Hi all - I'm glad to have found this forum. I'm returning to the overland/vehicle camping world after being without a 4x4 for 5 sad and painful years!
I love backpacking, snowcamping and car camping just about anywhere, and fortunately every type of climate and geography is...sort of, nearby. We're in Oakland California, which means I can get to low desert, high deert, the coast, subalpine and alpine regions; the downside is most anywhere I really want to visit is a solid 4-10 hour drive! My first 4x4 was a Jeep TJ Wrangler back in 1998 - a great vehicle of mediocre build quality. I loved that loud, torquey, big personality vehicle, but not the constant struggle to fit gear into its minuscule space. Its straight-six engine was the bomb for climging trails, but feeding that engine to just GET to the mountains ( at 11 or 12 miles per gallon) was a bit painful.
My next vehicle was 2000 Isuzu Trooper - what a fantastic overland vehicle. Much more space than the Wrangler, better gas mileage, superb four wheel drive train (especially on snow) tons of storage...Anyway I still miss that rig but the second time I was rear-ended did the old Trooper in.
I really hesitate to call my current vehicle a "rig" as it's a bone-stock 2018 Subaru Forester (Premium trim, I believe) that I'm currently taking over from a family member. I haven't even taken a picture of it yet, but it's lightly used (less than 8,000 miles) and has a lot of potential. I have a good sense of the trade-offs I'm making with the Forester - it's not really a 4x4, and I know I'll miss not having a low-range transfer case, but I''m going to love getting 25 or 30 MPG on the drive TO the trailhead, and I think it will be a pleasant daily driver for the 98+% of the time I'm on crowded roads in the Bay Area. I'm just learning about Foresters, but I expect I'll add more lighting, a solid rear hitch (mostly as a recovery point) and some skid plates.
Looking forward to connecting with the overland community and getting out more.
Brian
