Alec in WILDerland – Trust Your Wild Side

“When you trust your wild side anything is possible!”   Alec J Fischer

This website has been privileged to introduce and promote some of the brightest and most talented young people in the world. However, we have yet to feature anyone quite like Thirteen year old Alec J Fischer. 

I first discovered Alec’s videos on YouTube more than two years ago.  I have watched with great interest every segment of his Alec in WILDerland Series. 

You can learn much from Alec by watching his more than enlightening and entertaining videos, and adventure along with him as he visits distant places around the world.

After recently contacting Alec’s management, Alec agreed to share his story with Rivenmaster’s Place. 

Today I’m going to stray from the normal way of presenting a new artist and publish Alec’s story almost exactly as it was received. I believe his story will inspire and keep you interested to the very end.  Alec is a survivalist in every sense of the word and Rivenmaster’s Place is honored to present him here.

Alec in Wilderland “Wild Washington Segment”

 

 Alec’s Story:

“According to my mom it took 17 grueling hours for me to be delivered in South Dakota.  I was behind schedule and the very first reaction to my entry was my dad’s comment,

“Oh my gosh, look at his fingers!” 

He said that because my fingers and toes were webbed together as if I was made for the water (something that still requires different types of surgeries as my body grows).         

       

Then at 2 ½ years of age I developed a really bad blood disease called “ITP”.  Basically, it makes you bruise real easy.  It’s like a blood clotting disorder.  So, I had to be in the hospital for a while and get a lot of IV treatments.  The doctor told my mom if I couldn’t be cured that I would have to live a really careful life and severely limit sports and outdoor activities.  Thankfully, after two years I somehow conquered it and I was given the all clear to be as free and adventurous as I wanted.

My mom said as a little kid I liked climbing on everything, didn’t like wearing shoes, occasionally ran around with shirts or underwear on my head, and of course, would somehow always end up as dirty as possible each day.  Apparently, I also got famous around the neighborhood at age three for having lengthy, in-depth, conversations with adults.  I don’t remember the topics but I do remember always being curious to learn about people and to hear their different stories.  Another interesting thing I found when I was looking through my baby book is a part where it describes my personality at age 2. It says, “Very outspoken and free spirited.  He wants to be independent.”   I didn’t know you could actually analyze a two year-old like that!

I moved to Texas when I turned 8 and I remember being so excited because it was going to be warm the whole year which meant I could play outside more.  By that time my older brother was into acting. He’s really the reason I got started with acting. 

I was around 9 when I saw some of his finished projects and I thought it was something I wanted to try.  So I did.  I went to auditions and I did a couple college films.  I thought it was interesting but I really didn’t think about being famous or anything like that.  I just liked it because it was fun.

I think maybe what is most surprising to people is that I’m actually a really chill, some-what normal kid.  I’m not a giant, don’t have super powers, and unfortunately, don’t live in the jungle like Mowgli 🙂  I like to have fun, be adventurous, and to help people and especially animals.

Anyway, around about the same time my acting was starting I was also realizing how much I liked the outdoors compared to other kids.  I was starting to put it together that I liked being outside and exploring a lot more than my friends.  They played video games, I played outside.  When I would go to birthday parties they would play online or whatever and I would be so bored. 

Alec Exclaims “Unplug and Go Outside”

I felt different but at the same time I felt like they were the ones missing out on stuff.  So, I was starting to be an actor and at the same time I wanted people to feel the same way I did about getting outside and exploring.  Of course, at that time, I had no idea how to go about that.

As far as school went, they had a lot of plays that were musicals.  I never really liked musicals because I can’t sing.  Just trust me on that.  But there were a couple plays like “Oliver” and “Macbeth” that I did and they were enjoyable.  I think you can say that I enjoy what you can do with film over standing in front of a live audience on stage.  I’m not so much into applause and standing up in front of large groups for attention.  I like when things are less formal and not so closed-in.  It’s difficult to explain but when I’m out adventuring it’s like the cameras are my friends.  We play hard together and they end up just as dirty as me most of the time.  I create my own adventures and the cameras really make me feel like the whole world is with me even though it might be the middle of nowhere.  I think that’s why I like filming so much.  It’s like a really good friendship.

Although I really enjoyed school, I actually started home school a couple months ago.  I don’t think people really understand how that part of it works.  Basically, I have to do as much school as I can every single day of the week including weekends and holidays.  The weirdest thing is doing school work on a plane.

It’s like you can look out the window and the clouds and the whole world is right below you.  It’s really, really cool.  I also do school work in my tent, around campfires, on trains, and in cars.  It might seem like it would be really hard to focus but I left regular school as an honor student in advanced classes and I don’t want to be dumb.  So, I probably work twice as hard now :)  The best part is a lot of the stuff I do for the show can be counted toward my education requirements.  Everything from research papers I write to visiting sanctuaries and learning about animals counts.

The show basically took three things to make it happen.  First, it was my inner voice that kept nagging at me to somehow figure out a way to help people understand how important it was to experience nature and really enjoy life.  Next, it was the amazing support of my family that have always, always, always given me the freedom  and encouragement to be who I want to be.  And finally, and this is without-a-doubt the most important thing, a life-changing hike that I had with my mom and a film director friend of hers.  I was 10, and of course jumping in the water, and trying to catch turtles and bugs, and doing my usual thing. When I ran back to them I was soaked and covered in mud.  I remember the director looked at my mom, then at me, and he said, “I wish the whole world could experience the magic of life the way you do.”  And you know those times when everything just clicks and makes sense?  Like when you can see an opportunity about to happen?  That was one of those times.  My mom looked at me and said, “You think they’ll be able to survive your wild ways?”  And since I was already a fan of Bear Grylls it only took me a second to finally figure it all out.  I said, “They’ll survive because I can teach them how.”  And there you have it.  It was the light bulb moment for all of us and that’s basically how Alec in WILDerland was born.  It took a while but the small production team my family and I assembled would not only teach me how to work the cameras and become a writer and producer, but they would also give me the freedom and confidence to share my story, my life, and my adventures as freely as I wanted.  Nobody knows this yet, but I’m actually going to write a big survival book called “The Wild Magic of Life” that talks a lot about the process of making Alec in WILDerland and a bunch of other cool things.

The show is just a completely unbelievable experience.  Each day I feel like the luckiest kid on earth.  I have a great family and work with a creative production team and crew that support me 100%.  I also have people from all over the world that like and support what I do.  And I really feel like I’m helping to get more people outside to explore nature and raising awareness on important topics like rhino poaching.  But it’s not easy.  And believe it or not, the hardest part of the show is doing the thing I like most.  Fishing.

So, try and imagine being at a location where you will not have power to charge any batteries for at least three days.  You find a river, set up your rod, place the cameras, and then need to catch a fish so it can be on film.  So, what happens is that I usually catch a fish, reel it in to see what kind it is, then all the cameras get turned on, and I cast the line back out with the fish on it, then reel it in again to get the shot.  75% of the time the fish gets off the hook when I try to bring it back in.  Then the whole process has to start over again.  It takes forever.  I can’t tell you how many amazing moments we “almost” got on film.

It takes at least 3 days to film one regular episode but 5 days is better.  That might seem like a long time but imagine just going on a camping trip and everything that goes along with just that stuff.  By the time you arrive, set-up, and scout the locations you’ve already used up a day.

Alec in WILDerland – Ninth Episode: Gulf of Mexico

Episode 9 took twice as many days because there were so many bad storms. We had to evacuate about 7 different times.  Unlike a lot of reality shows, stupidity isn’t an option for me.  I don’t mean that in a bad way.  I just mean that I don’t put myself in dangerous situations on purpose just to prove how brave I am or whatever.  That’s not what we are going for.   That’s not what the show is about.  The point is for me to go to real places that real people can explore, and to do things real people might do, or might be forced to do if they get in tricky situations.  Sure, I try and make each place as exciting and adventurous as possible, but as you can see in the episode, “Gulf of Mexico,” for example, when bad storms come, the crew and I seek safety as best we are able, just like real people should.

I want to prove how amazing and fun it is to be outdoors, not how crazy I am.  Anyway, the fastest episode ever filmed was “SandyLand” which I somehow did in two days.  There is also an accidental episode, “Let’s go Camping!” which actually happened because we couldn’t make the location we had planned on due to flooding. 

Being creative and being prepared is really important!  It turned out to be one of my favorite episodes.  Overall, the average episode takes about a month from the first research to the actual upload.  The special episodes take a lot longer.  Since there are literally only a handful of people that make everything happen for this show we each have to do about 10 different jobs all the time.  It gets really crazy and takes us a little longer to do things, but that’s because we always make sure everything is the best it can be.

My main goal with the show is to keep having fun doing what I enjoy, get as many people to see it as possible, and one day get it on TV.  But even if that doesn’t happen it’s not like I’m going to stop adventuring or encouraging others.  I just want to keep trying to inspire people to get outside and go exploring.  There’s too much technology and stupid distractions everywhere.  I really think you need to get out in the wild for a little bit in order to realize that.  I hear from tons and tons of adults who really hope the show teaches kids to appreciate the wild just like they did when they were kids.  It’s a really confusing thing for me because I don’t get why people would ever stop exploring and loving nature.  But it makes me really happy when people say they are going on more hikes now, or have started fishing again, because of the show.  People sometimes ask how long I am going to do the show.   

I can do it as long as I’m having fun and the opportunity continues.  Ultimately, and this might be weird to say, but I see Alec in WILDerland like a James Bond type of character.  What I mean is that the character needs to survive.  It’s important to me that there’s always a kid out there representing nature and helping to inspire other kids to get off-line and go outside.  I could produce that forever with my team, so I don’t really see an end to any of it.  I really feel like this whole thing is just starting to become what it can be.

When it comes to survival shows my favorite show to watch is “Man Vs Wild.”  I like how Bear runs his show and I seem to understand him more, plus his accent just makes everything sound cooler!  I also like “Dual Survival” because it’s interesting to see how two people with different backgrounds choose to survive. Plus Cody is absolutely hilarious.  There are good things about all the survival shows that I have learned from.  The only shows I don’t like are the ones where it’s all a contest about winning money or whatever.  I think it’s the wrong motivation to get people outside.

People sometimes ask what my favorite parts are about having a show like this.  The biggest things are traveling and getting to meet people.  When I first started out I never could have imagined going to South Africa or Australia or any of the places I’ve been.

   Alec in WILDerland – South Africa Special (Anti-Rhino Poaching)

It’s funny but I still think my backyard is an amazing place to explore and find bugs and all sorts of cool stuff.  When I think about the fact that I get to explore around the world it is totally mind-blowing.  I am so, so lucky.  It’s also really cool to get letters from everywhere and to hear so much encouragement from kids and adults that I’ve never met.                                            

Besides the show, there are lots of other things I like too.  I love fishing!  In fact, when I was 9 months old I had a photo taken of me in a fishing net and I think at that point I was hooked.  🙂 I was given my first fishing rod when I was only 2. 

I also love playing with my pets.  I have a dog, a ferret, a mouse, and guppies.  I’m big on comedy and adventure movies.  I really like Cast Away, Grown-ups 2, and Harry Potter.  My favorite food is Snow Crab but I also love Kiwi.  My favorite band is FUN.  The actors that I like most are Tom Hanks, Jonah Hill, Will Smith, Adam Sandler, Johnny Depp, Brad Pitt, and Leonardo DiCaprio.  As for books, I love Harry Potter, The Hunger Games and The Book Thief.  For sports I like to watch baseball and hockey and I like to play basketball, kickball and run track.  And I think the whole world knows I love claw machines.

While social media is interesting, I have never been big on all of that stuff.  I remember when we discussed starting a Twitter.  It’s just something none of us were that experienced with or had time for.  But we knew social media was really important.  So, I had to figure it out.  For the first few months it was the hardest thing about doing the whole show for me.  No joke.  But then one day I got a cellular device so I could tweet when I was out and about and then it started making sense to me.  I found a way to make it work and I’m really happy I did.  It has become a great way for me to connect even more with the viewers and to hear their stories.  Even after all this time though, there is still a lot I’m trying to figure out with it, but I am responsible for my own Twitter and almost everything you see on social media.

Finally, and this is really important to me.  I just want to say that I am not bigger or more important or more special than anybody else in this world.  My biggest fear is that people will think I have some kind of big ego or that I’m selfish or don’t appreciate all of the amazing things in my life.  It’s a really serious thing because it makes me so uncomfortable that I don’t even mention a lot of the cool stuff I get to do on social media.  I want to make sure we give the audience the highest quality, best show possible because they will always be the most important part to me.  The viewers have always been the true heroes of the Alec in WILDerland story and that’s the honest truth. 

The last thing I wanted to say is that sometimes people ask me for advice about making a show or being an actor.  I think the thing is that everybody always makes things more complicated than it should be.  First, you gotta love what you do, and if you don’t, you gotta find a way to love it or let it go.  And finally, you just have to trust your wild side.  I think it can be that simple when it comes to anything.” 

“When you trust your wild side anything is possible.  And if you ever decide to trust your wild side, just make sure you’re ready, because it just might lead you around the world on the greatest adventure of your life.     STAY WILD! “        Alec J Fischer

 

Be sure you visit Alec on his website and his YouTube Channel to express your gratitude for the work he is doing and for the inspiration that he has become to so many youngsters his age and younger.  Because of Alec I’m sure we have a greater number of youngsters enjoying the outdoors instead of just sitting around playing video games!

                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Thanks Alec for Trusting Your Wild Side!

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For more about Alec in WILDerland visit:

• Alec’s Domain Site
• Alec on YouTube
• Alec on Facebook
• Alec on Twitter
• Alec on Keek
• Alec on Instagram
• Alec on IMDB