is an impossible question, but when reflecting on the whole experience, the things that stand out the most are the relationships we built and people we got to know along the way, which I firmly believe had a lot to do with the fact that we didn’t have our cell phones. If we would have had maps, calling, texting, etc. at our disposal, we definitely would not have had to rely so heavily on verbally communicating with strangers. And those interactions – even the simplest ones – were the moments I’ll never forget.
HC: What was your favorite place you traveled, and why?KL: It’s hard to say because I fell in love with just about everywhere we passed through, but Belgium overall was incredible. Not only was it beautiful, but the people there (I literally mean every single person we interacted with) were overwhelmingly warm and kind. I have some very distinct memories of random acts of generosity from strangers in both Brussels and Ghent that I will never forget. We also got to know several other teams while in that area, which was great.
HC: What was it like to meet all sorts of people from around the world?KL: I loved it! Everyone was fascinating and had a different story or perspective. I especially enjoyed the company of the other teams in the competition. I’m sure it sounds ridiculous given I only spent a very brief period of time with them, but somehow, we all managed to develop some lifelong friends within the Red Bull Can You Make It? Community.
HC: Overall, what did you take away from this experience?KL: People are kind, people are interested and people love adventure.
To learn more about the Red Bull Can You Make It? Challenge, go to this article:
http://www.hercampus.com/school/illinois/six-uiuc-students-selected-red-…
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