Outskirts Overland Podcast
📸 Join us as we dive deep into the thrilling world of overland travel, off-road exploration, and outdoor adventures! 🌄
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Outskirts Overland Podcast
Embracing the Now: Overlanding Wisdom, Time's True Value, and Balancing Family Adventures
Can you truly grasp the value of a single moment? Join me on Outskirts Overland as I reflect on the significance of living in the present, particularly through the lens of my military background and passion for overlanding. Hear personal stories that underscore the immense value of time over money and material possessions, and gain insights on how balancing responsibilities and allowing children to enjoy their childhood can lead to a fulfilling life. This episode is a heartfelt exploration of seizing the present and making the most of every experience.
Remember how the 2020 pandemic shifted our perspectives on freedom and adventure? As we adapt back to normalcy in 2024, many are falling back into conventional future planning. I share my journey of prioritizing immediate experiences over long-term plans, tackling fears, and the challenges of motivating others to join these adventures. Social media’s role in shaping travel goals is also discussed, with a clear message: today is our only certainty, so let’s embrace it with enthusiasm and joy.
Balancing personal aspirations with societal responsibilities can be tough, but it’s essential for true happiness. This episode dives into the delicate act of pursuing dreams without letting them overshadow the joy of achieving them. From camping and vehicle-based travel to crafting, discover how to integrate your passions into family life. Whether it's encouraging more young people to join the overlanding community or stepping out of traditional roles, this episode champions self-fulfillment and inclusivity in outdoor activities. End with a heartfelt message of gratitude and encouragement, reflecting on what truly matters and urging you to align your actions with your values.
The Thank you. So, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, welcome to Outskirts Overland. I appreciate you guys being here. Um, I'm gonna. I had a guest today lined up and I actually canceled on them because I have fixing my mic but I have like a really kind of I just had a topic that was weighing on me and I am I mean, I'm the boss here, so I kind of just called an audible and I'm going to run with what was kind of weighing on me and what I've been thinking about. So that's where I'm going to take it. So, anyways, first things first got to let you guys know.
Speaker 1:Hey, if you guys you know I use Onyx Offroad for all my mapping, you know all the mapping that I do. If you guys want to get 20% off Onyx Offroad, use Global Overland 236, and that'll go ahead and get you 20% off Onyx Offroad. It's what I use for everything you can download offline maps off-road. It's what I use for everything you can download offline maps. Really, I have met no capacity to how many offline maps you can download and you can label them up, so they're kind of always there. It's not like you download it and only have it 24 hours. It's there forever If you guys are in the Midwest and you drive a Toyota.
Speaker 1:Toyota Trucks of Arkansas is a facebook group full of really cool guys. A lot of friends of mine, new friends, friends I had before are in that group. It's an extremely positive group and the toyota land cruisers back land cruisers adapter just had the razorback ramble this last weekend. Looks like it was a great success. I haven't got a chance to uh really dive into it from those that attended, but that will come, I'm sure. So anyways, today I wanted to talk about. You know, one big like this is a huge thing to me, so I wanted to talk about. Obviously, this is an overlanding podcast. This is an overlanding stream. I'm a guy that enjoys overlanding.
Speaker 1:But there's a few things that have been weighing on me and they pertain to anything. I mean, whether it was your work, being a parent, being a husband, being a, anything that you want to do. It would pertain to anything that you strive to have success in or Are looking to grow in in a certain direction, toward. You know, whatever success is, and it's just been weighing on me. I think about it a lot and I talk about it a lot.
Speaker 1:There's people that are close to me very few people that are close to me, but there are people that are close to me and I value time over anything else. As far as currency is concerned, money doesn't mean a whole lot to me. Really Stuff although you guys would think stuff you know based on um, you know, whether you follow me or not like just how much stuff I do or don't buy um, that stuff matters a lot to me. But really time matters the most to me and making making sure that I'm doing what I'm happy about doing with my time, you know, or whatever you know, makes it, you know, makes my kids happy with the time I have with them or my family, my friends, my work life, my personal life, like whatever. I care a lot about time and I'm almost, um, you know, as a father. I care a lot about the time I have with my kids and what we're doing with that time and like letting them be kids. You know like I don't try to be too much of like a ah. You know like I'm like you're kids, you got to be kids. There's going to be a time in your life where you don't get to get to be kids. You kind of got to be a grownup and you have a boss and you got to do stuff that other people say and it's not a whole lot of fun. So time matters to me a lot and as I think about overlanding and how I got into overlanding like really pretty hard, um, I think about, you know, I'm 30, I'm almost 37. So I'm not old but I'm not young. So I'm almost 37. In August I'll be 37.
Speaker 1:And I think about kind of how I you know I wouldn't I don't want to make this the anti-Dave Ramsey, you know but at the same time like I even was talking to my family about this like this idea that, like everybody's saving, you know saving up time, saving up money, saving up resources, saving you know they're saving, you're working, you're saving, you're doing all these things so that you know, later you can do this thing you want to do. But like to me, given that time's the most valuable to me, the value of the minute I'm in is like a hundred dollar bill and later is like 50 cents, because later is not guaranteed. Later's like later's like gambling, and I don't do that very much. Like later's like gambling, where, like right now, in the immediate, in the shorter term, to me is more important because that's when I can get like I can.
Speaker 1:I can be doing what I want to do, because things happen and I don't know if it's due to my life experiences. You know, from the military or anything else. You know where I kind of and this will get on a little bit of a you know, if you don't relate, you don't relate. But maybe you can, maybe I can catch you. You know, but like when you go to the military, you're a 17 or 18 year old kid. You have no idea what that is like. I can tell you firsthand. You don't know, even if your family members were in the military, like you weren't the military member, you have no idea. So you sign up for this thing for four years, five years, six years depending. You have no idea what you're getting into, but you're doing it and I think that creates a mental shift in any military members. You took a jump. You jumped for lack of a better term into this life. That's going to take you away, change you. You no longer have agency over what you're doing, what you're wearing, how it's going when you shower, when you go to the bathroom, how you talk nothing. It all changes. And then that brings me to.
Speaker 1:I talked to my mom today and asked her if I could talk about her. But my mom is paralyzed. So my mom is paralyzed from the waist down and she wasn't always so. I mean, between just my personal life, just my personal life, I'm getting to the age to where people are getting injured. They're getting, you know, people are getting sick. People are passing away early, you know, or frequently due to sickness or car wrecks or and, and you cannot. You cannot sit and like you. None of that's predictable. Like, you can sit and plan in your 401k and you can sit and plan out your retirement, but but who's saying you make it there? Who's saying you get there? You know you can't sit there. Like so, for instance, like my mom, she could walk, okay. Like if my mom had spent her whole life with the goal of running a marathon after she retired, well, she, that opportunity's come and gone. Like she didn't, she wouldn't have had a chance. And now, that was not by any means a goal of my mother's.
Speaker 1:But one thing that I get from my mom is like a whole lot of it's like a selfish. It's like a selfish, reckless abandon, almost to be to be. You know, like it's kind of like hey, that's what I want to do and that's what I'm going to do. But it does kind of go in line with, like, my idea of the value of time and, like you know, tomorrow's not guaranteed. I don't want to get too philosophical here, but the reason that this goes in is because I want to try and explain, you know myself, prior to what I do for a living now and everything, I was very, um, I was very big in the fitness industry and coached a lot of people and you know I I used it then too. Like, what is important to you, like if you're employing someone like a trainer or a nutritionist, dietitian, whatever, coach, you know what, what are you spending your money on? You're like, are you spending your money just to say you got this person but that person can't facilitate it for you? And that's the same here. Like I'm the only person that's going to facilitate me getting into overlanding, building a truck. You know doing this, and now there are things that need to kind of come together for that to exist on the scale in which I want to do it. Right, but by saying the scale in which I want to do it, that's like the truck build. You know, you could, you could, or, excuse me, scott Brady, I don't know. I almost said Dan Brady Scott Brady just talked about you know, people have earth roamers for a million dollars but in travel, you know, all over the world, but there's people that do, in a Toyota Tricel, like a 98 Toyota Tricel, like you don't even necessarily to overland, to worldwide vehicularly travel.
Speaker 1:You don't even need like four wheel drive always. I mean, it's just really up to your determination level, honestly. But and again, I've talked about Scott Brady a little bit before but Scott Brady is a uh, he's somebody from like that did expedition seven, um, before X overland existed. Expedition seven was like, did all seven continents vehicle-based Um, these are things I've followed, you know. Know, because I've been into this adventure travel. That's what what I used to call it. It's called overlanding now, but adventure travel and like whatever.
Speaker 1:But pretty much since I got out of the military I have kind of just went after whatever you know, um, and I think that I see in right now and why I said I don't want to be the anti Dave Ramsey is the way I see things now is like, get the thing put it middle road with that. You know, like, if the if later gets here, I don't want to be like in my me and one of my friends talk a lot about, like your current self and your future self. Like are you? Are you working for future Charlie, or are you working for current Charlie and his future Charlie going to be upset about that, or current Charlie going to be upset because you prepared future Charlie for success? Like, we talk like that a lot but you know, I've never been in a position as you know a male with a solid work ethic to where I've ever gotten myself into such a negatively deep scenario.
Speaker 1:I couldn't get myself out all the while while still chasing something I enjoyed. So the negative connotation is not there. So, like, for instance, what I'm saying is like you know, I went to Colorado last year for 10 days on a whim. I was like, yes, do Colorado. Colorado is a thing to do. So I just went and that's expensive gas and it's expensive stuff and the trip required a little bit of equipment and I didn't plan nothing. I just went. You know, and that's something that I feel like some people would get paralysis by analysis. That would just keep them from doing it and that's kind of taking that leap to do something you want to call. It allows me to just kind of quote unquote. The way people explain it now is just do the thing. So I do just jump.
Speaker 1:There are obviously some barriers in my life children, you know that, keep me from essentially living in South Africa, south America right now, and having drove there, you know that's that's probably a life I would like, quite honestly, live somewhere on a beach in South America, and that's something that that, you know, if later gets here, I will probably for sure. But right now I'm a, I'm a. I'm not, I'm not necessarily an international overlander, unless you know, you really call Canada and Mexico technically North American overlander, though, um, but I do go and I do buy the things I want to buy. You know, for my truck I bought my truck. Um, if I want a piece of equipment to try, I buy it, I figure it out. I sell old stuff.
Speaker 1:I work odd jobs to fund the hobby and try to, you know, do those odd jobs at times in which aren't peak travel times. I literally changed my career to where the busy time at work for me is in the winter, not the summer anymore. Like I have made a lot of changes to make this thing, you know, a priority like my actual, like the things that fund my life, the things that make this house tick, make the pay the bills, all those things have a revolve around my passion, my hobby, and that is, you know, vehicle-based travel. And I was never much of a traveler because in my mind, until I could really, you know, just say like I want to, just, you know, road trip, adventure, travel, whatever you want to call it Travel was like this was even before. Airbnb was like resorts, hotels, flights, airports, luggage, rental cars. I didn't want nothing to do with any of that and, again, if that's what you want to do, everything I'll talk about today is going to apply.
Speaker 1:But the thing is is that I feel like I feel like I struggle myself in today's world, even as grounded as I am in my passions and as grounded as I am in chasing them, that I even struggle to not seem, for lack of a better term, for lack of a better term, mentally unstable, potentially Like I guess that's like a dramatic way to say it, but like when did chasing? When did it? And I'm not even chasing it Like I'm doing it. When did doing. You know, things that that light you on fire, become like weird. You know, like we live in such a time where everybody's like trying to include everybody, but, at the same time, we're all like judging everybody at a maximum level to where, like when people are like what are you doing this weekend? I mean, there's no that, that question doesn't need to be asked. Like the answer to that question is I'm doing kids, or camping, or camping with kids. Like that's what I'm doing and it's not. I have no obligation to do it, it's not my job, I don't make any money from this thing. Like it's what I enjoy doing, so it's what I go after. Hey, steven, thanks for being here, man, um, so it's just what I'm going after.
Speaker 1:So, today, what's been weighing on me is just like this idea of 2020 happened and like I felt like 2020 like opened everyone's eyes to like, holy crap, your world as you know, it might stop. Like things you had the freedom to do you can't do anymore. So people pivoted to traveling uniquely, in the outdoors, uniquely, and we so quickly. And it's 2024, we've all fallen back into, you know, falling back into, you know work savings, the future retirement investments, all these things and and it's like I don't know if everybody was just going with the flow what happened in 2020, but like I see a lot of people like doing a lot of planning for later. That may never come and I'm still up in here.
Speaker 1:I mean, I've been living that life since before that happened. Like I, you know, whatever I'm chasing, I'm doing it at 100% chasing. I'm doing it at a hundred percent and that's not a pat on my own back. Like that comes with a lot of fear. Sometimes I've been in situations where I've bought gear or went on trips that have left me so broke I'm like man, I don't know how I'm gonna do next month, but I figured it out. You know, like I make it so important to live that experience that I figured it out later. Like, and I experience that I figure it out later. Like, and I'm going to figure it out, I'm not going to allow myself to fail. You know, if I'm working at McDonald's, and so be it. You know, that's 15 more dollars an hour, 12 dollars more now than I had. I'll go stock shelves until I catch back up a night shift to shelves. I'll figure it out, dude. Like, start cutting grass, I'll start. You know, whatever people might want, any type of manual labor which which, again, thankfully blessed enough to be able to do that, and I'll do it during the week, I'll lose sleep, I don't care, because it allows me to keep doing these things that actually, you know, light me on fire enough to keep moving in the more mundane things like work bills, kids, all those things.
Speaker 1:But I think that I just see so many people and what led me to talking about this is I get flaked on. I used to invite people to go camping with me all the time, and this is where this begins. And the amount of times people are like I want to go, I'm going to go camping with me all the time, and this is where this begins. And the amount of times people are like I want to go, I'm going to go. Oh, my X put something in. I forgot about this event. I forgot about that event, my wife this, or my kids that, or the dog, or. Oh, I totally blew my mind.
Speaker 1:I feel like people almost like really want to do something, but they're almost like afraid to do it. Weirdly, I don't know how else to really explain that, but I also feel like and this has been me at different points. There are people that in today's day and age it's so easy to watch someone else doing something that you can live so closely, vicariously, through them. It'll keep you just enough entrenched in their life to where you're not doing it yourself. And that's a unique point and thought that I have. But it's a real thing and I said it a couple podcasts ago.
Speaker 1:But I do look up to a lot of social media people because they're accessible. What they're doing, what trends they're following, what gear they're using, where they're going, gives me good ideas on where to go, because I'm lazy and I'm not reading books from the library anymore about you know, there's a book for every state and the hiking trails there and the off-road trails there and the wildlife there and what what there is to do there. There's a book for every state. It's a thing like tons of older folks have given me atlases and national park maps and books and brochures and like from the 90s, 80s, 90s, whatever, because they know I like to do that type of travel. They're like they know that's the type I want to see, like those are the sites I want to see.
Speaker 1:I don't have any interest and you know I've been to rodeo drive in hollywood. I have no interest going to prada or Gucci or Louis Vuitton, but I want to go see Mount Rushmore and the Grand Canyon and the Great Sand Dunes and you know, I want to go see Vermont in the fall, like those are things I want to see. I'm more interested in those natural things. But again, everything still applies. Everybody's like I'm going on this epic road trip when I retire. Everybody's like I'm going on this epic road trip when I retire. And I'm going, I'm going to find out how to do this epic road trip amidst my working years.
Speaker 1:Because what happens, if you know, for instance, I get in a car wreck, I lose a leg. Well, you can't just rent any car. You can't just rent a car anywhere. You can't just get a car. Like what do you do then? Like, how do you set up a rooftop tent? Then there's no time right now to be chasing those things, because the only thing that you know right now is right now. That's the only definite. The only definite I can tell you between today and tomorrow right now is that I'm doing this podcast.
Speaker 1:I don't know that driving down the road is not going to result in a life-changing event. So I'm more worried about what life-changing event can I get into for the positive for me right now, tomorrow, immediately, not when I'm 65 or 59 or 45. If I care about it enough, I think I have some goals later on down the road, but they're not my passions, if that will make sense. What I'm passionate about is having these experiences now, because now is the only time that I'm absolutely positive. I could have those experiences until I can't. But I have a lot. I work and I don't talk about work because it's kind of it could potentially be a conflict for them talking about it, but I work in the financial sector of things. So there's a lot of long-term planning in those things and not that I don't think setting yourself up for wealth later. You know that's, that's for somebody like that's for somebody.
Speaker 1:But for me, my wealth is in experiences, is in trips, is in memories, is in smiles, is in pictures, is in like. You know I don't want to live my life being like. You know, like I think of the kid that I am and I think of my kids and I'm like, even if I bought my kids a new car at 16, they're still going to remember the fun times we had. That's not going to be the most fun time they're going to remember and no matter how. You know and again meant, you know there are brain injuries, but you know like your memories are going to be with you whether they're good or bad. You know there are brain injuries but you know like your memories are going to be with you whether they're good or bad.
Speaker 1:You know, and will the struggles you go through and the things that you do to do, the things you want to do, overweigh the happiness of getting there? Or will what you had to do to get there late? You know, with this way drawn out plan, kind of dig into you know, if you really, if that's really what you want to go after, or will it seem frivolous, will it seem not that important at that point? So I really try to take a lot of thought and reflection into like convincing myself to not be the norm, to be the one that's like I want to do this thing, and like making sure that I treat it as big of a deal as I think it is in the moment, because I have found myself a lot of times being like that's an irresponsible thought. That's not going to set me up for success here or set me up for success there. But the way that I determine success is did I spend my time the way I wanted to? Enjoyably Did I? Did I, you know, when I pass down to my kids, kind of like I said my mom passed down to me?
Speaker 1:Like you know, we live in a world where we're always giving something to somebody else, whether it's you know, I get political but whether it's taxes or, you know, you contract essentially yourself for time at work, for an amount of money which then you have to give to your renter or your mortgage company, like what are you doing for you? So I, almost selfishly, am like, you know, I need to be doing for my kids, but I need to be doing for me too, not just for them, not just for the mortgage, not just for the bills. You know, for me too, like I often think about that and and I'm not married but I have been, so I understand like there's a give and take there too, like sometimes I would be doing for my wife or my girlfriend. You know, something that I don't necessarily want to do, but I, I I'm not them, so they'd need to speak up in those situations so I could prioritize their you know aspirations as well and let them know like, hey, we don't need to save $6,000 a month, like we can spend it all of it. Like we'll figure it out.
Speaker 1:Like, what do you want to do? Like let's go do it If you really want to do it. Like if you're kind of him, him, him, han, but like for me, it's like I want to do this X, I'm going to do this this weekend, this the next weekend, this the next weekend, like my schedule for camping and where, like my schedule for camping and where, like my schedule for camp is pretty vast, it's all the ways rain shine, whatever, that's what I want to be doing. I just greatly enjoy being out in the outdoors. And whether you're passionate about hunting or sewing, or I would you know if you were passionate about sewing or crafts, I'd highly recommend, like, rent a storage unit, a space, buy that thing, that sewing machine, those threads, those books, those classes dive into that. This doesn't apply to just vehicle-based travel, overlanding, anything like that.
Speaker 1:But I find it hard, you know, and I don't, and again I don't. I don't have a lot of recollection of this because I was a kid and now I'm an adult and kind of like when I was in the military. Like my adulthood is kind of blurred, honestly, weirdly, but like I don't remember you know too many people when I was a kid like chasing anything really that cool, cool, like I thought was cool. You know, like everybody's working for their family but like I don't really remember my parents really doing a whole lot of stuff for them, you know, and I think I'm a lot more fun for my family when I'm having fun myself and I include them, you know, but I also care about what they want to do. You know I I earlier on talked about, you know, taking trips and take it into account.
Speaker 1:You know your audience at the trip, like whether I take my kids, a girlfriend, a wife, whatever, like I want to camp, but that doesn't mean that's all we're going to do. We're not just going to ride trails and camp Like I'll. I'll adjust the trip to like have a water park in it or go-karts, or antiquing or shopping or a restaurant they want to go to, or, you know, like make it work for everybody, so it's enjoyable experience. I want to camp, so you know that's how I want to sleep at night, versus a hotel. That doesn't mean the trip has to be revolve around it necessarily. Um. So you know, read the room you got with you. But when it's just me by myself or with this knucklehead marvin here, you know we're just, we're just camping. I mean, we're happy to just sit. I mean mean this is what we do, you know, and it's what we like, and he's a I mean he's an Australian shepherd, so I mean he's got plenty of outdoor energy, so that's what we do. But I just see a lot in this space.
Speaker 1:You know I have seen this stuff dying out in the community. You know I loved the freaking 2020 through 2022 community because there was a lot more younger people like getting it, getting after it, but the community has all transferred back. You know, like the majority of the community, in vehicle based travel and overlanding. You know you got your few me's there, for sure, but everybody else going off road parks. You know you got your few me's there, for sure, but everybody else going off-road parks. You know the easy stuff which, again, if that's what you like doing, by all means, that's freaking sick. Do it all the time. Have a blast, but there's not as many people doing vehicle-based, like adventuring, traveling as there was then.
Speaker 1:And the community is just right back to your, you know, older empty nesters, if they're not yet retired or retired, and I just man, it just lights me up so much I feel like I got to talk about it. Like how many people are like man, I wish you know I I've got I'm really close with my parents and they're in their sixties. So like I I've got I'm really close with my parents and they're in their sixties. So like I see both sides of it, like I see both sides of, like my age we'll do it later and then my parents age. I wish I would have done it sooner, so that that wrangles my brain a lot. Like man, like you know, how do you? You know, how do you, how do you decide? Cause you? But in my mind the only way I can decide is because I know where I'm at right now, but later I might not be there and that's where that I wish I'd have done it earlier comes in, you know. So I just think about that stuff a lot.
Speaker 1:And and is it tougher to take kids? Is it, is it is there's a lot of accommodations to these things. There is to take kids, is it, is. It is. There's a lot of accommodations to these things. There is, but like you gotta let, I mean, do what you do. Some of you guys don't have kids, like, but I can tell you for a fact, everybody that listens to this podcast.
Speaker 1:I don't think I have a stat for for women, I don't think there's a girl that listens to this podcast. I mean I would love if there was. But according to the statistics on Spotify and Apple, now YouTube I haven't looked at the stats on YouTube but according to be out in nature but gets caught up in the house, the decorating, the kids, sports, dance, soccer, all these things to where it's hard. And when you're a man and I'm a man like I understand this it's hard to go. Hey guys, like, I know it's super weird, but like can we forego that barbecue? And actually can we go camping, like, can we go fishing, you know? And although they might not want to do that, I think it's important to bring it up, because how many times did you not want to go shopping or go to that dance competition or want to, you know care about, you know fabric splotches or paint colors, but you really do want to go camping and I'm not sitting here to be.
Speaker 1:Like you know, there's plenty of women and I'll be the first person to tell you of all the nomadic people living in vans and live in that life. Very few men, many single women. If there are men, they're probably with a woman. There's very single men doing it and less men in general doing it. Women are doing it. So I will say that first off, but that is not the majority of women by any means.
Speaker 1:So I find it that men, you know, and I struggle with this and then it goes back. I'm just on a whole tangent with this and hopefully you guys track with it. You know, on a whole tangent with this and hopefully you guys track with it, you know. But like I find that a lot of men, when I try to plan trips and bring your wife, bring your kids, like I'm never like guys trip, girls trip, I'm not that person, I'm just not that person. Like there is no, there is no, you know, admission to come camping. As far as I'm concerned, like if you want to come is you know, and even if you're in a Subaru, we'll figure it out. Like I would love to just get you out, you know, like I, I would be more than happy to adjust for that group. Or if you're not comfortable in your car, I got a seat in mine, like that's fine too. You know, bring your own tent. I'm not going to sleep next to you, but, but I find that I'm almost always. You know, oh, we're going to go camping and the guy's always like, ah, you know this thing, and it's like man, I, I'm not going to fight with anybody in my life to go, but I'm good, I'm going to go.
Speaker 1:You know like, because I value my own, you know, time. I value my own time too, just as much as everybody else's. You know like there's not a time in my life where I'm going to go out to eat and not really value the server's time. You know that's time away from their family, friends, kids. Is that their first job or second job? As I mentioned before, I've had many second and third jobs to fund things I want to do at different points. You know, I just figured it out, but like that's what those people are doing too, so I always value it out. But like that's what those people are doing too, so I always value those folks. Gas station workers, like those typically aren't full-time jobs people are doing late at night. Those are people that are trying to make it. So I was extremely respectful of that.
Speaker 1:But, like I just it just all goes back to time. For me, like and again, the only moment you know, know you're you, you can be in and understand is right now. None of us can tell the future. We can only know the past. But I don't want to look at my past in the future and be like man. I wish I'd have done that sooner, even if I'm older. I want to. I want to look back and be like because I've took the time to kind of follow my own aspirations, prioritize it just as much as anything else, instead of always doing for everybody else, doing for me too. That I will have. If I make it that long, I will have quite the you know resume and Rolodex of awesome memories, you know, and I'll probably do more things than I ever thought I could because I dedicated so much more time. You know, as time goes and I keep trying, you know I've done so much with it.
Speaker 1:So I'm always thinking like I just don't see a negative in in starting now. I don't see a negative in figuring it out. I don't see a negative in going with what you've got. I don't see a negative in put it on a credit card. You know, like again you would do that for 10 other things. You know people will do a HELOC on their house to get new countertops but they won't put a size bigger tires on their truck to go to Sedona. Like $60,000 kitchen, $1,000 tires. Like, people just don't justify stuff differently. And I bring that up because, like that's a super common thing, like, and when you say it like that, it's like damn, do I value that new kitchen cabinet 60 times more than this awesome experience I could have had, if that's what you want to do. But you know, like, if you really think about it, that's what it is Like and I hear it day in and day out.
Speaker 1:It is not. I don't live in Arkansas, I don't live in Arizona, I don't live in Southern or Northern California, idaho, montana, like my truck is a sore thumb everywhere I go. So I hear stories, whether I want to hear them or not. I get opinions, whether I want to hear them or not, at the gas station, the grocery store, walmart, the parts store, I mean picking up my kids. Teachers talk to me like everybody's, like man, I'd love to do that and I'm just thinking, then I'll give you a sleeping bag. Dude, like, go, throw that sucker on a seat. Go, man, go. You put gas in your car every day. That's all you need is gas go. But man, people are so averse to doing that, like they look at me like I got a freaking horn growing out of my head. I almost said something different, but they look at me like I'm losing my freaking mind. They look at me like I'm nuts, when I know they're nuts because they're not doing it.
Speaker 1:Like, what the hell are you waiting on? What you waiting for? What for later? How do you know later's coming, how? Somebody tell me the guarantee. I can tell you I'm going to go camping this weekend. I can't tell you I'm going to be camping this weekend in 2056. What am I waiting for? 2056 about Guys? Like I can't believe it. It like blows my mind. And again there's nothing that's not important enough for you to go after at all.
Speaker 1:Johnny just commented, my friend Johnny and Johnny's young. So I mean, and again, I really like getting to the younger crowd here and it's nice for me to be friends with, like Johnny and Zion, they're friends of mine, but they're they're in their mid twenties, maybe earlier twenties, mid to early twenties. But it's good that they're around me to see me like doing the thing, because I think that I think it's they go now, but they don't have kids yet, but I still go like I still invest money in this hobby. I still, you know, and still have children. So they don't have this idea of like oh yeah, I used to do that before kids. Like no, we make it happen around here. It's important to me, and we make it happen cheerleading and dance and soccer and X things, yeah, yeah. And Johnny just said I told you I don't know how you have time for it and he's listening right now, but like because I make time for it, cause it's important to me.
Speaker 1:Like Johnny and his wife perfect example Johnny and his wife went to Colorado to go skiing this year and camped the whole time. But then Johnny and his wife went to Colorado to go skiing this year and camped the whole time. But then Johnny and his wife just went to New York and St Louis, chicago. But like they're doing it, they want to do it, do it, man. And I know Allie, his wife, whether she wants me to talk about her or not is very into literature and books and she's a teacher, and I can see them kind of bridging that gap, like I was talking about. They both have a passion for something but they're both doing that with each other. They're both prioritizing each other's individual passions, obviously, obviously, but like that's, I see a lot of men and this is not Johnny, obviously that just Just provide For their wives, provide for their families, and then are left almost maybe not resentful, but yearning for their own passions.
Speaker 1:But they don't want to talk about their passions because they seem silly or immature or childish or expensive. And then they kind of fall into the normal golf because it's close and a lot of people do it, things like that, things that are a little easier but maybe aren't typically what they would go for. Like you're not ever going to catch me golfing guys, but a bunch of my friends that used to be real outdoorsy they golf now and I just don't for the life of me. I don't even know how that happened, but if they like it, that's cool. Dude, do what you do, I don't really care but. But the point is like you know these, but the point is like you know these younger guys like Johnny I mean just said it like I don't know how you do it, have time for it and it's lost sleep.
Speaker 1:You know I'm often planning trips, buying tickets, mapping routes, watching videos, reading articles and blogs right here in the same place. I'm doing this podcast in the complete dark and silence because it's just, I have not went on a good or bad trip. That wasn't a good trip, no matter how crappy it was. I've just never been in a travesty where it was such a bad time. I can look back at what would be my worst trips and, man, I still really enjoyed it. There's a lot to learn. That's fun for me. Usually, when it's harder, I kind of like it better. That's me.
Speaker 1:That might not be for your family or your wife or you, but again, if it's something you want to do, no matter what it is camping, overlanding, building a truck, building a race car, going racing, playing softball, whatever If you're just thinking you're going to have time and ability to do it later I know that's not the case a lot and you're just pushing off yourself to the point in which you're going to get, that's going to suck for you. You only get one life to live and if you're just waiting to live, what are you like? I mean, a synonym of life is live, and if you're only going through life and never living it a way you would like to, you're, you know we're all going to die and I don't know what that looks like. I'm alive right this moment. You know, knock on wood, I don't know what that looks like and we could get in. I mean, I'm not diving into that, but like.
Speaker 1:The point being is like I don't want to just be the guy that's worked and retired and raised kids. I don't want to just be the guy that's worked and retired and raised kids. I think that's noble if that's really what you want to do, but I want to show my kids the outdoors, show my kids what being an adult with passion is and prioritizing your passions while also still prioritizing your children's passions and adopting their passions and helping them achieve the things they want to achieve. Whether I know about it or don't know about it, or I'm interested or I'm not interested in it, just through love of not only them but myself, everyone's chasing dreams in my house, everyone's opinion matters in my house, not just kids. They're not more important than I am. I'm not more important than they are. More important than I am, I'm not more important than they are.
Speaker 1:Spouses, dogs I mean I'll go work on my truck later, but Marvin's not going to be sitting here. I'll take a dog bed. He'll sit in the shop Like everyone's included, like nobody's, you know, I just I don't, I just don't understand this, this hierarchy of like I got to suffer now to live a better life later, when I'm less able-bodied, when I'm less this or less that. But oh, I got more money. Guys, like again, I'm not the anti-Dave Ramsey, but like I've just seen too many people go too young to think I'm going to wait till later. It just isn't going to happen.
Speaker 1:And again, I like vehicle-based travel and vehicles are the single most dangerous apparatus you could be doing anything with, no matter how good of a driver you are. I mean no matter what I'm doing. If somebody hits me, I mean there's not a whole hell of a lot I can do about it If it's semi flips and it's got toxic waste and I'm on the road. Like you know, my insurance driving app didn't predict that. You know, like shit happens, I'm not sitting and waiting for shit to or not to happen, and it's just been weighing on me like so hard as I talk to people Because, like I feel like people look at me like my life's a mess and I couldn't be happier.
Speaker 1:You know, like I got clothes that aren't folded, I got a messy kitchen table. You know I eat pizza a couple times a week but, man, I go camping, I plan trips, I build my truck like that's what's important to me. Like I, you only have so much downtime. I can't cook and clean and have everything perfect and have everything folded and put away and have a cool truck and have a clean house and mowed grass and you just can't do everything. Amazingly, you have to prioritize it, not that those things don't get done, but if it's between you know, oh, I gotta do laundry. Get up out of here. I'll wear dirty clothes to work before I miss a trip doing laundry. Are you joking me? Do I? What, what, like, what? No, I don't have a job where people smell me for a living.
Speaker 1:I don't care like, but that's the type of crap people will be like oh, I got, I'm just there's too much this weekend, you know. You know I gotta breathe and sleep and you know that the lights gotta get turned on and off. I can't make it like I'm exaggerating, but that's like the shit I hear. What do you want to go? Like, I almost feel like I got to sometimes be like pause, snap out of it, mother. Like, what are you doing? Like again, if you don't want to go, by all means don't go. I'll be the first person I'll go. I'll be the first person. You don't want to do it. You're way worse off doing it, no matter what it is, whether that with your kids too.
Speaker 1:Like, if you don't have a positive attitude about it, just but again, find something you do have a positive attitude about and go after that. Because, geez, dude, I don't know if I'm just ranting to even the right people right now it's like so many people all the time, day in and day out, I see your stories. You know I wish I'd have done that. You know, like, however many people like I should start a podcast, I should start a YouTube, I should. You know that's how I even end up here. I was like everybody's. Like you should do a podcast, or you should do a YouTube channel or, and everything's way more involved than you ever think. It's going to be like everything. But you know what. Again, just like this podcast is just the same.
Speaker 1:It was a February 1st and I was like you know what I'm going to do it? I'm going to do a podcast. My first episode was the 14th. I didn't know a single thing, or was it even the 14th? I don't know if it was Valentine's Day, it was around then, second week of February sometime. In two weeks I started a podcast. I figured it out. All the platforms like, again same thing Stay up late, watch videos, read articles, figure it out.
Speaker 1:I don't have the best podcast. I'm on a laptop with a wired webcam in my kitchen, I mean. But people will tell you they need this room and this equipment and all that. You don't need shit. You need aspiration, you need purpose, you need reason. I'm not better than anybody, but I can't take my mentality and passion and heart and gumption and like punch it into somebody else.
Speaker 1:But I do see a lot of quiet desperation amongst friends, colleagues, acquaintances that are really waiting for a different time that I, quite frankly, don't think is ever coming, a different time that I, quite frankly, don't think is ever coming. They're going to wish they'd have done something that they're not doing right now. I think they're going to wish they did it, and maybe I'll get old and brittle and I'll still be figuring out with two or three jobs and be like man. That sucks, but also at the same time it doesn't suck right now, though, and I don't know like I don't know if that juice is worth the squeeze later, but I they don't know that that juice is worth the squeeze later either, but I can tell you right now it is Well, I'm able to do it.
Speaker 1:I also don't want to be in a situation where I'm chasing all these things. I'm real passionate about letting my kids see me be real happy after they're out of the house, like my kids get to see me be happy at a young age doing something I enjoy and am passionate about at a young age, because they're seeing dad do cool stuff like kids. Kids idolize their parents, no matter what you know, and they, they really think a lot of the stuff I do is cool, at least right now, and the time will come where I got proms and homecomings, and but there's no reason why I still can't be camping. It's no reason why I still can't be driving this truck or a truck like it. You know no reason. My daughter's first car isn't a Jeep and she's doing it with me If that's what she so wants to do. As I introduced it to her I didn't just leave it to pop culture to raise my daughter into what the world wants her to think is cool.
Speaker 1:My son, you know they'll be into something unorthodox from the norm, I don't know, but I'm not going to keep them closed, minded to sports and edics and Typical things baseball, basketball, football, track cheerleading typical things baseball, basketball, football, track, cheerleading, council like. And kayaking, canoeing, hiking, biking, swimming, whatever else, anything they're in they want. I'm into letting them do anything because that's what I was allowed to do and I've got a lot of cool hobbies fabricating, welding cars, camping craft, military, like. None of that's the normal college, high school stuff. And now again, not all that was quite. My parents probably wouldn't promote it, still the military. But I did it, it's's what I did and it happened.
Speaker 1:But anyways, I've rambled here but ultimately you guys, just you know, it's like the quote you've probably every person on social media seen here. Like you know, I forgot to tell my wife I love you this morning. Well, I'll tell her when I get home. How do you know you're going to get home. Don't sit and think that it's always going to be later, because it won't. Later might not come. That's in back of my head all the time. Anytime I even have a bad day planning for something or building something, like last night I put my new rooftop tent on. Tonight I'm going to work on my clearancing my fenders for my tires. That's not necessarily what I want to do after also doing this podcast, after also working all day, after also cleaning, after, like. But if I want to enjoy this weekend which I definitely want to do that's just what has to happen. That's what has to fall in place. Otherwise I'm going to be regretting it when my tires are rubbing or when I'm in my new tent sitting in the garage and my old tent's on the truck and that's frustrating.
Speaker 1:You got to think what matters, what's important to me, and making that happen, making that work. So I hope this catches some people. It is not the normal, it's not necessarily about just overlanding. I mean I hopefully, I tried to tie it all to that, but, like, hopefully that gets some more people like shopping, you know, shopping for a different vehicle, or putting some things in a different perspective so they can get out and be chasing not even chasing fulfilling their, their aspirations. You know like it's not out of reach. I will tell you all right now I do not make a lot of money and this makes me no money. This costs me $300. Actually make it happen.
Speaker 1:You might not always eat steak every night, but you can make it happen. And eating steak every night is not as cool as going camping all the time. You guys can figure it out. That's all I'm saying. Life's not just full of excuses and letdowns and later may not come, and even later that might not be what you're interested in. By learning how to prioritize yourself and love yourself and go after what you want to go after when you're older you'll still be doing that, even if it's skee-ball or souping up golf carts on golf carts on the retirement community. You know, whatever it is, whatever it is, you do play cards. Whatever you'll, you'll, you'll hone those skills alike, it'll. I can make it work. You know I can make it work. I can make it happen. I can do what I want to do. You know I can make it, I can make it happen. You'll learn a lot from that. So that's what I got for everybody this week.
Speaker 1:Really hope it touches some people that are on the fence or kind of finding themselves being full of excuses or full of later, later, later, later. I can't right now. It's just not a good time. Find a now, find a good time. Like find a now, find a good time, go after the stuff you want to go after. You know being miserable when you could be doing something isn't the way I want to be. When I can't, when I can't do something, I don't want to really be wishing that I'd have just cut off my brain from the reasons not to cut off my brain from the reasons not to. I am doing that, I am absolutely doing that. So that's all your. That's a lot of your people that play professional sports, a lot of your successful business people. That's what it takes for all of them, for me, them.
Speaker 1:Hopefully that reaches you guys.
Speaker 1:I'll be back next week. I'll have a guest on. I canceled them tonight so I'll have them on next week. I just, for whatever reason, felt like I really needed to get this out in the world. So I hope you guys all have a good evening. I hope some of you start planning a trip for the weekend or a couple of weeks from now, or or or having some conversations you know in your houses or with yourself or about you know what, what's important to you, what do you want to be doing, and trying to make that fit within your dynamic or your lifestyle as it is right now. So some of that touches you guys and, uh, again, as always, really, really appreciate you guys all listening, being here Just in general, whether or not it supports me in any other way. Seeing all the people listening and where you guys are all from, it is the coolest thing to me that anybody cares what I have to say. So I love you all, like literally love you all, and thank you Everybody. Have a good week and get outside.