Bear Grylls - Never Give Up: My Life in the Wild

Also by Bear Grylls

Born Survivor

Great Outdoor Adventures: An Extreme Guide to the Best Outdoor Pursuits

Living Wild: The Ultimate Guide to Scouting and Fieldcraft

Mud, Sweat, and Tears: The Autobiography

Facing the Frozen Ocean: One Mans Dream to Lead a Team Across the Treacherous North Atlantic

To My Sons: Lessons for the Wild Adventure Called Life

Facing Up: A Remarkable Journey to the Summit of Mount Everest

A Survival Guide for Life

True Grit

Your Life: Train for It

Extreme Food: What to Eat When Your Life Depends on It

Fuel for Life

How to Stay Alive: The Ultimate Survival Guide for Any Situation

Soul Fuel: A Daily Devotional

Soul Fuel for Young Explorers

Published by National Geographic Partners, LLC

1145 17th Street NW, Washington, DC 20036

Copyright 2022 BGV Global Limited. All rights reserved. Reproduction of the whole or any part of the contents without written permission from the publisher is prohibited.

First published in the U.S. and Canada in 2022.
First published in Great Britain in 2021 by Bantam Press, an imprint of Transworld Publishers.

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC and Yellow Border Design are trademarks of the National
Geographic Society, used under license.

ISBN 978-1-426-22302-0

Since 1888, the National Geographic Society has funded more than 14,000 research, conservation, education, and storytelling projects around the world. National Geographic Partners distributes a portion of the funds it receives from your purchase to National Geographic Society to support programs including the conservation of animals and their habitats.

Get closer to National Geographic Explorers and photographers, and connect with our global community. Join us today at nationalgeographic.org/joinus

For rights or permissions inquiries, please contact National Geographic Books Subsidiary Rights:

To my amazing Sharathe kind, smart, loving bedrock of our family.

&

To Delbert Shoopman III and Rupert Tate for your friendship
warriors beside me on this journey.

I CHECK MY watch again. 0933. People say time can stand still. Its not true. But it sure as hell feels like it sometimes.

I have been awake since 4 a.m. And two hours sleep is never enough. Its been a mission just to get here for sure. I am tired. But Im also adrenalized.

I look around me. I see several of the bushes rustling. I know who is hidden in there, and smile. I know they are as nervous as me. Our small team of eight. Small but mighty. Carefully positioned throughout the trees. They will emerge with no fuss and join me at the preplanned moment.

But for now I am alone. And I feel it.

I have to remind myself that somewhere within 200 meters we are also joined by a ton of highly trained snipers and close protection officersnone of whom I can spot. I guess thats their job. Its not a comforting thought, though.

Breathe, Bear. All is good.

The huge Alaska mountains tower above us. They dont seem to care much about all of this. One of the many things I love about mountainsthey never judge, never praise, and never seem to worry. They just are. And they are amazing. A good lesson to remind myself of.

Come on, Bear. You got this. Breathe it in.

The cool summer air feels good. And the mosquitoes have now gone. I hate mosquitoes. God knows they have had their fair share of my flesh over the years.

I try to rehearse the first few moments in my mind. The interaction. The questions. The route. Another huge military helicopter sweeps along this vast valley, hugging the edge of the glacial moraine. A last security sweep of the area, I figure.

I take another deep breath. The words of my mother ring in my ear: You only get one chance to make a good first impression.

Dont screw it up.

I reach down and pick up a few stones in my hand and shuffle them round and round in my palms. Calm is contagious. One of the mottoes of the Navy SEALs. I know it well. Not always easy to practice though.

Come on. Where the hell are you?

I look left and right.

Nothing.

Late is where you are and that would be push-ups, I mumble to myself out loud.

No one can hear me. Except Jimmy, our sound man, via my remote mic. He will be smiling at that from his position farther along the riverbank. Hidden. He is one of the few among our crew who laugh at my bad jokes. I love him for it.

Yep. Push-ups would be being issued right now.

During my army days, push-ups were always the standard punishment for the troop if any of us were late on parade. I wonder if that rule applies if you are the commander in chief of the largest, most powerful military ever known to man. Probably not.

I check my watch once more. Still 1053.

My radio crackles with static. It makes my heart jump.

And then, suddenly, everything goes strangely still.

I can feel it.

Here we go.

Its game time.

Then, with no fanfare or fuss, and flanked by ten Secret Service agents clad in black, weapons ready, the president of the United States emerges from the trees.

And I am here at his request.

How on earth did that happen?

THE TRUTH ABOUT reaching the top of any mountain is that the only way forward is down.

That is a big part of why I have taken so long to write a follow-up to Mud, Sweat, and Tears, the autobiography I published in 2011. Its success surprised my entire family. And me too. It sat at the top of the U.K.s Sunday Times bestseller list for over ten weeks. Before then, I had never been number one at anything.

When in 2012 the book was voted the most influential in all of China I felt that we were done. Good job, team. Well order a few pia coladas (as is customary in our crew) and a mountain of pizza (always), then tomorrow we get back to work. On to new territories. New mountains.

Remember: sit on the summit too long and you die. A fundamental Everest lesson. And from the top, as I said, the only way is down.

Some people might feed off success. I dont. I actually struggle with it. It feels indulgent. It makes people slow. I see it often. And I am all too aware of the reality of the many factors that allow success to happen.

My own overriding feeling is always: there by the grace of God go I. And I understand the huge role that luck has played in my career. Of that I have no doubt. Then again, lucks a strange thing. As one of my heroes Ranulph Fiennes once said: Luck is only half of the story. Youve above all got to have the resilience to stick around long enough for the luck to come.

Ive always liked that.

Anyway, either wayluck or determinationI was always told as a kid to quit when ahead, and to leave parties five minutes too early, rather than too late. That attitude was ingrained in me from a young age. Really my parents were telling me: Dont be greedy, always be grateful.