For my first post, I feel it somewhat appropriate to give you a little background as to why I feel the need to contribute to this blog. You see, the thing is, I love Survivor. I love the game, I love Jeff Probst, I love the players, the production crew and CBS for continuing their support of this great show. In February 2015 I flew from Newcastle Australia to Los Angeles USA just to be on the same soil as Survivor players for the launch of WORLD’S APART. I love this game. But my love for Survivor isn’t some ethereal, airy fairy, flimsy type of love. My love for Survivor is real and quantifiable.

So, let me break it down for you in a nutshell. I love Survivor because:

I am able to relate many parts of the game to my real life and learn from them.

In my day to day world, I have to deal with people who I just generally don’t like. I’m not a hateful person by any means and I get that not everyone is built to be your best friend, but at times dealing with these people can be tough.

What Survivor continues to teach me is that maintaining good relationships with people you don’t like is more than just a handy life skill, it is an art form. It is also one of the many traits of a great Survivor player.

One of my favourite examples of watching this happen in Survivor was watching John Cochran deal with people he didn’t like in the Savaii Tribe (Survivor South Pacific). He was able to convince them he was still 100% with them up until the moment he blindsided them. This led to one of my all time favourite Survivor quotes…

“I should be given an Academy Award for dealing with these people.” – Cochran, SP

Challenging myself to be friendly with people I don’t like has opened up so many exciting doors in my life and I owe this all to Survivor.

Watching people suffer on television makes my own problems seem less significant.

It is not enough that Survivor contestants are constantly exposed to the elements, have little to no food and are completely separated from civilisation… What happens a lot on Survivor is outright bullying.

I will never forget watching Jonathan Penner in Survivor Cook Islands. At the time I was going through a break up with some bird and was just having a hard time dealing with it. But here’s Penner…

Not only is he starving, being eaten by bugs and getting rained on with no shelter… almost every other contestant wanted him gone and would talk shit about him behind his back AND to his face. I will never forget Penner’s response. He NEVER lost his cool and was courteous and respectful to the people trying to bring him down. He showed 100% class. Watching Penner go through that the way he did helped me get through a difficult time in my life. How could I NOT love this show?

It is the ultimate strategy game.

You don’t truly know how good you are at being a social strategist until you are placed in a situation like Survivor. You have no food, are with complete strangers (who have been hand-picked with clashing personality traits to create drama) and are living and sleeping out in the wilderness in a foreign country whilst trying to create the right alliances and vote off the right people without pissing anyone off too much. And not only that, but the more seasons of Survivor that continue to happen, the smarter future contestants will continue to be. Each season is like a Survivor guide textbook.

You will see the smartest minds in the world on this show.

Just as a side note, little-to-no food really is a big deal and I don’t think this gets the attention it deserves. Try doing a full working week on one spoon of rice a day. You will end up with plenty people not liking you.

The players are real people, not fictional characters

All the emotions whether they be high or low are 100% real and genuine on Survivor (Unless of course they are pretending to enjoy the film Jack and Jill. But we can forgive that).

What I truly love is that this game creates an environment that gives all these real contestants (regardless of age, sex, background or whatever) the opportunity to be great.

I have love and respect for anyone who ever played the game, but then there are contestants who rise above the game and go to the next level of incredibleness. Who doesn’t want to watch regular people aspire to Survivor greatness?

So there are a handful of reasons as to why I love Survivor. Whilst I have never played Survivor, I feel an overwhelming need to give back to the game that has given me so much. Writing my thoughts here will be one of the ways I do so.