MIDLAND, Texas — From the West Texas desert to the freezing Alaska Wilderness, Drake Vliem has returned home to Midland with a title few can claim. Vliem and his Texan teammate, Drew Haas, both took home the crown after winning Season 2 of the Netflix survival show "Outlast."
The survival competition placed Vliem and 15 other survivalists in the Alaskan wilderness to compete for $1 million.
Vliem was born and raised in Midland, and even mentioned his home of West Texas plenty of times during the show.
"I was just really excited to be able to bring the win [back home] to Texas; Drew was from Texas as well so it kind of put us on the survival map," Vliem said. "We're not just some people that live out here in the desert and just work in the oil field. We're capable of far more than what everyone puts on our plates. I think that really set us apart from everybody else too. There's a saying, 'You don't mess with Texas.' There's a reason for that."
The survivalist said while trying to survive off the Alaskan land and with minimal supplies, there was no sense of time. Most of the days were cloudy and rainy and by nightfall, it was time to make their way back to shelter.
His main source of food consisted of seaweed and crabs. The duo also looked to squirrels as a means to get as many nutrients as possible.
Vliem accepted there were moments he believed he was in over his head during the survival competition. He yearned to make his wife and family back home in Midland proud amid all the sacrifices he made to be there. Vliem also credits his bond with his teammate for being able to reach the finish line.
"I mean, you're out there starving and you're dehydrated and you can't sleep because you're freezing at night, so there was many times where Drew and I would kind of really lean on each other mentally," Vliem said. "I would get teary eyed at night and start complaining to Drew saying, 'I miss my wife and kids so much. What am I doing here? This is not what I'm supposed to do,' but Drew would bring me out of that dark place and I would do the same for him when he had those moments as well."
While on the big screen, the Texas duo resorted to jokes and references to quotes from movies and shows. A characteristic of lightheartedness Vliem shared helped them get to where they are today.
"That's kind of what we based our whole thing off of is, besides telling ourselves 'We're blessed to be here. We were chosen out of thousands and thousands and thousands of people....This is our destiny for us to meet, to become best friends and do it together,'" said Vliem.
When asked what he first thought when he realized he had won, Vliem shared, "It was just a a flush of emotions that I couldn't control. I went almost the whole time out there without shedding [a] tear, without getting sad. And as soon as I saw that red smoke coming out of the top of our flare, it was just like okay.... time to release everything all at once. And Drew and I, we were crying and we were screaming at each other. It was just a sense of pride, but also a sense of relief too. I thought, 'I get to go home.'"
Since returning home, Vliem quickly returned to working as an oil technician. He shared his body remained healthy despite losing 52 lbs during the competition. As for what he'll use that money for, he said he wants to pay off any debts, one day launch survival skill classes for young students and help set his children up for their future educational ventures.
"Never cut yourself short, and if you see a star and you want it or reach for it, there's nothing holding you back, especially in the outdoors," Vliem said. "Anybody can go out there and learn and practice. You don't have to be out there for a month to learn. You can just take short weekend trips, or even just a couple hours, go out and walk through the woods and see how it makes you feel. I guarantee you it's going to bring a sense of relief."
Watch the full interview with Vliem below: