Outskirts Overland Podcast
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Outskirts Overland Podcast
Adventure Vehicles: Gear Essentials, Solo Travel, and the Quest for Perfect Overlanding Balance
Choosing between a "rolling house" and a traditional mortgage is a decision that many adventure enthusiasts face, and it's one I grapple with in this episode. I take you inside my visit to Van Do It in Blue Springs, Missouri, where the allure of custom adventure vans made me question conventional living. The craftsmanship and durability of their builds, using materials like aluminum instead of wood, present a compelling alternative to settling down with a long-term mortgage. This episode is a journey through those choices and the lifestyle shifts they represent, especially as I think about my evolving family needs.
For over 17 years, I've roamed the open road, learning which comforts and gear are non-negotiable for making overlanding a passion rather than just a hobby. From a reliable camp chair to a portable fridge, these elements are essential for enhancing the outdoor experience. I share the philosophy of "buy once, cry once," emphasizing the importance of investing in durable gear that stands the test of time. My current overlanding setup has been honed through trial and error, a testament to the ongoing quest for the perfect balance between comfort, utility, and adventure.
The solo journeys may be freeing, but the longing for a travel partner who shares the same fervor is ever-present. As a part-time parent, I offer insights into the balancing act of personal commitments with a thirst for adventure. Spontaneous midweek camping trips offer a glimpse into the joy of unplanned excursions, while also serving as an open invitation for listeners to contribute their own thoughts and join the discussion. Whether it's debating the merits of trailers or encouraging others to embrace the outdoors, this episode is about igniting a shared passion for the road less traveled.
Soundstripe, soundstripe, soundstripe, soundstrike. Hey, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, welcome to Outskirts Overland. I appreciate you guys being here. Um, before I get started, I want to go into a few things. Um, with different codes I got. If you guys want to use onyx off-road, go ahead and use global overland 236. It's going to save you 20 off onyx off-road. If you guys want to use a wee boost, get a wee boost. Have interest in a we boost? You can use the code outskirts5 and it'll get you five percent off of a we boost. Um, I love mine, so you'd probably love it too. And, uh, I want to give a shout out to my friends over at toyota trucks of arkansas on facebook. They're great people, they're a great group and, uh, going over there, if you're in the midwest, you drive a toyota and you like to get outside, so that's that's where we're at this week.
Speaker 1:This week, um, man, this week's a little is I've got something that that more or less is is weighing on me. Um, and and and it's and it's a constant for me. I really feel like, and that is just like okay. So, first off, I'll start this by saying I'm not everybody. I am a part-time parent, I'm divorced. I have my kids 50% of the time, but that does mean that 50% of the time I can camp and overland and travel and do all those things. So half the time, 26 weeks a year, 26 weekends, weeks, whatever I could travel and overland and different things. And that is time.
Speaker 1:Some people don't have to go alone. Now you can take your family, but I don't think anybody's family wants to go quite that much, and if they do, that's awesome. But what I'm getting to here is I do have more time than most but, man, it's hard to find people to go with you. I go alone a lot, but there it is. It is dang near impossible to find somebody that is as interested as you are in in this. You know I want to, I want, I'd love to have some people around. You know there's times where I need alone time and I want to be by myself and things. But, man, finding people that that you can rely on to go with that, that when they say they're going to go with you or you plan a trip together, they're going to do it. And this is not a and I have friends that listen to this and different things. It's not a slight on any of them, but there's. If I say I'm going, me Charlie, if I say I'm going, I am going, you can bet that I'll be there. That's not the case across the board, and I think this is something that a lot of people probably deal with, or maybe not a lot of people deal with, because I think the majority might be the latter, not like myself, and that's fine. It's just.
Speaker 1:I oftentimes find myself two things occur, and this might be a lot of people, and I'm just going to kind of it's not a rant, it's just a discussion, it's going on in my head, but I do. I mean, I spend a good amount of money on my vehicle. I spend a good amount of money on camping and different things, which some people think is crazy, but I also do go a lot. There are people in the same financial spot as me Not that I'm a financial guru to be talking about that but there are many people that spend money to build things, to go overland and camping, but yet don't go often and I just can't wrap my head around it because I don't understand it, and maybe they think I go too much, I don't know. But anyways, it's just just for the first five minutes here.
Speaker 1:You know, it's just really freaking difficult for me to find people to go do anything with. So I do just go alone. But naturally if you go alone you've got to have everything the benefit of going with people not that I want to downplay individuals or human beings or company, but you can spread load stuff. So not everybody has to have this thing and everybody has to have that thing A person can. When you go alone, like I, do a lot, you kind of got to be a jack-of-all-trades recovery, communication, all the stuff, man cooking, it's, and it's just a ton of stuff. Not that it's slowing me down at all, but it just is sometimes nice to, you know, have some people around around. But that's that's difficult man. It's difficult to find people that that want to be around. You know, um, and, and I'd love to find, I'd love to find you if you're there, um, because if I can't go, I tell I mean I'm, I'm, I'm transparent. If I can't go, I can't go. But if I can, and I tell you I'm going, I mean pending someone's death, I am going because I want to go too. So, anyways, that's the end of my five minutes of that.
Speaker 1:So, uh, this weekend. I well, I guess I could start Friday. Last week I told you guys I was going to go check out looking at vans Friday last week. I told you guys I was going to go check out looking at vans Friday. Last week.
Speaker 1:I went and did a tour at Van Do it in Blue Springs, Missouri. They're a pretty big operation really. They just happened to be close to me and I looked at vans and options and different things because I'm interested in building a van, having a van, something along those lines, and that was really cool. I was there a few hours, many hours, looking at different models and different things and in different bands. And they do vans on the uh, ford transit um van mid roof and high roof, similar. It's Ford's version of the. You know they're three-quarter ton and one-ton vans. It's Ford's version of the Sprinter, but they are EcoBoost, so they're turbo V6s and they're gas. But man, they're really cool. That's a really cool thing.
Speaker 1:I'm still kicking that idea around, but they do make everything with extruded aluminum so it will last in different things. When I'm looking at vans, I see a lot of really cool van builds but they're made with wood, heavy materials, materials that deteriorate. So just my just me, just me, not not for everybody, but just me. I want to find something that's that's gonna stand the test of me. I'm typically extremely hard on stuff and I take care like okay, that's gonna sound convoluted, I take care of my stuff, like maintenance, my stuff and different things, but I it I use it like I. If I have a hammer I'm beating nails. You know like I'm taking care of it, like I'm not leaving it outside, but but I mean I'm hitting nails with it, right. So that's the same with my camping equipment, my truck, that like I use them. I don't baby them, I use them as intended, but I'm not harsh on them either.
Speaker 1:But it does lead me to kind of test stuff out and I do use things I buy enough to where I often do find failure points in them. And it's a real that's a discussion I've had with my friends like a lot of people buy these products and these products aren't even made to last, you know, 15 uses, because the individual goes camping 15 times, that's over three, four years. So they're like oh, this product lasts me three, four years, awesome. Well, 15 times for me is like four months, like. And I'm like what is this. So I'm emailing companies like that's unacceptable, no-transcript. But yeah, I do. I do usually find failure points in products, whether that's I mean anything, and most of the time it's little stuff, clips, stuff like that. But if a company is, you know we'll put a warranty behind their stuff and it's supposed to be, you know, good stuff. I'm going to definitely let them know that mine did not work for as long as intended build quality.
Speaker 1:But anyways, back to Van Do it. Sorry, guys, back to Van Do it. Their stuff's made really well. I mean, they were more than happy to have me come in. I got to see many vans being different, being built in different stages. There was nothing that was off access to me. So I got to see everything. Um, it wasn't like, oh, you can't look at this or can't look at that. So I got to see all kinds of different stages, from electrical to like kind of building out the frame of the living space, beds, you know, water, all of it, you know upfitting bumpers, winches, whatever, whatever you know. And I got to look at many different vans, different configurations, really cool, really cool, and it was awesome. I really enjoyed them letting me come in and do that. I didn't film or take a lot of pictures, because I was actually asking a lot of questions and listening a bunch as I talked about stuff.
Speaker 1:Because if I'm going to spend the money a van costs for those of you that don't know, they cost as much as a house, like one of these adventure vans, what I'd call them, an adventure van, an overland van, whatever they cost as much as a house. I myself I rent, I do work for a mortgage company guys, so I'm not going to. I don't, I don't want to sound too, too crazy to you guys, but uh it, yeah, I had a conversation about building a house that turned into me just deciding that I don't want to be in a house for 30 years. So what do I? What do I want to be doing? You know I'm getting to an age now where my kids are here, I mean, and it might seem like a long time to some, but they'll be out of the house, you know, in 10 years, you know. So what am I going to do in 10 years? I'm certainly not going to be tied to a mortgage, I that's for sure. And I mean I could say I could live in a house for 10 years and sell it and a lot of yada yada yada, but I don't know. I just not what I want to do. So I've been looking at vans and different things and Van Do it Again. They let me come in. I got to see everything. So I'm pretty confident what they're doing would last a long time.
Speaker 1:But I'm still kicking around the idea of you know if I'm going to spend that much money, what do I? What do I want? And is that you know? Is that, is that what I want? I don't know I'm, and it's hard. It's tough decisions, decisions to make.
Speaker 1:These are the decisions that everybody's going through with an overland vehicle. I did the same thing. Do I want an SUV? Do I want a truck? Do I want a Land Cruiser? Do I want a 4Runner? Do I want a Tacoma? Do I want a Canyon? What do I want? Do I want a Jeep? And you got to look at it. The same like what am I doing more of? Am I living out of it? Am I in harsher conditions? Is diesel an issue? Is gas an issue? All-wheel drive versus four-wheel drive, aftermarket support, how it comes, stock, what the capabilities are.
Speaker 1:These are all the same things that everybody's going through when they're picking out an overland vehicle and I've been through before like what's going to best suit your needs. Well, when you're looking at what's going to best suit your needs for overland, you know whether it's overlanding, adventuring, exploring, living, you know nomadic life. Well, the first thing you got to do to find out what's going to be best for your needs and this is where I've done you know, pat myself on the back I've done a good job. I go camping a bunch and I go in a vehicle a bunch. But it's identifying what you know.
Speaker 1:My needs are not what this YouTuber and that columnist and this professional skier and that professional mountain biker you know not what their needs are but like what are the needs I want? What are comforts I want? So like for some people like showers and water huge, that's not huge for me, but for me what is huge is like relaxation space, so like I don't need 40 gallons of water but I want a bigger bed that's not like difficult to maneuver with, nicer sleeping stuff and, you know, accessibility to tables and TVs and stuff like that. I like that kind of stuff. But identifying your needs will help get you in the right path. I'm still at a place where I know what I want.
Speaker 1:But it could be many different platforms. Like what I want could be a van, it could be a full-size truck camper, it could be, you know, it could be. It could be a lot of things. I mean, that's about the two things, but there's multiple subsects of those two categories that you get into these three quarter and one ton trucks with campers on the whole bed, campers that go on the bed on the whole bed, campers that go on the bed, you know you get into vans that are, you know, longer, shorter, higher. You know one ton, half ton or one ton, three quarter ton, you know, lifted this much, lifted that much, all wheel drive or four wheel drive or two wheel drive.
Speaker 1:Like there's all kinds of different configurations within these things and I got to just find, you know, for me it's not even what I want or what looks the best, it's like what's going to be the best for the financially, for the right cost, and that's, I think that's everybody's, that's everybody's with everything. Like is the juice worth the squeeze. That's what I always say. Like is the juice worth the squeeze is the reward is as good as the effort put in to get it. You know. So, like when it comes to a tent, is it, do you go enough to justify a three thousand, four thousand, five thousand dollar tent, or can you, or is that even important to you? Do you, could you care less about that because you want a fridge or a better cooking area, or x, y and z, and you get by with the amazon tent? Like you know everybody, you got to identify your needs before you can identify what's going to work.
Speaker 1:I'm in a place now where I've identified my needs and it just doesn't put me into one vehicle. So I don't know what I want to do. But I'm not getting rid of my truck. For those of you that have seen it, I'm like I'm emotionally attached to it, so I don't want to get rid of it because it's more of a I like it, I'll still use it. I mean I'm not going to take a $200,000, $150,000, $200,000, you know, whatever expedition truck or van to the Ozarks, I still will take the truck. Like I like my truck. I built my truck. I'm proud of my truck. You know it's good. I want to keep it. But I am looking for the next step for me and for me, if for some people that's a trailer like a different truck or even my truck in a trailer, so they can drop the trailer, go off road. Come back to the trailer base camp situation. That I am positive is identified as not something I want to do.
Speaker 1:Trailer is not in the cards for me, not something I want to do, not at all on my radar. I have looked at it, I have explored it. People do it. That's great for them. It is not for me. I'm a one, I'm a one car person. I'm going to. Whatever I have is going to be intact in itself. Trailer's not going to be for me. It's modular. You could put a bunch of different vehicles to it. There's a lot of convenience to it. You don't have to daily drive it with all this gear on it. I get it. There's a lot of appeal to that to somebody, to me.
Speaker 1:I tend to be more inquisitive or let me I'm going to put a word out here explorious. I like that. It's not a word, but I tend to want to like. I tend to be interested enough into getting myself into situations that I don't want to, that I've been in, that I don't want to be in with a trailer I'm. I have enough problems back in my getting my own truck out of these situations. I don't want to complex it with a trailer too.
Speaker 1:And then you bring on the first five minutes of podcast where I'm alone most of the time. Well, just a no for me, dog. Like that's not going to work for me. I already have eliminated that off of my potential list. Now, if you're somebody that doesn't like to go as remote, or you don't like to, you know, depending Trailer might just be the easy answer for a lot of people. It is not ever going to be the answer for me. Hi, that has been eliminated long ago. That's just not going to work for me.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, but yeah, I'm just in this place where I'm like it's almost like I'm starting new again, because now I'm trying to find something that's more of a longer term living vehicle versus just, you know, an expedition. You know, like my truck, I've done two weeks, two weeks in, I could do a month in it pretty easy. I mean I could probably do. I could probably do longer than that. But then we're turning into like will versus comfort. You know, like I could live in it for a year. I mean it's going to be not an awesome year, though, Like it could be done. I could live in it six months, probably be pushing it, but I'm not going to be happy about it. If I had to, I could.
Speaker 1:But now I'm looking for something that I'd be happy, like, comfortable doing that, and you know if I can explain that appropriately like I want some creature comforts for sure. Like I want a bed that I make in the morning and I don't have to collapse the roof on it, type thing. So but that'll still get me, you know, to Moab, through Moab, to you know different places. I want it to be capable for what a big vehicle is, but it's still going to be limited to like what my truck could, what my Tacoma could do. It's just not going to be. I don't expect it to be a rock crawler, it's going to be more of a I don't know rolling house.
Speaker 1:I know that I'm at this place where I'm like here's what I like. I don't really know what I don't like in that world. From my experience, heavier duty stuff is still heavier duty stuff. Coming in with that knowledge, I'm like, okay, well, like what's going to last longer metal or wood, you know stuff like that. So I'm kind of looking at it that way. But van do it was awesome. That's not something you can do like anywhere is just go walk around and look at models and look at, you know, half built vans just started, vans just about to finish vans finished vans like to finish vans, finished vans like see what inventory they have coming in so you could pick the van you want for them to build, etc. You know, and they're a one stop shop, they do the build, the financing, the delivery, the, the yada, yada, yada.
Speaker 1:Communication build sheets. I have a build sheet. It's like a huge, it's like a and it's not just like typed out on white piece of paper. It's nice, it. I mean, I'm totally down with it and it's nothing. Me not making a decision has nothing to do with them, it's just me going.
Speaker 1:Man, this is a big decision. You know it's not like the Tacoma Tacoma's $40,000. This is. You know I'm going to drive it like a lot. You know, like it's getting me to and from work. This is a recreational vehicle for me to travel in half the time when I don't have my kids.
Speaker 1:Potentially, maybe not, maybe I'll just keep doing what I'm doing. I don't even know. It's definitely got my brain working in the way of some of you guys that are starting out, although not on the same platforms and things. But like you're thinking, like I got you know, I'm thinking, if I travel all this distance, what do I do? But you're thinking, I got kids, I got to get to work, but I also want to play. Well, get me out in the woods. What will get me out to these camp spots? What's what's feasible, what's a good platform to start with that I can modify inexpensively to get to what I want to do? You know, because I got kids here and wife here, husband there, whatever the case may be limitations on how far you could go with everything, because you can't afford to have five cars. Or you know this, that and the next thing. Or you got traveling baseball.
Speaker 1:And you know, honestly, that is a big point to me is I have my kids are of the age where they're about to start playing sports and that's where a van actually appeals to me. I'm like these kids do traveling sports. Van would be awesome, so Van would be sick for that. But you know, I also got to think like, again, they're not gonna do that forever. So for those few years of Van's awesome, and then they don't. You know, they're 16, 17, 18. They don't want nothing to do with dad anymore. Dad wants to go to, you know, great Sand Dunes. Well, maybe then I want something a little, you know, maybe I want a Prospector XL at that point. Prospector XL at that point. That's where I'm at. I want to buy once. Cry once, I don't want to cry twice. I want something really expensive. That's different. Twice, that's crippling me at the moment.
Speaker 1:I can understand where that buying a vehicle to modify for some of you guys is that same thought. Man, this is a big decision. For Like man, this is a big decision. You know, for me the truck's not a big decision. I'm like that's enough to where I can. Like the loan's not big enough, it's not enough. Years, like that's not a big deal to me. I'm like send it whatever. Like I made that decision pretty easily.
Speaker 1:Now, as I'm making a bigger decision, I'm finding it that I'm quite a bit more apprehensive. You know I don't often make quick decisions, but I'm not. I don't tend to go as back and forth as I am now. So I'd say the biggest thing you guys could do is I do say it a lot and that's go look at other people's rigs, look at rig walkarounds, go to expos, look's stuff, but really go camping. So so camping without the stuff you want sucks. Okay, like period and sorry, you guys could probably hear marvin scratching around back here. He's, he's, he likes the podcast anyways. But you guys, you guys can go and look at all those things, but you kind of got to go camping and be like non-negotiable, I need X, like whatever that is. I'm never going to do that again. I need that thing because camping can be very fun.
Speaker 1:But if you don't have things to make it fun for you, like just roughing it, there's a point in time, like again, I've told you guys I've been doing this for a long time. When I was 22 I could rough it all the time I was 20, freaking two. I'm 37 man. I've been doing this like often for 17 years now, I guess 17 years like regularly, and I camped some before that when I was like in high school and stuff, but like a hobby of mine for that long backpacking, camping, and yeah, it was cool and it didn't hurt and it didn't suck.
Speaker 1:But, as you like to, to maintain this hobby, there's going to be some comforts you want, like for me. Pillow, sleeping, decompression like chair, music, lighting, like some of that stuff is nice to have to keep you from being like this sucks, if you get, if you go camping, you're like this sucks, that's a place for improvement, this sucks is the place for improvement. So you got to go to identify your needs. But, man and sometimes it is expensive I've bought stuff two, three, four times, you know, upgrading each time because I've been trying to figure out, you know, will this one step better cover it? You know, will that do it? Is that the way to go?
Speaker 1:And there's some stuff where I, you know, I finally, you know, exhausted myself, being like, well, here we are, like this is what has got to be, you know, like this is what it is. And there's some things on my truck that aren't extremely expensive and there's some things on my truck that are extremely expensive and that the things that are really expensive are just period, because the company's making that stuff or just actually doing it that much better and more usable and convenient and convenient and stuff. But that all matters. Time, convenience, comfort, like I, like type two fun, you're gonna be cold, you're gonna be wet, you're gonna not shower, like that's built in to the hobby. So what are the non-negotiables?
Speaker 1:You know, yeah, like, like brian just said, sleeping and sitting are super important, and I agree with him 100. And when I started camping, it's like camp chair check. No, no, no, no, like I it's got to be a sick camp chair because I'm be sitting in it and that's something you wouldn't, you'd think is ridiculous until you go a lot. And and then he said in some cold ones, yeah, fridge, get a fridge people. Something that I thought was so bougie, so over the top. And then I got one and was like for the cost of a really good cooler and this amazing advancement in Amazon. Like you can get a freaking fridge and a power station for the price of a nice cooler. You can get a freaking fridge and a power station for the price of a nice cooler. Like, get a cooler guys. Or get a fridge guys. You can get a nice fridge and power station for the price of a nice cooler. Get a fridge, get a fridge, brian, get a fridge. But yeah, sleeping and sitting For me it's sleeping, entertainment, lighting, like those are big for me.
Speaker 1:Lighting is really big for me. You know, I don't like I wear glasses and I have astigmatism. Astigmatism, so big changes in light matter to me. So I have a lot of red light and soft light and stuff like that so that I'm not turning a light on at night and being like, oh my God, get a headache and stuff, cause that sucks Like such a dumb thing. But you again, you go enough, you're going to identify like that harsh led light, sometimes white light, whatever sucks.
Speaker 1:You know for me something that's non-negotiable storage for my glasses and my keys and my wallet in my tent. You know I don't like them on the floor of the tent. I want them up high because I don't need to be rolling over them and popping a mattress or bending my glasses, or right, yeah, johnny just said, did we say Hess pillow? Yeah, I got a Hess pillow and, like I said, sleeping is big for me, sleeping is a big one. Mattress, sleeping bag, pillow huge, huge for me, enormously huge for me. They're big, big, big, big, big for me. They matter a lot to me and that's, that's what the way it is. And I got a Hest pillow and I was telling Johnny, like I've had so many camp pillows from blow up ones, I was bringing ones from home and I said, you know. So I got something happened anyways, and I think I brought up the Hest pillow on a different podcast, johnny. But I was like, if I get a big payout, I'm getting the Hess pillow and it lived up to the hype. Guys, I'm not here to tell you it sucks, it's awesome, I'm getting one for the house, it's that good. So Hess is a big one. Got the Hess pillow in the truck now. Hess pillow is huge, something I'll never leave without again.
Speaker 1:Chainsaw, that was not on my radar until I noticed that it was a necessity. Um, you know for where I go, for where you go. You know when it's really, really dusty, I carry like a little leaf blower because it's so dusty. If you're somebody that's in the sand a lot, really, really dusty, I carry like a little leaf blower because it's so dusty. If you're somebody that's in the sand a lot, that type of something might be higher on your priority list Potentially. You know, if you're somebody that's in a really rocky area, maybe a swing outs higher on your swing outs higher on your list because you want to get your spare more accessible on the back or full size spare PS cuts and flats are more Like. Again, you got to get out and it's got to suck, it's got to be uncomfortable, stuff's got to break and you got to realize where you can make it better for yourself.
Speaker 1:Because if you don't do that, then you're just buying stuff based off somebody else's well, somebody else's A, needs or B marketing, and so I talk about a bunch of products that will work, and I try to limit that to things everybody's going to need, like tires, like you all need tires I'm, randomly, I care about tires, um, brakes, I care about like stuff like that, but we're all going to need those things and they don't got to be tip top of the line. But you want to make sure you're not just cheap and cheap and cheap and but like there are nuanced things that I have that just don't apply to other people. Like you don't need a fridge the size of mine, you don't need necessarily a deck system, you don't need a seat delete, you don't need I mean, I got iPad radios, gauges, like there's stuff that just doesn't apply to everybody. And you don't hear me talking about it a whole lot, um, because it's it's me specific, you know. So that that stuff you got to figure out like what is just non-negotiable, which is where a rooftop tent, in my opinion, is, you know, the best, the best ground to be at. Like, if you've got a vehicle outside of being able to sleep in it which, if you could sleep in it and have enough room for your other stuff and that's not too hard to manage, sleeping in it by far is the best. But a rooftop tent, this wedge tent on my truck, I can put it up and down in a minute, like probably less than that, 15 seconds. Like I can be ready to sleep, decide I don't want to be there, put it away and driving off in 20 seconds Like this is no big deal. Here I don't have some big elaborate pain in the ass. I have had those and I don't now Again, this sucks. I'm sick of waking up and it's cold and we want to go out and this tent's taken forever. You know I'm not doing it anymore. You know these are language.
Speaker 1:Like you go camping, you enjoy it, like there's parts of it you enjoy. You enjoy the sunset, the camping, the fire, whatever. You got enough reasons to enjoy it to keep doing it, right. But there's these things where you're going. I am never freaking doing that, ever again. Well, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding ding. That's something you need, you, whoever needs whatever that is.
Speaker 1:Um, so like what is that for you? Um, I have a list of stuff, but it doesn't apply to everybody. I could tell it to you guys, but then I'm no better than anybody just selling you something. You know, I have Roto packs on my truck. That's not for show that I use them. Um, you know, I have the bit. I got these from a friend, the one that are on the side, but I had one big one which I gave to another friend, because there's, I mean, if you do this enough and you go far enough and you again I'm going to use my made up word, exploreous If you go explore enough, you're going to get in situations where you're like I don't know where a gas station is, I don't know where I'm at, and I'm on a quarter of a tank, and just having gas with you makes you feel a whole lot better.
Speaker 1:Have I gotten a place where I've, where I've, uh, where I've uh, you know, ran out of gas? Actually, no, I haven't, thank God, and don't need a tent. Sleep outside on the ground, pretty simple. Yeah, if that's where you're at, but you're not going to sleep outside on the ground not have good clothes on, or you're not. You're not sleeping outside on the ground in shorts and a clothes on, or you're not. You're not sleeping outside on the ground in shorts and a t-shirt and flip-flops, with nothing else. You know, like again, everybody's got their needs.
Speaker 1:You know, again, I've still, probably to this day, spent the most nights bivy sack like a sleeping bag, tenting, essentially like hammock on the ground, swag kind of thing. It's probably the most camping I've done. I'm older now and, uh, not real interested in doing that, but I did a lot of it so and it was just a sleeping roll type thing. You know, kind of like a Zen baby is now, just like a Zen Bivy is now actually. And I did a lot of camping in that. And I did do fires and I don't really care for fires anymore.
Speaker 1:Lights, I just want the light. You know I got a diesel heater. Now If I want to get warm I get in the tent with the diesel heater. That's I mean. But again, like you might think I'm ridiculous, but if you're 24, 25, 30 years old right now saying he's ridiculous, give it time, guys, like, give it time I thought I was probably ridiculous too. And then here I mean it could be blusher for sure, but it's good. It's good. Now I've got no complaints whatsoever at all with what I got going on now.
Speaker 1:Um, but yeah, you just got to find out what your needs are. But in order to find those out you got to go. Don't go off of what you know what I think is a big deal. Like then you'd be I mean you'll be unhappy, you'll think you have everything you need or everything you want, because you've got everything I brought up, but you could care less about that stuff. Like for me, I'm not a big cooking at camp person, so I have a basic stove and pan. Like it's not a big deal. To me, cooking is not a big deal, but some people, cooking is the big it like such a big deal. That's a huge part of their camping experience. You know like they want to.
Speaker 1:Like, like Brian said, sitting is a big part of my camping experience. Honestly, I want to sit. I want to sit in the quiet, the dark, the. You know like I want to sit. I want to have a couple of drinks, so that's a priority too. You know cups ice fridge drinks. So that's a priority too. You know, cups ice fridge, right, um, but food's not particularly so. I don't really worry about it.
Speaker 1:My fridge is not big cause I carry a bunch of food that's water, energy drinks, gatorade and alcohol. That's what it is, the whole damn fridge, um, for four or five, six days, that's what's in it. That's what my fridge is for. I eat a lot of dry food and, yeah, brian just said, you know, going on three years, and he's still making changes to fit our needs. Not sure it will ever be complete. And so here's where I could tell you.
Speaker 1:So, if you're somebody like Brian and you've been in it three years and you keep redoing it and redoing it, and redoing it so I've been out with my truck since. I redid it three times I think, and I just did redo it, completely redid it and I can tell you, if you are willing to commit to it, to keep committing to it, because it does turn into the situation where you know you, you, you know you fix this scratch to find 10 more, you fix this problem to create another one. You know it turns into that real quick. If you're willing to, just kind of after, over time, you're going to be able to have some more foresight and just be like, nope, I'm doing this and realize that's the way to go. I'm very happy with my truck now, very, very happy with it. Um, there's nothing that I want to change on my truck. I, you know at all. Um, you know, I got new wiper blades, like, but seriously, like I everything I've done to it. At this point, some stuff stayed, some stuff's gone, some stuff's gone a couple of times, you know, but, uh, I'm not a guy chasing 35s or 37s. I got 33s and I got good offset wheels and they work great. I have no, you know, and maybe I'm a little easier to appease and some, but like it works and it works good and it looks good and it, you know, it works and it works good and it looks good. Even dumb stuff to me matters. Even I went from the camper shell to the rack. Well, the reason I had the camper shell is because it was more protected, but the camper shell still got all dusty and I didn't have the modularity and I didn't have place.
Speaker 1:I'm short For you guys that don't know I'm short. I'm short, short, like five, seven, five, eight short, short, short. But my rack has all these places I can grab to climb up on the truck. So I like the rack. If you're six, three, you don't need a damn rack. I mean, it's not a, doesn't matter to you, but I like that Because I'm short. I want to be able to grab the rack and jump and put my foot on the tire and get over on top of the truck to get to whatever I'm getting to, so that stuff matters.
Speaker 1:Um, my truck, at this point I'm very. I'm like there's cool stuff that we all want. Like there is cool stuff I'm like man, that's cool. But like at that point I'd be just replacing something I already have that works just fine. Like that I have no qualms with. That's not low quality, that's not causing me any issues. I'd just be, I'd just be replacing stuff good stuff with other good stuff before it's broken. That's not in my, that's not for me. So you know, and I I got stuff like that. Um, I mean I just bit the bullet on man, freaking cases, don't eat guys.
Speaker 1:You guys could go broke, you could go into debt on boxes for your overland stuff. I mean I just bought a Zargus box and a Rome box, one for the roof here on the truck and one in a Rome box for the back of the truck. And guys, I'll tell you what, man, they're nice and I wanted them and they work and they're what I wanted, and you know, and, and and I did it. But, man, boxes are crazy, boxes are nuts. I mean, I cannot believe how much I spend on boxes, but I open and close them and put stuff in them and get stuff out of them all the time.
Speaker 1:And if you don't want to have your stuff broke, rattled open, dust in it, water in it, sand in it, you know leaking boxes, cracking, warping in the sun, different stuff like that, you do it long enough You're going to be like, yeah, this sucks. Like my stuff did work good when it was new and now it's deteriorated with the weather and now it's not good stuff anymore. Well, what's going to be good stuff? And that's that buy once, cry once type thing. The, the Zargus box is proven for positive, to be good.
Speaker 1:That Rome box is unproven. I'm not going to tell you guys that's a great product. Yet I don't know. I've had it for a month, two months, something like that. I it. I've not seen those Rome boxes going through Africa and different things like these Argus boxes. I mean that's Argus box costs a ton because it's that good. The Rome box costs a ton. But I'm not here to tell you guys, I don't know, I'm pretty, I'm a pretty big Rubbermaid storage container guy and you could buy a lot of those for the price of a Rome box. So I don't know. I see people buying those first and I'm thinking, man, that is, that's the last thing I bought on my truck. Was that Rome box? The last thing, the literal last thing, um, um, that.
Speaker 1:And a kinetic rope which is recovery gears a whole another conversation for a different time with somebody that knows more about it than I do. I just listen to people that know stuff and do what they tell me and learn how to use it. So but I mean, heck, I even have a high lift jack. I haven't got rid of it yet because I don't know if I want to have it or not have it, but I I have one. I also have a Badlands like pro Eagle style jack too, but I carry a bottle jack. That's what I carry with me, um, in the truck, but also carry flares. I mean if my truck gets bad enough to where I need the bottle jack, I mean I might just throw a flare down the gas tank too and call it a day.
Speaker 1:I mean, I mean sometimes, sometimes I think that way, like the truck can't get me out, I did fucking nothing else is.
Speaker 1:So I don't know. I don't know what to do with that. But, um, and that sometimes is a thought that goes through my head when I'm stuck on stuff I'm like, well, here's, you know, here's my last stand. I guess it's. Well, we wanted to see what it would do, and we found out, check it off the box, take a picture, pin it and go shop for a new truck. I guess I don't know. Sometimes that's how I think I'm like, well, we're trying to find the limit and we found it Truck's going out on its sword or going out on his shield. I do think that sometimes it hasn't happened yet.
Speaker 1:So I don't know if that's a reason to keep trying harder or or just count my blessings, but nonetheless, um, but yeah, it's just finding your needs and getting with it. Uh, and, and you know you get to, you get to a point to where you do change it completely. You know, the bed of my truck is full of stuff and I liked sleeping in the back of it but it's full of stuff that's really functional for me right now and I like that, you know. And there's things. There's things that you'll set up that aren't necessarily the coolest looking or the cool, but like it works really well and that matters. You know, I've got some stuff that doesn't necessarily look as cool as I wish it would, but it works so good. You just it's just, it's not, it's not negotiable, that's the way it's going to be because it functions so well. You know I like you know form, I like function over form.
Speaker 1:But there are times where you want to look good too. You know you do want it to look good. That's why all this Overland stuff's red and blue and green, and you know you do want it to look good. That's why all this overland stuff's red and blue and green and, you know, sticks out. It looks cool, you know. But there's some stuff I have that's like that. But there's other stuff where I'm like this freaking looks cool, but like max tracks. I use max tracks regularly. I don't have orange ones, mine are black. I don't want to cause like I'm not trying to stick out there with that. You you know so, but yeah, so today I just getting on, you know, talking about groups of people, and it kind of turned into, you know, my kind of my own woes with, like, I'm moving into I wouldn't even call it the next step because where I'm trying to head with my, my, my journey is living.
Speaker 1:I'm trying to get into the living you know I'm I'm trying to get away from, I'm trying to segue from weekends camping to part-time living to full-time living. That's where I'm headed, that's my, that's my trajectory for me and I'm, you know, I'm just kind of want to go through, like what I'm going through now is what everybody's going through. That's getting into the hobby and picking a vehicle. You know it's the same thing, you know it's just it's just a different. It's just maybe different. And maybe there's somebody that's looking to live in it too. And like you don't even know where to start, because where do you start? From a house to a van? Well, that's, there's a lot in between that.
Speaker 1:You know, how could you ever know how to minimize that much and be happy with what you're getting into? It's tough, it's super tough, and and and you never know what you forgot to think about until you're like, damn, how did I forget that and you're like man, that sucks, and I've done that over the years of many times. Um, you know, and it's just how to pack it, how to do it. It's all a, it's a whole thing. And, and again, I would still say you know, there's get out with.
Speaker 1:If you've got people that, if there's people around you that overland or off-road or something you know, try and get out with them a little bit, you know, and not in a way like they're trying to show off or anything, but like ask them some questions about why they have certain stuff. I have a friend, chris, that is extremely good at that. Actually, like I don't talk about stuff too much. Um, I have this podcast for reasons like this, though, but sometimes he'll be like why do you have that? I'll just be like, oh yeah, because of XYZ. He'll be like, oh, that's a good idea. He's really good at that and, over the years, has probably picked up many things from me or even bounced another idea off of why I had that idea. He came up with his own idea off of that thought.
Speaker 1:Um, and that's really where the creativity in the hobby exists. Somebody might just give you, put you on a path that gets you to where you want to be by asking questions, um, and for me I went. I've went ways that I thought would work for me, based on it working for other people, and I've redone it, like I've redone it period and went back to a way I thought would work to begin with and I was on the right path initially. So I've even done stuff, undone it and went back to it Cause I thought the new thing or the other thing would be better and it just was not. You know, I have a.
Speaker 1:I have a few products right now that I'd be just happy to give somebody cause, cause I don't use them and they're nice stuff and they should, they should work. They do work. I mean, just not for me. They're not right for me. Like, I'm forever giving stuff away, Um, cause I'm like well, I bought it.
Speaker 1:I mean because I'm like well, I bought it. I mean what am I going to do? Charge my friends extra to no man? What do you want to try this here? Have fun, like whatever we could pass it around the whole group for all I care, I don't care. You know, I tried. It Didn't work for me. I'm not trying to make 30% of my money back on something I bought two years ago, like whatever. I mean, you know, and I might be financially stupid for that, or I might just be a good friend, you know who knows but that's how I am with it, like well, it didn't work for me. You might love it, I mean I thought I would, so maybe you will. Um, that's where I'm at with like a lot of stuff, but anyways, yeah, I just wanted to get on here.
Speaker 1:Hopefully I get some comments on this, because that's where I'm at, just like what do I do? What do I want? What are my needs? Is this a need? Is this a want? Is this a strong want? Is this a non-negotiable? You know, what am I doing? What do I want? You know, and I'm going through that right now my truck's done. My truck does what I want it to do. Do I want another bigger truck for longer trips? Do I want a van? Do I want what? I don't know what that is. I don't know what. That is no clue. There's a ton of expedition type vehicles out there, vans and trucks alike. People convert and four wheel drive ambulances, and I mean there's so much stuff and there's somebody that'll build it, or there's somebody that's selling theirs that they did build, or I mean, yeah, there's tons of stuff and it's a whole new world for me that I'm trying to segue into and it's tough and RV quality stuff is not what you want to be living in full time.
Speaker 1:So going and doing things like the tour I did at Van, do it to see exactly like what's in the guts of this wall. You know, like what are you really doing to make sure that you're? If you are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars that you're, you're spending it on stuff you're confident in the build quality of. You know? And I tend to think if people aren't willing to let you, if it's not got this certification or that safety certification or that thing, or they're not willing to let you come take a look inside, well, you know that that automatically to me takes it off my list, cause there's obviously a reason for those things. You know, if I could throw a 90 mile an hour fastball, but I'll never let you see me throw it, well, I probably can't fucking throw a 90 mile an hour fastball Like you know what I mean.
Speaker 1:Like it's kind of like that. Like, oh, it's made of titanium in the. Yeah, well, let me see it. Oh, you can't like God, you know whatever, I know companies really doing that. But just just a off the cuff, get the, you know, peace, peace of mind. So like it's hard, it's real hard, I don't know, you know I again I'm not Van do it, got nothing to do with me. But like it's nice to go, look and make sure that, to see what's going into it's what you think is going into it, without having to just go on good faith or ideas or thoughts or hopes or prayers, you know. So that might lead me that direction.
Speaker 1:Ultimately, if I can get to see these other things, I'm just not happy with the quality of them. Like I might have to make some concessions in places because of quality. When you're using it all the time and it's your house, you know you're not wheeling it to take it home and put it in a garage, it's, it will be my living quarters at that point too. So it's a whole new, whole new outlook on things for me, um, and I just thought I'd share that, cause I similar place to you guys, but anyways, I'll be back next week.
Speaker 1:Have no idea what I'll talk about next week. I knew I would cover this, uh, something along the lines of this topic this week, but I'll be back next week. I mean, I'll have something to talk about. Ooh, ooh, I'm going camping next week, though. Next weekend I'm going camping. I'm happy about that. I am happy about that. So I will be camping next weekend.
Speaker 1:This weekend is Halloween weekend. Kids no camping. We're about to get rain tonight too. I thought about going camping tonight because it's getting cooler, it's like nice, it's windy, but life goes on, but it's supposed to rain doing the podcast in the rain yes, I won't be putting my awning up in the rain not my idea of a good time, but I thought about it. Maybe tomorrow night, though Maybe I'll go camping tomorrow, who knows, I do that sometimes, just go camping in the middle of the week, you know, because, like it, it's good, Fresh air is good.
Speaker 1:So, anyways, I'll catch you guys next week, if you guys got week. Yeah, if you guys got any ideas or any topics you guys want to talk about, you can DM me, comment whatever you guys. For those of you that do talk to me or try to talk to me, I reply. So I'm there If there's anything you guys want to talk about or if you want to come on and talk about something with me or debate me on, like maybe you're a trailer person and you do trailers and that's what you like, and I mean I'd love to go back and forth on why I think that's a bad idea and you telling me why you think it's a good idea. Um, and I don't think it's going to change my mind, but it's also not for me. It'd be for you guys.
Speaker 1:Like some of you guys may be interested in trailers, I'm not at all and I don't I don't know the pros to it. Um, I could tell you my cons, but I don't want to. I don't want to skew anybody away from it, if that's, if that's what would work for you, because it obviously works for somebody. There's a whole market in it. So, anyways, I'll catch you guys next week. Have a good evening, get outside, um, and uh, keep persuading your friends to get outside with you too, even if they keep flaking. Keep telling them like it's great out here.