Transcript

144 Hours Stranded in the World's Most Unknown Country with No Phone

From Yes Theory · Episode page · Watch on YouTube

· 46 min · 7,810 words · 223 timestamped sections

This is the full, timestamped transcript of "144 Hours Stranded in the World's Most Unknown Country with No Phone", an episode of Yes Theory published August 3, 2025 (46 min, about 7,810 words). It mentions 6 people, works and ideas, including São Tomé and Príncipe, Yes Theory, Seek Discomfort, Quentyn, Valbone.

What is discussed, and when

  1. – 5:00: Seek Discomfort, Yes Theory
  2. – 10:00: Quentyn, Seek Discomfort, Yes Theory
  3. – 20:00: Valbone
  4. – 45:00: Yes Theory

Notable quotes from "144 Hours Stranded in the World's Most Unknown Country with No Phone"

  • We've officially hit the 10-year mark for Yes Theory. 10 years of adventures, challenges, and unforgettable moments together to honor a decade of adventures. This seekers day isn't just one day. It's 10 days dedicated to.
    about Yes Theory · at
  • First overnight stop was in Lisbon where the following morning we met up with our friend and cinematographer Quentyn.
    about Quentyn · at
  • So, without much of a plan, we were now being guided around the island by Valbone, trying multiple gas stations in the hunt for gasoline. But we weren't having much luck.
    about Valbone · at

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

Companies & orgs

  • Yes Theory — Company · 3 mentions · first at
  • Seek Discomfort — Company · 2 mentions · first at
    Adventures. This seekers day isn't just one day. It's 10 days dedicated to celebrating you, the incredible Seek Discomfort community. As a thank you, we've made everything on…

Concepts & topics

Places & events

Full transcript with timestamps

This is us currently stuck in an island nation off the coast of Africa that no one's ever heard of. Completely without our cell phones, which we may come to regret.

Where do I go now? I have no idea. So, this road doesn't even exist on a map. This is not the hurdle I thought we were going to run into.

No digital boarding passes to board the plane, no Google Maps, no Uber, no translation app, and no hotel reservations after the first night. all relying on speaking to locals on the ground to find our way around. Sounds like an insane decision, right? What was once normal just one generation ago for our parents who grew up without smartphones now sounds almost unthinkable. Beyond feeling completely dependent on our phones, screen time has reached an all-time high with algorithms getting so addictive they seem impossible to escape. Our phones went from being tools we use for practical reasons to fullon coping mechanisms. and escape from the real world. The average adult now spends 6 to 7 hours per day in front of a screen, which over 70 years will mean that most of us will end up spending a total of 20 to 30 years of our entire lives looking at our screens.

Is that really how humans were intended to live? The companies building these phones and algorithms are not going to be the ones teaching us disciplined around using them. So, who will do it if we don't do it ourselves? Well, on today's adventure to take a total detox from our dopamine machines, we've decided to travel to what may be the least known country in the world. Saoto in Principe, a small island nation said to be a lost tropical paradise frozen in time. And for the very first time ever, we're not just turning off our cell phones, we're leaving them completely at home.

The time has come. Going the whole week now without a phone. You've been chosen as the custodian.

You've chosen the right guy. I checked the Instagram one last time on that. Jesus Christ. Do you want to scroll on TikTok real quick to get one last hit of dopamine?

I'm going to check my screen time one last time. 8 and 1/2 hours. 8 and 1/2 hours. That's like half of my waking time was on my phone.

That's depressing. You got a problem, man. What's your screen time? No, no, no, no worries.

One of the days here, you had 14 hours of screen time. How's that possible? It's actually impressive. That means that you were on your phone from the second you woke up to the second.

Like, my average is 8 hours some week. So, I'm turning this off. Wait, I need we need to order an Uber before we go, right? I don't know how we're going to do this. We're going to have to figure it out as we go. There must be a way, right? I'm actually like getting a little stressed now. Like, what are we going to do if we like need something?

How are you going to know anything without Chachi BT? You guys are either going to come out of this better friends or worse enemies. Are you ready to go?

Yeah, I think so. Your Uber arrives in 3 minutes. What are you Who are you? We're literally 25 minutes late because you were packing now. Jesus Christ.

It's happening. This is my first week without a phone since I got a phone. Safe travel.

Thank you. I kid you not, I'm already feeling about after my phone. A few years ago, I did a video 30 days without social media and like my alarming screen time was like 4 hours or something.

No, it's like double double. You think this is a good angle? Have fun. Call me when you get there.

Oh, wait. All right. So, to South Tommy and Principe we go. There's nobody that I've spoken to who has known what Stoa and Principe is. I met some people from Africa as well recently. I asked them, they didn't know. Where are you from, sir? Do you know

people from the continent don't know that it's a country and before we try getting through airport security and making it all the way to the country without our phones. We wanted to make a big announcement which is that today is seekers day. Every year this moment brings us together to reflect, to connect, and to grow. And this year we've gone all out. We've officially hit the 10-year mark for Yes Theory. 10 years of adventures, challenges, and unforgettable moments together to honor a decade of adventures. This seekers day isn't just one day. It's 10 days dedicated to celebrating you, the incredible Seek Discomfort community. As a thank you, we've made everything on seed discomfort.com 30% off. put our hearts into several special new collections and curated daily giveaways and challenges designed to push you beyond your comfort zone. You can enter the giveaways by placing an order on the website or by

completing the daily challenges. Stock is limited, so head over there now and make this seekers day unforgettable. We cannot thank you enough for supporting our dreams over this past decade and can't wait to continue this adventure with you for the next 10 years. Let's make this the biggest seekers day yet. All right, now back to the episode.

I haven't had my boarding pass printed on a piece of paper before going in a very long time.

Wait. Oh, no. I just I thought I left my phone in the Uber when you started doing it. I thought I also

doing old school today. Thomas, do you like know in how long time the flight leaves?

No. Oh, I forgot my watch. I know. We need to buy a watch, right? Our flight is delayed and this is how Stefan is using his time.

Dude, what are you doing? Are you 2 years old? It's a new coping mechanism. I don't have my phone.

I've checked my pocket for my phone like four times already, thinking I lost it or forgot it, only to realize I don't have one with me. This is going to be a long trip, guys.

I literally just lost Thomas. I lost you for a second. There's nothing to do here. But never leave me again without telling me because I can't hold you.

Oh, true. Yeah, that's a problem. That is a problem. We can't lose each other. Should I get this sudoku?

Are you trying to occupy yourself because you can't just hang with me? I already seen you chew a plastic bottle. I think I' I'd much rather do a sudoku. Four to seven year olds. You can read this, right? Look. Wow. There's drawings in it, too, with colors.

Thomas, have you ever been on an airplane without a mobile phone? Uh, never never since I was like a child.

Hey, nice t-shirt. By the way, we are doing our first proper Seek Discomfort drop of the year. Everything is 30% off. If you've been wanting to get some, now would be your time to go. Uh, you're blocking the road, by the way. Bubble.

As we began our long journey to this remote island, we had to pick up a few extra team members along the way. Our first overnight stop was in Lisbon where the following morning we met up with our friend and cinematographer Quentyn. Hello. Sadly, we'll be missing Amomar on this trip who's been working for over a year on a very special secret project for our 10year celebration this year. I had that thought on my mind all day. If I had one last thing to do and I knew that I was going to die in a month, it would absolutely be this because there's just nothing that materializes what Yes Theory has been. and the beautiful wisdom and stories that has been shared over the years. No more than this.

So to fill his shoes in the best way possible and to celebrate Seeker's Day, we decided to bring one of you, our loyal subscribers along on this adventure with us. So we made a post on our Instagram asking who would like to join. And we landed on Emily, a Yes Theory subscriber from the US who had actually never left the country before.

I'm crying. I'm crying. So we headed back to the airport where we would be meeting her in person. I thought you were going to make it.

Yeah, we made it. Good to see you. Hi. So good to have you on a trip. We're so so so so so happy that

so happy when we were lucky to find you as the winner. What I didn't know is that this is Amil's ever first trip outside of her home country, USA.

Oh yeah, it totally is. Really? Yes. You've never left the US? No. Never. Never in my life. No.

Wow. Yeah. Yes. And you're going so far. Yes. No one ever has probably done this as their first country. And we are now in one of the least known countries on the entire planet.

Entering her first ever country outside of the USA. Welcome to Principal. Yay. First lift. That is the first How does it feel?

Really good. Really good. In exactly 4 days, we'll be back on this tarmac leaving. Only God knows what we're going to end up doing because we're going with the flow here.

No Google Maps, no nothing. You know how to drive to the hotel, right? No. How we doing?

That's the first challenge here is actually I don't know how we're going to get to the hotel.

Is it the first time here? So, be welcome. I think we've already rented a a car.

Uh you rent already? I think so. So here have the contacts that where you can call them.

Um we didn't bring phones. Oh, we we left all our phones in um Europe to travel without phones.

So you came without fun? Yeah, I think I found the guy sound. Yes, it says here on the paper.

The UJ traveling is working so far. So far we only got a car so far. Exactly. Yay.

Do you know how to drive stick? I think it's a manual. No, no automatic. No automatic. Oh, you drive stick every day.

Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Quinton knows how to drive stick. I can as well, but I'm not going to say anything because it's pretty nice if Quenton drives. So,

we don't have petrol now in the country. Okay. Okay. And you need it to make tourism.

Okay. So, we said there's no petrol in the country. Yeah. We don't know how we're going to get to the hotel. I wonder how they did in the good old days. You know, you get a car and then you're going to go to the hotel. It's like it's like mission impossible right now.

People usually like print the directions. Did we do that? We did not. We did not. How do we say senor in Portuguese?

I thought it was seenor. No, senor. We we have a little um little problemmo central.

Can you show us? Yeah. Follow you. Follow you. Oh, great. Thank you. Wow. Problem one solved.

Oh, man. We figured this out somehow. This is maybe one of the harder countries to do without a phone. I don't know why we chose this one. trust you guys with my life. Quite literally right now.

Literally, if we lose this man, honestly, if he hadn't been this friendly, I don't know what we would have done. We wouldn't even know like where would where would we go? There's not a lot of street signs, so we would have never found this place ever. I was thinking that maybe the car we would rent would have a GPS and a car, but uh this car is very old. Hopefully, he knows we're following him and he's just going home. Okay.

Thank you. Okay. I think it's here. Hi, man. How are you? Nice to meet you. Reservation.

Yes. Nice to meet you. We're doing We're traveling without phones, so we don't need internet.

What is happening here? Do you want to have the real answer or I made up one real?

This is major problematic moment. I've been thinking about my phone a little bit and this is a little bit of a coping mechanism. It's not there.

I know I'm not the only one. Well, I mean, you are actually you are. It's actually crazy watching you this restless.

I am pretty pretty restless actually. And even though Quinton and Aily's phones had been off this whole time, we had to make sure that their phones were completely inaccessible for the entire trip.

I've gathered you here today for the phone funeral. Once we put them in here, we can't take them out for the duration of the timer that we are entering it. Do you agree to participate?

Yes, I do. Do you agree to participate in this challenge? Yes. Three, two, one.

Oh. Welcome to the challenge, my friends. Mhm. We did it. Yeah, we did it. All right, ladies and gentlemen,

with a trip in an unknown country without a phone. Where do I go now? I have no idea cuz we don't have a map. So, we need to find a map. Does anyone have a compass? Because we don't even know what direction we're pointing at right now. Right.

I was saying prayers this morning. Oh, you were. Yes. It's one, but I just want to officially clap it up for Emily as well doing this trip as her first trip abroad as well. So,

here she is. Ladies and gentlemen, you like skipped a lot of levels in the video game of travel. Before we venture out to explore this unknown country, it's important to understand that it used to be a Portuguese colony with Portuguese still being the main language spoken. And today, the pace of life here is slow, peaceful, and a little bit surreal, like time forgot this place. in the best way possible. But it's not a country without its struggles. You see, Saté must import all of its fuel. And when the government is in debt and can't pay for it, the gas just stops showing up. Which is what's happening right now. The country has been in a deep fuel crisis for weeks, people waiting hours or days for gasoline, boats unable to run, and frequent blackouts. So, just to recap, we have no phones, no internet, no maps or guides. And now our first mission of this trip has to somehow find our way

around this island and find gasoline. Gasolina? No. Do you know if there is any gasolina here?

It's not easy, M. First time coming here. Yeah, first time. Yeah. Yeah. Loving it, man. No problem. Thank you. Thank you. Nice to meet you.

Gasolina this way. Okay. Gasolina. They're saying they'll get more gas in 2 hours. I've never actually been in this situation before.

The hotel guy said if they don't have gas here to come back to him and he'll show us somewhere else.

Okay, I'm going to ask our guy at the hotel. He might know somewhere where we can get gasolina.

There was no gasolina. Do you have any any contact or do you want to Yeah, you show us.

Yeah. Okay. We drive you then drive you back as well. Amazing. Thank you, Valvo. Uh Balmo is joining us here in the car.

Oh wow. Amazing. Let's go down. Do you speak English? Yeah, a little bit. Nice, man. Where did you learn?

Uh YouTube. YouTube? Yes. Wow, that's cool. What kind of YouTube videos do you watch the world?

I stay with him here because he's want to understand today. Speak a little bit.

Hey, nice. That's That's amazing. As we were headed towards the gas station, our new friend Valone started showing us places on the island that he said we had to visit. Oh my god. Is this on Sto?

Yeah, in Sto. It's close to my house. So, you're a fisher. Like, you work at hotel, but you like to fish at home.

Yeah, I like to fish my free time. When is the next time you're going to go fishing?

Yeah, it's up to you. You want to go fishing together? Yeah. Well, we uh we don't have so many plans, but you you're working right now. You're having you you left work, by the way.

Do you work at the reception? When is when is the next time you're going to go fishing?

Me? I will. But if you want to go there to see the nature, to see the island, if you want to go there to see it, we'll be nice.

We we travel with a lot of open hearts, but no plans. And then we see what happens.

Ah, improving. Yeah, exactly. I improvisation. And this is kind of what happened.

Oh, yeah. Oh, this one gasolina. Ah, there's no gasoline. Oh, you said that there is no gasoline. in general and something.

I see. I see. Everyone here is waiting for gas. Yeah. What do you think we should do? If in this company there's no gasoline is very complicated to find another. He said that we can go to Navy. That is another place.

Should we go there? Do you want to come with us? We'll be very straight ahead. Straight ahead. Okay. Well,

you're a spontaneous man. Thank you for your help. This is a gamble. We're going to drive 25 km in the opposite direction of what we were planning on driving to to see if they have gas over there. Okay, here we go. Valb.

So, without much of a plan, we were now being guided around the island by Valbone, trying multiple gas stations in the hunt for gasoline. But we weren't having much luck.

You think we're crazy? No, it's not crazy. I live in this life a lot. Why? I think that when you playing it a lot, think it really doesn't happen as you playing. But if you just decide to leave it,

it's nice, man. Same philosophy. Is that reality? Beautiful. There's no There's no gas here.

No gas, but a lot of smiles. Ah, this is what we have in this country. Smiling.

We're looking for gas since yesterday. Oh, since yesterday? Yeah, until yesterday. Oh, this is not the hurdle I thought we were going to run into. I thought going to a country no one's ever heard of. We're going to not have our phones. I wasn't expecting to not have gas.

And we still have some petrol. So, we're going to we're going to drive for a bit.

Emily is getting the definition of an adventure here on this trip. No plans. No gas.

You never forget. busy. Since each gas station said it would be a few hours before we could fill up our tank, Valone decided to show us one of his favorite spots on the island.

Surprise. Wow, this place is beautiful. This is our Maldivas. Wow. We would never have found this place without our bone.

Very peaceful. Very beautiful. It's like the most beautiful water I've ever seen. Like easily.

Do people jump from here in the water? For courageous. Yes. For courageous. But for me, never.

Yeah. Yeah. I think that's for those people that think that have more than one life.

I have only one. Oh, wow. Hello. Hi. Wow. I feel like if we tried to touch those things, it would be so hot. She's just flipping it like it's nothing. We would never have found any of these places without He's just going with the flow.

So, your first time ever leaving the island is like next to me? Yeah, next week.

Wow, that's awesome, man. Why are you going to Portugal? To surgery in my eyes. If you can see, I have a white.

Oh, for surgery. Oh, you need to get rid of the Yeah. Yeah. I don't get desires anymore. All you need to do and I try to to find a solution here. No, there's no solution. So, I have to put food.

Is the surgery expensive? I show on the internet. It is like €5,000 something like that.

€5,000. It's minimum. Minimum. Yeah. That's a lot of money. And you've been able to save enough?

Yeah. I have five. You have 5,000? Yeah. Oh, you must have worked really hard. Yeah.

Well done, man. You're a You're a driven man who's going for it. Yeah. You have to find a solution. You'll die.

Life is like this. Life is like this. We're going to see if we have some petrol here now.

Yeah. There's a lot of cars here. Yeah. There's some gasolina here. Finally. Let's hope they they don't run out before it's our turn.

We may be accomplishing the biggest challenge of the whole trip right now. When you're really traveling, the circumstances take control every single time. And you just have to be adaptable and learn how to have a good time regardless. We could have let this ruin our day, but if this hadn't happened, we wouldn't have met Bon. We wouldn't have seen the blue lagoon place that he took us to, and we definitely wouldn't have had that fish for lunch. So, when you can just embrace the change instead of fighting it, life becomes a whole lot more enjoyable.

We can get it. Oh, wow. We're doing it. We are filling this tank. Oh my god, guys. But now we're going on adventure tomorrow. And should we bring Balbone with us?

Of course we should. He gave us this whole time. He's one of us. Yeah, that's that's true.

Take a take a little vacation. Yes. In his own island. He's never worried. We have our freedom back.

Where do we go? Where do we go now? World of Sto is now unlocked. Mhm. Let's go. Going on a trip without our phones and without internet means that we cannot plan ahead. Everything is literally unfolding live as we take one foot in front of the next. With our ultimate goal being of making it to the southernmost point of South rumored to be the most beautiful. How we'll get there, however, is completely unknown to us at the moment.

You work tomorrow? Yes, normally is Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I see. I see. Tomorrow you're supposed to work.

Yeah. But we don't where this is going. We have a we have a question. If you want to go on an adventure together with us and we will, you know, take care of accommodation and all of that, then yeah, have a little island adventure together.

Okay. I talk of my friend and to change it. For example, we can go. Let's go. Yes, my mom. The adventure continues. Left. Take your left.

Left. Left. Yeah. But we need you. We would have taken a ride if you were here. We would have been lost.

Are you down to go and maybe stay somewhere in the south with us? Well, it's experience.

Yeah. Okay. You're the most relaxed man I've ever met. I love it. Yeah. Who's covering his ship?

Yeah. I think someone said yes right now. Yes. and he has no idea what we're doing.

Adventure time. Yeah. Yeah. Okay, ladies and gentlemen. No plan. And now you're in Santana

to Santana. We go. That's your home. That's your hometown where you live. Yeah, exactly.

One day later, but officially the road trip begins. Okay. Is this your house? Oh,

my m is upset. Okay. Where are we going? Straight straight ahead. Got it. I have no idea where we're going right now.

We already We arrived. But where where are we? Don't worry. All right. So, he found a place for us to stay. That's great. I don't think we've gone with the flow this much before, but it's great.

We're going full flow. Full flow with Mr. Flow. With Mr. Flow. Okay, we are arriving to our place that we're going to stay at night. And it was our Mr. Flo who found it.

Nice to meet you. Welcome here. Hello. Hello. Welcome to my crib. Yay. It's already pink.

You all have air conditioning. Okay. There's a there's a pool here. Nice. And this is this is your place.

Yeah, it's my place. Yeah. Well done, man. Thank you very much. Oh, well done. Thank you. This is epic.

Well done. You found us as four lost puppies today. You're leaving us like lost puppies, but tomorrow we we got you again on an adventure. One of the main characteristics making this country unique is that it is one of only 11 countries on Earth that have a land touching the equator line. To find this exact mark, however, it requires getting all the way to the southernmost tip of the country and then finding a boat to another island to get to it. But having no way of looking up how to get there, we decided to simply drive south altogether and hope to find what we're seeking. We had to agree on plans last night to meet around this time. Yeah, we have no way of calling him, texting him.

It really does feel like rediscovering what it was like to make plans when our parents were kids. I'm realizing the amount of self-inflicted stress that I'm creating because of my phone usage and I'm realizing the actual pace that life is supposed to be at and feel at by not having my phone. It's the ultimate detox environment. Let's go.

Your friend here hosted us. He said that some tourists came here for 2 months and they said that all their problems were gone in their life afterward. I believe them. Oh, she's asking for adventure.

Oh, she said that she's going to the first grade now. Yeah. First grade. Woo. Good luck. Good luck.

They're going to like this one. So, here I have a kitty notebook. Yeah. I know. Are you learning to write?

Okay. What's your favorite? The pink. The pink. She likes pink. Yeah. Okay. You want to try it?

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. So good. Balbone had to go back to his village to pick up some stuff for the trip. So Stfan spontaneously asked him if we could join him and meet his neighbors and family.

To the nice nice son you have. It's good. It's good. Very good. Very good. Good vibes here in Valbon's neighborhood. So this is your dad. You know the kids here as well? Like this is your

Yeah, this is your area. Yeah, it's my area. Yes, if you want. All good. Welcome.

Oh, cheers, man. Thank you. Oh, so this is your room? Yes, this is my room. Nice, man. So much nature vibes. And here you have your window out as well. Yeah. Nice.

And that land only want to sell it if you want to buy it. Are the owner selling this land? Think we should get it. Become neighbors. You know, it's nice to see more parts of your life and get to know you even more. So, let's take a look. without my neighbors.

All the neighbors. Yeah. Yeah. They must be wondering what's happening now. Is going on adventure. Hi guys.

Hi man. Hi man. Nice to meet you. Hi guys. Hi guys. You good to he said that you don't know me and going with me to my home. It's really great. What's the best part of living in a community like this?

Well, in this country, as you can see, we are friendly. In my area where I live, you know, I don't know my neighbors, unfortunately. But here, everyone seems to know everyone.

Live live. That's the saying here in South Tommy. Live live. That's like what people say.

Yeah. In your country. No. Step by step. Step by step. Following the flow. Yeah. Yeah.

In this moment, our whole trip suddenly made sense. Lev doesn't fully translate into English, but it embodies a mindset, a way of moving through life without rushing. Here, people trust that things will unfold when they're meant to. There's no pressure to constantly achieve, just permission to exist. It's not about doing less. It's about living with more presence and more peace. And in an odd way, arriving here not only without our phones, but also without any form of a fixed plan, we had set the stage to embrace this lifestyle. And we were now ready to experience it fully.

Bye-bye. I can just feel it in my entire body. It's like just full of good energy now after like meeting your neighbors. And

it's like a lot of love there. A lot of love there. Where are we going? Lev live. I guess

this is where a lot of laundry is doing. Huh? Yeah, this is our laundry. How long does it take to do the laundry?

Five 6 hours. You done it many times? Yeah, many times. It was my daily routine all Saturday and Sunday. It's hard.

Yeah. Can you imagine carrying a child on your back and washing all the clothes? That's It's a lot of work.

Well, we have a situation. What's going on here, Emily? I think they like my hair.

A spa treatment right now. Yeah. You just attract children everywhere you go, huh? She has been uh adopted.

They adopted me. Oh. Oh, nice. Yeah, exactly. It's good. It's good. Yeah. First time she's drinking a coconut.

Welcome to Africa. Full on paradise here. Welcome. Thank you, man. Wow, it's a beautiful beach. Oh my god.

Yeah, it was beautiful to see you play with the kids like that. You were like a magnet. They used to run up to you.

It's definitely like my favorite part so far. Kids in America like would never do that. Not because probably they don't want to, but like we're taught very early that like don't talk to strangers, don't run up to strangers cuz it's dangerous. And it might be, but here it's so free. Strangers aren't scary here.

Yeah. I mean, it's so like deeply ingrained with me. I don't really talk to strangers now and I'm an adult.

Yeah. my country, Sweden, a full-on pandemic in loneliness. But hopefully that can awaken a thing or two in someone, including us, by showing how people live like this. I'm truly inspired.

It is. I have not met one stranger here that's been like scary. Mhm. Mhm. Well, we just found the viewing spot. Oh my god. Let's hold on. As we had been enjoying the beauty of this island and its welcoming people, it wasn't long before we ran into a relic of some of these islands dark history.

Damn. At first glance, it just seemed like another forgotten structure. But this building was once part of something massive and brutal. It's a build where Portuguese people use in that time used to try cocoa co coffee things like that and export

during the colonial times. Yeah, in the colonial times. When Portuguese explorers first claimed the island in the 1400s, they saw it as a perfectly fertile ground for sugar plantations. To make them profitable, they began importing enslaved Africans from the mainland by the thousands. Sto and Principe became one of the earliest testing grounds for what would eventually become the transatlantic slave trade. By the 1800s, the Portuguese pivoted to growing and exporting cocoa and coffee. And although slavery was technically abolished, buildings like these were still in use all over the island with thousands of Africans being exploited. As Saoto became one of the world's biggest cocoa producers, many workers were trapped, mistreated, and worked to the bone. How do you feel about seeing a building like this? Obviously, it was

catastrophic. Catastrophic. Yeah, I feel better. The place is thing like that. No,

you don't think about it. No. Build is just a building. But the history is another

Yeah. You can see like fences on the windows, right? It was very close there. Yeah. Bless whoever has been here and been hurt. Satian Principe finally gained independence in 1975. But the scars of 500 years of colonization still remain.

It's like time traveling to a very dark part of humans history. It's like can't be much darker than using human beings. It's a very eerie feeling here. Big contrast from the children's playing and having fun to yeah being in this you know. As we were driving around a village looking for the next hotel to stay at, a local approached us out of the blue, offering to take us out on his boat the next day.

What's your name? Fab. Okay. Epic. Well, we don't even need to look for things. They just

come to us apparently. Oh, maybe the other road was better. Huh? I don't know. Do you think it was off?

This is the better road. Yeah. Maybe if some of us get out less heavy. Hello piglets.

We are a bit stuck. We have a whole squad here helping out, pushing, lifting the car, trying to get the rock out. Did we get it out?

Yeah. Whoa. Hi. Hi. Nice to meet you. How is the road now after this? Yeah, it's not good. But if you go to step by step, we'll get there.

Okay. Step by step. If you go to we get there. Okay. Hello. Hello, gang. Yeah. Vmon says that they say that these roads are not on any

map for sure. So, this road doesn't even exist on a map and they're just going to walk us the road. This is the old school Google maps. Three guys walking you to the correct road after clearly driving to the wrong one. Is this the spirit of Southman principal people? Would you say?

Yeah, these are kind of people. They don't know anyone, but they are helping. And it's same like you in the beginning, we know we didn't know each other.

I forget that we met you the other day in the reception. Now you're just homeboy.

But these guys are are showing us the way. No phone, no problem. And actually, if we had a phone, we would have gone the wrong way. So the only way would is to ask people here. here. Get ready to get friends if you're coming to Satan Princip, which we highly recommend.

This is the entrance to the hotel right here. You are now in a stress-free zone.

Okay, two people can stay. Wow, this is perfect. It's amazing. Well, ladies and gentlemen, we didn't know where we were going, but I think we know we've arrived.

Well said. Well said. That was perfect, man. That was that was good. How's the phone doing?

Uh, we got 43 hours left. 43 hours and counting. That's a good amount. Actually,

it is. It's starting to feel like it's been a while, but each day feels like 72 hours at least.

Does everyone feel that? Yeah, I do. Like we get more life now. We just hacked it. Yeah,

life hack. If you feel like life is moving by too fast, just lock your phone away for a little bit and uh you know if you can come to Sto cuz live live lifestyle is much better. We live south.

Wow. This place is unbelievable. This is where we got to last night. Are you kidding me?

Four brothers. Yes. One brother, two brother, three brother and quent. And Valbon, you you want to tell Thomas quickly what you did?

I chat from my colleague and I said you need to keep it working today and we will change again. I will walk 3 days.

Really? Yeah. You can stay with us. Yeah. Yeah. Will we so we can go to the island together?

Yeah. Let's go. He's just pushing his shift. He's just sending it. And in the spirit of Saoto, another serendipitous thing popped into our adventure.

Do you remember the guy on the street that said he would take us in a boat? Yeah,

he just spawned in and he's ready, I think to Oh, that's him we saw last night.

Yeah, that's fine. Yeah, that is him. He just arrived here. Yes. Hi, brother. Yeah. Nice to meet you. We ready? Just need to put in a hand here. Put in a hand here. Adventure time on three. 1 2 3. On a nervous scale from 1 to 10, how are we feeling?

Like a two. Okay, that's good. Wow, you have full faith now. Okay, we are rolling. Oh my god, there are like waves and rocks. Uh, everything's under control. Emily, if your parents are watching this, everything's under control.

So, what we are about to find on this island is the mark, the exact mark of the equator, and we're going to stand on it. I've never done that in my life.

Really? Wow. We can share first. So, we'll stand on the equator line for the first time.

Wow. Yes. Let's do it. Wow. We're like on a deserted island right now with no phones, no reception, no plan.

Everything will be fine. What's the positive lady? Let's go first. These animals are cute.

Oh my lord. We are walking here in silence right now following Fabio. We're going to see where we our man. We follow you. Swiss. Yeah Sweden.

Ah, Sweden. Nice people. Yeah. Thank you. Sweden. Nice people. Nice to meet you. Thank you.

Stock with the city. Stock. Yes. Stock. Stock. Yeah. Yeah. Nice, man. Nice people. Okay,

we to enter here. First step must be right foot. Okay. Okay. Sorry. How do you feel about your country being on the equator?

Well, I think that is phenomenal to be in the center of the world with you to share this opportunity for you and show the world and show my country. I think that's amazing. If you are happy, we are happy.

But you're proud to be from Sto. Yeah, of course. Yes. I I had a many opportunity to live in S

but I didn't. But now I will leave because I will eat again. This is a good country.

You're a good representation of your of your nation. Uh not yet. It's in the process. I want to decide a little more to become a president to try my country.

You want to be the president? Yeah. Wow. You have our vote. I had work to do, but I will do it.

How long have you had that idea that you want to be president of of your country?

After I see that there are so many bad thing happen, they know that there are bad thing but they don't care about. So I try do good thing to try avoid that situation. It's not easy, but I know that I will try to do it.

I love that you haven't asked us a single time what we are filming or what we are doing here.

Just going with the flow fully. Yeah, just follow flow. You think we're all crazy?

Yeah, all of us. I would agree. I would agree. For the president in the future, we will see

future. Future president. I want someone to write Balbon for president and a lot of likes on this comment.

Oh, people don't worry about everything, every little thing. It's going to be all right.

Something strange happened when we were forced to let go. It's like our real human nature was sharpened all of a sudden.

Damn, this is a very unique secret beach here. We were more present, more together, and more open.

No. Had we had GPS at the start, we probably wouldn't have taken Valone with us in the car. And had we been answering messages and refreshing social media while driving instead of just looking out the window or talking to each other, we would likely never have embraced the Lev philosophy and spontaneity to extent that we did on this trip.

It feels like the modern world has been moving so quickly that constant digital connectivity became normalized faster than anyone could have time to stop and ask, "Is this really how life is meant to feel?" After 2 days on the trip, we honestly forgot about our phones. We would go to bed hours earlier than we normally would, as we were actually tired at night and not overstimulated by our screens. As yesterday becomes 10 years old this month. We are as much of a worldwide peace project as we are an internal one. As we seek to explore and build bridges between people and cultures. Yes. Theory has also always been about exploring our inner worlds and seeking peace within ourselves because if we cannot be at peace within, what's any of it all for? And well, although we thought the surprises on this trip were over, Falone ended our journey in a way we never expected. You told us some days ago that you really

want an eye surgery to happen. The community and us want to like support you on the eye surgery that you're about to do. So, we want to give you one gift on that journey of €2,000 to like support you on on that mission.

No, no, it's not necessary. It's good. I appreciate it. But I never receive money for when I help the people. I did it for free and it's going to be for free. I I appreciate it, but I cannot receive money.

Wow. We respect we respect you for that, man. We respect you for that. It's it's not for you.

You're a very unique human and I feel like I feel honored to have crossed paths with you. Seeing how your beautiful brain works and how big your heart is, I feel I feel inspired by having been around you.

Me too. Me too. No matter how long we travel and tell these stories will never cease to be amazed. for these 10 years of creation and community on YouTube. We have 10 days of seekers day on steiscomfort.com right now with several new collections live only during this time. We hope to see you there and we'll see you back in September after we take a short summer break to celebrate. We'll see you soon. Thank you so much for still being here. Your presence keeps this project alive and we hope for many more years to come.

Questions about this episode

What is discussed in "144 Hours Stranded in the World's Most Unknown Country with No Phone"?

In order: 0:00 Seek Discomfort, Yes Theory; 5:00 Quentyn, Seek Discomfort, Yes Theory; 15:00 Valbone; 40:00 Yes Theory.

What is mentioned in this Yes Theory episode?

6 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including São Tomé and Príncipe, Yes Theory, Seek Discomfort, Quentyn, Valbone, Dopamine Detox. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "144 Hours Stranded in the World's Most Unknown Country with No Phone"?

The episode runs 46 min; the transcript is about 7,810 words in 223 timestamped sections.

More from Yes Theory

About this transcript: the episode's spoken words as captioned on YouTube, split into timestamped sections. Reclip.Me locates every person, work and idea in the text, keeps the time it is first named, and quotes the words around it verbatim. Last updated January 24, 2026.