I Survived the World's Loneliest Job

Ryan:

There's a job on this island, located in the

Arctic Circle, that is considered by journalists to be the loneliest job on

Earth. Oh, no! So lonely. Somebody go visit! There's a rumor that the woman who bought

this island 17 years ago to maintain this lighthouse, has gone mad. So the question is: Did the keeper of the

world's loneliest job actually go insane? Or better yet: Will I? There's only one way to find out. I made it to Norway. I found Norwegian snacks and beverages. I've been traveling for over 40 hours

straight. Talk about a commute to work. Slip down the stairs on the way off the

plane earlier. I'm okay. It's very cold, and we haven't

even gotten to the Arctic Circle yet. But guess what! I've got a job to do. I found some Norwegian music online. It's fun to listen to this, and see the

scenery and everything. I'm enjoying this. I'm headed to this tiny

little town that's gonna allow me to boat to the island. This is not your average Uber

ride. And luckily, I was able to find an Airbnb to

stay in, which is crazy. I'm sleeping here for the night. This is the cutest little house I've ever

seen. As you can probably tell, it's already

getting dark outside. I have no idea what time it is back home in

Texas, but it feels like I haven't slept in days. And I have a feeling I'm gonna need to

be well-rested. There's still some light outside, but it's

like 4 a.m. in Texas, so I'm just gonna try to go to

bed. And tomorrow I'm spending my day doing the

world's loneliest job. Wakey, wakey! For whatever reason, it's just

now hitting me how possibly stupid this is...the thing that I'm doing. There's really no reason to do this. There's no actual tangible motivation. But unfortunately, it's time to go. I'm going. I'm playing the fun Norwegian

music again to cover up the fact that I'm nervous. I made it to the dock where I'm

getting picked up for work. No-one's here yet. A few minutes later, a

man appeared on a boat out of nowhere. Well, from the ocean, I guess it's not that

surprising, but... Ryan: Hey! Ryan.

Frode: Welcome to Norway!

Ryan: This is Frode. He may be the most honest man I've ever met. How's the water today? Like I said, this isn't my first time on a

speedboat to go to a lonely place. I was able to see the island within minutes. I'm on top of the world. Literally. The Arctic Circle. The world's loneliest job. That's crazy. She was waiting for me when I arrived. Ryan: We made it.

Elena: Please, come on!

Ryan: All right. Elena: Yeah. Nice meeting you.

Ryan: This is Elena, the owner of this

island, who holds the title of the World's loneliest job. My first assignment was just

carrying Coke Zeros up to the house, which is what I normally do anyway, so that was easy. And then Elena showed me around a little

bit. This is my room for the night. I did not expect this, to be honest. I love Norwegian bedding, I do. The view from my room. I just can't believe it, I simply can't. I have so many questions. Starting with: What's for lunch? Okay, I was kind of joking. I didn't expect there to actually be lunch. She made me fresh cod soup. The fish was caught this morning. Elena encouraged me to go for a walk around

the island and get familiar with it, so I did. Ancient ruins. Crazy. Cave. When I got closer, I realized this cave is

actually massive. This island holds some mysteries. This feels like going into a Minecraft cave. I feel like I'm gonna see diamonds and a creeper. I'm scared. When I got back, I couldn't find Elena or

Frode anywhere, which is terrifying. I went to go check the lighthouse, naturally. I figured she was definitely

there. Hello? Elena? Frode? Looks like my loneliness started

early. Tomorrow we...toil. Seriously, where are they? Hello? Elena? Elena did leave me a "To do list" for

tomorrow, so that kind of makes things a little bit less mystical. I'm excited to get to work. So good night from my Scandinavian bed! Ah! Wakey-wakey! I woke up to a beautiful morning, but on the

flip side, I walked into the dining room and there was breakfast in there. How is there hot breakfast? And there's actively a fire burning in the

furnace. This coffee is freshly pressed, bruh. Maybe we can get some answers from my

interview with Elena yesterday. Check this out! Elena:

My name is Elena. I'm the owner of this lighthouse, and I've

been living here since 2006. And I came here because I was dreaming to

live as close to the sea as absolutely as possible. Ryan:

Good morning, Loners! Yeah, I'm clocked in. So...first thing on the "To do list" is: clean

guest room. She tried to tell me something. I'm the guest. Let's get started! Elena:

The guest room's here. There has been a thought behind how they are

made. Ryan:

Bruh! I slept like a baby last night. A Norwegian baby. Let's get cleaning! First thing I noticed when I got here is: how

much pride Elena takes in her rooms and their design. Elena:

We want the focus to be really outside, and

that's why the interior is also very simple. It's to enhance the view. That is the main thought. I moved here by my own free will. And when I'm alone, I also have to find the

answers for my own challenges. Ryan:

Guest room equals cleaned. Next thing up is: cleaning the dock. Just before I got here, there was a pretty

significant winter storm, which is why there's so much snow

everywhere. So I'm gonna be clearing off the dock to

make sure there's no hazard... Um, whenever they get back. If they get back. The boat is gone. Let's get it! Elena:

The dock is one of the most challenging

points on this lighthouse, because this lighthouse is put on a very challenging

place on the island. And the dock is about access and leaving.

Ryan: This dock is about to get absolutely shoveled. Shoveled. Let me get started! This dock is iced over. I'm gonna take out the music for proof. Okay, so there's been some ice here for a

long time. This stuff is...hard as diamonds. So far, I'm not feeling too lonely or crazy,

to be honest. If anything, I'm pretty inspired with: how

much effort Elena has put into this island. It's kind of beautiful. She's just this sweet old lady, but she has

so much mystery around her. It might not look like much, but it is much

easier to walk on. Yeah. Alright. Very nice. The dock has been cleaned. Next on my "To do list" is: clearing the

stairs. Elena told me that there are over 300 stairs

on this island, so I'm not sure which one she's talking about. Guess I'll just do them all. I had no idea what I was getting myself into

when I said that. There's, like, a lot of stairs on this

island. Okay, so here's my method with the stairs. Absolutely whacking it with a shovel and

then scraping it off. This is what it looks like when it's done,

which is great. 299 to go. Elena:

Coming from the dock and up to the tower, you

have actually to mount 300 steps. There is a lot of snow shuffling, when there

is snow like now. Ryan:

First set of stairs done. You can actually see them now, which is

exciting. I thought it was work just coming up these

stairs, much less clearing them. I'm proud of this though. This is nice. Oh, yeah. I forgot to mention this this

morning, but last night, after I went to bed, I actually got back up and went to the

lighthouse, because it's been my dream since I was a kid to see the Northern Lights. And you can see them here. The only problem is: it's very dark in the

lighthouse, and I accidentally fell through the top hole down the staircase, and

absolutely obliterated my thigh on the metal ladder. But the worst part is: it was cloudy. I didn't see any lights. So I just limped

back to bed in utter sorrow. It's fine. I'm fine. Anyways, back to the "To

do list". That's why we're here. I'm absolutely

teleporting up this staircase right now. Who you know, got speed like this? Hey! All right, that is actually half the

stairs complete. So...I'm gonna take a break and clean the

hotel windows. Life is crazy and lonely. Alright. These are the windows I'm gonna

be cleaning. But first things first, I'm gonna tend to

the fire. Elena:

This is an off grid system here. Meaning we have to produce our own energy. Elena: It's important to...to manage how to make a

fire and to keep the fire going.

Ryan: Complete. That's a big fire. I just imagined an explosion. Howdy! I'm gonna clean these windows. These windows have some salt on them from

the last winter storm. So I'm gonna do some cleaning. Let's go! I got a squeegee, and I've got

some...juice. I don't know what to call it. Cleaner. It's so clear outside right now. I'm like praying that I get to see some

Northern Lights tonight. That would actually just be emotional. Fingers crossed. I'm gonna keep cleaning. Elena:

These windows are a copy of the original old

windows, and it's not so easy to clean them. So that's why you can open the middle one,

and you can lean on the outside to wash both of them. Ryan:

This is definitely my favorite task so far. Not only do I love cleaning windows, but

this was an excuse to explore the house a little bit more. I found 2 cats in the

dining room, 1 named Lucy and 1 named Lawrence. See, I'm not so alone here. Elena:

I think if we all just take time to sit down

and breathe and jump off from the "I have to, I have to, I have to"... Maybe the world has to run a little bit at

its own pace. Ryan:

The hotel windows are now clean. I'm gonna finish clearing the stairs now. The world's loneliest job is getting

finished. Elena is gonna be so happy when she sees

this all completed. Especially the stairs all the way to the

lighthouse. Clearing all the stairs took me well over

3 hours, but it was so worth it. We only have 1 more task on the "To do

list". Probably the most exciting one. Clean lighthouse tower! Let's get it! This view! Unreal. Got more window washing stuff. This is so crazy. I'm going to clean this window first. Got a few smudges. It's not too bad. And then I'm gonna clean the outside. And this one. This one's a little dirty. But

look at that view! That's crazy. Elena:

So to clean the windows of the tower is even

a little bit more challenging, because you really need to do it quite professionally. So

people can enjoy the view and not see, you know, the traces of your work. Ryan:

Oh, yeah! Was I blocking that? Sorry! I started off by cleaning the glass floor of

the lighthouse. Somehow this feels like an Instagram reel

for a luxury cleaning company. Hey, yo! Show some love in the comments! I mean, let me know! That one's complete. Now I'm gonna do outside. Apart from the fact that it took me 30

minutes to set up this shot, I'm really trying to soak up this moment. Today is ironically gone by pretty slow, in a

place that I'll probably never return to for the rest of my life. Imagine how 17 years

has felt for Elena! Elena:

The 17 years felt long, but of course a lot

of things happened. It has been challenging to get the...to get

where I wanted to get with this place. Ryan:

Well, guys. With that, my job here is

finished. Oh, gosh! I almost fell down the ladder again.

With absolutely no certainty of when Elena was coming back, and after a job well done,

I decided to unwind and rest in one of the best views I've ever seen in my life. Wow! I'm sitting here thinking about a few

things. 1. I am getting kind of lonely. 2. I can't stop thinking about how Elena

said that she's been here for 17 years, and it's felt slow. What? I'm 24 years old, and I feel like time

is absolutely flying by. Like, my years are absolutely vanishing. And the beautiful thing that her job,

literally her job, is just maintaining her dream. This island is her dream. That's so cute. I feel like all of my life is dictated by

what is the most efficient. I DoorDash my meals. I turn my thermostat up. Anyways, existential monologue over. This guy just finished the world's loneliest

job...for a day. There's one more thing I need to do tonight. But first, I'm just gonna enjoy this sunset. Well, that's that. I didn't go crazy. Except for on them stairs. Hold up! Elena is not crazy at all. She's happy, and she's a genius. Sometimes being alone can teach you a lot.

But turns out Elena just went to the mainland to get me dinner. Oh! Hello! Elena:

Hi! You can be physically alone, and

without feeling sad about it, and without feeling lonely. So how can I be lonely here, when I'm living

my dream?