S&YE161 - Silver Surfer Forester

[00:00:00] Hello everyone, welcome to another episode. This is episode 161. Yes with Liam, who goes by Silver Surfer Forester. We hear about where he came up with the name and how he came up with the name.

[00:00:35] It's a pretty cool story, so you'll get to hear that here in a little bit. Also how he ended up with this Forester and of course we hear about his Subaru journey

[00:00:46] and we hear the story behind the mask because that was a question I definitely had to ask and he gets into that. So we will hear from Liam here in just a bit. I hope you all had a great weekend. I had a good weekend.

[00:01:03] It was really busy on Sunday. I volunteered at Rowdy Girls Sanctuary, which is the sanctuary that I've been volunteering at for quite a while. It had been warm all week and then this weekend the temperature drops.

[00:01:19] We got there Sunday morning around maybe 940 and it was in the high 30s and earlier in the week it had been in the 70s. So two years in a row we come to do this volunteer day following Valentine's and that's

[00:01:36] why they call it the heart working volunteer day. And cold again. Thankfully it wasn't windy like it was last year, but it was still cold and it was doing work outside. We eventually had to take our jackets off because you start working and you get really

[00:01:55] get hot with the jacket on. Yeah, it was a good day and it was nice to get out there and volunteer again because it had been a year. I used to go volunteer pretty often when I first found out about them.

[00:02:08] Actually, I think I volunteered every weekend for about three and a half months and I really enjoyed it. So I'd like to get back and volunteer more. So hopefully I can start doing that. But again, hope you all had a great weekend. That was part of my weekend.

[00:02:25] Not sure what I did Saturday. I don't remember. I know I did something, but today was so busy and was such a long day. That's all I can remember right now. The Subie and You podcast is brought to you by Eccentric Designs.

[00:02:37] For those of you who don't know, Eccentric Designs is a small community driven business that offers custom fit vinyl overlays for most Subaru models. This includes various designs for the rear reflectors, taillights and side taillights. I also offer fun decal designs like the popular fender stripes and stickers.

[00:02:54] To find designs for your Subie, head on over to eccentricdesigns.com. There's always more projects in the works, so be sure to follow at eccentric.designs on Instagram. Thank you as always Eccentric Designs for sponsoring the Subie and You podcast. Go check out her Instagram page.

[00:03:11] Check out our website. Buy our decals. You can also buy the Subie and You podcast decals through her website. So go check that out as well if you want to help rep the podcast and support it.

[00:03:23] I have another patron question of the week and this one comes from Heather who goes by San Diego Stunner. She asks, if you had been given the power to change one thing on earth with a snap of your fingers, what would it be?

[00:03:38] And it was really easy for me. As you all know, the other passion in my life besides having a Subaru and being a part of this community and doing the podcast is my vegan lifestyle.

[00:03:51] So if I had the power to change one thing on earth with a snap of my fingers, I know people may not agree with this, but I would snap my fingers and make it a vegan world. I think that would be pretty amazing and for many reasons.

[00:04:10] So that's my answer. Thank you so much Heather for the question. I really appreciate it. This episode is brought to you by SubaruGear.com and I'm coming at you with another collection you can find on the website. This week we're talking about the vintage collection.

[00:04:29] Subaru's rich history dates back to 1968 with the introduction of its first car, the Subaru 360. It was an immediate hit and became a popular micro car in Japan. The name Subaru translates to Pleiades in Japanese, also known as the Seven Sisters,

[00:04:52] a group of stars located in the northwest of the constellation Taurus. Through the years, Subaru has become more than just a car company and this collection of vintage Subaru clothing and merchandise is a nostalgic celebration of its remarkable legacy.

[00:05:10] Head over to SubaruGear.com and check out the vintage collection where you will find a selection of hats, t-shirts, hoodies, sweatshirts, and more. When you shop SubaruGear.com be sure to use the code SUBINU24 for 20% off your purchase

[00:05:26] of any items from this vintage collection or any other items that you find on the site. Remember that if your total purchase is over $50 after the discount, you automatically get free shipping. Thank you so much SubaruGear.com for sponsoring the Subinu Podcast and thank you for extending

[00:05:46] this great offer to the listeners of the Subinu Podcast. This episode is also brought to you by Ryko Wheels where you will find the Drifter, the Detour, the Teton like I have on Pearl, and the Seeker.

[00:06:02] Ryko Wheels is committed to providing you with the highest quality specialized wheels and lift kits that will allow you to travel further, experience new adventures, and discover all of those extraordinary destinations. They want to make sure you're ready for anything wherever adventure takes you.

[00:06:20] And of course the quest for adventure begins with you and Ryko is what gets you there. Be sure to use the code SUBINU10 at checkout to get 10% off a set of wheels or a lift kit. Thank you so much Ryko for sponsoring the Subinu Podcast.

[00:06:36] Speaking of wheels, I haven't cleaned mine in a very long time. They're definitely in desperate need of cleaning. They don't look bad, they're just not clean. So I ran out of wheel cleaner a long time ago and I just haven't gone to get any and

[00:06:55] I just haven't even properly washed Pearl in months. I've only used the self car wash with the pressure washer to get the mud off and that's pretty much it. So it hasn't been too cold here but it's been cold enough that I don't want to wash it.

[00:07:16] But then when it's warmed up, I'm busy doing other stuff and I just haven't taken the time because I can't do it here at my apartment. I have to go to my brother's house or my mom's house or somebody else's house to go wash Pearl

[00:07:29] and I just haven't taken the time to do it. So maybe I'll get it done sometime when it warms up again but I guess we'll see. But yeah, my wheels, they could look better and hopefully soon they will. How often do you wash your car?

[00:07:48] I know a lot of people keep them really clean and I'm very envious of that because there are some pretty sweet looking, very clean, shiny Subies out there. And for those of you that are able to do that often, that's awesome and I think that's great

[00:08:05] that you can. Of course if you're looking at Pearl, you can see my wheels and you can see maybe that they're not so clean but something that you cannot see unless you open the hood are the Melee Design Firm products that I have.

[00:08:19] I've got the battery box, engine bay caps, front strut tower brace and the engine pitch stop. And of course at Melee Design Firm they believe that making these performance parts from the highest quality materials is the only way to operate.

[00:08:35] They're offering 5% off select Rally Spec products such as a Group 35 Rally Spec battery mount for the Crosstrek and other Subaru products such as the front strut tower brace and engine bay caps. And the engine bay caps come in nine different colors.

[00:08:51] So when you head over to MeleeDesignFirm.com you can check out all of the colors that are offered. When you decide what it is that you want on the website, you can receive 5% off by using the code SUBIEPLUSU at checkout.

[00:09:05] So the little plus symbol is what you'll use. Head on over to MeleeDesignFirm.com and check out the Rally Spec and Subaru section of the website to see what they have to offer. Thank you so much Melee Design Firm for sponsoring the Subie and You podcast.

[00:09:23] And now we will get into this conversation with Liam to hear about his Forester, how he came up with the name, how he ended up with the Forester in the first place, and of course the story behind the mask and his Subaru journey. So here we go.

[00:09:41] All right, welcome. How's it going man? How you doing? I'm good. I'm good. I'm doing good. It's, uh, like I was telling you before we started recording, we're doing this over the

[00:10:08] phone and it's been a long time since I've done one over the phone, but it's kind of nice. It's different. It's always good to do something different. It brings me back to the good old days, you know? Oh yeah, yeah. Back to the companions. Yeah, yeah.

[00:10:22] Well, before we get things kicked off Subaru related, I have to ask the question so that somebody doesn't get mad at me for forgetting, but do you prefer waffles or pancakes? I am a waffle guy.

[00:10:43] I like the waffles, maple syrup, good old Canadian maple syrup on the waffles. Oh yeah, I can see that. Yeah. I don't know. Some of those pancakes are just, they're just a little too dry.

[00:10:55] So sometimes you don't always have fruit around to throw in there to help moisten it up and yeah, we're going to go with waffles. I get that. You know, it's, uh, they're good, but, uh, I'm a, I'm a pancake guy, so that's okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's okay.

[00:11:11] I still like them. I do like, I do like waffles though. Okay, okay. Don't hate them or something. Oh God, no, no. They are good. Yeah. So getting to your Forester, is this your first Subaru?

[00:11:27] No, no, actually I, um, my first, my first, my first Subaru was a Subaru WRX STI. Nice. What year? It was in 19, 2019. How long did you have that? I had for literally, I think just hitting four years.

[00:11:48] So I worked, I worked, I worked at the Subaru dealership, so I had access to almost any Subaru I wanted. And not going to lie, when I was on Subarus, I realized we'd never really had an STI on

[00:12:00] the lot to show people and have because we never really sold them. So that kind of was one of the reasons to get one to, you know, have and show and enjoy a car.

[00:12:10] And then of course everybody telling me and test driving them, uh, that's what made me go after that vehicle. Yeah. It was my dream at the very beginning. So you don't have it anymore then? No, no, I got rid of it actually last year.

[00:12:26] Honestly, since starting this account and everything, I've been driving the Forester more than anything with insurance and it just sitting there and not getting driven. It was just better just to get rid of it. Yeah. Yeah. It was tough to do it.

[00:12:40] And I love that car like, cause it was my first Subaru. So it was hard to do it, but financially and everything just made more sense that I didn't have it. So I, that's what I decided to do.

[00:12:51] And I do not regret it, but in a sense I do, but one day I did, I do keep, I did keep the VIN number. So maybe one day I'll, uh, I'll get her back. Nice. Yeah. Good play there.

[00:13:04] So going from the STI and having, you know, a street build, where did your interest come in for like, why'd you end up getting a Forester? So pretty much what the start of the Forester was, um, I, you know, selling cars as, as

[00:13:26] a car salesman would, you get, you know, the older, older vehicles that come in for trade. So I had a nice, uh, older lady trading in her 2011 Subaru Forester with just under 200,000 dollars and ended up making a deal with her on the new car.

[00:13:45] She traded that in, I ended up looking at it and it actually turned out pretty nice. And that car or the Forester that I'm driving now was originally going to be for my mother at the time.

[00:13:57] So I was going to gift that to her cause she needed a vehicle at the time to go, you know, to doctor appointments, you know, do regular life. So that was the plan, but things got in the way.

[00:14:07] She unfortunately got cataracts at the time and, you know, had to wait like a year to get that done. Right. So that was kind of the unfortunate event that happened and postponed her from actually being able to drive.

[00:14:21] Like she couldn't drive, she didn't have a license, she just couldn't see. So it wasn't safe. And then that she didn't end up taking the vehicle. She ended up passing from, from cancer, unfortunately. Oh, I'm sorry. A year or so later. Yeah.

[00:14:38] So, you know, I decided that was kind of maybe another reason why I kind of wanted to keep the Forester too other than, you know, giving up the FTI. Yeah. I mean, to go from where your original reason for getting the Forester and then now being

[00:14:54] able to, you know, hang on to it and use it and drive it, it's kind of like a, you know, a memento to your mom, I guess. Huh? Yeah. Yeah. And then just, you know, and kind of like after all that happened, it was one of those

[00:15:09] things you just see and start seeing people online enjoying modifying the vehicle. And I thought, okay, there's a potential here. I do like going out and ventures and camping and all that kind of stuff. So that's where that kind of played into a factor too.

[00:15:23] I was like, okay, well, this is mine now. I can't give it to her. That's a turn to a venture vehicle and, you know, try to travel as much as possible. Yeah. So what was the, when you started seeing people modifying their Subarus, what was the first

[00:15:40] things that you started to think about doing? And then like, what was your first actual mod? So in terms of whatever, because that was the thing I was seeing people online doing

[00:15:53] it and there was more of like, you know, the WX FTI community that I was seeing as well. So I was like, okay, like there's a lot of people doing that. Let's go the other way and lift the vehicle instead of lowering the vehicle.

[00:16:04] So that was actually the first modification I did with the Forester was lifting it. So I got a lift kit. Nice, nice. And then were you starting to, cause so you said you saw like more, I guess of the street

[00:16:17] build and decided to go obviously the opposite route to lift it so that you can get off road more. But then did you start like connecting with other off-road Subarus and started seeing

[00:16:28] what they were doing and that started to inspire more of what you were decided to do with yours? Yeah, a hundred percent. There was a lot of online people that I noticed that had similar vehicles that I did.

[00:16:43] And they were already like, you know, kind of established online and whatnot there. So that's where, you know, kind of like seeing what they've done to their vehicle, maybe follow or ask them even on online, you know, comment on their picture or even just DM them

[00:16:59] and see if they're willing to give you the tips. There is somebody like I can mention actually right now that helped out a lot, like right at the start, cause I noticed him right at the start as well with Subie X4. He's an Australian fella named Lamonti.

[00:17:16] He's got the same Forester as me, but he has the turbo version. Of course, you know, that's a nicer version of my Forester, but yeah, he's got it well modded and he has the terrain and everything to go with it too.

[00:17:31] So I feel like his judgment was a good one and it's turned out nice. So I really appreciate his advice over the years actually. Yeah, and it's nice when you can connect with people like that who can help you out, you know, when you've got questions.

[00:17:47] And I mean, there's so many people in the community that are like great about helping out with, you know, questions that you might have. You know, if there's a mod that you're thinking about, you're not a hundred percent sure how

[00:17:59] to do it, you can ask them and people are just really helpful. And they, you know, we all get excited for each other's mods and we want to see us, we

[00:18:08] want to see each other build up our Subarus and be able to go out and have fun with them and just cheer each other on. A hundred percent. It's great. There's a lot of people out there that are willing to give information about certain things

[00:18:22] and even more on top of what you ask too, which is great. I love it. So when you decided to lift it, when did you start actually going off road with it? And like, do you have a lot of trails and spots around you to get off road?

[00:18:40] Yeah, yeah. Like, in terms of like when I first started, it was probably like we started like geocaching. I find geocaching was a big thing because I don't know if you know that, you know, people hide stuff around common areas and unbought areas or sorry, owned areas.

[00:19:04] And geocache, you just look for, you know, little trinkets and such and they give you good ideas to like how to hide things and such all around. So that was kind of where finding those things.

[00:19:17] There were certain areas that were, you could discover because it was property that no one known, aka Crown land is what we call it up here in Canada. And you just start discovering things all around the geocaches that I was finding.

[00:19:32] So that was the one big thing that I found help with discovering areas to off road and trails and discover really. So that was a big factor at the start of my adventures. Yeah.

[00:19:46] And I'm guessing going off road, you started to really discover how capable it is off road because were you finding any areas that were like maybe a little sketchy and then you're like, Hey, let's see what this thing can do.

[00:19:59] And then realize, Oh, this thing's actually really capable. A hundred percent. There's multiple times where, yeah, like, especially through the snow, that's where I find you open up your eyes to how potential these vehicles are, especially when, you know,

[00:20:17] you get those big snowfalls out of nowhere within like, you know, a couple hours and you know, the whole town shuts down and you gotta get, you know, to certain spots, aka maybe two words, cause maybe it might be over, maybe or not.

[00:20:29] There was a story about that. You know, big snowfall, you shovel off your car in the morning and go to work. Luckily I live in town, so I was able to drive to work and get there within a relatively quick time.

[00:20:43] But it was like town shut down and then of course people need help. People need to get unstuck. That's where I'm like the only car that's really able to move on the road. Everybody else is stuck.

[00:20:55] So that's where, you know, I can offer my help here and there, but it's one of those things I can just transport you from here to there cause it was, it was deep and unplowed. Yeah. The whole town shuts down except for the old Silver Surfer Forester.

[00:21:12] Yeah, that was, uh, that was interesting. Wish that was more recorded, but unfortunately. Yeah. I was, uh, you know, driving and worrying about that instead. Yeah. So where did you come up with the name Silver Surfer Forester? Obviously it's silver.

[00:21:29] Obviously it's a Forester, but do you have like a, you know, do you like Silver Surfer or something? Is that like a thing that you, you liked the character since a kid or just seemed appropriate? That was a more of the aspect.

[00:21:43] It was, it seemed a little bit more appropriate. There's kind of like two stories, I guess, behind it. There's kind of like a real life experience that I got from, from, uh, from driving the car. So there was a story where I was driving the Forester.

[00:21:58] I think I was going down just like a, like a back road or whatever. And, um, it was super slippery, that kind of thing. And I remember just, you know, I wasn't going too fast, but you know, hit the brakes

[00:22:09] to, you know, slow down and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and then I was traveling right down to come to a stop or want to come to a stop.

[00:22:16] And unfortunately hit a patch of ice and it was a big batch of ice. So I ended up gliding like camera on like a 45 degree angle. Fifty feet, let's say almost into a tree.

[00:22:29] Oh no, you know, this is this is, of course, but then where the area I was going to, it was kind of like surrounded by water. I was going a little bit faster, I might have went into the drink there.

[00:22:40] I was kind of flatting but I was surfing because I was near water. Silver. I looked up online to make sure no one else had the name. It worked out. I typed it in and it gave me the little green checkmark. Boom. I went with it.

[00:23:00] That's a great way to come up with a name. After looking into learning about the Silver Surfer, I do feel like reading about it and such, I kind of reflect with what the story behind the Silver Surfer is.

[00:23:18] But I didn't really thought of that when I first made the name until really after I started digging into it. Then I started buying up some comics and reading the comics. It's a good little story.

[00:23:33] It's not really that popular, which I'm okay with because that keeps the cost of the comics down, I guess. But there's a movie about it, Fantastic Four. It kind of gives you a good aspect about it too as well and then of course the comics.

[00:23:49] So that was kind of all the reasons why I named it that. So having your Forrester and being in that situation on the ice and kind of feeling like you were surfing in your silver Forrester, that prompted you to check out the comic books, huh?

[00:24:07] In a sense afterwards. After making the account, people started asking me, why did you name it the Silver Surfer Forrester and such? I always rolled with that story. But then it's like, well, let's look into the comics and let's look into the story.

[00:24:22] I never really paid attention to it when the movie came out in theaters and whatnot. So yeah, rewatch the movie, look at the comics, read the comics, see what year it came out, get a little bit of a backstory on it. It was just interesting. That's really cool.

[00:24:39] It's nice how having the car and having that situation kind of prompted you to check out the comic books and then now you're reading them. Yeah, it's neat. I know when you first bought it, your intention wasn't for you.

[00:24:57] And then you started thinking about, hey, what can we do with this thing? But how long did you end up having it before you started doing any mods? I probably had it, I think it was about probably just under a year. I wasn't posting or anything on it.

[00:25:18] I just had it pretty much bone stock, just on steely wheels, snow tires, that kind of thing. Getting ready to give to my mother, just waiting for her to be like, yeah, I got the surgery. I'm good to go. I can see and drive now.

[00:25:36] I have tired, curled arms. We do have free health care and whatnot. You get covered by cataract surgery. It's just, you gotta wait. Yeah, that's the unfortunate part.

[00:25:49] I think you can pay for it too, but of course, it's a lot of money and you'd probably get it done sooner. But of course, it's a lot of money. Yeah, yeah, of course. So you've got some other mods out there.

[00:26:04] Obviously, you've got your roof rack and you've got your tire up there and you've got some recovery boards. And then you've got decals on the back. What are some other things that you've done besides the lift? It looks like you've got some different wheels and tires.

[00:26:21] Yeah, so my wheels are actually the stock wheels that they come with. The 16-inch rims, what they come with, like from factory. I actually got those. So I mentioned I had steelies on it originally. So when I was working at the dealership, I found those in the back.

[00:26:39] So they probably were sitting there probably for years. They're alloy wheels, so they don't rust or nothing happens to them. They've been sitting outside for years. So they're perfectly fine, like barely any scratches. I asked the service manager, she was like, yeah, they've been there for years.

[00:26:55] They're yours. I'm like, perfect. That's awesome. Yeah, I did the old six-layer plasti dip on there to turn them black. And then spent the money on the tires. So that was my second mod, was the tires. The Tyouts Open Country AT3s. Yeah, that's what I have. 70, 16.

[00:27:16] They're great. Yeah, I have a different size, of course. But yeah, I love the Toyos, man. They're awesome. Yeah, like they've been lasting long. Like I'm probably going to get new tires probably in the spring.

[00:27:28] But like three years, all year round, winter, mud, all that, traveling, road trips. Over 80,000 kilometers on a set of tires is pretty good. Yeah, I mean, I'd have to do the conversion of kilometers to miles.

[00:27:44] But I ended up having mine for, I think I got a little over 70,000 miles on mine. And I could have gotten more, but I just, I had the money for new tires and I wanted new tires.

[00:27:59] So because they were the original like, the original tires that I bought when I got my first set of aftermarket wheels. And the tires were just like, they weren't what I wanted them to be.

[00:28:11] Because when I first got the new wheels on, the first set of new wheels, the raised white letters were turned on the inside. Because I forgot to tell them to turn them on the outside.

[00:28:21] So yeah, when I got my second set of wheels and I turned the tires, the raised white letters to the outside, that side of the tire, they were so dirty from being turned in for so long that they just, they've never looked good and clean and black.

[00:28:38] So I'm like, I want good looking tires, you know? So I just went for it. Tires are the main factor with a vehicle, honestly. That's where you should put the money is a good set of tires.

[00:28:52] That's kind of my advice to somebody starting off is get some good tires and some protection and go from there. Yeah, because I mean, if you want to just start going off-roading and just do doing some exploring, tires are going to make a big difference.

[00:29:09] And then yeah, of course, protection, because you want to make sure that you've got your engine, well, your oil pan and transmission pan protected. But, you know, even just with those two things without having a lift and anything else crazy on it,

[00:29:23] like we were mentioning earlier, they're so capable and just having a better set of tires makes them even that much more capable. 100%. Because that was the thing too, like if you're thinking about a lift, but you don't know if you should or not,

[00:29:37] and you know, lift kits aren't cheap, protection at the end of the day is a cheaper route, I think, too, as well for people that don't want to do a lift right away. Yeah. And then with tires, I mean, the all-terrain tires are more expensive.

[00:29:54] But yeah, I mean, so unless you are able to get tires right away, you know, if you don't have to, and you want to wait to get tires, you're going to have to get tires eventually.

[00:30:05] And like what I did with mine is I just saved up the money. And when I was ready to get them, I'm like, now I've got the money because I knew that I was going to need to get them at some point.

[00:30:14] And I just started putting money away so that by the time I got there, I'm like, it wasn't even a worry. I'm just like, boom, here you go. I knew they were going to be expensive, but I was ready.

[00:30:24] Good call, man. Honestly, that's the way to do it. Yeah. Yeah. So what is your favorite mod? I want to say, I want to say probably the tires, honestly. They just, they touch the ground. They do everything for you. Like they were like the second mod I did.

[00:30:50] Like it's, I think, yeah, the tires. Tires definitely like my favorite one so far because yeah, they just do it. It does everything for you, really. Probably the most useful. Yeah, probably the most useful too, huh? Yep. Any future mods coming up for Silver Surfer?

[00:31:09] Yeah. Yeah. So with actually going back to protection, my ride support kind of gave out a little bit.

[00:31:18] So I got to fix that and get the skid plate back on and beef it up a little bit more because it's not the strongest underneath where it bolts onto with the factory bolts. So yeah, I got to fix that up.

[00:31:31] So that'll be like a repair slash mod, I guess you could say. And then I got some LED fog lights I'm going to put in place of like just the regular halogen ones. Yeah, that'll be nice.

[00:31:43] But then of course, yeah, of course like more lights too. That'll be in the future for sure. But other than that, that's pretty much the plan so far for the next couple months. What would you say about your Forester that brings you the most joy?

[00:32:00] Honestly, like being able to sleep in it and doing car camping. Yeah, that's good. That's fruiting. And do you go car camping a lot? Yeah, yeah. That's like my second way of camping honestly. Other than like I do have like a pop-up trailer that I tow with it.

[00:32:23] Yeah, I've seen that. Yeah, so like I usually like say if I'm going to camp for like two or three days, I'll take like the trailer.

[00:32:32] And then say if I'm going to like road trip or just do like a one night camp, I'll just sleep in the back.

[00:32:37] Yeah, that's convenient too. You know, you're not having to worry about getting a hotel or, you know, finding a place to pop up a tent or pulling something behind you. You just pop in the back and go to sleep.

[00:32:50] Honestly, I find that's like the best convenient way to utilize like every inch of your space and not have to worry about getting wet by sleeping on the ground because you're in a tent.

[00:33:04] I know there's ways to, you know, minimize that. But then there's like, you know, the cold ground. There's, you know, unexpected wind and weather. But I'll shield you from that. You can lock the door so no one can get at you. You can lock all your stuff inside.

[00:33:20] Yeah, it's ultimate because I don't like towing. Like I'd rather not tow if I don't have to. But I do like the luxury of standing up in something and, you know, having my arms stretched out and my legs stretched out.

[00:33:33] Yeah, yeah, of course. So what kind of setup do you have in the back?

[00:33:39] So I do like the air mattress and then just, you know, I kind of, you know, fold the seats up or fold the seats forward and kind of tilt them a little bit and kind of fill the void with or like the, you know, the leg void or sorry, the leg space where, you know, people would sit in the backseat.

[00:33:58] Then I kind of fill that space up with a lot of stuff I have in the trunk. So when I transfer all the stuff from the trunk, I put it all kind of down in there to fill the space for like where the pillows go and everything.

[00:34:09] And pump it up, you know, just through the cigarette plug in there in the back and put usually a wool blanket down and sleeping bag and one or two pillows depending on how much space I got. And that's pretty much it for the sleeping setup.

[00:34:27] Yeah, no, it's good. I mean, it's convenient and then being able to just like utilize the stuff that you have to accommodate your sleeping, you know, arrangement. That's good.

[00:34:37] Yeah, I'm not too picky with really anything that I need. You know, just get down to the skivvies and jump in the old sleeping bag and hopefully, you know, we have a good night's sleep and we don't get too cramped up because I am 6'3", so it is a little tight, but I make it work.

[00:34:57] Yeah, that's good. As long as you can fit and, you know, like I said, make it work. That's what you got to do, right? You got to make it work.

[00:35:03] Yeah, I was looking through your account and it looks like you've driven on quite a few trails. You've driven through snow, mud, water. Have you ever driven through sand?

[00:35:14] Not so much. I've actually just discovered kind of a spot where like a lot of like side-by-sides and four-wheelers go and it seems to be like an old open pit type deal. So that's something where I'll be heading to in the spring because I did go to it in the winter here just like a couple weeks ago, but it was all frozen.

[00:35:37] So there was no snow, but it was frozen. So it didn't really act like what sand would act like. So that was funny. But we'll be back.

[00:35:48] So between the snow, mud and the water, which are the ones that you have driven through, what would you say is your favorite?

[00:35:55] Favorite? It's probably mud. I like, you know, painting the car a different color, driving down, you know, watching people, seeing me go through drive-throughs, people out talking about it. It's funny.

[00:36:09] Yeah, the mud is fun. I mean, when I've gotten my car really dirty, that's when I get a lot of looks. People are like, where'd this guy go? Yeah, exactly right. And it's fun just slipping around in the mud too.

[00:36:23] Yeah, you don't need much at all to really have fun in it. Yeah, it's just a mess to clean up. That's the tough part. Yeah, I work hard to play hard type deal with that situation. Yeah. Have you ever gotten stuck?

[00:36:42] Yeah, I find the snow is where I get stuck the most. It just acts really differently. There's multiple scenarios when it comes to ice, snow and potentially water as well.

[00:36:58] It melts when it touches the car and such, especially when you're trying to dig yourself out of it. So, you know, compact it more, makes it harder to shovel and makes it heavier to get from underneath your car over to the side of the car.

[00:37:12] So that's where those traction boards definitely have been used more in the winter than spring, fall or summer.

[00:37:21] Yeah, I guess that's probably like snow is probably the toughest and most challenging terrain to drive through because of like the way you just explained it. Is there so many different situations that you can get into?

[00:37:33] And I know like I've I've I haven't experienced it myself, but I've heard of people say it.

[00:37:36] I've seen people where they're driving through the snow and everything's going well, and then they get high centered and then they just can't get any traction because not because their tires are bad or the snow is too soft. It's just they just, you know, can't get anything because it's all packed up underneath the middle.

[00:37:53] Yep. 100%. That's usually the only way it happens for me. It seems to do the high center going on and just get out and start digging.

[00:38:04] Yeah. So besides the sliding around on the ice, which helped you come up with the name for your car, any other crazy trails or any other crazy stories from the trails?

[00:38:15] Probably, I just I remember the one of the earlier ones where I remember we had a really bad storm a couple of years back and there's a place that's actually pretty close to to us here that you can yeah, it's four by four friendly. It's more like trails for like ATVs, but you can, you know, mob through the skinny roads and the skinny little trails and such for the forest there safely.

[00:38:45] Of course, too. But there was the storm, of course, so a lot of trees are down in the way. So there's people, of course, driving down those roads, coming to the trees and they're kind of big trees. So what they would do is they would like clear spot around the tree.

[00:39:00] Oh, yeah. And I remember like just flexing really weird. Yeah. So me trying to change a tire like on even ground. Oh, that would suck.

[00:40:36] It would not have been fun. So I just drove, drove, drove and right to the right to the road there and just sat it down there and ended up changing it right there on the side of the road. Kept on my way.

[00:40:49] Yeah, it's good that you heard that because if you hadn't heard it and you would have kept going, man, you could have really gotten bogged down in something. And then like, yeah, well, you know, then it would really be bad because not only are you like in something that's not really good terrain, but then to have a flat and try to change it in that. Yeah, that's you made the right call.

[00:41:09] I think so, too. Yeah. And it was like it's pop tires. So me driving on a pop tire, it's trash anyway. So might as well just send it right.

[00:41:17] Exactly. Yeah. So how often do you get to out to the trails and do you have a lot that are near you? And then like what is the closest trail to you? Like how long does it take to get to the closest trail?

[00:41:32] Probably about half an hour to like a real actual, you know, couple of kilometer long trail type type deal. And then after that, like I find because I'm in between, I'm like an hour and a half away from Toronto.

[00:41:48] So I find before you start getting to a place called like, oh, sorry, the 401 Highway, I find there's a lot of things and a lot of areas up in there that kind of like more like farm fields and just rolling hills. And that's where I tend to find a lot of a lot of trails. And that's probably about 45 minutes away, an hour away.

[00:42:10] Half an hour, probably for at least a good, decent trail. Yeah. And how often are you able to get out?

[00:42:20] I try to go out honestly as much as possible, like almost every day really. Because, you know, there's always something to find and there's always something I miss or like say I go to one spot for one day and it's like, okay, let's do it again. Just see if I missed anything. And, you know, nine times out of 10, I do miss something or something like a little closer, a little farther away from that area.

[00:42:45] And it's just, you know, putting puzzle pieces together, you start linking roads up together and you start just start mapping things out on Google Maps. I love how you can pin spots on Google Maps and Apple Maps. And there's a lot of red dots on my Apple Maps.

[00:43:02] Oh, that's awesome. That's really cool. So like entrance, this entrancing like trailheads, all those marked spots to like camp out at. Nice. Have you found anything crazy like out on the trail? You know, while you've been driving around?

[00:43:23] Like recently actually. So one of the trails that are actually pretty close to us, they are building a huge Buddhist temple. It's been like going on for like 10 years and probably gonna be another 10 years before they complete it.

[00:43:42] But yeah, it's crazy. I got a couple of pictures I need to post. I'm kind of afraid to post them because the trail goes right by it and multiple people have definitely gone in and snuck in and such and, you know, made a little hole in the fence.

[00:43:58] So I've, you know, put my head over the fence and whatnot and take a couple pictures just to see what I can see. And yeah, there's, that was pretty cool. Yeah, actually seen it.

[00:44:10] It's built like in the valleys and such. So when you drive by the area, you can't really see it. You only see like rooftops and like little edges and corners and little kind of entrances and such. But you don't actually see the structures they have. So that was like a good little angle.

[00:44:25] So I'll be hopefully posting some of that maybe to the story there on the 24 hour type rollout. Yeah, yeah. That'd be interesting. I don't want them to know where the vantage point is and block it up. Yeah.

[00:44:43] For people to see when they're trailing on that trail there because it's their main trail. Like a lot of people do it. Seems pretty well used. So I don't know what the story is, but yeah, that was one of my recent memories for finding something cool on a trail.

[00:45:01] Yeah, that's definitely very interesting too. Yeah, yeah. I'm patiently waiting for it to open up so I can go and discover and learn about it. But it's taking a very, very long time. Yeah. So also...

[00:45:17] They're shipping stuff in from China and other countries. So I can't really blame them. Yeah, yeah. I can see how that would take a while. But yeah, that's a long time. Yeah, right? Yeah.

[00:45:30] So I was also looking on your profile and it says you have driven five provinces and 17 states. So which provinces and which states have you traveled to?

[00:45:42] All right. Yeah, so I live in Ontario. So I've traveled Ontario pretty good. And I've gone as far as Lake Superior for Ontario. And then of course to the east of us is Quebec. So I've camped in Quebec and slept in Quebec a couple times there.

[00:46:05] And then the next province would be New Brunswick. So that's the next province from Quebec going out east. And then there's Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island. And then those are my provinces for Canada and the states.

[00:46:25] So I did like a road trip out like Midwest to visit my cousin in Colorado. So I road tripped right through Michigan down to Indiana, slept in Indiana, went through Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, slept there and visited Colorado.

[00:46:46] And then her family wanted to go to Las Vegas because it was actually Thanksgiving, American Thanksgiving. So it's November there. So she wanted to go for that day or that week to go to Vegas.

[00:47:00] So we met her in Las Vegas. So I drove a couple days before they left and went to Utah, stayed in Utah, went to Moab and played around there a little bit and then went over to Vegas, stayed in Vegas a little bit. And then the farthest I've been was California.

[00:47:17] And just dipped my toes into California over by where the Mojave Desert is. Is that how you pronounce it? Mojave. Mojave Desert, yeah. So we drove through that a little bit and then looped back down through Arizona and then New Mexico.

[00:47:37] So that was that road trip. And then I just went back up through Colorado and through the same states. And then I went to the east coast a little bit of America. And so I went through the Kingston border, so down in through New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Connecticut and then up through Vermont and then over back through near Montreal.

[00:48:05] That's really cool.

[00:48:06] And then I just went back to Canada. So that was kind of my states and provinces for where I've been so far. And planning to hopefully go back to more of the east coast. And then I'd really want to go out west, so like far, far west, so like Washington and Oregon. So I started planning that up.

[00:48:26] It's beautiful out there. Yeah, I need to go out west Canada too. I need to go out west Canada as well. It's kind of the only place I haven't gone now.

[00:48:36] Nice. Yeah. That's really cool that you've been able to make it around big parts of Canada and then down into the US. I mean, I know that taking a trip like that, I'm sure you've seen all kinds of just beautiful scenery and just different towns.

[00:48:52] And it's interesting when you go in through different towns and see like how different the homes are, how different some of the towns are set up and just the amenities and the restaurants and just everything going through different places. You can just see like all the differences, but then you can also see similarities. And it's really cool having an opportunity to explore and see so many different things like that.

[00:49:19] The United States is definitely a vast area with multiple, multiple terrains that you just don't get really anywhere else. I find like we do have stuff like that, but it's all on the lower end of the spectrum, I guess you could say.

[00:49:43] It just doesn't compete to like Utah, Colorado and New Mexico, Arizona. Those four places are just totally opposite to what we have in terms of terrain and weather and just scenery. It's wild. Those would probably be my four main spots I would try to go back to if I had the chance.

[00:50:08] Yeah, I've been to Colorado a few times and I always want to go back to Colorado because ever since I saw the mountains out there for the first time, I'm just like, I fell in love with them. And mountains are my absolute favorite thing on earth. I mean, as far as like, you know, natural landscape, mountains are just like, they're just amazing.

[00:50:28] And I can't, like when I'm there, I just can't stop staring at them and trying to see what different ones I can see, you know, how they differ from one to the other. And just, I don't know, it's just mountains are awesome.

[00:50:45] No, you're 100% right. You just kind of get locked into seeing it. And that was kind of the thing about when I first got to Colorado was it was like literally like blizzard out. Like we were literally coming in probably 1230, 1 o'clock at night, it was a blizzard, made it, it was fine. But we didn't see anything when the morning hit because it was all like snowy and like, it was whiteout. So we literally for the first day couldn't see the mountains.

[00:51:12] And then the next day, it ended up being clear. And then you just look out the window because she lives like in Colorado Springs. Pretty much anywhere you look, it's the mountains. You just look out the window and it's just like, oh wow. And just sitting in the coffee just looking at it like it's a TV. And I was like, oh, I could do this all day.

[00:51:42] I guess the best scenery.

[00:52:13] You could go north of that island without, you know, running into a cliff or, you know, terrain is too crazy in terms of like roads and amenities as far as you could go. And just the views, you got the ocean, North Atlantic. So like you got all the wildlife up there. You got the mountains, keep the camping scenery too as well. Like I literally camped on the side of the cliff.

[00:52:35] Oh man. You can't really beat that. Yeah. It was probably, probably the best.

[00:52:42] Spot that I went to. I would definitely, if you have a chance to get out there or at least just look up like Meatcove on Google Maps and just check out that area. And yeah, it's a great spot.

[00:52:54] And there's also National Park up that way too as well. Nice. What about down in the States? What's your favorite place that you went to?

[00:53:03] Yeah, probably the four I mentioned Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico. But I don't know. It's kind of conflicted because my cousin's in Colorado and it was nice and spent time there.

[00:53:16] But then dipping down into Arizona, it just changed drastically. And that was really interesting to me. Just like they don't have dirt. They have like, what is it? Like the red rock material everywhere. Like the volcanic rock, I guess you can call it.

[00:53:33] And then down into New Mexico, because that was quite interesting as well. And I met Enzo Whips there. He's on Instagram there, Enzo Whips. He took me in when I was passing through America there and showed me a great time on his local trails.

[00:53:51] And there's a bit of some footage on the Instagram about that. But yeah, I really liked the history. His dad was big on history there. So he filled us in on the New Mexico culture and the history about Santa Fe and Albuquerque and the way the land was back in the day and where we were trailing.

[00:54:13] So that was really cool just to learn about New Mexico in general. And I think that kind of helped me decide what my favorite state was. And I think New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Utah, in that order.

[00:54:27] Yeah, no, that's cool. That whole area down there is just awesome. Like I've been to Utah for work, but I haven't been there for fun. So I haven't had a chance to really explore much. But I mean, where we were, I was able to see the mountains and part of like the lake out there, but like Salt Lake. And then I've been to Arizona for fun. And Arizona was like beautiful. And then again, of course, Colorado. But yeah, that whole area down there is just, it's so nice.

[00:54:54] Yeah, I love it. I need to go back for sure. Hopefully in the near future. Just got to hit other spots first. Yeah. So driving from where you did and taking so that was like all one long road trip going down through there. Yeah.

[00:55:10] You bought your Forester with you said just under 200 kilometers. And were you... Yeah, 200,000. Yeah.

[00:55:20] Yeah. Oh, yeah. 200,000. Sorry. But with it being a 2011 having that many kilometers on it and looking at this really long road trip, were you worried at all about taking such a long road trip? And then did you have any issues while you're out on this super long road trip with that many kilometers?

[00:55:42] Yeah, like it was always the, you know, one of the thoughts in the back of my head, but it was one of those things where it's, I know I'm going to be mostly on like the highway. I'm going to be in quite rural areas.

[00:55:55] I have, you know, I have everything I think I need in my vehicle already before going on the road trip. So that kind of gave me the confidence of doing the road trip in a 2011 with 200,000 kilometers, maybe even a little bit more at the time that I decided to leave.

[00:56:13] But yeah, it was always a thought. It was one of those things. It was mostly like just making sure I can like, you know, top off fluids and top off things because I kind of like calculated like how far I actually was going.

[00:56:25] And, you know, it was mostly just an oil change interval, you know, type trip where it's like, yeah, I'm going to probably want to do an oil change at least down there halfway or at least quarters of the way down there.

[00:56:38] But other than that, that's really all that I thought of and worried about on the trip. But, you know, things happen and you get prepared for the worst and, you know, things do happen.

[00:56:52] And I did have a little mishap on the way back and ended up having to, you know, truck the truck, the Forester back on the way back a little bit. But, you know, it is what it is.

[00:57:04] And, you know, that was kind of like my backup plan if all else failed because I knew not to leave it on the side of the highway or leave it on the side of the road. It was going to be broken down because I've heard some pretty nasty stories with people doing that.

[00:57:19] And it's one of those things is just man up and do it. And yeah, I ended up having to travel a little bit with the Forester in the back of a U-Haul. Yeah, that's definitely what it is.

[00:57:33] Yeah, definitely better than leaving it on the side of the road because it's like, I mean, for one thing, you just you never know what can happen. And two, it's like it's your baby, you know?

[00:57:42] Exactly, exactly. And it's one of those things like I'm already on the way back. Like might as well just suck it up and keep on going and just muscle up and put her on the back and keep going.

[00:57:55] And that's the thing, like with being Canadian and such, everything is 30% more expensive. So it's one of those things, might as well just try to get it back to Canada so I can just pay Canadian dollars instead of American dollars to fix.

[00:58:13] But it's a learning experience and I'm a little bit more experienced after that road trip too as well. So different approaches and different actions will be taken when things go wrong. Yeah, yeah. They do. You've got to prepare, right?

[00:58:32] Yeah, definitely. Yeah, I mean, it's good if you know you're going to be on a long trip like that and you've got everything you need, then that's the best thing to do.

[00:58:40] But with these long road trips and all the other driving that you do, how many kilometers do you have on it now? I think like 285, 85,000, about 85,000 kilometers on it.

[00:58:56] Roughly three, because I had the STI kind of overlapping my, you know, getting the Foresters. And like the Forester didn't really get driven that much because I was driving the STI in the process of waiting to give it to my mother and such.

[00:59:12] So that's where I felt like the first year or so of me owning it wasn't really much. Like I probably put maybe five to six thousand kilometers on it the first year.

[00:59:24] But after that, after that first year, that's when it started racking up. So I want to say within three years, maybe two and a half years, I put probably about 85,000 on it. Yeah, that's pretty good.

[00:59:35] Yeah, so it's, you know, both our average technically I think for Canadian drivers around 20 to 24, 23,000 kilometers per year. So, you know, a little higher than average, but you know, it's all experience. It's all adventure, it's all memories, it's all stuff you technically can't pay for really.

[01:00:02] Yeah, I mean, get out and drive it, use it. It's been great. What would you say about your Forester best matches your personality? Probably just, you know, exploring the unknown and, you know, being adventurous and open-minded. Yeah. And just kind of checks all the boxes. I don't know.

[01:00:33] All right. So what's the story behind the mask? Okay, so it was kind of like at the time where, you know, Halloween was coming and such like that.

[01:00:48] I was just kind of thinking where I can kind of switch things up, you know, it's kind of been, I think it was just under a year of me having the account.

[01:00:54] I was like thinking of, you know, what fun ways to switch it up. And I kind of wasn't really, you know, adamant about showing my face and whatnot too.

[01:01:02] But at times where it's like, oh, like there's some things where, you know, I'm going to have to end up showing my face or it's just going to happen because of just the way the angles are and such.

[01:01:12] So that's where it's like, oh, let's incorporate a mask because, you know, first it's Halloween and that will be, you know, some good content and such. And, you know, there's masks out for sale. It was kind of seasonal around here for that kind of stuff.

[01:01:25] And I just kind of ended up rolling with it afterwards. So it kind of, you know, adds a touch of mysteriousness and mystery behind the content I find too as well. Yeah. Kind of becomes your little online identity with your account. Yeah. Yeah. That's cool.

[01:01:45] That's kind of like the reason why. I might keep it rolling as much as I can. I might, you know, just one day, you never know. I might just disappear or I might do a fun unique way of revealing the face. I don't know.

[01:02:02] That's kind of like another reason why I've, you know, kept it rolling. Just to add the aspect of when is he...

[01:02:10] Yeah, the mystery of when is he going to get rid of it? Is he ever going to get rid of it? Who is behind the mask? That kind of thing. Yeah. What does Liam look like? Who is this guy?

[01:02:19] It's like I don't really wear it when I'm meeting people. So the people that have met me in person. Yeah, of course. I just see people like, man, we really don't know what this guy looks like. He wears the mask all the time.

[01:02:34] Yeah. And that's the kind of thing too. Just, you know, kind of like, you know, troll a little bit too. You know, kind of like have my face in the background or me just kind of turn my face or my head like quickly with the mask on.

[01:02:46] You know, just a little things like that. Just add to the content, I guess. Yeah, it's fun. Yeah, right? If you could describe your Forrester in one word, what would it be? I think great. I think great would be the word for that.

[01:03:04] That is. Yeah, that's good. I like that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Great. Yeah, I just honestly, yeah, ticks all the boxes. It does what I need it to do and more. It's an older model and it's still going. It's been great.

[01:03:19] I like that body style too or that generation. Me too.

[01:03:24] You do see it around here, but you don't see any modded versions of that Forrester around here. If you know what I mean. Because I find like the year before me or the year after me, that's the ones that you see around here that are modded. You don't really see the FH model.

[01:03:41] Gotcha. So it's unique too.

[01:03:44] Being different, right? That's kind of how I roll. I kind of want to be different. I kind of want to not do what other people are doing and try to add my own taste to the things that people are doing out there in the world.

[01:03:57] Yeah. You do photography too, right?

[01:04:00] Yeah. That's kind of like my main hobbies growing up and coming into college and such is photography. I always get the little tax return back in the day there and I was just like, screw it. Let's just spend it all on the camera. I've had that camera ever since and that was probably what? 2014, 2015?

[01:04:25] That's good.

[01:04:26] Well, that was kind of when I started the photography stuff or at least trying to do a little bit of it. I did more of a freelance kind of thing and got a couple gigs from it, but it's more of a hobby. Not really taking it too, too seriously other than doing it on Instagram and such.

[01:04:41] Yeah. But I mean, if you're having fun with it and you enjoy it, that's all that matters.

[01:04:44] Right, right. That's kind of the thing. I find once you start making it a job, you might start to lose that passion with certain things. And I find I do tend to have that happen from time to time. You get bored or it kind of forces you to do the job and then you kind of lose the passion for it. So that's where I kind of kept it the hobby and never really turned it into the actual job or money making kind of thing.

[01:05:14] Yeah. Well, here's the get to know the person behind the account. But who is Liam? Who is Liam? My name is Liam. I'm 31 years old. I'm about 63. I have red hair and I live in Canada. Eh? Yeah.

[01:05:38] You know the Americans always got to say eh and pretend like they're Canadian and they know what they're talking about.

[01:05:43] I love it. It's so funny. Like, you know, talking to Americans, like say you're talking to somebody at like the cash or something and then, you know, someone's standing in line behind you and you drop an eh and they just like, oh, you're from Canada. And you say, how did you know?

[01:05:59] Yeah. And you saying eh like four times. Yeah. I mean, I'm from Texas and people tell me that I don't sound like I'm from Texas because I guess I don't have a country twang.

[01:06:13] I hear it. I hear it. I kind of figured you're kind of from more of the south region based off like just from the podcast and such. But definitely if you said Texas, I would've been like, oh, okay.

[01:06:27] Yeah. I definitely don't sound like a lot of my kinfolk that live in East Texas, though.

[01:06:35] That's awesome. My aunt and uncle, they live in North Carolina. So my aunt has my side and then my uncle, he's the American side and he's North Carolina. He's got the heavy accent and it sounds a little bit like that. Yeah. He's actually in radio himself.

[01:06:55] Oh, that's cool. Yeah. That's awesome. So you're Canadian, but where were you born in Canada?

[01:07:05] So I was actually born in Ottawa, which is the capital. I didn't live there essentially because my mom was living there until I was born and then she ended up moving back in with her parents and then raised me back into a small town west of Ottawa called Renfrew.

[01:07:24] So that's where my childhood was growing up and everything like that until I turned 18 and decided to leave the nest and go off to college. Yeah. What is a favorite memory from your childhood?

[01:07:39] Actually, I want to say where everything kind of maybe started, I guess, with adventures and wilderness and nature and everything like that. My grandparents had like, I don't know if you guys know the term, like gully.

[01:07:55] So like kind of the backyard where it's not like, you know, you don't have grass. It's just like pure bush.

[01:08:03] So they just had like, you kind of just go into like a ravine and it's kind of like there was a river kind of way farther down to it.

[01:08:09] So it was all owned by him. So I ended up, you know, just kind of wandering around and kind of like, you know, making forts and checking out the land and, you know, digging and doing kid stuff, you know, down in the bush, just kind of by myself because I was an only child.

[01:08:22] And I think that was kind of my fondest memories was just having the access to go into the wilderness, just literally in my backyard.

[01:08:30] Yeah, that's nice. I have some of those memories too from when I was a kid from trips that we would take to our family reunion that was like out in the country and being able to find wooded areas and little creeks and stuff. That was always a lot of fun.

[01:08:44] Yeah, those are the ones that I remember pretty fully because it was one of those things like as soon as school was done or summer was here. That was kind of what I was doing. Just messing around in the back of the yard there in the gully, as they say.

[01:09:04] It's good to be outdoors too. Oh yeah, that was a thing too. I wasn't really a kid that stayed inside and, you know, video games or watched a lot of TV or anything like that. I was mostly outdoors for the most part, I want to say.

[01:09:19] Yeah, that's good. So what is it that you do for a living? So right now, I'm actually unemployed but I've been doing Instagram honestly for the last two and a bit years. I'm a retired car salesman as I like to tell people.

[01:09:38] So you do other people's accounts or your own accounts? You're running accounts for Instagram? Is that what you were doing?

[01:09:43] Yeah, just running my own account. Just running my own account. I had a pretty good savings, saved up so I've been living off that and just trying to make it on the Instagram side of things.

[01:09:57] Just start getting content out and videoing more of my experiences and trying to edit it up and put them on Rumble and YouTube. So that's kind of my plan for this year is to start making more content, getting out, going more and try to make this the dream job I guess you could say.

[01:10:21] Yeah, because that was my next question is what would your dream job be? And I guess that's what you're working towards, huh?

[01:10:27] Yeah, I want to say just work for myself. What I've been learning over my work experience is working for a dealership, working for multiple companies before and I kind of want to work for myself and do my own thing without forcing it as a job and just kind of tie it into maybe daily life.

[01:10:51] But it's one of those battles where sometimes it's not practical doing that and spending money just trying to follow your dream. But I feel like that's what I need to do for at least right now while I have the time and I'm on the younger side of things.

[01:11:09] I don't have any kids or any major major bills or anything like that. So I took advantage of doing it while you can because life's short.

[01:11:39] Yeah, I mean, it's all like great and there's definitely nothing wrong with finding something that you're passionate about and going towards that goal and going towards that dream. I mean, I think that's what so many people would like to be able to do. You just don't always have those opportunities.

[01:11:57] No, and that was kind of the thing. I never really had an opportunity before because you always have to work and either you have money in no time or you have no time and all the money. It's just that you can never get that perfect balance because that's, of course, life.

[01:12:13] But I had an unfortunate event happen at the dealership that I worked. Things didn't work out. So, of course, I took off from there and decided just not to pursue another dealership in terms of that field because I just fell out of love with it, I want to say.

[01:12:30] I had the money saved up. I made really good money selling cars, AKA two groups. So that's what it was like. I looked up to and never really talked to before. I ended up trying to figure out what do I want to do with my life? I don't want to really stay here. I don't really want to keep working in the car sales world because it was pretty brutal, not going to lie.

[01:13:01] That's where she told me, you're young. You don't have any kids. You have savings. You have the time. Why don't you travel and enjoy life and see the world?

[01:13:17] You've been working for five plus years at the dealership. You don't really get much time off to plan and discover because just the way the world works around selling cars and sales in general. That's where it's like, yeah, I think I'm going to fully commit to that. And that's what I did. And here we are today, two years later.

[01:13:41] That's awesome. I think that's great. I wouldn't say luck, but just best of doing what you're going to do and pursuing that.

[01:13:53] Yeah, that's kind of the goal. Just constantly keep going, stay consistent and hopefully it works out. I got backup plans if it doesn't. I don't have to go that route. I don't have to go that route, but it is what it is. I'll accept it if I have to, but not yet.

[01:14:14] We're still working on it. We'll see. There's lots of opportunities out there with social media and making money on your phone essentially. That's kind of where I want to try to at least take advantage of that as much as possible. Hopefully it starts adding up and start making a living out of it, I guess.

[01:14:38] That's great. What is something that makes you want to get out of bed every day?

[01:14:45] Probably just discovering the next road, the next trail. That's kind of what I do when I wake up. I just think of where I could go either today or tomorrow or the next day.

[01:14:59] That's kind of the thing I don't like. As much as I like sleeping in and sleeping and stuff like that, as soon as I wake up I usually try to get out of bed as much as possible as soon as I wake up because it's just like, you got to get out of bed and that's the first step of the day is getting out of bed.

[01:15:20] Well then what is something that makes you want to stay in bed? Well, I don't know. I find I don't really get too sick often really. The only time I've really been truly sick was when COVID was happening there but other than that, sometimes it's weather honestly.

[01:15:39] It's funny because I have a big six or seven foot window in my room there so I can kind of just flick the curtain back a little bit and if she's not looking too nice, it doesn't seem worth it really.

[01:15:57] As much as I drive a Subaru in any weather, it's good to drive in a Subaru. I can't stand outside and take pictures, I can't make videos really, I can't really have a bonfire or camp really so it's just like, well, let's stay in bed aka let's stay inside.

[01:16:15] Yeah, no that's good. What would be your best bit of advice to give to someone about anything? Probably embracing the unknown, explore without reservation, never underestimate the transformation power of a good road trip really. Yeah, yeah it's true.

[01:16:38] Honestly, as soon as you start dipping into different scenery, different people, different experiences because of the scenery or the people, it's really transformative I find for life in general.

[01:16:56] So I just find, yeah, embrace a good road trip, take the time, plan it out or don't. I like to sometimes not even plan it out and just go with the flow.

[01:17:06] And that might be maybe the first thing some people should do is just go, maybe just even do a day or two, travel as far as you can in one day and then just wherever you end up, try to find a spot to camp in that area and go from there.

[01:17:24] Yeah, I like that. Good advice, man. Appreciate it. How has owning your Subaru and being part of the community changed your life? I find like it's given me a new dimension on life, not just about the vehicle, but about the connections made online and in real life.

[01:17:48] Sharing adventures and experiences with either trailing, off-roading, how to get yourself unstuck or with things that go wrong, that's a big one I find.

[01:18:03] Just tapping into community and like, hey, I have this problem happening with my Subaru. Do you have that problem with your Subaru? I know you have a Forester, it might not be the same year, but you probably ran into a similar problem.

[01:18:17] So have you ever experienced that? And a lot of people just fire right back with a, you can answer with, yeah, do this, that, and the other or no, I haven't, but thanks for letting me know.

[01:18:28] And then it's like, oh, okay. Now they have some information to work off because I've came across this experience. They haven't yet, but they might. So then now they know what to do for when they come across that.

[01:18:40] So just like information, sharing information, networking, that's another big thing about the community and, yeah. Yeah. And seeing how many people there are actually out there driving Subaru. Is a lot. It's a lot.

[01:18:58] Especially when I first started working at Subaru, I never really paid attention to Subaru. I kind of just thought it was just like another vehicle. And then after working there, I guess, like the second or third day after working there, you just see them everywhere. Yeah.

[01:19:14] They're just all over the road. And it's like, what? Since when? Like it was like a hidden gem kind of I find, especially in my area too. It's just like, oh, we have a Subaru? Holy shit.

[01:19:28] Not a lot of people get to say that in Canada because there's only so many in Canada. Yeah. Do you think that you'll always own a Subaru?

[01:19:39] Honestly, yeah. I think that will be at least my one go-to vehicle. Say if this one ends up, you know, God forbid something bad happens and it leaves the third and I have to go a different direction, I would probably be going towards Subaru first off. If I can find one and get one that works.

[01:20:00] Yeah, yeah. That's good. What I need to work, aka a Forester. I think Forester would be like the number one choice for me because it just notches all the boxes. It's not too big, not too small. Very capable for especially the terrain I endure here.

[01:20:16] So, yeah, I think Subaru would be my go-to for the future in terms of vehicles if I can. Yeah, because I've had to myself and test driving and working for the dealership, you get a good experience with the vehicle. So I find that's where that helped a lot.

[01:20:34] Yeah. With decisions and just kind of comparing them to other vehicles as well. It's like, okay, it does all of this and I'm sure that other vehicle does a lot of it, but it doesn't do all of it. It does some of it. Yeah.

[01:20:49] That was like a big factor. So yeah, I at least encourage people to at least test drive a Subaru. Yeah, there's something about... For a new vehicle.

[01:20:59] Yeah, and there's something about Subarus and just the community. And I think it's just like a certain type of person too that owns Subarus typically or at least the enthusiasts.

[01:21:09] Yeah, honestly it was wild because that was another thing like starting this account is just talking to customers when they come in. And the younger generation, the older generation, the middle generation, there was always somebody in those three generations that always had something to say about Subaru and usually good things to say about Subaru.

[01:21:31] And that was another part of the reason. There's a lot of people out here that drive these vehicles and enjoy these vehicles and selling them, there's people that literally own probably like 15 to 20 in their life. Yeah.

[01:21:47] Trade it in, buy one, trade it in, buy one and just literally run through Subarus like crazy. It's like, holy, the guy is 80 years old but how do you have 20 different vehicles in your life? Yeah, that's cool.

[01:22:03] It's an eye opener when you look at like, oh, like, oh, like, say you go talk to the manager and like, oh, these Vip cops are like, I'm working with so and so about, you know, car dealers. Like, oh, if he had like seven Subarus before this one, like, make sure you treat him good.

[01:22:19] Yeah. Oh, I know that. Thank you for telling me that. That's crazy.

[01:22:24] Yeah, he just started, you know, bouncing off like a lot of the Subaru people, old, young, middle aged, they're all at least adventurous in some sort of way. So it was always good talking with them and telling me their stories and such. So yeah, that was another thing about like the community, even before knowing about it or jumping into it.

[01:22:44] Yeah, yeah. You had, I mean, you had a really good experience with that, you know, being able to talk to so many different people and getting their experiences and their take on Subaru and obviously their love of Subaru when you have somebody come in that has owned multiples before.

[01:23:01] Oh, yeah, it definitely helps like open the eyes up to like what these vehicles are and what they mean to people. Yeah. Is there anything else that you wanted to share before we get out of here?

[01:23:15] I think that's about it. I really appreciate you having me on here and let me, you know, talk about my story and hopefully people can, you know, get inspired to get themselves even just into a test drive of a Subaru or fully own one and get out there and have some adventures. I really appreciate you having a platform for doing that too as well. So I'd like to say that.

[01:23:41] Yeah, it was great to have you on and hear your story and, you know, how you came up with the name and just, you know, there's, I mean, there's also too a very special story just behind your Subaru itself, you know, and so I know that, you know, I know it means a lot to you. More than just, you know, a Subaru to drive, but, you know, there's some sentimentality to it for you.

[01:24:06] Yeah, a hundred percent. There definitely is. And that was a big deciding factor. I was like, okay, I have one vehicle, another. At the end of the day, what needs more? And that was like, you know, kind of the reason why I just decided to keep going with it. And here we are today.

[01:24:24] Yeah. Yeah. Well, thanks for... I really appreciate you. Yeah, of course. Thanks for taking the time to hop on here and record with me.

[01:24:33] Always a pleasure. It's good to finally hear your voice, you know, not just on the audio side, aka the podcast side. So yeah, it was a pleasure talking with you before and hopefully we can talk a little bit after recording here. Yeah.

[01:24:51] And hopefully, you know, maybe spin back around in a year or so to see, check in and see how everybody's doing and do a little recap maybe. And hopefully maybe I'm doing this full time and making some coin out of this and get to touch back on more adventures in the Subaru and you podcast.

[01:25:12] Yeah, man. More states to visit and more of Canada. Hell yeah, brother. Hell yeah. We gotta get out there, right? So it's all about just doing it. Just doing it. Cool, man. Well, you have a good night and we'll talk to you later.

[01:25:30] I appreciate you and you have yourself a great night. And I look forward to when you release this episode and see what everybody has to say about our episode tonight. Yep. All right. Well, you have a good night. All right. You take care. All right. Bye. Bye bye.

[01:26:16] It was great to hear how you got the Forester, even though it was under an, you know, unfortunate events. But I know that your mom will live on and her legacy will live on through the Forester and through you getting out to enjoy it.

[01:26:33] I know that is something that she would be very proud of and glad to know that you are using the Forester and enjoying it.

[01:26:41] And thanks for sharing your whole Subaru journey and telling us about the name and, of course, the story behind the mask and everything else that you shared. So again, if you're not following him, go give Liam a follow and let him know what you thought of the episode.

[01:26:57] Thank you for sticking around for all this time. 161 episodes. And I just appreciate everybody's support and for tuning in, for sharing. If you have not done so and you listen to the podcast through Apple Podcasts, go write a review and rate the podcast.

[01:27:18] We're at 97 ratings. We're so close to 100. So if you're listening through Apple Podcasts and you have not rated and reviewed, I would really, really appreciate it. It helps to get the podcast out there, especially when people are searching for it and gets more recognition through Apple Podcasts.

[01:27:39] I would appreciate that. Again, thank you all so much. I hope you all have a great week and we will see you on another episode next Monday. Much Subie love. Raph.

[01:27:51] The Subie and You podcast is hosted by Raphael in a closet in Houston, produced by Raphael in a room next to the closet in Houston

[01:27:59] and edited by Raphael on a computer in the room next to the closet in Houston with music by Luke Ruiz in another room in Houston. You can find the Subie and You podcast wherever you listen to podcasts, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify and many more.

[01:28:14] To support the podcast, please head over to patreon.com slash Subie and You podcast. Once you join, you will have access to the Discord channel and Discord chats with other patrons.

[01:28:25] If you'd like to get in contact with the show, you can find them on Instagram at Subie and You podcast online at Subie and You podcast dot com or by email Subie and You podcast at gmail.com. That's all for this week. Tune in Mondays for new episodes.