With my previous car, a Suzuki sx4 (like a "non-off road" suv), on two long trips i had defects that caused me concern. but I was in civilization, I had a mobile phone that was within range... once on a trip to Florence, somewhere halfway near Trieste, the end of the spring broke.
Another time, on the way to Greece, as soon as I arrived at my destination, one of the gears in the gearbox failed. both times, like you, I called a friend, got directions and continued driving carefully.
The trip to Italy, after a defect with the spring, traveled another 2300 km. and on a trip to Greece, I drove 1500 km without 5th gear. The first time the cost was negligible, I replaced both springs for €100, and the 5th gear mechanism in the gearbox cost me almost €550.
Preparation for any trip, especially if I go by car, is that, in addition to payment cards in my wallet, I always have enough cash to be able to get home, even by plane.
Cars can be costly, there always seems to be something happening. It's the unexpected things that hurt the wallet the most though.
I keep an envelope of cash (I prefer to work in cash)for servicing and maintenance of my vehicles so I'm never left having to search for the money but this latest fix was not factored into the budget because things like this just don't break usually. Anyway, like with your repairs, it got fixed and all is good...except my wallet. Lol.
Better our wallets suffer than our heads 🙂
You're back from the wilderness, I'm back from a trip...
I know a saying: "It's not expensive (it's not a problem) everything that money can buy"