Eva zu Beck | |
|---|---|
| Born | Ewa Bianka Zubek 26 April 1991 Poland |
| Alma mater | University of Oxford [1] |
| Occupation |
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| YouTube information | |
| Channel | |
| Genre | Travel vlogs |
| Subscribers | 1.86 million |
| Views | 184 million |
| Last updated: November 2025 | |
| Website | evazubeck |
Eva zu Beck (born Ewa Bianka Zubek on 26 April 1991) is a Polish travel and adventure blogger, vlogger and presenter. [2] She has travelled to 60 countries including Mongolia, [3] Pakistan, where she lived for over a year, [4] [5] [6] Afghanistan, Yemen [7] [8] and Iraq. [9] [10] According to Breanna Wilson of Field Mag, "A major part of the Polish traveler's appeal is that she manages to make living in the remotest parts of Pakistan or exploring the streets of Afghanistan appealing, even as a solo female traveler. [11]
Zu Beck was born on 26 April 1991 in Poland, the oldest of three children raised by a single mother. [12] She moved with her family to England around the age of 12. [13] [14] She was educated at The Henley College (2007–2009) and then studied German and French languages at the University of Oxford, graduating in 2013. [1] [12] She worked at the European Parliament in Brussels and in several other jobs, [12] and for four years in London for Culture Trip, a travel media start-up, but she became unhappy with her conventional life; she left to travel in Nepal in late 2017, decided to try travel vlogging and soon moved to Pakistan, which she had read was among the most dangerous countries in the world. [13] [3]
She gained wide attention in 2018 after posting a "Kiki Challenge" video on YouTube to celebrate Pakistan's independence day, dancing draped in the country's flag, which also drew accusations of disrespecting the flag. [15] [16] [17] She travelled by horseback in Mongolia in 2019. [18] In 2020, she hosted TRT World's show, A Place Called Pakistan, [19] and presented a Euronews YouTube miniseries called Rerouted: The Balkans. [20] She joined BBC's The Travel Show as a presenter, reporting on the clean-up of the Mexican wetlands from the canals of Xochimilco [21] and a 450 dog-sled race in Yukon, Canada, marking the 125th anniversary of the Klondike Gold Rush. [22]
In early 2022 she began a road trip of the Americas while living in a converted Land Rover Defender that she named Odyssey, which she had shipped from Germany to Mexico. Her goal was to drive to the northern tip of Alaska and then to the southern tip of South America. [23] While her truck was en route to Mexico, zu Beck flew to Antarctica in early February 2022 where she was among a group that climbed to the summit of Mount Vinson, the Antarctic's tallest peak with a height of 4,892 m (16,050 ft). [24] After driving from Mexico into the U.S., she bought a German Shepherd puppy, Wilk, and continued north, vlogging through the U.S. and Canada. In the fall of 2022, she reached the northern tip of Alaska [25] and briefly swam in the frigid waters of the Arctic Ocean. She then drove south through the US and Canada again and re-entered Mexico. While still in Mexico, in March 2023, she abandoned her goal of driving through central and South America and took a break from vlogging. [26]
She participated together with Wilk in the 2024 Lapland Arctic Ultra, but dropped out after 100 km due to an unexpected paw injury suffered by Wilk. In July 2024, she finished in third position among women – and tenth overall – in the Gobi March 250 km ultramarathon. [27] In March 2025, she successfully completed the Lapland Arctic Ultra, 500 km distance. [28] Zu Beck starred in the miniseries Superskilled with Eva zu Beck (2024–2025), an exploration and adventure series on National Geographic's YouTube channel [29] and later Disney+, [30] and ABC.com, [31] which was a nominee for a Shorty Award. [32] In 2024 she purchased a remote property in Poland and, in 2025, moved onto the land, where she lives in a tent for much of the year, [33] and a small shepherd's hut in the winter. [34] In 2025, she won Outdoor Media Summit's award for "YouTube Channel of the Year". [35] Her second season starring in Superskilled began in November 2025. [29]
Zu Beck has written a memoir of her travels, The Wilder Way, scheduled for publication by Penguin Books's Century imprint in 2026. [36] [37]
Zu Beck was married in her mid-20s but ended the marriage before launching her solo travel career. [38] [39] [40]