Hi Jeff and welcome to OB! Nice Rubicon man! Safe travels and enjoy that open road!
Member Introductions *NEW MEMBERS INTRODUCE YOURSELF*
- Thread starter Lifestyle Overland
- Start date
Advocate III
Hey everyone - new member here, but far from new to having a utilitarian vehicle and depending on it to get off the beaten path.
I can be long-winded in profile intros, especially when told to include photos and stuff about rig, experience, location, etc. But I like to write and love playing with words, so here you go.
From my profile:
Born in the American west, raised in Europe, and been wandering North America pretty much ever since, interspersed with occasional bouts of domestic responsibility.
Starting in the late 60's, I've used a variety of vehicles for extended long distance travel, from a VW Beetle, VW Bus, '69 Chevy Carryall, Dodge Club Cab pickup (with a 360 that thing could climb a wall), station wagons, Ford van, Chevy diesel van, and now my GMC Savana diesel van. My road trips are often long affairs, often multi-month or more, even once for eight years steady on the road with no home or apartment of my own. I've used my vehicles to wander everywhere from the deep south and up and down the Appalachians, to all over the SW American deserts, entire US west coast, the PNW, Canadian Maritimes, the Great Plains, the entire US/Mexican border, and most everywhere in between.
I have some serious sand in my shoes and just can't get enough of seeing this amazing continent in person. My trips are typically solo, though I relish having someone along for some or all of a journey.
The best way I start my day is to pack up and pull away from wherever I spent last night, pausing at the edge of the road and wondering "Well let's see, I wanna go left, or do I wanna go right today," with a big grin on my face. Then letting the road lead me where it will.
I'm currently in the planning stages of my next big coast-to-coast North American journey, and outfitting my van for photography, writing, and both back-country camping and urban exploration.
Glad to find this growing community of people who like going somewhere with their vehicles, and a big thank you to Michael & Corrie for getting this particular community of overlanders going.
Hopefully I'll be meeting a bunch of you along the way. Pics below.
"Pasó por aquí. . . "
Road
=======================
My trusty workhorse of a van, a 2008 extended body GMC Savana with a 6.6 turbo-diesel Duramax. I'm 2nd owner and 2nd driver. It was a Penske van leased to Netflix in OK and had the same driver 'til I bought it 5-6 years ago. I've driven it from coast to coast in North America several times, and from Edmonton, Alberta and Sept-Îles, Québec in hard Canadian winter to the southernmost tip of Texas along the Mexican border in the height of summer heat. I'm going to try and do that the other way 'round sometime, though I do love a good weather challenge.
Working out of it for a photography gig in northern Maine a couple years ago. The blue upholstered cushions, folded boards, and square black container in the back right is part of my folding bed setup. It's something that's evolved over the years to be simple, efficient, and very functional. More about that, below.
Set up for vancamping. This is in the borderlands on a week-long father-daughter run from El Paso>Van Horn>Marathon>Terlingua>Presidio>El Paso. One of my favorite places on earth, Brewster and Presidio counties, Texas.
Rugged, remote, and sparsely populated. Same kind of country you see in the movies No Country for Old Men, Hell Or High Water, Paris Texas, and The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada. If you've never been, look up these movies, and (though some of the scenes in Hell Or High Water were done just over in NM) you'll want to experience this part of the country and the high desert of west Texas even more.
Santa Elena Canyon. That's Mexico on the other side, and for scale, the tiny figure at the edge of the Rio Grande is my adult kid.
I really prefer a walk-through floor plan, and with the amount of room I have in this vehicle, think I will keep a walk-through plan setup for the next long adventure. After the 4x4 conversion everything will be a lot more buckled-down and strapped in for greater off-road travel, of course, than in the setup above. Planning a tent-sided pop top, too. That will free up even more space for photography and other gear below, a giant stash area above the front seats, and a spacious full-length stand-up height when the top is up that I plan on using as photography blind for birding, when shooting (photo-shooting) wildlife, and for astro-photography.
My van in work mode again, ready for a load to be strapped down and hauled lord knows where.
I've hauled expedited, time-critical loads including everything from a 6"x6"x60" box with a special crane part that a mine in northern Quebec needed STAT...
to pallets stacked with auto parts from Laredo TX going to Jeep in Detroit where an assembly line was waiting, to a kid in a casket from an airport in Kansas to a funeral home in southern Oklahoma, where guys in suits and ties were hoping I'd get there before the mourners did.
That's 8' of E-track on the floor, and self-built side boxes along each side that taper out to full width at the doors while retaining 52" between wheel wells. That way it funnels loaded pallets and keeps them centered. I designed and built the side boxes to be a comfortable sitting height, so when I put a bed-board or my gear containers back there, there's a comfortable consistency. There's a total of 140" of usable floor from back of the seat bases to rear doors. I'll take a good van over a pick-up and it's 96" bed, any day. I built out the rest of the interior too, with radiant barrier, insulation, easy to maintain walls, Fantastic roof vent, etc.
In work mode like this, I keep about 27" of space directly behind the seats (ahead of the white 1/3 bulkhead behind the driver's seat) for personal gear, including a folding bed that goes across the width of the van at the same height as the side boxes. That way, when in between work gigs, I spread out in the back and can put the bed along the length of either side or straight across again, as my gear boxes (other side of the bulkhead in this shot) that support the bed, are the same height as the side boxes. Makes a super-convenient and very modular, change-on-the-fly setup. I can even use the gear boxes and folding bed in a ground tent.
The side boxes have tops with finger holes and hold an incredible amount of gear. A ton of camping stuff, ratchet straps, portable air compressor, maintenance fluids, tools, etc. The small white bulkhead at the end of the left side boxes but before the 1/3 bulkhead hides a little fold-out desk and cabinet for personal items. All very neat and tidy when I pull up to pick up or deliver a load somewhere. Gets lots of comments and questions.
When I'm done setting it up for this next long trip, with 4 wheel drive, pop-top, and hauling an XV-2, I'll be able to stay out for months, hopping from one great location to the next, refueling and stocking up here and there, and looking for various groups to visit and rallies and expos to attend.
See you out there somewhere.
Dry roads and open skies...
Road
I can be long-winded in profile intros, especially when told to include photos and stuff about rig, experience, location, etc. But I like to write and love playing with words, so here you go.
From my profile:
Born in the American west, raised in Europe, and been wandering North America pretty much ever since, interspersed with occasional bouts of domestic responsibility.
Starting in the late 60's, I've used a variety of vehicles for extended long distance travel, from a VW Beetle, VW Bus, '69 Chevy Carryall, Dodge Club Cab pickup (with a 360 that thing could climb a wall), station wagons, Ford van, Chevy diesel van, and now my GMC Savana diesel van. My road trips are often long affairs, often multi-month or more, even once for eight years steady on the road with no home or apartment of my own. I've used my vehicles to wander everywhere from the deep south and up and down the Appalachians, to all over the SW American deserts, entire US west coast, the PNW, Canadian Maritimes, the Great Plains, the entire US/Mexican border, and most everywhere in between.
I have some serious sand in my shoes and just can't get enough of seeing this amazing continent in person. My trips are typically solo, though I relish having someone along for some or all of a journey.
The best way I start my day is to pack up and pull away from wherever I spent last night, pausing at the edge of the road and wondering "Well let's see, I wanna go left, or do I wanna go right today," with a big grin on my face. Then letting the road lead me where it will.
I'm currently in the planning stages of my next big coast-to-coast North American journey, and outfitting my van for photography, writing, and both back-country camping and urban exploration.
Glad to find this growing community of people who like going somewhere with their vehicles, and a big thank you to Michael & Corrie for getting this particular community of overlanders going.
Hopefully I'll be meeting a bunch of you along the way. Pics below.
"Pasó por aquí. . . "
Road
=======================
My trusty workhorse of a van, a 2008 extended body GMC Savana with a 6.6 turbo-diesel Duramax. I'm 2nd owner and 2nd driver. It was a Penske van leased to Netflix in OK and had the same driver 'til I bought it 5-6 years ago. I've driven it from coast to coast in North America several times, and from Edmonton, Alberta and Sept-Îles, Québec in hard Canadian winter to the southernmost tip of Texas along the Mexican border in the height of summer heat. I'm going to try and do that the other way 'round sometime, though I do love a good weather challenge.
Working out of it for a photography gig in northern Maine a couple years ago. The blue upholstered cushions, folded boards, and square black container in the back right is part of my folding bed setup. It's something that's evolved over the years to be simple, efficient, and very functional. More about that, below.
Set up for vancamping. This is in the borderlands on a week-long father-daughter run from El Paso>Van Horn>Marathon>Terlingua>Presidio>El Paso. One of my favorite places on earth, Brewster and Presidio counties, Texas.
Rugged, remote, and sparsely populated. Same kind of country you see in the movies No Country for Old Men, Hell Or High Water, Paris Texas, and The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada. If you've never been, look up these movies, and (though some of the scenes in Hell Or High Water were done just over in NM) you'll want to experience this part of the country and the high desert of west Texas even more.
Santa Elena Canyon. That's Mexico on the other side, and for scale, the tiny figure at the edge of the Rio Grande is my adult kid.
I really prefer a walk-through floor plan, and with the amount of room I have in this vehicle, think I will keep a walk-through plan setup for the next long adventure. After the 4x4 conversion everything will be a lot more buckled-down and strapped in for greater off-road travel, of course, than in the setup above. Planning a tent-sided pop top, too. That will free up even more space for photography and other gear below, a giant stash area above the front seats, and a spacious full-length stand-up height when the top is up that I plan on using as photography blind for birding, when shooting (photo-shooting) wildlife, and for astro-photography.
My van in work mode again, ready for a load to be strapped down and hauled lord knows where.
I've hauled expedited, time-critical loads including everything from a 6"x6"x60" box with a special crane part that a mine in northern Quebec needed STAT...
to pallets stacked with auto parts from Laredo TX going to Jeep in Detroit where an assembly line was waiting, to a kid in a casket from an airport in Kansas to a funeral home in southern Oklahoma, where guys in suits and ties were hoping I'd get there before the mourners did.
That's 8' of E-track on the floor, and self-built side boxes along each side that taper out to full width at the doors while retaining 52" between wheel wells. That way it funnels loaded pallets and keeps them centered. I designed and built the side boxes to be a comfortable sitting height, so when I put a bed-board or my gear containers back there, there's a comfortable consistency. There's a total of 140" of usable floor from back of the seat bases to rear doors. I'll take a good van over a pick-up and it's 96" bed, any day. I built out the rest of the interior too, with radiant barrier, insulation, easy to maintain walls, Fantastic roof vent, etc.
In work mode like this, I keep about 27" of space directly behind the seats (ahead of the white 1/3 bulkhead behind the driver's seat) for personal gear, including a folding bed that goes across the width of the van at the same height as the side boxes. That way, when in between work gigs, I spread out in the back and can put the bed along the length of either side or straight across again, as my gear boxes (other side of the bulkhead in this shot) that support the bed, are the same height as the side boxes. Makes a super-convenient and very modular, change-on-the-fly setup. I can even use the gear boxes and folding bed in a ground tent.
The side boxes have tops with finger holes and hold an incredible amount of gear. A ton of camping stuff, ratchet straps, portable air compressor, maintenance fluids, tools, etc. The small white bulkhead at the end of the left side boxes but before the 1/3 bulkhead hides a little fold-out desk and cabinet for personal items. All very neat and tidy when I pull up to pick up or deliver a load somewhere. Gets lots of comments and questions.
When I'm done setting it up for this next long trip, with 4 wheel drive, pop-top, and hauling an XV-2, I'll be able to stay out for months, hopping from one great location to the next, refueling and stocking up here and there, and looking for various groups to visit and rallies and expos to attend.
See you out there somewhere.
Dry roads and open skies...
Road
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Advocate III
Enthusiast III
Thank you Jake. I enjoy following your youtube channel. Let me know if you are in southwest Missouri.
Enthusiast III
Thank you. It is pretty warm in Missouri right now as well, but you are always welcome. There are some nice areas to visit.
Hello everyone, my name is Guillermo, but you can call me Memo. I recently by a 4X4 vehicle and I really happy and exited about overlanding.
Location: Mexico city. If you are planning any trip to Mexico, I will be more than happy to help.
Rig: Jeep Wrangler Sahara 2016
Overlanding level: Novice
I have done some basic camping and short trips, but I planning a 3-4 states travel within Mexico, and hopefully some day, a long trip to US.
See you in the road !!!
Location: Mexico city. If you are planning any trip to Mexico, I will be more than happy to help.
Rig: Jeep Wrangler Sahara 2016
Overlanding level: Novice
I have done some basic camping and short trips, but I planning a 3-4 states travel within Mexico, and hopefully some day, a long trip to US.
See you in the road !!!
Hi everyone!
I'm excited to be here! I'm just getting into Overlanding. I picked up a CPO 2014 Toyota 4Runner Trail w/KDSS last month and have begun an exhaustive research effort to identify which modifications I'll want to make. Looking forward to becoming a part of this community - see you out there!
-Inspectorgn
I'm excited to be here! I'm just getting into Overlanding. I picked up a CPO 2014 Toyota 4Runner Trail w/KDSS last month and have begun an exhaustive research effort to identify which modifications I'll want to make. Looking forward to becoming a part of this community - see you out there!
-Inspectorgn
Advocate III
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Hey Guys and Gals!
My name is Ben and I'm just getting into Overlanding.
I live in north Alabama in the Huntsville Area.
I drive a 1988 YJ Sahara that is basically stock (I changed it's old transmission for an AX-15)
As I said earlier I am a complete novice. I have some experience driving in mud and on bad trails but otherwise I'm pretty green.
Look forward to being a part of this community. See you on the Road!
My name is Ben and I'm just getting into Overlanding.
I live in north Alabama in the Huntsville Area.
I drive a 1988 YJ Sahara that is basically stock (I changed it's old transmission for an AX-15)
As I said earlier I am a complete novice. I have some experience driving in mud and on bad trails but otherwise I'm pretty green.
Look forward to being a part of this community. See you on the Road!
Attachments
Hey Ben - welcome to OB. Nice rig! Safe travels and enjoy the open road!
Hey, Ben! Thank you for the message post and your kind words. Glad I gave you some inspiration to get you into Overlanding! I haven't made it to AL for my official state visit - BUT I will be there! I have a questionnaire I use for my 50 state road trip which provides me with your contact info when I'm in your area - I hope you will complete it -https://goo.gl/forms/ZopZP74rkYqGTBhh1 - Until then, safe travels and enjoy the open road!
Hello all,
My name is Max I'm 22 and just getting in to this overlanding thing.
I have a 2006 Gmc Sierra 2500hd Duramax, that I am outfitting to explore.
Over the past month or so I've been loading up on supplies for my first trip utilizing the truck
A short weekend trip to the heart of West Virginia, Coming at the end of the month (much excite)
I am a hobbyist photographer and an avid moutain biker so I'm super excited to start my overlanding adventures.
Onto the pics, (if it works)
DSC_7251 by Max Foltz, on Flickr
DSC_7241 by Max Foltz, on Flickr
My name is Max I'm 22 and just getting in to this overlanding thing.
I have a 2006 Gmc Sierra 2500hd Duramax, that I am outfitting to explore.
Over the past month or so I've been loading up on supplies for my first trip utilizing the truck
A short weekend trip to the heart of West Virginia, Coming at the end of the month (much excite)
I am a hobbyist photographer and an avid moutain biker so I'm super excited to start my overlanding adventures.
Onto the pics, (if it works)
DSC_7251 by Max Foltz, on FlickrDSC_7241 by Max Foltz, on Flickr
Atlanta, GA
2005 4Runner V8 Sport.
Relative Newb, but learning and getting out there!
Here are some pics of some trips.
2005 4Runner V8 Sport.
Relative Newb, but learning and getting out there!
Here are some pics of some trips.
Dude, sweet rig! Were these pictures taken somewhere in Georgia?
