If Not Now, When? Meet the Aristocratic French Brothers Behind Prime Video’s Adventure Travel Series 100 Things To Do Before You Die

Travel is often about the places we visit — but increasingly, it’s about how we experience them. In a world of carefully curated itineraries and picture-perfect moments, French brothers Matthias and Bastien Cadéac d’Arbaud are taking a different approach: embracing the unpredictable, the unexpected and the moments that don’t go according to plan.

My Soho Times Arts Editor, Gillian Smith, sat down with the brothers during their London stopover for a chat about their new Prime Video adventure series 100 Things to Do Before You Die, their appetite for risk, and why sometimes the best experiences happen when you stop waiting for the “right” moment.

If you’re looking for an extreme travel show to enjoy from the safety of your sofa, I have to admit you’re pretty well covered across both broadcast and streaming services. But have you seen it all? Unless you’ve tuned into new Prime Video series 100 Things to Do Before You Die, I think not.

Much in the spirit of their fellow countryman Jules Verne, whose Victorian-era novel Around the World in 80 Days was groundbreaking for its time, brothers Matthias and Bastien Cadéac d’Arbaud have decided what’s needed is a whole new approach to the travel, adventure and risk business as seen on TV.

The number one attribute required? A shared funny bone (essential), along with a sense of the ridiculous and a willingness to put yourself in situations that most people would hesitate to embrace.

But then, when you’re in search of memorable experiences rather than perfectly curated moments, that’s the road you head down. Preferably with your brother — when you get on as well as these two clearly do.

So, in the same spirit of adventure and, as ever, in search of answers, MST caught up with Matthias and Bastien on a London stopover to find out just why they think life begins the moment you stop putting things off.

Q: First things first — who’s the older brother?

Matthias: You’re going to make one of us happy and one of us very sad. Technically… I’m the elder.

Q: Where did the idea for the series come from?

Bastien: One drink, then maybe a few more drinks… and we came around to the whole idea behind the show.

Matthias: We’d heard too many friends and colleagues saying, “I’ll do it later. Later in the day, the week, the month…” We kept thinking, “Come on, just wake up. You do it or you don’t do it.” Then one day we realised that was us — we were exactly the same!

Bastien: People put too many constraints on themselves, but they’re their own constraints. They’re always postponing stuff, when actually it’s pretty easy to get a plane ticket.

Q: How much of what we see on screen was planned?

Bastien: We had plans, but you can’t really know in advance what’s going to make a good sequence. Some things we prepared for days and dropped because they weren’t funny. Other things just happened.

When you see us on horseback, that wasn’t part of the original plan. We just randomly came across the opportunity. We took it, and it’s one of the key moments in the show. Very often, nothing is going to go as planned when you’re on the road.

Matthias: You organise as much as you can beforehand, but sometimes things don’t turn out exactly as expected — and that’s often for the best.

Q: Did filming live up to your expectations?

Matthias: It was funnier and more challenging than we expected.

Sometimes we were scared, but we do the stuff anyway. Otherwise, there’s no point. We always try to go further, go one better, to keep pushing.

But at the end of the day, the crew has to sleep! Honestly, if it were just Bastien and me with GoPros, we’d probably still be there.

Q: Your crew do seem pretty fearless too?

Bastien: They were! The core crew was French, plus we had an amazing wider team in the Philippines.

Q: So, they’re happy to jump out of a plane with you at a moment’s notice?

Bastien: Yes. Well… sometimes we had to push them. With no parachute (laughs), but with a camera. Always a camera.

Q: Has making the pilot made you want to pause and regroup?

Bastien: No. Not at all. We already have ten episodes lined up.

Matthias: The challenge now isn’t finding somewhere nobody’s been before, because there are hardly any places left off the map. The challenge is to do something no one else has done before — and to be more genuine, more authentic.

We want to spend more time with the people we film and show… more brotherhood, if you like.

Q: So, what makes the perfect destination?

Bastien: Since we want to do one country per episode, it needs enough contrast — urban life, wild places, more remote locations. We like aquatic activities… or deserts and plains. Wherever danger lurks!

Q: Have you always been adventurous?

Matthias: Maybe it comes from our parents. They always liked to give us a taste of new things.

Bastien: It’s not only about being adventurous. It’s about being interested in other people, meeting them where they live, experiencing their lives and then adding some adventures unique to the location.

Q: So, what was the story behind the “Sorry Mum” sign in the helicopter?

Matthias: Because if you met our mum… after all that, she’s not actually that adventurous!

Beyond the adventure

At its core, 100 Things to Do Before You Die is less about ticking experiences off a list and more about embracing curiosity, uncertainty and the unexpected moments that make journeys memorable.

In a world where travel is increasingly documented before it’s experienced, Matthias and Bastien’s message is simple: sometimes the best stories happen when you stop waiting and start doing.

Over to you… What’s on your list?