Hey there!
I am not (yet) an Overlander.
At least, not in the way that I intend to become, not in the way I know I will be. I'm a 20-year old, soon to be high-school(well, GED) graduate, living in my hometown of Des Moines, IA. Growing up, I was outdoorsy enough as a child, I went to and later worked at a Summer camp for several years, I skiied when I could(which was not often), as a kid I would go camping with my Uncle and as a teenager I would go with my friends. Currently, I live with my girlfriend of 5 years and our pet cat and snake in an Airstream trailer that has become something of a family heirloom. My mom is letting us take it with us to Washington in lieu of getting an apartment to save some cash, and in exchange we're fixing it up for her and remodeling the interior. I work on-and-off at a local exotic pet store. Earlier this year, I learned about a school out in Washington state that seemed like such a perfect fit for me that it instantly set off a chain of events that led from me being a high school dropout with no real sense of direction for his life and his future to currently wrapping up my GED at the local community college, with plans to move 1,700mi away to start working towards a BS in Science with an emphasis in Environmental Studies, most specifically Conservation and Sustainability. I'm returning to the outdoors, and this time, getting in deeper than ever before. Finally, I am also currently in between cars.
My experience with "Overlanding", if you would call it that, consists exclusively of interstate-based roadtrips ranging from 3-30 hours(without counting stops and destinations) away from my hometown. Coming from a 2008 Honda Pilot that short of making the odometer read 200k instead of 100k, I never really pushed to its full potential(whatever that may have been) or did much of anything most would call "overlanding" in the 3 1/2 years I owned it, although my various high-school road trips were certainly "vehicle-dependent"! Going forward, I'm going to need a ride that could get me out into the field as necessary for my classes, as I've heard from directly talking to students currently in the program I'll be taking saying they spend a comparably high amount of time out in the field at this school (one guy, a sophomore, who was a transfer student from Illinois aid he spent less than 1/5 as much time out in the field his entire first year at his last school!). Not to mention that living in the beautiful state of Washington will give me TONS of opportunities for extra-curricular activities that my car will need to be able to keep up with, like heading out to the mountains for skiing or driving out to who-knows-where to camp and hike. Heck, even just driving around for the sake of driving around! That's plenty of fun too!
It was the search for a car that would fit my new needs that eventually led me to finding this website, and, just like when I first learned of the school I'll be attending, I instantly felt like I had found the community that I needed to be in at that moment, I felt this sense that the fit was just right. Michael's words in the Founding Principles, about being at a low-point and experiencing an awakening, I knew that feeling. Dropping out of high school, spending 4 years working a dead-end job I don't care for making minimum wage, I felt stuck. I was hitting new lows and my way out was to reconnect with what's real and feel the dirt under my feet again. I'm going to school to study the environment and agriculture after all, in what is in my opinion the most beautiful place in this country, Western Washington. Then, my next step appeared right in front of me. I realized I wasn't gonna just buy a car, I was gonna build a rig. It should have been obvious but it wasn't. The biggest problem I face right now is my lack of real experience with cars, short of simple things like oil changes and headlight lamps, I never did too much to my car myself. Thankfully I found a wealth of experience and knowledge right here in this forum. I hope to learn-by-doing as best as I can to turn my next car into my first rig. I've got a lot to learn and just a little bit less time than I'd like to learn it, but the process will be on-going for as long as it needs to be; I'm gonna be trying to soak up as much information as I can from you guys and hopefully before long I'll be posting a build thread of my very own!
Expect to see more of me!
St_Suckerpunch
I am not (yet) an Overlander.
At least, not in the way that I intend to become, not in the way I know I will be. I'm a 20-year old, soon to be high-school(well, GED) graduate, living in my hometown of Des Moines, IA. Growing up, I was outdoorsy enough as a child, I went to and later worked at a Summer camp for several years, I skiied when I could(which was not often), as a kid I would go camping with my Uncle and as a teenager I would go with my friends. Currently, I live with my girlfriend of 5 years and our pet cat and snake in an Airstream trailer that has become something of a family heirloom. My mom is letting us take it with us to Washington in lieu of getting an apartment to save some cash, and in exchange we're fixing it up for her and remodeling the interior. I work on-and-off at a local exotic pet store. Earlier this year, I learned about a school out in Washington state that seemed like such a perfect fit for me that it instantly set off a chain of events that led from me being a high school dropout with no real sense of direction for his life and his future to currently wrapping up my GED at the local community college, with plans to move 1,700mi away to start working towards a BS in Science with an emphasis in Environmental Studies, most specifically Conservation and Sustainability. I'm returning to the outdoors, and this time, getting in deeper than ever before. Finally, I am also currently in between cars.
My experience with "Overlanding", if you would call it that, consists exclusively of interstate-based roadtrips ranging from 3-30 hours(without counting stops and destinations) away from my hometown. Coming from a 2008 Honda Pilot that short of making the odometer read 200k instead of 100k, I never really pushed to its full potential(whatever that may have been) or did much of anything most would call "overlanding" in the 3 1/2 years I owned it, although my various high-school road trips were certainly "vehicle-dependent"! Going forward, I'm going to need a ride that could get me out into the field as necessary for my classes, as I've heard from directly talking to students currently in the program I'll be taking saying they spend a comparably high amount of time out in the field at this school (one guy, a sophomore, who was a transfer student from Illinois aid he spent less than 1/5 as much time out in the field his entire first year at his last school!). Not to mention that living in the beautiful state of Washington will give me TONS of opportunities for extra-curricular activities that my car will need to be able to keep up with, like heading out to the mountains for skiing or driving out to who-knows-where to camp and hike. Heck, even just driving around for the sake of driving around! That's plenty of fun too!
It was the search for a car that would fit my new needs that eventually led me to finding this website, and, just like when I first learned of the school I'll be attending, I instantly felt like I had found the community that I needed to be in at that moment, I felt this sense that the fit was just right. Michael's words in the Founding Principles, about being at a low-point and experiencing an awakening, I knew that feeling. Dropping out of high school, spending 4 years working a dead-end job I don't care for making minimum wage, I felt stuck. I was hitting new lows and my way out was to reconnect with what's real and feel the dirt under my feet again. I'm going to school to study the environment and agriculture after all, in what is in my opinion the most beautiful place in this country, Western Washington. Then, my next step appeared right in front of me. I realized I wasn't gonna just buy a car, I was gonna build a rig. It should have been obvious but it wasn't. The biggest problem I face right now is my lack of real experience with cars, short of simple things like oil changes and headlight lamps, I never did too much to my car myself. Thankfully I found a wealth of experience and knowledge right here in this forum. I hope to learn-by-doing as best as I can to turn my next car into my first rig. I've got a lot to learn and just a little bit less time than I'd like to learn it, but the process will be on-going for as long as it needs to be; I'm gonna be trying to soak up as much information as I can from you guys and hopefully before long I'll be posting a build thread of my very own!
Expect to see more of me!
St_Suckerpunch
