WEBVTT

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Know you're kind of getting the ketchup stuff

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now because it's the end of the year. I Am embarrassed

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to admit that I've been holding on to this episode

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since back in October This is probably the biggest

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interview we've ever done We had it scheduled

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Mark would and Gavin were both sick or couldn't

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make it or something Had forgotten the day that

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we were gonna do this and was actually planning

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to record a whole different episode It wasn't

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gonna be nearly as good as this one ended up

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being And then Dan this one's with Dan Grek He's

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kind of a big deal if you didn't know Dan reached

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out to me and Mentioned or was like hey, where's

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the where's the link? And I was like shoot. We're

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supposed to record with Dan today So it's it

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was very haphazard and then I made the mistake

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after that of forgetting to name dan gregg's

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file and it has taken me this long to find it

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and make sure that i had it right this one should

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have been released so long ago dan i'm so sorry

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this took so long your story is incredible i'm

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so glad we were able to record with you even

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though i screwed this up so bad um this is probably

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the single most embarrassing thing i've done

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on the podcast Because of how things were handled

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I've done better. We've gotten better things

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have been crazy, but we've been doing our best

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to get content out to you guys and I hope you

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enjoy this episode. I again this is This is such

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a big one. I I don't think I've heard any other

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podcast with Dan. I know he's done a couple but

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his story is like How do I put this he's like

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do you I don't want to say the original overlander

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because obviously that's like way way back But

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like modern times Dan's up there. He's doing

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stuff that other people hadn't done Maybe they

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had done but not He made his story known. He

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wrote books He Dan's just a great guy. Listen

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to this episode I'm sorry. I won't screw it up

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again. I promise Welcome to botches off -road

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join us as we talk about everything from gear

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reviews to trail stories tank camping to rock

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landing and all things to do with the outdoors

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So today we've got a guest all the way. Are you're

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in Canada, correct? I am in Canada. Yep all the

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way from Canada This is actually when we started

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the podcast I told the guys if we can get to

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a point where we have Dan Grek on I'll be really

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impressed so I with that Announced I'll introduce

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Dan Gregg That feels like a hard hard thing to

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live up to I don't know I don't know if I'm that

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guy or just some other guy that is pretending

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I don't know man I I kind of feel that way too

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and people say stuff like that about me. Um No,

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I read I've read your first book. I I read that

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Probably a year ago two years ago It's really

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good. I I started with a TJ I had a yellow 2004

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speed or four four -cylinder five -speed Nice

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seeing someone drive as far as you did in a TJ.

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I got to give you props, man I I drove mine from

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Michigan to Arizona and I that's a lot Well,

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I feel like Alex I like to say there's a fine

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line between brave and stupid And usually it

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just depends on the outcome If everything goes

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well, people will say like oh you were brave

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and if everything goes badly people will say

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you were stupid But I mean the activity that

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you did isn't any different. Yeah Yeah, you're

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uh and your TJ that was a 4 -0, correct? No,

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no, it was a four -cylinder. Oh shit, dude Yep,

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four cylinder, five speed, 2000, and it was bone

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stock, not a single modification of any kind.

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I mean, that is that until you say no modification,

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that's mind to a T. I guess we should back up

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a little bit, though, until until the listeners

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where I actually drove this thing. Yeah. Oh,

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yeah, for sure. Yeah, you went what the whole

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Pan American Pan American. Yeah, that's right.

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Yeah, I started in Calgary in Canada where I

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was living at the time and I drove all the way

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up to the Arctic Ocean in Alaska and kind of

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like hung out in Alaska for a whole summer and

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was like hiking and camping and having a great

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time. And then when it started snowing, I was

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like, no, I'm getting out of here. And so started

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driving south and just kept going. And I ended

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up I drove all the way to the bottom of South

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America. That's so amazing. I was on the road

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for two years. It was like fifty five thousand

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miles over two years through 17 countries. How?

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I'm sure you get this question a lot. How did

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you finance that? Yeah, Alex I just I was working

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before I left and I just dedicated myself to

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saving money And I just said I'm not allowed

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to spend any money unless it's for something

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I'm gonna take on the trip So there was like

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no eating out no alcohol. I had to walk to work

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every day all of that kind of stuff I just did

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for two years to try and save as much money as

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I could And so, you know, every payday, I would

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just put as much of my paycheck as I could into

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a savings account. And it was it was two years

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of, you know, slogging like that. Yeah. But then

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it bought me two years of I don't have to go

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to work anymore. I can do whatever I want. That's

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amazing. That and what I'm sorry. Like I said,

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been a long week. So, yeah, you. you didn't have

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any modifications so standard transmission standard

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engine standard it's 30 35 Dana 30 35 yep yep

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it would have been and uh stock little 31 inch

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tires no winch no fridge no rooftop tent nothing

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like that because basically i didn't have enough

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money alex and right and i thought to myself

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like if i bought all of those things like that's

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all just my savings account for the trip gone

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And then then I would have this really awesome

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Jeep, but I wouldn't have any money to take it

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anywhere. Right. So I kind of just decided and

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like, do I actually have to have a winch? Like,

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is it is it 100 percent mandatory? No, no, I

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don't think it is. So I'm going to go without

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one and I'll just have to make smart choices

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and try not to get stuck. How much actual off

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roading did you have on that trip? Because a

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lot of that's highway, isn't it? It's really

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it's up to you if you drive the Pan American

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you could do pavement for literally every mile

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of the whole trip if you wanted to You can have

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a lot of rough gravel roads if you want and then

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you can go There isn't really that much like

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wheeling so to speak like, you know low range

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in the Jeep I probably used once a month it just

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it just isn't the kind of thing where Locals

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are out there driving wild built -up vehicles

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into super super remote places. They're more

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driving like beat up old Hilux's and like beat

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up old Mazda BT 40s and stuff. And they've got

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bald tires, they maybe have working four wheel

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drive. And like it's it's a really rough, rutted

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out horrible road, you know, up to some glacier

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or some lake or something. But really any decent

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four wheel drive is going to make it. It's not

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the kind of thing that you have to have like,

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you know, 35s and you know, a huge suspension

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lift and that kind of stuff. Yeah, that's that

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that's on my bucket list. Granted. My forerunner

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is not near stock. And if I did drive that, that's

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where all my money went. That's the thing is,

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is like, if you like, you can build up an awesome

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vehicle, or you can just keep all that money

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for gas in the tank and then go and drive a really

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long way. You know, and it's like pros and cons

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each way around. There's no, there's no right

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answer. So compare it. So you had the TJ. What

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was between the TJ and your jail? I've got a

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jail now, but yeah after after the Pan American

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Highway basically that trip changed my whole

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life And I was like this is this is awesome.

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I want to do this again So I went back and got

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a desk job, and I had to say for four years this

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time So it was it was four years of like living

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in a share house. No eating out You know walk

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to work even in Canadian winter all that kind

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of stuff, and then after four years I had enough

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money, so I quit that job. I bought a four -door

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JK And this time I did deck it out quite significantly.

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So it does have like winch and suspension and

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a pop -up roof and a fridge and solar panels,

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kind of like the whole Overland setup, I guess.

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I shipped that Jeep over to Africa and I drove

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it all the way around the coastline of Africa.

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And so, yeah, that trip took me three years to

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go through 35 countries, mostly following the

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coastline of Africa. And that trip was, that

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was a thousand times bigger and more adventure

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than I even thought was possible. I really had

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no idea what I was getting into, which was perfect

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because if you really sat down and thought about

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all the things that could go wrong or all the

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kind of wild places you'd get to, I think it'd

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be too scary and too intimidating and like maybe

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I never would have gone. I'd be like, oh, you

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know, it'd be easier if I just stay at home.

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So it was probably a good thing that like I just

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went into it and just went for it. And you know,

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every day I just had to solve today's problem

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and tomorrow is the problem for tomorrow. Don't

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worry about it. Yeah, it's probably better. Just

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do it and don't think about it. Yeah. Yeah. Cause

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I think it'd be easy to stay home for years and

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years and years trying to plan and trying to

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prepare for every outcome and try to like map

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out your route to every single road and every

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border crossing. But then, you know, you get

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there within within the first couple of countries.

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It was like, oh, no, that bridge is washed out

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and all that board has been closed for years

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and like, no, no, we're in flood right now. You

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can't drive that road. And then so you're just

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like, oh, so I just have to make it up as I go

00:10:08.570 --> 00:10:11.929
along. Oh, OK. I'll just do that then. It's like

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it's kind of less effort to just make it up than

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it is to play and weigh in advance. Now, Africa

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would have had a lot more off roading than what

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you had on Pan American, right? It definitely

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did. Yeah, even. even when you're on a major

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highway definitely there were times i was in

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like low range four -wheel drive with like water

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coming over the hood it's like it's it's it's

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go time like put the foot down don't don't hang

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around here yeah that's did you uh so when it

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comes to edgy locals i guess that's a safe term

00:10:41.309 --> 00:10:44.830
to use edgy yeah where was your biggest issue

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with locals did you have more of that south america

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or africa I have never had a problem with any

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locals anywhere on the planet. Alex. I met awesome

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to hear super friendly people, super welcoming,

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often like, you know, yeah, yeah, you can come

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camp here in like our little mud hut village.

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Like here are my children. Oh, by the way, do

00:11:03.419 --> 00:11:05.820
you need some food? Like, you know, people who

00:11:05.820 --> 00:11:07.679
literally live in a mud hut were giving me food

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and water. Yeah. Yeah. Incredible. Incredible.

00:11:12.419 --> 00:11:14.440
Probably. I mean, when you say edgy, definitely

00:11:14.440 --> 00:11:17.299
like a lot of corrupt military and police and

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stuff, trying to get money out of me. Which is

00:11:20.240 --> 00:11:23.000
which is a whole sort of side game topic that

00:11:23.000 --> 00:11:24.980
it does happen But it but it isn't something

00:11:24.980 --> 00:11:27.159
you need to be scared of or worried about if

00:11:27.159 --> 00:11:29.980
this it's kind of just part of the trip But you

00:11:29.980 --> 00:11:31.600
can talk your way out of it. You don't have to

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pay if you don't want to yeah, it's a Reading

00:11:35.360 --> 00:11:37.700
that part. I think it was Argentina. Did you

00:11:37.700 --> 00:11:40.480
have issues in Argentina? Was it? Yeah, there

00:11:40.480 --> 00:11:42.779
was a couple of countries Honduras. Definitely.

00:11:42.779 --> 00:11:44.440
There was a bit of it Peru. There was quite a

00:11:44.440 --> 00:11:48.759
bit of it Hmm. Yeah, it's It's crazy to think

00:11:48.759 --> 00:11:50.440
I mean we have that problem here in America,

00:11:50.620 --> 00:11:53.559
too So it's not like we can say too much, but

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it's just crazy to think that governments are

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like that everywhere, you know Well, and and

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I don't even know if it's the government's it's

00:12:00.620 --> 00:12:02.679
more like just these these guys who are on the

00:12:02.679 --> 00:12:05.080
side of the road You know, maybe it's their job

00:12:05.080 --> 00:12:06.799
to sort of you know, check people's passports

00:12:06.799 --> 00:12:09.399
and whatever but they're bored out of their minds

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They probably don't get paid very much. So then

00:12:11.740 --> 00:12:13.980
it just occurs to them. They like oh we could

00:12:13.980 --> 00:12:16.759
just ask this guy for 20 bucks. Like if he gives

00:12:16.759 --> 00:12:18.860
it to us, that's pretty sweet. We get an extra

00:12:18.860 --> 00:12:22.200
20 bucks in our pocket today. Like a lot of them

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too, when they ask, they don't demand it or they

00:12:24.580 --> 00:12:26.460
don't, they would never point their gun at you,

00:12:26.460 --> 00:12:28.419
but they're not like threatening you with violence

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or anything like that. More often than not, they're

00:12:30.539 --> 00:12:32.059
just kind of like, oh yeah, and you can give

00:12:32.059 --> 00:12:35.039
me $20. And you're like, no. And then they go,

00:12:35.379 --> 00:12:38.519
okay, you can leave now. They sort of just try

00:12:38.519 --> 00:12:44.870
their luck most of the time. That's still it's

00:12:44.870 --> 00:12:47.389
so crazy that because like I said, it happens

00:12:47.389 --> 00:12:49.590
here. So why wouldn't it happen anywhere else?

00:12:49.950 --> 00:12:54.990
Um, so When you were in Africa, you had the JK.

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Do you still have the JK? I actually do still

00:12:57.830 --> 00:13:00.789
have it Alex and I need to move it on I was really

00:13:00.789 --> 00:13:03.169
hoping to get it into a museum or something like

00:13:03.169 --> 00:13:05.429
that But I just haven't been able to put it together

00:13:05.429 --> 00:13:09.269
and hasn't worked out. Yeah, cuz you And you're

00:13:09.269 --> 00:13:12.480
you're selling your JL to right? I am yeah, so

00:13:12.480 --> 00:13:14.659
that's kind of the most recent vehicle that we

00:13:14.659 --> 00:13:18.700
just finished another big trip in Man, you just

00:13:18.700 --> 00:13:21.039
you gotta hold on to one of them. Come on, man

00:13:21.039 --> 00:13:23.940
Well, the challenge is Alex. I don't have enough

00:13:23.940 --> 00:13:26.919
money to just have like a fleet of vehicles I

00:13:26.919 --> 00:13:28.980
don't have a garage so I don't have anywhere

00:13:28.980 --> 00:13:32.259
to put them Here in Canada, they're just gonna

00:13:32.259 --> 00:13:35.980
get rusty and old if I've already got a new one

00:13:35.980 --> 00:13:39.059
I'm not gonna use the old one so it just doesn't

00:13:39.059 --> 00:13:41.200
really make sense even though it would be fun

00:13:41.200 --> 00:13:43.940
like sentimental value but at the end of the

00:13:43.940 --> 00:13:46.200
day i'd rather someone else go take it on adventures

00:13:46.200 --> 00:13:48.980
and use it rather than it just sit around somewhere

00:13:48.980 --> 00:13:52.399
and get rusty yeah we we have that problem here

00:13:52.399 --> 00:13:54.899
too everything rots out my forerunners got a

00:13:54.899 --> 00:14:00.779
patchwork on the frame so yeah yeah yeah i mean

00:14:00.779 --> 00:14:03.340
uh and the jl because you've got a wife and kids

00:14:03.340 --> 00:14:07.750
now kid now kid kids i do yeah one kid yeah So

00:14:07.750 --> 00:14:10.090
I could see that little two -door JL being kind

00:14:10.090 --> 00:14:13.269
of a struggle now Well, it's interesting Alex.

00:14:13.269 --> 00:14:15.970
It's not a two -door at all. So it was a four

00:14:15.970 --> 00:14:19.389
-door JL Wrangler And we literally cut it in

00:14:19.389 --> 00:14:21.470
half with an angle grinder and then we glued

00:14:21.470 --> 00:14:24.690
on a big composite cabin on the back So it has

00:14:24.690 --> 00:14:27.590
like a full little apartment on the back right

00:14:27.590 --> 00:14:30.230
with like induction cooktop sink with running

00:14:30.230 --> 00:14:33.549
hot water like Fridge solar panels, you know

00:14:33.549 --> 00:14:36.779
lithium batteries water tank hot shower all of

00:14:36.779 --> 00:14:40.679
that basically and a pop -up roof all on a Wrangler

00:14:40.679 --> 00:14:43.860
and it's kind of bizarre but the living space

00:14:43.860 --> 00:14:46.299
that you have inside of that thing it's more

00:14:46.299 --> 00:14:49.059
than twice as big as the bed of a gladiator so

00:14:49.059 --> 00:14:51.299
if you had like if you had like a go fast or

00:14:51.299 --> 00:14:54.299
any kind of you know pop -up on a gladiator it's

00:14:54.299 --> 00:14:56.799
twice as big as that so it's it's pretty big

00:14:56.799 --> 00:15:01.279
yeah just still man for the living part probably

00:15:01.279 --> 00:15:02.860
wouldn't be bad with the kid because your kid's

00:15:02.860 --> 00:15:06.740
little right like well The thing is, when we

00:15:06.740 --> 00:15:09.279
left on our most recent trip, we went from Iceland

00:15:09.279 --> 00:15:11.039
all the way through Europe and into Tunisia and

00:15:11.039 --> 00:15:13.360
North Africa. When we left home, she was only

00:15:13.360 --> 00:15:15.779
six months old. So she was tiny and it was easy.

00:15:16.659 --> 00:15:19.500
Now she's two months old and she is like a little

00:15:19.500 --> 00:15:21.620
terror climbing over everything and pulling all

00:15:21.620 --> 00:15:25.559
the cabinets apart. And so it used to be adequate

00:15:25.559 --> 00:15:27.960
and now it just doesn't make sense for three

00:15:27.960 --> 00:15:30.740
people anymore. Yeah, I've got a three -year

00:15:30.740 --> 00:15:33.600
-old we do we tent camp when we go camping because

00:15:33.600 --> 00:15:37.320
having him in the car would be awful. Yeah Yeah,

00:15:37.320 --> 00:15:39.320
it's definitely a challenge and and that's the

00:15:39.320 --> 00:15:41.600
reason that I need to sell it and that you know

00:15:41.600 --> 00:15:43.500
I'll move on to something else that is better

00:15:43.500 --> 00:15:47.179
suited for three people Do you have a a future

00:15:47.179 --> 00:15:50.179
trip in mind to build a rig for oh, I have a

00:15:50.179 --> 00:15:53.639
lot of future trips in mind Alex But a lot of

00:15:53.639 --> 00:15:55.539
them a lot of them are contingent on kind of

00:15:55.539 --> 00:16:00.039
political situation or wars or you know It's

00:16:00.039 --> 00:16:02.559
funny though, I'd love to drive around the Middle

00:16:02.559 --> 00:16:05.000
East or do a lap around the Mediterranean. I'd

00:16:05.000 --> 00:16:07.399
love to drive across Central Asia. I'd love to

00:16:07.399 --> 00:16:09.639
go back and go right down the middle of Africa.

00:16:10.919 --> 00:16:12.539
I'd love to check out the East Coast of South

00:16:12.539 --> 00:16:15.059
America. I didn't see Brazil or any of the countries

00:16:15.059 --> 00:16:18.000
in the North. They're all, I think, incredible

00:16:18.000 --> 00:16:20.559
trips. And in a funny way, it doesn't really

00:16:20.559 --> 00:16:23.490
matter which one I do next. It's more like which

00:16:23.490 --> 00:16:26.090
one is possible based on like politics and wars

00:16:26.090 --> 00:16:28.809
and whatever else and just go for it Like start

00:16:28.809 --> 00:16:30.629
keep ticking them off keep keep seeing places

00:16:30.629 --> 00:16:33.429
I've never been to before and then maybe one

00:16:33.429 --> 00:16:35.370
day when I'm really old I'll hopefully will have

00:16:35.370 --> 00:16:37.509
done most of the things that I like I'm excited

00:16:37.509 --> 00:16:43.269
to do Yeah, it's The politics or war, you know,

00:16:43.269 --> 00:16:47.929
I never I only do trips, you know on one continent

00:16:47.929 --> 00:16:50.850
So I don't have to think about it too much But

00:16:50.850 --> 00:16:52.990
that's that's a big deal man, cuz you've got

00:16:52.990 --> 00:16:55.490
I mean we all know what the Middle East is like

00:16:55.490 --> 00:16:58.429
right now Well a little better now, but it was

00:16:58.429 --> 00:17:02.110
way worse last week. Um So we all know what the

00:17:02.110 --> 00:17:04.650
Middle East is like. We all know what is going

00:17:04.650 --> 00:17:08.390
on up by with Russia and Was it Russian Ukraine

00:17:08.390 --> 00:17:10.910
that are still at war? Yeah Yeah, and it's really

00:17:10.910 --> 00:17:13.190
hard to drive drive across Central Asia without

00:17:13.190 --> 00:17:15.769
dipping into Russia at least a little bit It's

00:17:15.769 --> 00:17:19.799
you kind of almost have to right? Yeah That's

00:17:19.799 --> 00:17:22.140
a true I'd almost want to do just Russia. That's

00:17:22.140 --> 00:17:24.519
such a big country. I mean, that's the majority

00:17:24.519 --> 00:17:28.059
Russia has a larger percentage of land than like

00:17:28.059 --> 00:17:30.740
anyone else. So hmm. Yeah Yeah, it's the biggest

00:17:30.740 --> 00:17:33.259
country and and because it has such a huge east

00:17:33.259 --> 00:17:36.259
-west spread. It kind of has like a massive diversity

00:17:36.259 --> 00:17:41.599
Yeah, it that would be a really cool trip Basically

00:17:41.599 --> 00:17:45.079
impossible, but a really cool trip It's actually

00:17:45.079 --> 00:17:47.339
not impossible at all. I've got friends actually

00:17:47.339 --> 00:17:50.599
who were just there like two weeks ago Like driving

00:17:50.599 --> 00:17:52.940
yep driving their Canadian plated vehicle. It's

00:17:52.940 --> 00:17:55.720
it's actually no problem right now. It just is

00:17:55.720 --> 00:17:59.480
like a Little bit tense or a little bit like,

00:17:59.779 --> 00:18:01.380
you know, you kind of sense that something's

00:18:01.380 --> 00:18:03.819
a bit off but you can get a visa no problem you

00:18:03.819 --> 00:18:05.920
can get in people are apparently really friendly

00:18:05.920 --> 00:18:09.630
and kind and Because as always, it's not the

00:18:09.630 --> 00:18:12.269
average Russian person who wants to start wars

00:18:12.269 --> 00:18:15.430
and cause problems. It's just an aspect of their

00:18:15.430 --> 00:18:18.630
government or their military or whatever. Yeah.

00:18:19.329 --> 00:18:24.809
Yeah. So it's just kind of like save money, plan

00:18:24.809 --> 00:18:27.069
up, build a new vehicle, and then see which trip

00:18:27.069 --> 00:18:29.150
makes the most sense. And even that comes down

00:18:29.150 --> 00:18:31.490
to the seasons as well. I don't really want to

00:18:31.490 --> 00:18:34.150
drive across winter in Russia, Russia in winter.

00:18:34.670 --> 00:18:37.359
So then it's like, Oh, you know, we can manage

00:18:37.359 --> 00:18:39.440
to get some time off work or we can get a break,

00:18:39.440 --> 00:18:41.839
you know, between this month and this month.

00:18:41.920 --> 00:18:43.619
It's like, all right, let's go to Brazil because

00:18:43.619 --> 00:18:45.440
that makes more sense than Russia right now.

00:18:45.539 --> 00:18:48.680
Or, you know, something like that. Yeah. I don't

00:18:48.680 --> 00:18:50.640
know. I'd want to go snow wheeling in Russia.

00:18:50.740 --> 00:18:53.839
That'd be a blast. Definitely. It'd be a blast

00:18:53.839 --> 00:18:55.740
for like a week or two. But imagine if it was

00:18:55.740 --> 00:18:59.140
like six months of minus 40. Like that starts

00:18:59.140 --> 00:19:02.700
to be less fun. I knew minus 40 for about a week

00:19:02.700 --> 00:19:04.980
after that. The weather's got to warm up. Yeah,

00:19:04.980 --> 00:19:06.799
exactly. And especially if you're camping in

00:19:06.799 --> 00:19:11.140
your vehicle, then it's even less fun. What part

00:19:11.140 --> 00:19:13.319
of Canada do you live in currently? Are you still

00:19:13.319 --> 00:19:17.579
up by BC? Yeah, I'm in BC right now. So you guys

00:19:17.579 --> 00:19:20.400
get pretty decent winters over that way. Not

00:19:20.400 --> 00:19:22.599
terribly cold down here. I'm kind of in southern

00:19:22.599 --> 00:19:25.960
BC. So we'll see. We'll see like minus 10, maybe

00:19:25.960 --> 00:19:29.500
minus 20. But I used to live up north by Alaska,

00:19:29.839 --> 00:19:32.759
and that was minus 40 for a good few months.

00:19:32.960 --> 00:19:36.720
Like probably cold. Is that a freedom unit minus

00:19:36.720 --> 00:19:40.160
10 or is that Canadian? Sorry, I meant freedom

00:19:40.160 --> 00:19:43.140
unit minus 10 or minus 20 at the coldest in freedom

00:19:43.140 --> 00:19:47.299
units. Yeah, we here in Michigan, we get, you

00:19:47.299 --> 00:19:49.660
know, we'll get negative 10s, negative 20s, at

00:19:49.660 --> 00:19:51.339
least in my part of Michigan, you go farther

00:19:51.339 --> 00:19:55.180
south and it's, you know, they might see under

00:19:55.180 --> 00:19:59.440
20. But where we're at, it's usually negative

00:19:59.440 --> 00:20:02.890
10s, negative 20s is pretty average. Yeah. But

00:20:02.890 --> 00:20:05.869
I can't handle that for more than like a month.

00:20:06.049 --> 00:20:08.029
And if it's much colder than that, it's like

00:20:08.029 --> 00:20:11.269
a week and I'm done. Yeah. Yeah. And it gets

00:20:11.269 --> 00:20:13.710
hard. When you're driving around in a vehicle,

00:20:13.750 --> 00:20:15.369
you have to deal with the roads, you know, the

00:20:15.369 --> 00:20:17.910
ice and the kind of unplowed roads. And then

00:20:17.910 --> 00:20:20.130
at some point you say, what are we doing? Like

00:20:20.130 --> 00:20:22.430
every day we drive somewhere, you can't really

00:20:22.430 --> 00:20:24.869
go for a hike. You can't kind of see anything

00:20:24.869 --> 00:20:27.509
much. You kind of just hunkering or just trying

00:20:27.509 --> 00:20:30.119
to like wait until it ends. Which if you're in

00:20:30.119 --> 00:20:32.339
Alaska or you're in Russia, it's not going to

00:20:32.339 --> 00:20:37.400
end. You're stuck with it for many months. I

00:20:37.400 --> 00:20:39.700
typically try to avoid winter on my trips, although

00:20:39.700 --> 00:20:42.359
I love the winter in general, but I don't really

00:20:42.359 --> 00:20:44.539
want to be living out of a vehicle in winter.

00:20:47.380 --> 00:20:51.680
How do you prepare for a big trip? Do you have

00:20:51.680 --> 00:20:55.180
a checklist that you... you lay out and make

00:20:55.180 --> 00:20:57.119
sure everything gets checked or do you just kind

00:20:57.119 --> 00:21:00.319
of know what you need and get it tossed in? I

00:21:00.319 --> 00:21:03.720
do especially for the first trip I had huge big

00:21:03.720 --> 00:21:06.579
checklists on my wall and it was really cool

00:21:06.579 --> 00:21:08.839
because every single day I would see them and

00:21:08.839 --> 00:21:11.440
like think about you know like Jeep paperwork

00:21:11.440 --> 00:21:15.039
and visas and immunizations work that I needed

00:21:15.039 --> 00:21:17.500
to do on the Jeep like maintenance spare parts

00:21:17.500 --> 00:21:19.220
I needed to get together for the Jeep you know

00:21:19.220 --> 00:21:21.900
all my camping gear kind of just all of that

00:21:21.900 --> 00:21:25.160
stuff. And then I did the same thing for Africa

00:21:25.160 --> 00:21:27.420
because I really knew that once I left North

00:21:27.420 --> 00:21:29.980
America I couldn't just you know order stuff

00:21:29.980 --> 00:21:32.619
on Amazon or go to a good outfitter and you know

00:21:32.619 --> 00:21:34.599
get a winch or something like I had to have it

00:21:34.599 --> 00:21:38.359
all organized before I went And then kind of

00:21:38.359 --> 00:21:40.480
more recently I've done enough of them now that

00:21:40.480 --> 00:21:43.079
I kind of just I know in my head or I just make

00:21:43.079 --> 00:21:45.819
it up as you know I'm like I know when I'll be

00:21:45.819 --> 00:21:48.160
ready and saving money is actually the hardest

00:21:48.160 --> 00:21:50.799
part and it takes the longest So I usually have

00:21:50.799 --> 00:21:53.480
a long time to prepare because I'm spending so

00:21:53.480 --> 00:21:56.660
long just going to work to save money. Yeah that

00:21:56.660 --> 00:22:01.450
makes sense. I just I was looking up to see when

00:22:01.450 --> 00:22:04.329
your trip through Pan American is now I see a

00:22:04.329 --> 00:22:07.869
picture of you with the Hood of your Jeep. Yeah,

00:22:07.869 --> 00:22:10.309
you gotta ask man. How does it feel not having

00:22:10.309 --> 00:22:14.009
all that hair anymore? Yeah, I had the dreadlocks

00:22:14.009 --> 00:22:16.869
on that trip and I know I kind of have a have

00:22:16.869 --> 00:22:19.309
a rule on myself that in my life I want to have

00:22:19.309 --> 00:22:22.410
every haircut possible. So I've like shaved my

00:22:22.410 --> 00:22:24.289
head. I've had a mohawk I've had dreadlocks,

00:22:24.390 --> 00:22:27.509
you know had long hair. So it's just just fun

00:22:27.509 --> 00:22:31.059
because why not? But I won't do dreadlocks again.

00:22:31.539 --> 00:22:34.079
They were fun at the time, but I was sick of

00:22:34.079 --> 00:22:37.420
them at the end. I wanted them gone. I mean,

00:22:37.460 --> 00:22:39.920
it's good to have the haircuts while you have

00:22:39.920 --> 00:22:41.640
hair, because once you lose it, then it's only

00:22:41.640 --> 00:22:44.460
one haircut works. Yeah. And mine's definitely

00:22:44.460 --> 00:22:46.740
getting thinner, so my days might be running

00:22:46.740 --> 00:22:50.319
out. Mine pretty much went away. The army shaved

00:22:50.319 --> 00:22:57.029
my head and it never grew back. Yeah. Know I

00:22:57.029 --> 00:22:59.910
keep going back to your TJ's just TJ's are so

00:22:59.910 --> 00:23:02.049
cool to me and seeing someone take a stock one

00:23:02.049 --> 00:23:05.589
as far As you did is just it blows my mind Did

00:23:05.589 --> 00:23:07.670
you have any major issues with the TJ on that

00:23:07.670 --> 00:23:10.789
trip? So Alex, it's kind of incredible I never

00:23:10.789 --> 00:23:13.690
turned a wrench once not for it other than oil

00:23:13.690 --> 00:23:17.589
changes tire rotations I never ever did anything

00:23:17.589 --> 00:23:20.650
so it never broke down. It never failed to start.

00:23:20.650 --> 00:23:24.150
It was a flawless little Jeep And the craziest

00:23:24.150 --> 00:23:26.670
part of the story is, before I left home, I bought

00:23:26.670 --> 00:23:30.450
it for $5 ,000, used, drove it that whole way,

00:23:30.509 --> 00:23:32.809
and then I sold it for $5 ,000 in Argentina.

00:23:33.849 --> 00:23:36.049
That was a free trip. It never broke down, and

00:23:36.049 --> 00:23:39.069
the Jeep was free. It actually, I think, is the

00:23:39.069 --> 00:23:40.990
best vehicle ever made. I don't think you can

00:23:40.990 --> 00:23:44.509
beat that. Someone would have to pay you to take

00:23:44.509 --> 00:23:48.809
a vehicle for it to be better than that. So mine...

00:23:48.859 --> 00:23:52.079
I bought it with I had like 60 ,000 miles on

00:23:52.079 --> 00:23:55.160
it was really low miles a little TJ I bought

00:23:55.160 --> 00:24:00.420
it 2015 Cuz I was I was in Korea sent my dad

00:24:00.420 --> 00:24:03.400
the money to go pick it up cool and I drove it

00:24:03.400 --> 00:24:06.799
about a year We were out rock crawling one day

00:24:06.799 --> 00:24:09.140
and I I mean I turboed it I needed a little bit

00:24:09.140 --> 00:24:11.480
more power, you know, just it wasn't quite enough

00:24:11.480 --> 00:24:15.279
for crawling rocks and I came up over a rock

00:24:15.279 --> 00:24:18.630
and Made a funny sound and shut off and it would

00:24:18.630 --> 00:24:21.869
never start again. So well dad came dad came

00:24:21.869 --> 00:24:24.690
down and got it Brought it back up here to Michigan

00:24:24.690 --> 00:24:27.329
and started taking it apart and I'd put one of

00:24:27.329 --> 00:24:29.970
the the Pistons right through the block. Oh,

00:24:29.970 --> 00:24:32.970
yes Never windowed a block as good as I did with

00:24:32.970 --> 00:24:36.369
that DJ That's crazy. And then so did you just

00:24:36.369 --> 00:24:39.730
put another four cylinder in it? For the last

00:24:39.730 --> 00:24:42.130
ten years dad's been slowly plucking away at

00:24:42.130 --> 00:24:46.259
it. So he just he'd bought 4o out of a Cherokee

00:24:46.259 --> 00:24:49.660
and It for whatever reason it just wasn't gonna

00:24:49.660 --> 00:24:52.720
work. So he had he redid the frame. We just got

00:24:52.720 --> 00:24:55.700
done painting that Then he just picked up another

00:24:55.700 --> 00:24:59.640
TJ that was super rotted out but that had a four

00:24:59.640 --> 00:25:02.859
-cylinder and Is it the axe 15 that came with

00:25:02.859 --> 00:25:05.859
the 4o cuz axe 5s with the two -point or with

00:25:05.859 --> 00:25:08.059
the four -cylinder? That's right. Yes. It's yeah

00:25:08.059 --> 00:25:11.420
the ax 15 Yep, and this one had the four -cylinder

00:25:11.420 --> 00:25:13.500
and axe 15. So we're pulling the engine out of

00:25:13.500 --> 00:25:15.579
that one Putting it on the frame and then putting

00:25:15.579 --> 00:25:18.700
the tub back on it. Yep. Yeah, it's a project.

00:25:19.559 --> 00:25:22.279
Oh, dude. He's like I said, 10 years. He's just

00:25:22.279 --> 00:25:24.460
been slowly plucking away at it. Yeah, that's

00:25:24.460 --> 00:25:27.700
why. It'll be it'll be nice when he's done. I

00:25:27.700 --> 00:25:29.799
think and the next year we should have it done.

00:25:30.039 --> 00:25:32.460
Yeah. At this point, it's getting time to do

00:25:32.460 --> 00:25:34.259
it. You know, it'll be fun to have it back on

00:25:34.259 --> 00:25:38.339
the road for sure. Yeah, it's a lot of memories

00:25:38.339 --> 00:25:41.380
in that little Jeep, man. Yeah, I I took that

00:25:41.380 --> 00:25:46.450
to Moab. Pulled it. I had a 73 J 4000 the Jeep

00:25:46.450 --> 00:25:49.369
pickup. Yeah, and I pulled that little Jeep all

00:25:49.369 --> 00:25:52.589
over South, you know, southwestern United States.

00:25:52.650 --> 00:25:54.829
That's awesome and just wheeled the hell out

00:25:54.829 --> 00:25:57.609
of it. It was just a great little Jeep. Yeah.

00:25:57.670 --> 00:26:00.190
Some days I think about reaching out to the guy

00:26:00.190 --> 00:26:03.190
that I sold mine to in Argentina and just just

00:26:03.190 --> 00:26:04.910
being like, oh, hey, man, do you still have it?

00:26:04.910 --> 00:26:06.309
And like, would you be interested in selling

00:26:06.309 --> 00:26:09.049
it back to me? Feels like there's a trip there

00:26:09.049 --> 00:26:10.970
where I like fly down to Argentina and then drive

00:26:10.970 --> 00:26:13.500
back again. feels like that would that would

00:26:13.500 --> 00:26:15.859
be a good way to like bookend the story and maybe

00:26:15.859 --> 00:26:18.200
that time i go through brazil and like the other

00:26:18.200 --> 00:26:20.359
way around south america yeah that'd be sick

00:26:20.359 --> 00:26:22.839
yeah and then be like completed drive it all

00:26:22.839 --> 00:26:25.619
the way back to where i started and be like done

00:26:25.619 --> 00:26:29.839
yeah i uh yeah i don't know tj's just hold a

00:26:29.839 --> 00:26:31.839
special place in my heart i think that's why

00:26:31.839 --> 00:26:34.460
i read your book was because it was a tj and

00:26:34.460 --> 00:26:38.150
i was like this guy's crazy Well, it's funny.

00:26:38.150 --> 00:26:40.630
I I didn't really think about it too deeply I

00:26:40.630 --> 00:26:42.589
I already owned it because I'd always wanted

00:26:42.589 --> 00:26:45.710
a soft top Jeep and I'd been on tons of like

00:26:45.710 --> 00:26:47.589
weekend camping trips and it had been really

00:26:47.589 --> 00:26:49.809
good that was fun to drive and you know, it looked

00:26:49.809 --> 00:26:52.529
cool and and I was like Why wouldn't I take it?

00:26:52.529 --> 00:26:54.849
It's a good little four -wheel drive and you

00:26:54.849 --> 00:26:56.809
know, it does everything I need it to do make

00:26:56.809 --> 00:27:01.910
sense Yeah, that's so you uh, it took you two

00:27:01.910 --> 00:27:05.759
years. You spent a summer in Alaska So how much

00:27:05.759 --> 00:27:07.900
of that was drive time, thanks? I know you had

00:27:07.900 --> 00:27:09.559
a couple stops where you stayed for a little

00:27:09.559 --> 00:27:12.099
while. Yeah, I stopped in Ecuador for five months.

00:27:12.160 --> 00:27:15.559
That was the longest stop. And along the way,

00:27:15.660 --> 00:27:17.799
I pretty much just stopped anywhere that I liked.

00:27:18.000 --> 00:27:20.279
So I would just get to a place and if like set

00:27:20.279 --> 00:27:22.779
up camp and be like, hey, I really like the vibe

00:27:22.779 --> 00:27:25.119
or I really like how peaceful it is or whatever,

00:27:25.220 --> 00:27:27.759
whatever the reason I'd be like. maybe I'll stay

00:27:27.759 --> 00:27:30.079
here a week maybe I'll stay two weeks and like

00:27:30.079 --> 00:27:32.539
learn Spanish and like eat street food and just

00:27:32.539 --> 00:27:34.680
hang out like I rented a surfboard a couple of

00:27:34.680 --> 00:27:37.640
times it just the whole trip really was just

00:27:37.640 --> 00:27:40.140
like do whatever I want whenever I want and whatever

00:27:40.140 --> 00:27:42.700
you know and sometimes I'd be up in the mountains

00:27:42.700 --> 00:27:45.680
and it'd be like really crisp air and cool and

00:27:45.680 --> 00:27:47.859
like not humid I'd be like sweet I'm staying

00:27:47.859 --> 00:27:50.119
here this is great you know and then you go down

00:27:50.119 --> 00:27:51.660
into the jungle and you're like oh my god I'm

00:27:51.660 --> 00:27:53.589
sick of the jungle like get me out of here So

00:27:53.589 --> 00:27:55.869
it was just, it was just sort of every day was

00:27:55.869 --> 00:27:58.950
do like take it as it comes and see what is next.

00:28:00.029 --> 00:28:02.849
How, now that you're traveling with your wife

00:28:02.849 --> 00:28:06.730
and a kid, how different is the vibe when you

00:28:06.730 --> 00:28:10.150
do those trips? Is it still the free go lucky

00:28:10.150 --> 00:28:13.650
or? No, sadly, it's not the free go lucky. It's

00:28:13.650 --> 00:28:16.130
changed quite a bit. There's a lot more city

00:28:16.130 --> 00:28:19.250
stuff. So there's like museums and food tours.

00:28:20.029 --> 00:28:22.609
And so a lot more sort of like cultural things.

00:28:23.329 --> 00:28:25.829
which I never really bothered with. I'm like

00:28:25.829 --> 00:28:27.890
way more of a wilderness person. I'd be happy

00:28:27.890 --> 00:28:30.170
just to drive out in the middle of nowhere and

00:28:30.170 --> 00:28:32.329
set up camp and just be by myself for a week.

00:28:33.710 --> 00:28:35.789
Yeah, so it's changed quite a bit, but at the

00:28:35.789 --> 00:28:38.670
same time, we still, I mean, I think about it,

00:28:38.670 --> 00:28:42.029
we were in Iceland for three months and I did

00:28:42.029 --> 00:28:45.450
every single four -wheel drive track that I...

00:28:45.500 --> 00:28:47.859
could possibly imagine doing. There was nowhere

00:28:47.859 --> 00:28:50.319
in Iceland that we didn't go that I look at or

00:28:50.319 --> 00:28:52.380
think about and be like, oh man, you know, if

00:28:52.380 --> 00:28:55.279
I went there by myself, I'd go and do this. No,

00:28:55.359 --> 00:28:57.599
we already did. And it was amazing. So yeah,

00:28:57.599 --> 00:28:59.920
we still managed to get remote and still like

00:28:59.920 --> 00:29:02.019
tackled all the really hard tracks. It was great.

00:29:03.359 --> 00:29:06.519
Yeah. Iceland. Iceland is just beautiful. All

00:29:06.519 --> 00:29:09.059
of it. Every, every off -road video I've seen

00:29:09.059 --> 00:29:11.539
in Iceland is pretty. I mean, all of it's just

00:29:11.539 --> 00:29:14.299
pretty. Uh, there's another guy. I cannot remember

00:29:14.299 --> 00:29:20.450
his name. But he posted, they rented a van while

00:29:20.450 --> 00:29:22.930
they were in Iceland. You know, a fully built

00:29:22.930 --> 00:29:25.730
out camper van. And I'm like, man, just fly out

00:29:25.730 --> 00:29:27.710
there, drive someone else's car for a little

00:29:27.710 --> 00:29:31.069
while. It'd be such an easy trip. A hundred percent.

00:29:31.130 --> 00:29:34.789
And it is extremely beautiful. Like every single

00:29:34.789 --> 00:29:36.750
day, Katie and I would look at each other and

00:29:36.750 --> 00:29:39.630
say, is this even real? I actually don't believe

00:29:39.630 --> 00:29:42.829
it. Hands down, not even close to the most beautiful

00:29:42.829 --> 00:29:45.029
place I've ever been in the world. there's like

00:29:45.029 --> 00:29:47.630
no equal there's no comparison that's amazing

00:29:47.630 --> 00:29:51.950
yeah it's wild and there was no ice right or

00:29:51.950 --> 00:29:54.490
very little ice uh we stayed all the way into

00:29:54.490 --> 00:29:56.630
october uh we drove on a glacier so there was

00:29:56.630 --> 00:29:59.109
plenty of ice there plenty of ice yeah and then

00:29:59.109 --> 00:30:01.930
we stayed into october and it got down like zero

00:30:01.930 --> 00:30:04.410
fahrenheit i guess and like was snowing hard

00:30:04.410 --> 00:30:08.210
and yeah there was plenty of ice then Yeah, cuz

00:30:08.210 --> 00:30:10.289
that's what Greenland's the green or Greenland's

00:30:10.289 --> 00:30:12.829
the icy place and Iceland's the less icy place

00:30:12.829 --> 00:30:14.769
Yeah, Iceland's especially in summer Iceland's

00:30:14.769 --> 00:30:19.329
very green Yeah Now that trip I did you write

00:30:19.329 --> 00:30:20.950
a book about that? No, you wrote a book about

00:30:20.950 --> 00:30:23.309
Africa. That's right. Yep. Yep I'm a little bit

00:30:23.309 --> 00:30:25.230
behind I still haven't even written a book about

00:30:25.230 --> 00:30:27.990
the Australia trip either which we spent I forgot

00:30:27.990 --> 00:30:31.089
there was yeah Yeah, we spent a year and a half

00:30:31.089 --> 00:30:33.529
like trying to get as remote as possible in Australia

00:30:33.799 --> 00:30:36.339
and we tackled like all of Australia's hardest

00:30:36.339 --> 00:30:39.319
four -wheel drive tracks and the most remote

00:30:39.319 --> 00:30:41.480
road in the world, one of the biggest desert

00:30:41.480 --> 00:30:45.799
crossing in Australia. Yeah, so we tried to explore

00:30:45.799 --> 00:30:49.039
as far and wide as we possibly could. Did you

00:30:49.039 --> 00:30:52.599
do that in the JL or the JK? No, actually, so

00:30:52.599 --> 00:30:55.420
shipping a vehicle to Australia is really, really

00:30:55.420 --> 00:30:57.859
difficult. They have crazy quarantine and customs

00:30:57.859 --> 00:30:59.960
and really strict rules on modifications and

00:30:59.960 --> 00:31:02.180
all of that. So it was just way easier to fly

00:31:02.180 --> 00:31:05.019
there and buy something. So we bought a gladiator

00:31:05.019 --> 00:31:08.140
when we got there Yeah, spent a year and a half

00:31:08.140 --> 00:31:10.059
around in the gladiator and then just sold it

00:31:10.059 --> 00:31:12.460
before we left. So it was just purely for the

00:31:12.460 --> 00:31:16.700
trip So between the the gladiator and the JL

00:31:16.700 --> 00:31:18.519
because they're you know, they're pretty similar.

00:31:18.960 --> 00:31:22.720
Which one would you prefer? I think it really

00:31:22.720 --> 00:31:25.509
depends on like a million factors like, do you

00:31:25.509 --> 00:31:28.410
have a family? Are you looking to do more wheeling

00:31:28.410 --> 00:31:30.349
or more kind of camping? You know, do you want

00:31:30.349 --> 00:31:32.529
to have a comfortable living setup or do you

00:31:32.529 --> 00:31:34.309
want to just sort of sleep in a ground tent?

00:31:34.849 --> 00:31:37.269
I feel like it's, it's kind of personal preference

00:31:37.269 --> 00:31:40.349
about how you want to travel and what kind of

00:31:40.349 --> 00:31:43.250
trip you want to have. I don't, yeah, cause they're

00:31:43.250 --> 00:31:44.750
two different things. They're built for different

00:31:44.750 --> 00:31:48.269
purposes. Right. Yeah. The gladiator was shocking

00:31:48.269 --> 00:31:50.309
though. Like the first time I took it off road,

00:31:50.410 --> 00:31:53.720
I scraped the belly. And I've never scraped the

00:31:53.720 --> 00:31:55.960
belly in any of my Wranglers. I was like, oh,

00:31:56.119 --> 00:31:59.319
that's really interesting. And then the departure

00:31:59.319 --> 00:32:01.380
angle as well, I definitely like hit it more

00:32:01.380 --> 00:32:03.500
than a few times on stuff where I was like, oh,

00:32:03.500 --> 00:32:05.299
that's really weird. Like it hangs over the rear

00:32:05.299 --> 00:32:09.099
wheels a lot further than a Wrangler does. Yeah,

00:32:09.200 --> 00:32:13.519
the wheelbase on the Gladiator, I don't remember

00:32:13.519 --> 00:32:18.299
how much longer that is than a JLU, sorry. Yeah,

00:32:18.319 --> 00:32:22.440
it's 116 inches versus a hundred and... I can't

00:32:22.440 --> 00:32:25.279
remember for a gladiator. I'm pulling it up real

00:32:25.279 --> 00:32:31.099
quick. 137. Yeah. So yeah, that's I mean, there's

00:32:31.099 --> 00:32:34.099
a lot more breakover angle there than for sure.

00:32:35.400 --> 00:32:39.319
Yeah, I I wheeled a crew cab long bed one ton

00:32:39.319 --> 00:32:43.680
F350 for a while. Yep. That is it's a whole different

00:32:43.680 --> 00:32:45.799
world, man. Going back down to something shorter

00:32:45.799 --> 00:32:48.900
like the forerunner was so so convenient. Yeah.

00:32:49.899 --> 00:32:51.519
Yeah, and it but it's funny though because I'm

00:32:51.519 --> 00:32:54.079
sure the f -150 I mean you can carry way more

00:32:54.079 --> 00:32:56.200
stuff and you can be a lot more You can be a

00:32:56.200 --> 00:32:57.940
lot more comfortable in camp or you know You

00:32:57.940 --> 00:33:00.119
could stay remote for a lot longer because you

00:33:00.119 --> 00:33:02.000
just have way more water and food and all that

00:33:02.000 --> 00:33:04.220
stuff, right? So then it's like, you know, are

00:33:04.220 --> 00:33:06.180
you on a wheeling trip for just a day or two?

00:33:06.259 --> 00:33:08.500
Then it's like a forerunners incredible, but

00:33:08.500 --> 00:33:10.779
it's more like yeah If you're trying to get remote

00:33:10.779 --> 00:33:13.460
and stay out in the wilderness the f -150 is

00:33:13.460 --> 00:33:17.079
probably the better choice Right. Yeah. Yeah

00:33:17.779 --> 00:33:19.299
Course you don't have that problem with your

00:33:19.299 --> 00:33:21.359
jail now that things kind of built perfectly

00:33:21.359 --> 00:33:24.140
Yeah, the jail it's gonna be really really hard

00:33:24.140 --> 00:33:26.660
to let it go if we didn't have our little girl

00:33:26.660 --> 00:33:29.220
I would keep that thing until forever until until

00:33:29.220 --> 00:33:32.960
I died of old age It's I dreamed always of having

00:33:32.960 --> 00:33:35.779
like a kind of a Libyan overland vehicle that

00:33:35.779 --> 00:33:37.920
has everything you need It's really a little

00:33:37.920 --> 00:33:40.359
apartment on wheels and because it's built on

00:33:40.359 --> 00:33:42.900
because it's built on a Rubicon Wrangler I have

00:33:42.900 --> 00:33:45.059
pushed it hard in the dunes in Tunisia like in

00:33:45.059 --> 00:33:48.029
the Sahara and I gave up long before the Jeep

00:33:48.029 --> 00:33:51.190
did. I actually, the dunes were so steep on the

00:33:51.190 --> 00:33:53.509
way up and the way down, I started getting seasick

00:33:53.509 --> 00:33:55.950
and was like, this is ridiculous. I don't know.

00:33:56.109 --> 00:33:58.210
And we were planning on doing it for like eight

00:33:58.210 --> 00:34:00.970
hours to get into this really remote spot. And

00:34:00.970 --> 00:34:04.569
it was, it was just nuts. So yeah, that Jeep

00:34:04.569 --> 00:34:06.930
will go more places than I'm willing to take

00:34:06.930 --> 00:34:10.650
it. Yeah, there's a picture. I think it's goose

00:34:10.650 --> 00:34:13.710
gear. They did your interior or something. They

00:34:13.710 --> 00:34:17.099
did. Yeah. So there's a picture of, I think it's

00:34:17.099 --> 00:34:19.519
you laying on the floor in the back with the

00:34:19.519 --> 00:34:22.199
roof off. And the amount of space that there

00:34:22.199 --> 00:34:25.559
is in that thing is just crazy. It's pretty wild.

00:34:25.699 --> 00:34:28.840
We just had three adults in it and it's comfortable.

00:34:29.380 --> 00:34:33.619
It's like spacious. It's no problem at all. We

00:34:33.619 --> 00:34:38.420
don't see rigs built like that here. We see just

00:34:38.420 --> 00:34:41.860
a four rudder with stuff strapped to it. It's

00:34:41.860 --> 00:34:44.000
such a bizarre thing when you spend kind of 24

00:34:44.000 --> 00:34:46.000
hours in the back of it or you cook dinner and

00:34:46.000 --> 00:34:47.360
then you go to bed and you get up in the morning

00:34:47.360 --> 00:34:49.920
and you basically forget that you're just in

00:34:49.920 --> 00:34:53.260
a Wrangler. It's so bizarre. And everyone who

00:34:53.260 --> 00:34:54.860
sees it, when they look at it, they're like,

00:34:54.860 --> 00:34:57.000
man, that's a cool Gladiator. And I'm like, no,

00:34:57.039 --> 00:34:59.800
it's not. It's shorter than that. And everyone's

00:34:59.800 --> 00:35:01.719
like, what do you mean? How is that possible?

00:35:02.300 --> 00:35:05.679
Yeah, it's quite a bizarre thing to have so much

00:35:05.679 --> 00:35:08.099
living space when it's only a Wrangler. It kind

00:35:08.099 --> 00:35:10.070
of goes to show. You could do the same thing

00:35:10.070 --> 00:35:12.369
on a forerunner. You could do it on many. You

00:35:12.369 --> 00:35:15.610
do it on many vehicles and have really workable

00:35:15.610 --> 00:35:17.730
living space. And you don't have to have like

00:35:17.730 --> 00:35:19.510
a full size pickup. You don't have to have an

00:35:19.510 --> 00:35:24.670
F -350. Yeah, it's I love where your spare tires

00:35:24.670 --> 00:35:27.909
at, by the way. Yeah, that up on the roof like

00:35:27.909 --> 00:35:30.690
that, it wasn't our first choice, but it turned

00:35:30.690 --> 00:35:33.289
out to be the best choice for 50 different reasons.

00:35:34.190 --> 00:35:36.289
And with it, you know, would it be into the same

00:35:36.289 --> 00:35:40.849
height as the the cap? There it probably offers

00:35:40.849 --> 00:35:42.829
quite a bit of protection there. I don't know

00:35:42.829 --> 00:35:44.849
how tight of spaces you get into I know here

00:35:44.849 --> 00:35:47.250
you'd be scrubbing everywhere. Mm -hmm Well,

00:35:47.309 --> 00:35:49.150
probably the tightest space I ever got it into

00:35:49.150 --> 00:35:51.190
was a 20 -foot shipping container when I shipped

00:35:51.190 --> 00:35:54.550
it to Iceland and it fit by about an inch height

00:35:54.550 --> 00:35:57.969
wise and And about six or five inches on each

00:35:57.969 --> 00:36:00.969
side So it was it was tight, but we designed

00:36:00.969 --> 00:36:03.309
it to fit like that for that reason and that's

00:36:03.309 --> 00:36:07.989
it was exactly like perfect Yeah, 20 is 20 foot

00:36:07.989 --> 00:36:11.429
the cheapest shipping container it is yeah Yeah,

00:36:11.730 --> 00:36:15.469
say cuz I know There's someone else who they

00:36:15.469 --> 00:36:17.969
ship theirs across the Bering and gap down, you

00:36:17.969 --> 00:36:20.010
know down south Yeah, and they were saying they

00:36:20.010 --> 00:36:22.510
were getting they had two cars in a 20 foot container

00:36:22.510 --> 00:36:25.630
two cars in a two cars in a 40 footer is really

00:36:25.630 --> 00:36:28.849
common Yeah, yeah, you're right a 40 footer.

00:36:28.849 --> 00:36:31.570
Yeah, and they cut cut the price down quite a

00:36:31.570 --> 00:36:33.210
bit doing it that way exactly yeah that's really

00:36:33.210 --> 00:36:34.889
common and that's what i did on the way back

00:36:34.889 --> 00:36:36.989
from europe actually it went in the container

00:36:36.989 --> 00:36:39.349
with a really big built -out land cruiser and

00:36:39.349 --> 00:36:41.230
then that was really nice because when you get

00:36:41.230 --> 00:36:43.389
a 40 foot container you can get it with a higher

00:36:43.389 --> 00:36:46.449
roof and then so the the door is higher and then

00:36:46.449 --> 00:36:48.150
it's easy you just drive it straight in you don't

00:36:48.150 --> 00:36:52.750
have to worry about the height yeah that's how

00:36:52.750 --> 00:36:56.170
i know i'm going all over the place um how does

00:36:56.170 --> 00:36:58.869
the uh How does the Jeep handle now compared

00:36:58.869 --> 00:37:01.210
to when you had the, you know, just had it as

00:37:01.210 --> 00:37:03.989
a Jeep? It's definitely heavier. You can definitely

00:37:03.989 --> 00:37:08.750
feel the weight moving around. I've got AVs two

00:37:08.750 --> 00:37:11.409
and a half XT suspension. So it's got the Bilstein

00:37:11.409 --> 00:37:15.349
8100 remote reservoir shocks and it's got AVs

00:37:15.349 --> 00:37:17.949
high capacity springs, which are designed like

00:37:17.949 --> 00:37:20.969
to carry lots of weight. So it does really well,

00:37:20.969 --> 00:37:24.230
but it's heavier for sure. And you can yeah,

00:37:24.230 --> 00:37:26.690
you can feel it moving around behind you. So

00:37:26.690 --> 00:37:28.849
I think the number one thing is you air down

00:37:28.849 --> 00:37:30.550
your tires a little bit more to try and make

00:37:30.550 --> 00:37:32.730
it smoother than it would be otherwise And it

00:37:32.730 --> 00:37:34.909
definitely go a little bit slower than I probably

00:37:34.909 --> 00:37:37.769
would if it was just a stock Jeep Yeah, and part

00:37:37.769 --> 00:37:39.650
of that too is because you just don't want to

00:37:39.650 --> 00:37:41.889
beat up everything that's inside You know the

00:37:41.889 --> 00:37:44.030
fridge and the induction cooktop and kind of

00:37:44.030 --> 00:37:46.869
all of your gear even my laptop and my cameras

00:37:46.869 --> 00:37:49.530
and my drone and all of that stuff It doesn't

00:37:49.530 --> 00:37:51.750
really just want to get beaten around in the

00:37:51.750 --> 00:37:54.730
back So it's like if I drive a little slower

00:37:54.730 --> 00:37:56.780
and a little more carefully all that stuff's

00:37:56.780 --> 00:38:02.099
going to last a lot longer. How is the eco diesel

00:38:02.099 --> 00:38:03.820
treated you? Because I've heard a lot of horror

00:38:03.820 --> 00:38:05.619
stories and I've heard a lot of people that love

00:38:05.619 --> 00:38:09.219
them. So I think hands down, the eco diesel is

00:38:09.219 --> 00:38:11.579
the best engine Jeep have ever put in a Wrangler

00:38:11.579 --> 00:38:15.260
by a mile. There isn't even a comparison. The

00:38:15.260 --> 00:38:18.019
only caveat on that is the reliability aspect

00:38:18.019 --> 00:38:21.539
where because of all the emission stuff, it does

00:38:21.539 --> 00:38:24.840
seem like after 100 ,000 miles or 200 ,000 miles.

00:38:25.079 --> 00:38:27.400
they can definitely have some reliability concerns.

00:38:28.019 --> 00:38:30.039
And so, you know, I haven't had it for that long,

00:38:30.059 --> 00:38:32.820
so I can't really speak to it. But in terms of

00:38:32.820 --> 00:38:37.139
how it drives, so my Gladiator had the 3 .6 with

00:38:37.139 --> 00:38:40.420
the eight speed auto. And at 70 miles an hour,

00:38:40.480 --> 00:38:42.639
it would kick down to fourth gear and just like

00:38:42.639 --> 00:38:45.800
rev to the moon. It was it was underpowered for

00:38:45.800 --> 00:38:49.559
what it was. This eco diesel, the highest mountain

00:38:49.559 --> 00:38:52.739
pass in Canada. at 70 miles an hour it will just

00:38:52.739 --> 00:38:55.960
sit in eighth gear at 1500 rpm and not even care

00:38:55.960 --> 00:38:58.119
it doesn't even slow down at all you can overtake

00:38:58.119 --> 00:39:00.360
every single other car because they're all gearing

00:39:00.360 --> 00:39:02.960
down and revving the diesel just doesn't care

00:39:02.960 --> 00:39:08.880
with 420 pounds of foot torque sorry 420 foot

00:39:08.880 --> 00:39:11.880
pounds of torque it'll it'll just drive up anything

00:39:11.880 --> 00:39:15.119
without even noticing it doesn't care so that's

00:39:15.119 --> 00:39:18.420
yeah it's it's easily the best engine i've ever

00:39:18.420 --> 00:39:21.789
had in a four -wheel drive Like not even, it's

00:39:21.789 --> 00:39:23.369
not even worth talking about any of the other

00:39:23.369 --> 00:39:28.809
ones I've ever had. So, where you're at in the

00:39:28.809 --> 00:39:31.829
BC, you've got pretty strict emissions over there,

00:39:31.909 --> 00:39:33.750
right? Same. So you couldn't get away? Same as

00:39:33.750 --> 00:39:35.489
yours. You couldn't get away with deleting, is

00:39:35.489 --> 00:39:37.590
it? Yep. So you can get away with deleting everything?

00:39:37.690 --> 00:39:39.809
You can, yeah. Just extending their life? Yeah,

00:39:39.809 --> 00:39:42.110
you can if you want to. It's expensive though,

00:39:42.130 --> 00:39:43.889
by the time you buy like the straight exhaust

00:39:43.889 --> 00:39:45.809
and you get the computer tuned and all that stuff.

00:39:46.550 --> 00:39:48.409
But yeah, plenty of people around here run deleted.

00:39:49.900 --> 00:39:52.619
Yeah, I I know different parts of Canada have

00:39:52.619 --> 00:39:54.679
it like here, you know different places have

00:39:54.679 --> 00:39:57.380
stricter rules Yes, I know if I drove any of

00:39:57.380 --> 00:39:59.320
my cars in California, they'd be pretty upset.

00:39:59.420 --> 00:40:04.679
Yeah, totally. I Actually, I had a 96 Cobra that

00:40:04.679 --> 00:40:08.539
I drove up the coast of California that was turboed,

00:40:08.539 --> 00:40:12.579
you know No exhaust whatsoever, and I probably

00:40:12.579 --> 00:40:16.909
got pulled over a good 10 or 15 times But it

00:40:16.909 --> 00:40:18.610
was licensed in Arizona, so they couldn't give

00:40:18.610 --> 00:40:25.309
me a ticket for that's funny Yeah, man, I I Wish

00:40:25.309 --> 00:40:27.010
Gavin could have got on tonight. He's more of

00:40:27.010 --> 00:40:29.010
our overland guy. Okay, so he'd have all these

00:40:29.010 --> 00:40:31.590
over He'd be asking you what kitchen or you know,

00:40:31.670 --> 00:40:34.650
how your kitchen setup works? Which I guess we

00:40:34.650 --> 00:40:36.869
could get into that for sure. What fridge do

00:40:36.869 --> 00:40:40.110
you have in your jail? It's got a Dometic 50

00:40:40.110 --> 00:40:43.110
liter and it's an upright fridge, which is I've

00:40:43.110 --> 00:40:44.849
never done that before so instead of the chest

00:40:44.849 --> 00:40:47.449
freezer which kind of fridge it always makes

00:40:47.449 --> 00:40:48.929
you feel like you're camping you know because

00:40:48.929 --> 00:40:51.010
you have to kind of dig out 10 things to get

00:40:51.010 --> 00:40:54.409
to the thing you want in the jl the camper it

00:40:54.409 --> 00:40:57.210
feels way more like a little apartment it's like

00:40:57.210 --> 00:40:59.289
a bar free like a mini bar fridge in a hotel

00:40:59.289 --> 00:41:00.989
where you can just reach in and grab whatever

00:41:00.989 --> 00:41:04.309
you want easily so the whole the whole feel when

00:41:04.309 --> 00:41:06.730
you're inside actually is that you're in like

00:41:06.730 --> 00:41:09.030
a tiny little apartment and everything you need

00:41:09.030 --> 00:41:10.989
is right there in front of you and it it doesn't

00:41:10.989 --> 00:41:13.940
feel like camping at all actually and it's pouring

00:41:13.940 --> 00:41:16.940
rain or freezing cold or snowing, it doesn't

00:41:16.940 --> 00:41:18.880
matter. You turn on the diesel heater, you've

00:41:18.880 --> 00:41:21.559
got the induction cooktop, you can put on some

00:41:21.559 --> 00:41:23.840
music and just be like, we could be anywhere

00:41:23.840 --> 00:41:25.840
in the whole world right now and we're warm and

00:41:25.840 --> 00:41:28.519
dry and comfortable. It's kind of shocking and

00:41:28.519 --> 00:41:30.800
it almost feels like cheating or it feels like,

00:41:31.079 --> 00:41:32.960
hmm, are we even camping right now or is this

00:41:32.960 --> 00:41:36.480
something else? I'm not sure. So with that, with

00:41:36.480 --> 00:41:38.539
that being upright, does your stuff get bounced

00:41:38.539 --> 00:41:41.260
around in there a lot more? It got bounced around

00:41:41.260 --> 00:41:43.039
a little bit more. You had to be a bit careful,

00:41:43.039 --> 00:41:45.059
like what you put in the door or if you like

00:41:45.059 --> 00:41:48.539
wedge. If it was close to empty, it was a problem.

00:41:48.940 --> 00:41:50.760
You'd open the door and there'd be an avalanche

00:41:50.760 --> 00:41:52.820
of everything falling out. But as long as it

00:41:52.820 --> 00:41:54.619
was pretty full, everything would just kind of

00:41:54.619 --> 00:41:56.059
be like jammed in there and it wouldn't move

00:41:56.059 --> 00:42:01.400
around. And you've got an induction cooktop.

00:42:02.539 --> 00:42:04.719
That's not a 12 volt induction, right? It'd have

00:42:04.719 --> 00:42:06.300
to go through an inverter. Correct, yeah. So

00:42:06.300 --> 00:42:09.340
it's a big, it's on a 3 ,000 watt inverter, and

00:42:09.340 --> 00:42:11.880
I've got 200 amp hours of lithium batteries and

00:42:11.880 --> 00:42:15.619
then 600 watts of solar panels. So it uses a

00:42:15.619 --> 00:42:17.780
massive amount of power, which is kind of its

00:42:17.780 --> 00:42:22.619
downside, but it is unbelievably fast, silent,

00:42:22.619 --> 00:42:25.239
and you never ever have to think about filling

00:42:25.239 --> 00:42:29.420
up gas bottles or dealing with fittings or connections.

00:42:30.730 --> 00:42:33.170
It's just simple and like it just works every

00:42:33.170 --> 00:42:35.489
day. It kind of blew me away how nice it was

00:42:35.489 --> 00:42:37.309
and I'll definitely do it on the next vehicle

00:42:37.309 --> 00:42:40.909
for sure. And it looks pretty. Yeah, it just

00:42:40.909 --> 00:42:42.889
looks like slick. But again, it doesn't really

00:42:42.889 --> 00:42:45.710
look like camping, does it? Like camping is always

00:42:45.710 --> 00:42:47.610
like, you know, you try to light your gas burner

00:42:47.610 --> 00:42:49.710
and you try not to burn yourself and it's in

00:42:49.710 --> 00:42:52.469
the wind and it's tricky. And yeah, it feels

00:42:52.469 --> 00:42:54.489
less like camping and more like, yeah, being

00:42:54.489 --> 00:42:58.690
in an Airbnb almost. Where is your bed in that

00:42:58.690 --> 00:43:01.059
that cabin? Because when I see it, You know,

00:43:01.099 --> 00:43:03.000
all the pictures I see, I don't see a bed. I

00:43:03.000 --> 00:43:05.739
just see your little couch. It's hard to take

00:43:05.739 --> 00:43:08.039
pictures of the bed. So in the photos you're

00:43:08.039 --> 00:43:10.679
looking at, the bed is currently stowed and it's

00:43:10.679 --> 00:43:12.559
like right up against the roof when the roof

00:43:12.559 --> 00:43:15.199
is popped up. And then when it's time to go to

00:43:15.199 --> 00:43:18.019
sleep, you manually lower the bed down. It's

00:43:18.019 --> 00:43:21.440
an aluminum platform with wooden slats and it

00:43:21.440 --> 00:43:23.760
lowers down and it kind of sits like just above

00:43:23.760 --> 00:43:26.460
the kitchen bench. And it's basically a queen

00:43:26.460 --> 00:43:29.090
size bed. And then there's a little gap at the

00:43:29.090 --> 00:43:31.469
front so you can climb up into it So you kind

00:43:31.469 --> 00:43:33.869
of when you're inside you're either in like sleeping

00:43:33.869 --> 00:43:36.250
mode or you're in like stand up and walk around

00:43:36.250 --> 00:43:41.070
inside mode Does your bedding stay on that platform

00:43:41.070 --> 00:43:42.989
or do you have to unmake the bed and the bedding

00:43:42.989 --> 00:43:46.250
stays up there? Yeah, that's awesome. Yep. So

00:43:46.250 --> 00:43:48.130
it's super fast when you when it's time to go

00:43:48.130 --> 00:43:50.489
to bed It's like two minutes and you're ready

00:43:50.489 --> 00:43:53.469
to climb up Yeah, that was kind of a design goal

00:43:53.469 --> 00:43:56.309
of mine so that When you when you're on a long

00:43:56.309 --> 00:43:58.269
trip, I really feel like the things that you

00:43:58.269 --> 00:44:01.429
do every day They start to be annoying or they

00:44:01.429 --> 00:44:03.650
start to like use up too much of your time You

00:44:03.650 --> 00:44:05.550
know if it takes you 20 minutes to get your stove

00:44:05.550 --> 00:44:08.329
out and set it up and then cook breakfast and

00:44:08.329 --> 00:44:10.690
then 20 minutes to put it away again You're gonna

00:44:10.690 --> 00:44:12.469
get to the point where you're like cooking breakfast

00:44:12.469 --> 00:44:14.510
is a pain in the neck I'm just gonna go and buy

00:44:14.510 --> 00:44:17.409
breakfast and then when a few of those things

00:44:17.409 --> 00:44:19.550
start to add up Suddenly you like you're spending

00:44:19.550 --> 00:44:21.570
too much money every day and then your trip is

00:44:21.570 --> 00:44:25.320
over because you run out of money So I try really

00:44:25.320 --> 00:44:29.000
hard to make the things that I do every day and

00:44:29.000 --> 00:44:31.400
the things that will save me money. I want those

00:44:31.400 --> 00:44:34.139
to be the easiest and like the most convenient

00:44:34.139 --> 00:44:39.699
so that I'm I will do them every day. Yeah, that

00:44:39.699 --> 00:44:41.699
I mean, you can see that looking through the

00:44:41.699 --> 00:44:44.019
whole thing, anything where it would be hard

00:44:44.019 --> 00:44:46.179
to get to something, even your storage stuff

00:44:46.179 --> 00:44:48.260
is set up where it's easy to grab whatever you

00:44:48.260 --> 00:44:51.719
need. Yeah. The amount of planning that had to

00:44:51.719 --> 00:44:53.460
have gone into this truck, man. It's like you've

00:44:53.460 --> 00:44:55.079
done this a couple times or something. Well,

00:44:55.219 --> 00:44:57.920
and not only me, but actually the guy who designed

00:44:57.920 --> 00:45:01.239
and built the actual box camper, his name's Michael

00:45:01.239 --> 00:45:04.099
Fuchs. He used to work for NASA. He's a literal

00:45:04.099 --> 00:45:08.059
genius. He has also, he built a Unimog that it

00:45:08.059 --> 00:45:10.019
kind of looked the same, just like four times

00:45:10.019 --> 00:45:13.599
bigger. He had a Pinzengauer, he had an LMTV,

00:45:13.820 --> 00:45:17.219
he's had a couple of Jeeps. So he... Wait, what's

00:45:17.219 --> 00:45:21.199
this guy's name? His name is Michael Fuchs. WabiSabioverland

00:45:21.199 --> 00:45:26.559
on Instagram. He's a fascinating guy and he actually,

00:45:26.780 --> 00:45:29.159
he started working on this in 2019, this Jeep

00:45:29.159 --> 00:45:32.519
camper idea of like, what if I could build a

00:45:32.519 --> 00:45:34.699
Unimog but build it smaller was basically his

00:45:34.699 --> 00:45:37.480
idea. Because Unimogs are so big, he learned

00:45:37.480 --> 00:45:40.000
the lesson. They're actually not very useful.

00:45:40.440 --> 00:45:42.139
So he and his wife, they drove it all the way

00:45:42.139 --> 00:45:44.079
up to the Arctic Circle and they were like exploring

00:45:44.079 --> 00:45:46.510
all of Alaska. and they kind of realized that

00:45:46.510 --> 00:45:48.329
they'd like get remote and they'd see a cool

00:45:48.329 --> 00:45:51.530
gravel road or you know down across a creek into

00:45:51.530 --> 00:45:53.110
some beautiful camping spot and they're like

00:45:53.110 --> 00:45:56.489
if we get the Unimog stuck down there literally

00:45:56.489 --> 00:45:59.030
nobody on earth can pull us out because the only

00:45:59.030 --> 00:46:01.969
vehicle big enough and capable enough is another

00:46:01.969 --> 00:46:05.949
Unimog so in a weird way he said they got less

00:46:05.949 --> 00:46:07.969
remote in the Unimog than they used to get in

00:46:07.969 --> 00:46:10.750
their little two -door Wrangler and then so on

00:46:10.750 --> 00:46:12.730
the drive home from Alaska he really started

00:46:12.730 --> 00:46:16.320
thinking about could you build something as comfortable

00:46:16.320 --> 00:46:19.539
and nice as the Unimog, but build it on a smaller

00:46:19.539 --> 00:46:22.780
vehicle so that it's useful? And that's how he

00:46:22.780 --> 00:46:25.579
came up with this whole Jeep camper idea. And

00:46:25.579 --> 00:46:27.840
he's the one who did the years of planning and

00:46:27.840 --> 00:46:30.300
design and engineering to actually make it happen,

00:46:30.300 --> 00:46:34.960
to make it real. This Unimog is real. Yeah. The

00:46:34.960 --> 00:46:37.579
photo of his wife, Yvonne, when she's inside,

00:46:37.659 --> 00:46:40.360
there's a photo. And on two different occasions,

00:46:40.460 --> 00:46:43.000
I've sent him an email that says, wait, Is that

00:46:43.000 --> 00:46:45.179
a photo inside the Unimog or is that like an

00:46:45.179 --> 00:46:47.400
apartment that you rented? Because I can't tell.

00:46:48.260 --> 00:46:53.579
It's so big inside, it's crazy. Yeah, this thing

00:46:53.579 --> 00:46:56.260
is just... I couldn't imagine having that much

00:46:56.260 --> 00:47:03.219
space in a vehicle. But yeah, it's a cool scene

00:47:03.219 --> 00:47:05.239
because I've seen you go from a TJ. I didn't

00:47:05.239 --> 00:47:07.800
know about the JK, so... I guess that one doesn't

00:47:07.800 --> 00:47:11.320
count. But seeing the TJ, then the JL, it's like

00:47:11.320 --> 00:47:13.800
I've watched you grow as an overlander without

00:47:13.800 --> 00:47:15.900
ever meeting you. Well, actually, if you go through

00:47:15.900 --> 00:47:18.320
all the steps, it's like the literal Jeep progression

00:47:18.320 --> 00:47:23.280
of like two -door TJ, four -door JK, gladiator,

00:47:23.719 --> 00:47:26.219
now four -door JL. It's like I've gone through

00:47:26.219 --> 00:47:28.840
the whole family of kind of like wranglers that

00:47:28.840 --> 00:47:32.079
exist and like learned lessons from each of them

00:47:32.079 --> 00:47:34.579
about like, what do I prefer and what works well?

00:47:35.070 --> 00:47:37.150
You know, some of them are better in some aspects

00:47:37.150 --> 00:47:38.949
and some of them are better in other aspects.

00:47:40.650 --> 00:47:43.809
So, aside from, you know, if it was just you

00:47:43.809 --> 00:47:47.349
as a single guy, would you still prefer a four

00:47:47.349 --> 00:47:49.690
-door over the two -door? Depends where I'm going.

00:47:49.809 --> 00:47:52.070
It depends how long I'm going for. It depends,

00:47:52.070 --> 00:47:53.929
like, how much fuel do I have to carry? How much

00:47:53.929 --> 00:47:57.170
water do I have to carry? All those kind of questions

00:47:57.170 --> 00:47:59.210
actually matter more. Where am I going to sleep

00:47:59.210 --> 00:48:02.619
is kind of... I feel like a two -door is tricky

00:48:02.619 --> 00:48:04.800
because you kind of have to sleep on the ground.

00:48:05.059 --> 00:48:07.380
I don't think that you can really sleep in or

00:48:07.380 --> 00:48:11.639
on a two -door. Nah, it can be done. Yeah, but

00:48:11.639 --> 00:48:13.780
you know, let's say if the trip's a couple of

00:48:13.780 --> 00:48:15.659
years long, you're not gonna do it every night

00:48:15.659 --> 00:48:18.599
for a couple of years. And the two -door as well,

00:48:18.619 --> 00:48:20.719
it's hard to carry enough fuel to get nice and

00:48:20.719 --> 00:48:22.559
remote. You know, you can't stick an extended

00:48:22.559 --> 00:48:26.900
fuel tank underneath it. So I feel like the four

00:48:26.900 --> 00:48:29.719
door, the one I had in Africa, that was a really

00:48:29.719 --> 00:48:32.639
good sweet spot of like, it's still pretty nimble

00:48:32.639 --> 00:48:36.239
and goes a lot of places. But I, you know, I

00:48:36.239 --> 00:48:38.300
had extra fuel, I had a water tank underneath

00:48:38.300 --> 00:48:40.699
it, I had enough food and all of that stuff to

00:48:40.699 --> 00:48:45.380
go easily a week at a time. Which, yeah, I loved

00:48:45.380 --> 00:48:47.760
that thing. It was amazing. It took me places

00:48:47.760 --> 00:48:50.619
on earth I never dreamed I would ever get to.

00:48:51.019 --> 00:48:52.320
You know, wake up in the morning and there's

00:48:52.320 --> 00:48:55.489
elephants next to the Jeep or giraffes and Yeah,

00:48:55.489 --> 00:48:58.389
I got it stuck in the mud in the Congo and rolled

00:48:58.389 --> 00:49:00.710
it in Uganda and like slept in it when I had

00:49:00.710 --> 00:49:03.590
malaria and like there's so much of my life is

00:49:03.590 --> 00:49:05.929
kind of wrapped up in that vehicle and that adventure

00:49:05.929 --> 00:49:09.429
that it's it's hard to not think of it as the

00:49:09.429 --> 00:49:14.349
best vehicle I've ever had Yeah No, I uh that

00:49:14.349 --> 00:49:17.690
makes sense, you know for having the extra you

00:49:18.739 --> 00:49:21.119
Your JL. Do you have an extended fuel tank on

00:49:21.119 --> 00:49:23.500
that or do you carry? I actually do neither because

00:49:23.500 --> 00:49:26.039
it's the eco diesel on the entire trip We just

00:49:26.039 --> 00:49:30.119
did our average was 24 miles a gallon. Oh My

00:49:30.119 --> 00:49:33.619
god. Yep. So It only has an 18 and a half gallon

00:49:33.619 --> 00:49:35.940
tank. The stock tank on the diesel is a bit smaller

00:49:35.940 --> 00:49:40.099
than the gas tank But with that mileage, it was

00:49:40.099 --> 00:49:44.099
plenty. We didn't need to carry any extra And

00:49:44.099 --> 00:49:46.980
then the JK, did you have extended on that? The

00:49:46.980 --> 00:49:52.059
JK, I had an AV fuel caddy on the back tire carrier.

00:49:52.420 --> 00:49:55.340
So that was an extra 10 gallons on top of the

00:49:55.340 --> 00:49:59.059
like 22 gallon stock tank. The furthest I ever

00:49:59.059 --> 00:50:02.780
did, I ride on 600 miles in the Congo. They had

00:50:02.780 --> 00:50:04.860
a huge fuel shortage. They'd turned off all their

00:50:04.860 --> 00:50:07.480
refineries and I couldn't buy fuel anywhere.

00:50:08.239 --> 00:50:10.480
So yeah, I drove 600 miles kind of on the fuel

00:50:10.480 --> 00:50:12.900
I could carry. and then drove into the capital

00:50:12.900 --> 00:50:16.119
city on fumes parked and it was like that's it

00:50:16.119 --> 00:50:22.559
there's no fuel you're stuck here now yeah that's

00:50:22.559 --> 00:50:24.400
you know here in the states we don't really have

00:50:24.400 --> 00:50:26.760
to worry about carrying fuel or even most of

00:50:26.760 --> 00:50:28.139
canada you don't have to worry about carrying

00:50:28.139 --> 00:50:31.059
fuel because you're within at least 10 miles

00:50:31.059 --> 00:50:34.300
of a gas station all the time yeah but you get

00:50:34.300 --> 00:50:38.260
out into you know Africa, South America, that

00:50:38.260 --> 00:50:40.420
could go away pretty quick. Yeah, you have to

00:50:40.420 --> 00:50:42.780
plan ahead a bit more or you have to think carefully

00:50:42.780 --> 00:50:44.400
about where you're trying to get to and then

00:50:44.400 --> 00:50:48.219
what's it like. Same in Australia, actually.

00:50:48.440 --> 00:50:50.400
Australia, I carried the most fuel I ever had.

00:50:50.480 --> 00:50:53.559
At one point, I had like 80 gallons on the Gladiator

00:50:53.559 --> 00:50:56.420
to drive. That was the world's most remote road.

00:50:56.579 --> 00:51:00.260
We drove 1 ,050 miles through a desert without

00:51:00.260 --> 00:51:02.599
seeing another person or vehicle or anything

00:51:02.599 --> 00:51:04.980
like in the middle of it. in the middle of the

00:51:04.980 --> 00:51:07.079
desert in Western Australia. It's called the

00:51:07.079 --> 00:51:09.039
Canning Stock Route, if you want to look it up.

00:51:09.400 --> 00:51:11.980
It's really famous as the world's most remote

00:51:11.980 --> 00:51:16.380
four -wheel drive track. That sounds like a great

00:51:16.380 --> 00:51:20.920
time. It was the most intense, epic wilderness

00:51:20.920 --> 00:51:23.320
four -wheel drive trip of my life. And I went

00:51:23.320 --> 00:51:25.280
with my dad, actually, which was really rad.

00:51:25.900 --> 00:51:28.139
We had an amazing time. The stars were incredible.

00:51:28.780 --> 00:51:31.579
The kind of intensity, I had this feeling that

00:51:31.579 --> 00:51:34.110
we were really far from the world. Like if anything

00:51:34.110 --> 00:51:36.909
went wrong, we had to solve it ourselves or we

00:51:36.909 --> 00:51:38.869
were going to hit like the satellite beacon and

00:51:38.869 --> 00:51:41.190
call a helicopter. There's no there's no other

00:51:41.190 --> 00:51:43.469
option. There's no way to like walk out or anything.

00:51:44.849 --> 00:51:47.690
How do you how do you sleep while you're in Australia?

00:51:47.789 --> 00:51:50.909
Did you sleep in the rig or did you do the Australian

00:51:50.909 --> 00:51:53.610
thing? We did exactly that. Yeah, we got swags.

00:51:53.789 --> 00:51:56.929
We got a big queen swag. And I convinced my partner,

00:51:56.929 --> 00:51:59.070
Katie, that we should do it the traditional way,

00:51:59.369 --> 00:52:01.690
which was which was really fun. I'm glad that

00:52:01.690 --> 00:52:07.579
we did it. We won't do it again We are our main

00:52:07.579 --> 00:52:11.300
camping tent is a 23 -0 outbreak 15 very cool.

00:52:11.619 --> 00:52:16.159
Yeah So I swags are pretty much all we use now.

00:52:16.179 --> 00:52:18.619
They're just so convenient Yeah, they're super

00:52:18.619 --> 00:52:20.199
easy just to be able to like roll it out on the

00:52:20.199 --> 00:52:22.679
dirt and like one minute lady place to sleep

00:52:22.679 --> 00:52:26.179
All the beddings inside it's ready to go at the

00:52:26.179 --> 00:52:28.460
second. Yeah, I mean doesn't matter if it's no

00:52:28.460 --> 00:52:31.679
no in Australia It just made so much sense with

00:52:31.679 --> 00:52:33.900
the weather over there like it's pretty warm

00:52:33.900 --> 00:52:36.340
most evenings you just sleep with the bug screen

00:52:36.340 --> 00:52:38.960
you don't have to worry about the rain it was

00:52:38.960 --> 00:52:41.059
it was it was pretty nice to be out like under

00:52:41.059 --> 00:52:43.340
the stars every single night for a year and a

00:52:43.340 --> 00:52:45.880
half yeah we had some incredible nights too where

00:52:45.880 --> 00:52:48.880
like dingos would come right up to the swag or

00:52:48.880 --> 00:52:50.900
you know you'd hear animals in the night it was

00:52:50.900 --> 00:52:53.320
really rad only one night we had ants get in

00:52:53.320 --> 00:52:55.320
there and crawl all over us and that was less

00:52:55.320 --> 00:53:01.449
fun yeah we uh Australia is definitely on my

00:53:01.449 --> 00:53:05.130
bucket list Too bad it's so hard to get dogs

00:53:05.130 --> 00:53:06.929
over there because I'd love to take my healers

00:53:06.929 --> 00:53:09.510
back Yeah, no, it's it's super hard to get animals

00:53:09.510 --> 00:53:11.949
into Australia. So a lot of people don't bother

00:53:11.949 --> 00:53:14.030
They like give away their dog or whatever if

00:53:14.030 --> 00:53:18.170
they're moving there Do you uh, do you have any

00:53:18.170 --> 00:53:21.630
pets now? No, I've resisted pets because it'll

00:53:21.630 --> 00:53:23.670
be too hard to travel with them and so I you

00:53:23.670 --> 00:53:25.409
know crossing all the borders and dealing with

00:53:25.409 --> 00:53:28.269
plane flights and all of that is like If I can

00:53:28.269 --> 00:53:32.289
not have pets, I'll try not to. Yeah, that makes

00:53:32.289 --> 00:53:35.489
sense. I don't think I could not have pets at

00:53:35.489 --> 00:53:39.989
this point, but yeah, I've had my blue healer,

00:53:40.030 --> 00:53:42.090
I adopted her in Arizona and I've had her almost

00:53:42.090 --> 00:53:45.329
10 years now. And it would be so hard to not

00:53:45.329 --> 00:53:46.710
have that. Yeah, there's such incredible dogs

00:53:46.710 --> 00:53:50.449
where they have such a strong personality. So

00:53:50.449 --> 00:53:52.590
much so. I have so many good memories of like

00:53:52.590 --> 00:53:55.159
all of our family friends had blue healers. And

00:53:55.159 --> 00:53:57.599
we had a Kelpie, which is like a purebred Australian

00:53:57.599 --> 00:54:00.539
sheepdog. And so just, yeah, real memories of

00:54:00.539 --> 00:54:03.659
like Aussie sheepdogs. They're a special thing

00:54:03.659 --> 00:54:08.400
for sure. But all right, man, we are about to

00:54:08.400 --> 00:54:14.260
hit our hour. So we can call it here. So to all

00:54:14.260 --> 00:54:16.559
the listeners, it's been great talking to you.

00:54:16.739 --> 00:54:18.360
Dan, it's been awesome talking to you. Thanks,

00:54:18.440 --> 00:54:21.809
Alex. It's been a lot of fun. In the future,

00:54:21.889 --> 00:54:23.550
I'll have to get back with you, because I want

00:54:23.550 --> 00:54:26.269
to know about your next trip. I'll have to figure

00:54:26.269 --> 00:54:29.429
it out. I haven't locked anything in. It's all

00:54:29.429 --> 00:54:32.710
in the planning stages right now. That's awesome.

00:54:33.289 --> 00:54:34.590
Alright man, well we will talk to you later.

00:54:34.590 --> 00:54:36.150
Thanks Alex, appreciate it. Have a good one.