S&YE176 - Crosstrek Babe

[00:00:00] Hey everyone, this is Roxanne, long time listener, first time caller and you can find me on Instagram

[00:00:20] at Crosstrekbabe.

[00:00:22] You are listening to episode 176 of the Subie & YOU podcast.

[00:00:30] Hello everybody and welcome to another episode of the Subie & YOU podcast.

[00:00:35] Yes, episode 176.

[00:00:38] We're not too much further away from 200 and I am slowly getting closer to three and a half

[00:00:47] years.

[00:00:48] By the end of June it will have been three and a half years since I've been doing the

[00:00:52] podcast.

[00:00:54] That seems like a really long time but also three and a half years relative to

[00:00:59] all of time is not very long.

[00:01:02] We've been here for quite a while and I appreciate everybody who has been here from the beginning

[00:01:07] and all the new people who come on board and check out the podcast and listen to other

[00:01:12] episodes besides just the current guest.

[00:01:15] So I really appreciate all of the support and love for the podcast over the past

[00:01:20] almost three and a half years and almost 200 episodes.

[00:01:24] So thank you all very, very much.

[00:01:26] I really, really appreciate it.

[00:01:28] As you just heard we have Roxanne on the podcast.

[00:01:31] She goes by Crosstrek Babe so we will get into her episode and hear her Subaru journey

[00:01:38] in just a bit.

[00:01:40] The Subie & YOU podcast is brought to you by Eccentric Designs.

[00:01:44] For those of you who don't know, Eccentric Designs is a small community-driven business

[00:01:48] that offers custom fit vinyl overlays for most Subaru models.

[00:01:52] This includes various designs for the rear reflectors, taillights, and side taillights.

[00:01:57] I also offer fun decal designs like the popular fender stripes and stickers.

[00:02:01] To find designs for your Subie head on over to EccentricDesigns.com.

[00:02:06] There's always more projects in the works so be sure to follow at Eccentric.Designs

[00:02:10] on Instagram.

[00:02:12] Thank you as always Eccentric Designs for sponsoring the Subie & YOU podcast.

[00:02:17] Go check out her Instagram page and check out her website and see what she has to

[00:02:20] offer for your Subaru.

[00:02:22] We have another patron question of the week and this one comes from Chip who goes

[00:02:26] by nrtheobxt and he asks when on a long road trip what is your must have snack or place

[00:02:35] to get food?

[00:02:36] So I don't necessarily have a specific one that I get like every single time because

[00:02:42] sometimes it varies.

[00:02:44] Sometimes I will bring something with me and other times I will pick something up

[00:02:49] and it may vary here and there but one that we do find that we pick up often is the Doritos

[00:02:56] Spicy Sweet Chili flavored chips.

[00:03:00] Those are really really good and you know if it's me and my son I'll usually pick

[00:03:06] up a couple of bags, one for each of us.

[00:03:09] And so yeah so that's probably the one go to that I have and again not every

[00:03:13] single time it's just occasionally.

[00:03:17] Where it's available depending on where we're traveling if you know anything about

[00:03:22] they're not just in Texas anymore but we have the Buc-E's gas station with the Beaver

[00:03:28] that's always a good place to stop because they have an abundance of pumps first of all

[00:03:34] and then they also have a great store inside with lots and lots of food and plenty of options

[00:03:41] too for drinks and for snacks.

[00:03:43] So sometimes I will pick up their potato chips they make them fresh there other times I will

[00:03:49] pick up the Buc-E's they have a bag of barbecue flavored chips so sometimes I get those as

[00:03:56] well but hope that answers your question and thank you so much for your question.

[00:04:01] This episode is brought to you by SubaruGear.com.

[00:04:05] For those of you with kids did you know that if you go to shop hover over shop

[00:04:11] go to apparel and then scroll down there is a youth section for those of you who have

[00:04:18] kids that love being part of the Subaru community or for those of us that want our kids to

[00:04:24] enjoy being part of the Subaru community there is an option for kids there as well.

[00:04:31] So if you haven't gone to check that out go check it out and when you fill up your

[00:04:36] be sure to use the code SUBINU24 at checkout to get 20% off your purchase.

[00:04:42] Again if your purchase or if your total is over $50 after the 20% discount then you

[00:04:49] automatically get free shipping.

[00:04:51] Thank you so much SubaruGear.com for sponsoring the SUBINU podcast and bringing this great

[00:04:56] offer to the listeners.

[00:04:59] For those of you that made it out to Wicked Big Meat I hope you all had a

[00:05:02] great time and that it was a good turnout and just a good event overall.

[00:05:07] Of course the next event coming up is SUBIFEST California which will be held Sunday August

[00:05:13] 4th at Santa Anita Park in Acadia California.

[00:05:18] So tickets are on sale if you haven't done so go snag your tickets now before you

[00:05:23] know because I know that they have different levels of tickets VIP tickets and stuff

[00:05:27] so if you want to get those and it's not too late you can check for that but

[00:05:30] otherwise get your tickets so that you don't have to wait and get them at the gate.

[00:05:35] I also saw that Bucky put in a passenger seat in Betty so it looks like he's going

[00:05:42] to be doing some ride alongs at the SUBIFEST events and that's really really exciting

[00:05:47] so it'll be cool to see who is able to get a ride along with Bucky and Betty and

[00:05:53] get a thrill of their life because I'm sure that's going to be pretty crazy to

[00:05:58] ride with Bucky and Betty and do all the drifting and donuts and everything so

[00:06:04] for those of you that are able to do that have fun and good luck.

[00:06:08] This episode is brought to you by Rikah Wheels where you can find the drifter,

[00:06:13] the detour, the Tetons like I have on Pearl and the Seeker.

[00:06:20] Go check out RikahWheels.com so that you can see the wheel styles if you've not already

[00:06:26] done so. For the Subaru's that I have seen with the different or various Rikah Wheels on them

[00:06:33] they look really really good and of course I'm especially fond of the Tetons that I have on

[00:06:39] Pearl so go check them out be sure to use the code SUBYU10 at checkout to get 10% off a set

[00:06:46] of wheels or save 10% off a lift kit. As always the quest for adventure begins with you

[00:06:53] and Rikah is what gets you there. Thank you so much Rikah for sponsoring the SUB&U Podcast.

[00:06:59] This episode is also brought to you by Melee Design Firm where you will find many great

[00:07:04] products for your Subaru not only from Melee Design Firm but also from many other great

[00:07:09] brands and companies that are represented at MeleeDesignFirm.com so go check out the

[00:07:15] website, check out all the products in the Subaru and Rally Spec sections you can save 5%

[00:07:23] by using the SUB plus U at checkout so go check them out. Thank you so much Melee Design Firm

[00:07:30] for sponsoring the SUB&U Podcast and now it's time it's time to get into this episode with

[00:07:36] Roxanne and hear about her Subaru Crosstrek and hear about her Subaru Journey and some of

[00:07:43] the other things that she has going on so let's get into that right now. Hello Roxanne.

[00:08:05] Howdy howdy. How are you Rafa? I'm doing great. I really loved your intro and I like the way that

[00:08:12] you put your own spin on that. That was really cool. Of course of course. I always like to add

[00:08:17] a little flavor but before we get started Rafa I just want to personally say it is such an

[00:08:22] honor to be invited to the podcast and I know you and I have been talking about this for a

[00:08:28] very long time and I know timing wasn't in our favor but I just wanted to say I'm so

[00:08:33] excited to be here. I'm so excited to just finally just have a conversation with you and

[00:08:39] be able to share with the community and what you've been able to do with this podcast has

[00:08:43] just been incredible and at least I've been able to hear and meet others who are not

[00:08:48] you know in California for example and I feel like I'm able to you know make those

[00:08:53] connections with folks that I didn't really think I would have connections with and that's

[00:08:57] really because of the podcast so thank you so much for being so awesome and doing this and

[00:09:03] you know you're doing this on your own time and all the editing and stuff I know is it's a lot

[00:09:07] of work and some people may think it's easy but I definitely know at least from a tech background

[00:09:13] that it is not and it requires a lot of effort so I just want to personally say thank you on

[00:09:19] behalf of the community for creating this environment where we can all you know share

[00:09:24] where we are who we are and our similar like-minded passions with each other so yeah.

[00:09:30] Well thank you very much that was really awesome it's yeah I mean it's been

[00:09:35] you know over three years that I've been doing this getting close to three and a half years

[00:09:39] and so I know that there are a lot of people out there that really enjoy the podcast and

[00:09:44] and that really means a lot to me and I just I appreciate everybody that really enjoys it

[00:09:50] and enjoys listening to it and shares it and it's great to have you on the podcast

[00:09:56] and like we were mentioning or talking about before we started recording is it's fun whenever

[00:10:02] I get a chance to finally you know talk to somebody because you can chat with somebody

[00:10:08] all you want and maybe you don't hear their voice on their account ever and whenever I

[00:10:13] get a chance to talk to somebody then it's nice to make that bit you know more of

[00:10:18] a personal connection and that's that's fun for me. Totally totally and everyone just

[00:10:23] comes from such a different walks of life so it's just so cool like you can see how that person

[00:10:29] can be on social media but until you actually have that conversation is when you can really

[00:10:33] get to know them so yeah and then you can have you know 20 people that have a cross track but

[00:10:39] everybody's going to have a different story and you know of why they bought a Subaru

[00:10:44] why they bought a cross track what it means to them so it's you know I think the podcast

[00:10:49] really brings that out in the people out in the community and getting a chance to hear more about

[00:10:55] you know what Subaru they have and then also getting to learn more about them so

[00:11:00] I'm glad that I get a chance to share that and provide that to the community.

[00:11:05] Yeah and being a listener myself like for example it's comforting to know that I'm not

[00:11:10] the only weirdo that exists on this planet earth so no I think a lot of us are weirdos

[00:11:17] and that's okay it's uh I think if we weren't weirdos we'd be a lot more boring.

[00:11:22] 100% so if you're weird you're totally have a seat at my table so.

[00:11:28] All right well good so now that we've gotten all that out of the way I can ask the most

[00:11:33] important question of all which you know what it is but do you prefer waffles or pancakes?

[00:11:40] Okay listen I'm probably going to get a lot of hate for this but I personally love both

[00:11:50] and I'll tell you why because I make both often and I don't discriminate towards fluffy crispy

[00:11:56] edged goods so if anyone wants to take this offline or start a fight you can find me at

[00:12:03] the dog park on Fridays at 4 p.m sharp okay I'm a lever not a fighter but

[00:12:08] if you have a bone to pick with me about this you have a bone to pick with me about this because

[00:12:12] I'm not going to change my mind I love both equally and I have a waffle maker and I love

[00:12:17] to make my pancakes in my Dutch oven which is traditionally not a place where you would make

[00:12:22] them but interesting I love both so.

[00:12:26] Okay that's good yeah I mean for me it's pretty it's a pretty close you know fight

[00:12:32] you know fight I guess internally for me but pancakes went out but I mean I do love waffles

[00:12:39] there are waffles have their place for certain things and yeah there's nothing wrong at all

[00:12:45] with loving both equally so I guess I will accept that answer.

[00:12:49] I love that and thank you for accepting that and for those who don't again I'll be at the

[00:12:53] dog park on Fridays at 4 p.m sharp.

[00:12:56] Let's go.

[00:12:57] Let's go.

[00:12:59] All right so talking about your or getting into your cross track is this your first Subaru?

[00:13:06] Yeah so this is my very first Subaru and it's my last I'm kidding no it's not I hope you

[00:13:12] have many but it is my first.

[00:13:15] Bye nice knowing ya no it's my first Subaru and it was my first big girl purchase so

[00:13:21] I was really proud of showcasing to others you know the my cross track and you know as

[00:13:29] you've seen I've even named her and for those who are not aware we'll talk about this later

[00:13:34] but she has a name I won't sure yet because I'm sure we'll dive into that here shortly so.

[00:13:39] Okay so why choose Subaru and then why a cross track?

[00:13:46] Yeah that's a great question one of the first cars I was actually looking at was

[00:13:50] the RAV4 because I heard such great things from others that I knew and at the time I think the

[00:13:57] newer versions were coming out and I loved I think it's called the moon rock color I just

[00:14:03] loved that color and I was like I haven't seen that anywhere so I started doing my research

[00:14:08] and while I'm doing this I I think I hopped in my car and I was getting groceries but on

[00:14:16] my way to the grocery store I literally stopped in my tracks and I saw a CGK cross track which

[00:14:25] is cool gray khakis the color of the cross track that I have and I just like remember

[00:14:30] double taking and just being like holy moly I need that car and it wasn't it wasn't just

[00:14:37] because of the color I just loved the overall body style of it and I just I remember just

[00:14:44] thinking about it when I came home and then the next day just getting on my computer and doing

[00:14:49] crazy crazy research research and so for me I had this google doc created where I kind of put

[00:14:56] like the pros and the cons of like a RAV4 and a Subaru cross track and you know even taking

[00:15:02] price into consideration and I was like you know what the only way that I can determine this

[00:15:08] is if I go and test drive so I went to I think it was the Stevens Creek Subaru

[00:15:16] dealership and I was I asked if I can test drive their the cross track and at the time

[00:15:23] they were mentioning to me that they didn't have any cool gray khakis in stock because

[00:15:28] they were going like hotcakes yeah they were it's a really popular color oh my god such a

[00:15:34] popular color and I was so bummed but at least I told myself like hey if at least if I'm able to

[00:15:39] test drive it I can really get a good feel of what I'd be walking into so we go up to the

[00:15:45] roof and he pulls out a silver one and I get into it and I turn it on and we're you know

[00:15:53] exiting out of the dealership and he just starts to kind of like tell me all the features

[00:15:58] and I kind of tune him out because at least when it comes to test driving I was like okay

[00:16:03] I need to feel this for myself and not you know let this guy like sell me on all these

[00:16:09] features and I just wanted to let me drive it myself yeah just let me drive it and just be

[00:16:14] quiet and let me enjoy it so I kind of muted him for a bit and as soon as I sat in it and

[00:16:21] I turned it on I just it just felt so right and I know that sounds so cliche and dramatic

[00:16:27] but it felt so good and you know we're driving into the dealership and I'm making a u-turn

[00:16:34] and he's like you know put some more gas on it so you can feel it and this one had the sport

[00:16:38] mode in it as well which come in the newer models so I was able to play around with that

[00:16:43] and it was so smooth and the safety features were another perk for me and another reason why

[00:16:51] I was like you know what this car is actually turning out to be better than I expected so

[00:16:56] I think I had an appointment with a sales rep at one of the Toyota dealerships here in the bay

[00:17:03] and I just didn't end up going because of how great experience was in the Crosstrek and so

[00:17:11] the next battle was trying to find a cool gray khaki Crosstrek because you know the

[00:17:16] guy was telling me there are some like hotcakes I was calling all over the bay area to see if I can

[00:17:22] you know find one and lo and behold I call the Sierra Monte Subaru and it was probably a 45

[00:17:31] minute drive for me but I told myself hey if they have it I'm willing to drive and at this

[00:17:37] point I had called so many that I really didn't think they were going to have one but

[00:17:42] they end up connecting me to a sales rep and he's like okay I heard that you want the CGK

[00:17:48] Crosstrek and then the second question he asked are you a serious buyer and I said 1,000%

[00:17:55] I mean I was ready to go I was like you didn't have to ask me twice and he's like if you're

[00:18:00] serious we have one shipping tomorrow coming right in the am and what I can do is I can

[00:18:07] put it to the side for you and meet you when the dealership opens and I was like let's do it

[00:18:12] I just said book me I'll be there and he's like meet me here at 9am I was like we'll do it so

[00:18:19] I was really I had the butterflies because I was really excited one because like I told you this

[00:18:23] was like my first big girl purchase I was also really excited because I'm like okay this could

[00:18:29] possibly work and you know it's really dependent on what you know style it is and that night

[00:18:36] it ended up doing that research and I realized I was like okay I don't I didn't ask him what

[00:18:40] you know trim it was or anything like that so I just kind of did my research before I walked in

[00:18:47] and so the next day I wake up drive there and I see it parked in the front and the thing is

[00:18:53] wrapped it's not even like there's still plastic all over it like there's things

[00:18:58] that are covered so it literally just got off whatever wherever it was and

[00:19:03] I was like wow it's like brand new and so we go in and he's like let's go for a test drive

[00:19:10] and I was like let's do it and I was mentioning to him that had already driven the one at the

[00:19:14] Stevens Creek dealership and I told them I really enjoyed it and this time I mean sitting

[00:19:21] in the car the feeling that I had the first time just completely elevated and I think it

[00:19:26] was just because I realized like I think this is it you know like I was I was feeling even better

[00:19:33] about it and I took it for the test drive I put the first I think it was like 12 miles on it

[00:19:38] which was so insane I've never driven a car that had like zero miles well not zero but I

[00:19:44] think yeah five or something and I was able to get it to 12 just with the test drive there

[00:19:49] but it was so awesome and I was like oh my god it feels so right and after I get out of

[00:19:55] the car I was like oh my god I have to ask him and so he's like this is our premium trim

[00:19:59] and I was like so that and so obviously there's the base there's the limited there's the premiums

[00:20:06] in the sport and so after he told me that I was like cool and then I didn't I also didn't

[00:20:10] realize it had a moonroof too which wasn't a make it or break it for me because in my

[00:20:16] head I'd already kind of convinced myself I'll take whatever they have and so you know when

[00:20:21] he was showing me all the features all the safety features as well and remember if I was like wow

[00:20:26] like there like I have to take this car off the lot today like there's no questions about it so

[00:20:32] we go in we do all the paperwork and I just felt so good like I felt confident I felt

[00:20:38] good and in my heart I was like this is the best purchase I've ever done and I know that

[00:20:44] I'm you know I'm going to be able to use and take advantage of the car and its features

[00:20:49] and really one of the things that really attracted me were the safety features

[00:20:54] and for those who don't know I was born with crossed eyes so my left eye is not the strongest

[00:21:01] so when it comes to driving at night specifically it's really challenging for me

[00:21:06] and it's an embarrassing thing to admit but you know we all have flaws none of us are

[00:21:11] perfect and I felt at the time I just needed a car that you know was going to be able to

[00:21:16] one work with work with me through that and also give me the comfort of knowing that you

[00:21:22] know I have those safety features that was a big major plus for me and it was just everything

[00:21:28] that I dreamed in a car to have and really just driving it is what just you know sealed

[00:21:34] the deal for me and you know it was it was the best purchase I've ever done till this day

[00:21:40] and I love my car like I did the first the first day I was able to drive it off the lot

[00:21:45] and you know it was a proud moment for me that I'll definitely never forget

[00:21:49] yeah so what is doesn't the premium have the 2.5 liter engine it does yeah okay nice and then

[00:21:57] what year is it it's a 2021 premium like I said I just love the the gen 2 body style that

[00:22:05] it had so I love the color and I go for those kind of crazy outlandish colors anyway and

[00:22:12] when I first saw it that's what really just made me stop in my tracks

[00:22:16] how many miles does yours have on it yeah so I bought mine in April of 2021 and

[00:22:23] the mileage on it currently I actually just hit 40k so it's still she's still a baby

[00:22:31] yeah you know I mean I feel like I'm I pick and choose my trips and you know at least for

[00:22:38] me I have the luxury of being able to work from home so I'm not using my car

[00:22:43] speak as like a commuter car but yeah I mean she's she's still a baby and

[00:22:49] and I treat her as such but you know at the time I was like I have the

[00:22:54] car of the year you know yeah I never purchased a car you know in the same year so

[00:23:00] you know like I said it just added to the excitement and I was able to just brag to my

[00:23:05] mom and say mom this is my first big girl purchase you should be so proud

[00:23:09] and hopefully there are many more to come so yeah so when you bought your cross trek were you

[00:23:16] did you know about mods and were you like is that something that you were planning for or

[00:23:20] were you just like looking for another new car or your first big girl purchase of a new car

[00:23:27] yeah so I also I mean one of the reasons why I purchased the car was really to do more of

[00:23:33] the adventuring aspect and I figured naturally you know modifying it would come with that

[00:23:39] and so it was something that was kind of in my mind but I really didn't pay much

[00:23:44] attention to it until you know I got the physical car and started to kind of think

[00:23:48] about it but it was funny because once I booked the appointment with the sales rep that

[00:23:55] night I actually opened up my Instagram and I was like you know what I'm curious to know

[00:24:01] if there's a community of people out here that are you know super enthusiast or like-minded

[00:24:09] people who you know like to off-road and do all of that I think there is a community like that

[00:24:15] yeah and then I literally I literally type in cross trek and all of these pages just start

[00:24:23] to blow up and I'm like holy moly a world unknown to me at the time you know as I was

[00:24:29] doing this there was no like there was not one time where I was like you know I'm going to create

[00:24:33] an Instagram for my car like I just I never you know thought that that would be something that

[00:24:38] I would do and I was jokingly talking to a girlfriend that night after you know I did the

[00:24:46] research and and booked the appointment the sales rep and I was like you know it would

[00:24:50] be so funny if I created an Instagram account and called it cross trek babe and we both joked

[00:24:57] about it like it was an ongoing joke and once I purchased the car I was like you know what I think

[00:25:04] I'm gonna do this let's do it yeah I think this is gonna be my next move so naturally I just

[00:25:11] felt inclined to create the account and then once I did I just started to add all these kind of

[00:25:17] random accounts and funny enough one of those was the soft road nation account and I had no

[00:25:24] idea you know what it was at the time who was running the page I was you know I was just thinking

[00:25:29] like wow it's a community of people who you know love to modify their cross treks and be outdoors

[00:25:35] and I think for me that was my way of just you know getting to know one that there was

[00:25:40] a community out there and two there are people that I could reach out to if I had questions

[00:25:45] because you know another reason why I wanted to get the car was to be able to you know

[00:25:51] understand the basics and you know one of the goals I wanted was you know like I told myself

[00:25:56] I was like you know I would love to do my own oil change you know like I would love to learn

[00:26:01] of how to do that and where to start and little things like that like basic maintenance so

[00:26:07] it was really awesome you know once I got a little taste of the community before I got

[00:26:12] the car to just see you know people doing that and it was also cool that you know at

[00:26:19] the time and you know this too Rafa that you know the community that we're in is very male

[00:26:24] dominated so I'm thinking to myself I'm like we need more women here like and that was another

[00:26:31] reason why I wanted to start the page as well to connect with other women in this community

[00:26:36] and show them like yeah and you know show them like hey we can hang out with the boys and

[00:26:43] we can do this stuff too so it really just stemmed from passion and you know another aspect

[00:26:50] too I love to be creative I've always really had an artistic point of view of things and so

[00:26:56] I felt like at the time there wasn't a way for me to express that and you know that was

[00:27:01] another reason why I was like you know what I think this is a great time for me to start

[00:27:05] being creative and might as well kick it off with this car page so yeah.

[00:27:11] So like you have all of these Subaru friends now all these people that you hang out with that

[00:27:16] you've met through the community and I'm sure you had friends before you got into the community

[00:27:22] but like how many people that you knew before do you still hang out with and is it mostly

[00:27:29] like you know you because I know for some people they may not have had a lot of friends

[00:27:34] or introverted you know they're very shy and then they buy this they buy this car and it

[00:27:40] helps them open up and connect with people that they find out are a lot like them and who were

[00:27:45] may have also been shy and introverted and then you can find a very comfortable and accepting

[00:27:51] place and then you go from not really having many friends to now having more friends than

[00:27:57] you could have ever imagined so like how has that happened for you since buying this car?

[00:28:04] Before I joined the community I mean I feel like everyone can really resonate with this

[00:28:08] that you know you have your work friends and you have your childhood friends and then you have

[00:28:13] you know your college friends so I feel like I was kind of in a mixed bag in terms of like

[00:28:18] friend groups and then for me right like I like to keep my you know at least my close

[00:28:24] friends in a small circle and so you know I had a few of those friends that I would hang

[00:28:31] out with but once I entered the community is really like when that flourished and I didn't

[00:28:36] really have friends in the car community before that so it was really cool I mean once you know

[00:28:43] my page was created and you know the following was built you know it was really cool to come

[00:28:49] back to the friends who knew me before that and you know brag and say yeah I've got car

[00:28:55] friends now like I've got off-roading friends you know because it was just a world that I was

[00:29:00] so you know not exposed to at the time I have a thousand more friends because of it and

[00:29:09] so grateful and you know every single person I've met in this community has just left an

[00:29:15] imprint in my heart for the better I haven't met one bad person which I think is great

[00:29:21] yeah that's always nice you know yeah obviously you've got you know the haters that

[00:29:25] will pop in your comments here and there but generally I operate as a very positive person so

[00:29:31] I always love to give people the benefit of the doubt and you know like being kind is gangster

[00:29:36] and so that's my motto and so I I love to carry myself that way and I feel like surrounding

[00:29:42] myself with those like-minded people which so happen to be in this community can really just

[00:29:47] enhance and you know make you a better person and make you want to bring others and be part

[00:29:53] of that journey as well so yeah it's pretty amazing how many people you end up meeting

[00:29:58] through the community and how this this whole community and this car brings a whole new aspect

[00:30:05] of just so many things into your life that would have never existed before and you know

[00:30:13] it's just it's pretty cool to think about how these this car and the community has an impact

[00:30:19] on your life and just how it's changed it and all of the adventures and just everything that

[00:30:25] it brings with it it's pretty amazing oh my god it's so cool and and rafa it's just been

[00:30:31] great to just even be able to be part of some people's personal lives like I've been

[00:30:36] invited to people's weddings and you know very intimate events and you know I never

[00:30:41] take those things for granted and it's so special that you know you're able to cultivate

[00:30:46] informed friendships just because you like to be outdoors or just because you like to modify

[00:30:52] your car and you know and every like you said everyone has such a different journey and I

[00:30:57] think that's just really what enriches the friendships here and it's just incredible it's

[00:31:02] so special and you know I love the friends that I've been able to make here and I never

[00:31:07] take them for granted and you know like I always say friends for life so you you mentioned

[00:31:14] earlier that it was kind of a joke and then you ended up running with it for

[00:31:18] cross trek babe as your account but what is the name of your cross trek

[00:31:25] so the name of my cross trek is sky because as soon as I saw her I'm not kidding you rafa

[00:31:30] it was a sunny day in colma and for those people again who are not familiar with the

[00:31:36] bay area colma is literally just like a city that is living in a constant gray cloud so

[00:31:44] if you get a sunny day there you're truly very lucky and on this day that I purchased my vehicle

[00:31:50] it was blue skies and it was sunny and it just felt so natural I mean as soon as I saw her

[00:31:56] that is literally what I called her it's the color the color just looks like the sky so

[00:32:01] burning the sky and I was very certain you know like I told you when I was on the lot to

[00:32:08] call her sky so you know if you're ever in colman you get a sunny day just know that you're lucky

[00:32:14] yeah so your your mods are kind of subtle I know you've got like the fog lights you've got the

[00:32:19] new the wheels that you got not too terribly long ago and the tires which I love the toyos

[00:32:25] because I have those as well and then you've got your rooftop basket and some some decals but

[00:32:31] what would you say is your favorite mod so this one I think is an underrated mod but I do have

[00:32:38] the skid plates and those the primitive skid plates and those have just seriously saved my

[00:32:47] life and I literally hate myself for not getting them earlier now given that they are

[00:32:54] an arm and a leg you know for those people who especially live in the bay area it's not

[00:32:58] cheap here so I was really stoked that I was able to finally get them and you know I've put some

[00:33:05] dents in them and I've put some work in them and I think it's such an underrated mod but

[00:33:11] just being able to know that you have protection in your undercarriage when you do

[00:33:14] go out on those trails is so comforting because it really allows you to go a little bit more

[00:33:20] harder than you know you typically would now obviously you know you got to be careful and

[00:33:25] you got to watch your lines wherever you go because even if you do have protection down there

[00:33:30] you know you could get into a really you know a tough situation that you know you need help so

[00:33:37] I do love those but the second one I would have to say are definitely my tires and the

[00:33:42] wheels that's such a sweet combination and I was able to actually take her to Tahoe as soon

[00:33:48] as I got the wheels on and man oh man like love the grip just love how they feel

[00:33:57] and it sort of kind of gave me a little bit of a lift too I don't have a lift on the on

[00:34:02] the cross track currently but when you put those big tires on and you know it feels like

[00:34:08] you're a little bit lifted so yeah love those two and like I said I think the skid plates

[00:34:14] are definitely underrated yeah what mods do you still plan to get or would you like to still get

[00:34:22] I obviously do some off-roading but you know this is my daily driver so it's not you know

[00:34:28] like I need to get a lift but I definitely would love to but a few mods that I plan to get

[00:34:35] at least in the near future is the Nash Fabco ladder which I feel like kind of everyone

[00:34:41] has and that's more of an aesthetic look but what a new mod that actually just came out and I think

[00:34:48] it was launched in May if I'm not mistaken this month was the garage alpha off-road

[00:34:54] wilderness style grills that they do for the cross track if you don't yeah if you don't follow

[00:35:00] that page you need to it's super badass and I think they have two different kinds one with

[00:35:06] the wilderness lights that they do have there in the front grill and then the other one is just

[00:35:13] it just says Subaru in the front and you can get that all in matte black but

[00:35:17] I think one of the projects I wanted to do when I got the car was to do the grill and

[00:35:24] I was thinking like maybe I can do some pinstripes or maybe I can just

[00:35:28] you know spray painted but I was like no like I'll wait to see what I can do or maybe you can

[00:35:33] swap it out with you know another because I know some people do that in the community or they'll

[00:35:37] kind of make their own but when I saw this thing and roughly if you haven't seen their page or

[00:35:42] seen I'm looking at it right now isn't it so sick like you have to get it and I think the

[00:35:48] price range is pretty reasonable I think it's somewhere in the 200s but

[00:35:54] that is definitely going to be something I'm going to purchase for sure very nice and then

[00:35:59] I definitely want to do the rally innovations light bar now I've heard good and bad things

[00:36:05] about that one especially if you're out on the trail I've heard that it could dent the front

[00:36:11] of the car and I have seen it before on somebody else's but just don't run into anything

[00:36:18] easier said than done so that one I'm kind of holding off I just think again that is more

[00:36:24] of an aesthetic look that would just really I think it would look super badass on the sky

[00:36:29] and then the last one is kind of random but I feel like I've been exposed to a lot of

[00:36:37] them recently and that's the inspired overland roof top tents and specifically the carbon

[00:36:44] fiber ones because those are the lighter ones and the croster can take the original one but

[00:36:50] I saw the carbon fiber one which I think they released this year and so badass and actually

[00:36:57] software nation norcal was invited to their anniversary their first and second very nice

[00:37:04] we were able yeah we were able to see the new carbon fiber rooftop tent and they were also

[00:37:12] giving out some raffle prizes and the I think they gave off one or two of those tents so

[00:37:18] really cool and if anyone's ever in the Bay Area and Hayward definitely head over to inspired

[00:37:24] overland shout out fern he is incredible he's so great and he's a big family guy I mean every

[00:37:31] time we're at those events he has his entire family there and all of them are contributing in

[00:37:36] one way or the other but it's so great to be just welcomed to that type of community right

[00:37:42] um and just see everyone's awesome builds so yeah so I'm guessing that you do a lot of

[00:37:50] camping right now and do car camping so recently in the last couple months I haven't but I do

[00:37:58] plan to make maybe one or two trips this summer to a few places and usually I'll go out with

[00:38:05] the software nation or tell a crew that we have here in the bay or um I'll go out with

[00:38:13] uh the d gb squad which if you haven't seen my profile or the dirtbag girlies shout out to my

[00:38:19] dirtbag girlies love you all and love them and we are continuously you know adding girls

[00:38:26] whoever wants to kind of off-road is very like-minded and just loves to throw a bit of

[00:38:32] adventure so yeah that's hopefully I have some some more of those planned but I'm a I'm a big

[00:38:38] camper love that I I've done it ever since I was little our family used to do like a yearly

[00:38:45] summer camping trip so it was just something that is just a passion of mine and before

[00:38:53] I got the cross-track I never car camped before so being able to like get a setup and

[00:39:00] you know experience that was really cool and that's all the way coming down to like what type

[00:39:06] of mattress you know I have these blackout curtains that I put too because if you're like

[00:39:12] me if I see any type of light I'm awake instantly so I like to keep things kind of

[00:39:17] blacked out and just have a little bit of a privacy for some reason I just have this

[00:39:22] ongoing fear that when I'm sleeping in my car that bigfoot is just going to run towards

[00:39:28] the back of my car and attack me so I even have a little curtain in the trunk area that I put up

[00:39:35] as well so it kind of feels like I'm in my own little space there and for somebody small

[00:39:40] and fun size like me it's perfect so I can't complain yeah so like you know we've kind of

[00:39:46] already brought up soft road nation norcal but how did you first find out about them well

[00:39:51] I guess you did you so you said you came across the soft road nation page which was

[00:39:55] at the og soft road nation page or did you come across the norcal one so it's funny that you

[00:40:02] asked that because I came across the norcal page before the og sn page and I thought that

[00:40:11] the norcal chapter was the only chapter I didn't even realize that it was a snog page until I

[00:40:19] got there but the story behind that is when so after I purchased my car in April I waited about

[00:40:26] like two weeks until I created the page because I was kind of going back and forth

[00:40:31] and you know all the reasons that I stated before really just kind of sealed the deal

[00:40:36] for me and I ended up moving forward but I also wanted to just experience the car

[00:40:42] and just like get to know her so I used those two weeks to you know break her in and you know

[00:40:48] I just love going in the car and you know smelling that new car smell and stuff but

[00:40:54] when I actually created the page I remembered the soft road nation handle because as I was

[00:41:01] telling you when I was doing my research on my personal page that page came up so I remembered

[00:41:07] it and you know at the time they had somewhat of a big following so I was like no this will

[00:41:10] be a great place for me to break in and into the community and see what it's all about so

[00:41:17] I followed the page and I wasn't really familiar with the admins at the time

[00:41:24] but I was seeing that they were having some events and you know a couple months passed by

[00:41:33] and it was still like you know figuring out sky and figuring out all the the bells and the

[00:41:39] whistles because you know I hadn't had a brand new car like that so it really felt like I was in a

[00:41:44] spaceship and just had to figure out all the levers and stuff so that takes time and a couple

[00:41:49] months went by and I saw that they were having some summer events and I kept telling myself you

[00:41:55] I would love to go to one of these events but for some reason I just felt like I would

[00:42:02] be the outsider you know and I think that's what prevented me from going to the summer

[00:42:08] events and just you know like meeting others and I'm gonna be honest with you Ralph I was a little

[00:42:14] scared because you know I was thinking like what are people gonna think you know I'm this

[00:42:18] small brown girl from the Bay Area trying to you know immerse myself in this community

[00:42:24] you know what are others gonna think about me and that's what really was holding me back

[00:42:30] and so summer passes by we're into fall and we are in the month of October and so I see

[00:42:42] yeah I see that soccer nation has a Halloween event and they actually had it at the Alameda

[00:42:50] I think it's called the it's kind of like a boat area if you will I forget the name but

[00:42:57] it was in the Alameda area which isn't near Oakland again for those who are not familiar with

[00:43:02] the Bay Area and it was a little bit of a far drive but I was like you know what

[00:43:07] I'm done being scared I'm done not going to these events like I have to go

[00:43:13] and so leading up to that I was already in talks with some of the admins in soccer nation

[00:43:20] and other people in the community so again like uploading a few photos just getting to know

[00:43:26] the community so I see the event and I actually I think I liked the story and at the time I

[00:43:35] wasn't aware who specifically was one who reached out from soccer nation but somebody

[00:43:40] one of the admins reached out and they're like oh are you are you have plans on coming

[00:43:44] to this event you totally should come like I think everyone would be excited and you know

[00:43:49] this will be your first official meet because I shared that information and at the time I

[00:43:53] didn't know that I was speaking to Ryan which is that Rad Baja for those who know that guy

[00:44:00] that guy and you know he was the one who really just encouraged me and him and at the time Sam

[00:44:11] who I think now goes by that Rad Ranger because you know his cross truck unfortunately died but

[00:44:18] um he was also I was talking to him simultaneously and he's like yeah you should totally go to this

[00:44:25] I think it'll be great and you know it's two days before the event and for some reason I'm

[00:44:31] like you know what I'm not gonna go like there's no way like I just I let the judgment take

[00:44:37] over me completely and I was just like no like and so two days go by it's the day of the

[00:44:43] event you know I wake up early because I think it's like a morning event and I'm in my car

[00:44:50] and I start driving and I'm not kidding you Rafa I drive back because I just get scared

[00:44:58] I was like there's no way like again the judgment took over and I was so you know

[00:45:05] so you didn't end up going after all so I end up going back in my car so I

[00:45:12] turned back I go in my car and I'm walking back upstairs to my apartment

[00:45:16] and I was like no like I have to go to this I'm gonna be late now because I'm going back and

[00:45:22] forth right like and I told myself like I would regret it if I didn't go so I mustered up the

[00:45:28] courage I get back in my car and I drive and I go into the event I already see a handful

[00:45:35] of suru's are like lined up I see some some kids as well and the guard that I had up kind

[00:45:42] of instantly goes down a little bit I'm like okay this is not as bad as I thought it was

[00:45:47] gonna be and at this point you hadn't met anybody in person correct yeah I hadn't met

[00:45:52] so you're like just coming into it just totally fresh and that's uh yeah I mean that

[00:45:58] can be intimidating but I know what happens like I don't have to like tell your story

[00:46:03] but you get there and like even you know maybe you're kind of shy at first or whatever and then

[00:46:08] people start talking to you and then all of a sudden this just like floodgate opens up and

[00:46:13] you're just like feel free and at home oh my god it it was just like that rafa and you

[00:46:22] know like I was greeted so one of the first people I was ready to was actually ryan and

[00:46:26] he came up and he was like oh you came you know because I think he even thought I wasn't

[00:46:30] gonna come um because I think it was all talk at the time and like I said the nerves took over

[00:46:35] and the intimidation factor but he came up and greeted me and at the time I just jokingly kind

[00:46:41] of because one of the things that they had on the flyer was you know deck out your your car

[00:46:47] and like halloween themed um costume or whatever you would put on your car so

[00:46:53] I ended up going to the halloween store um earlier that week and I got this like hand

[00:47:00] that was like bloody so what I did is I ended up putting it in my trunk so it's just a hand

[00:47:06] just dangling out that's bloody that's just like bumping up and down in my truck trunk and

[00:47:12] and then I put some spider webs so very minimal effort but I wanted to make sure I

[00:47:18] came and was part of the theme so that was one of the first things he commented on

[00:47:23] and then as soon as that happened I see a few people kind of coming towards me and

[00:47:27] you know saying hi and I was like okay this again like talking to myself internally and

[00:47:33] saying like this is not as bad as I thought it was gonna be and everyone is so inviting

[00:47:38] and welcoming and so you know I remember meeting Carrie there mountain suey shout out

[00:47:44] Carrie love you yeah um and uh Subaru Ventures Lila um she brought her kids as well and I think

[00:47:51] one of her I think her daughter was dressed up as a chicken which was absolutely hilarious

[00:47:56] like super cute how can you not laugh yeah um and then uh followed by Marvin the outback um

[00:48:04] Miley and you know like I said uh Ryan was there Sam and I also met I think his handle is

[00:48:13] snacks trek unfortunately from getting his name but just a lot of others and I think um

[00:48:18] also Rick coyote truck was there as well yeah um so yeah a lot of people came out and

[00:48:25] you know like there's a couple people that were dressed up but it just felt so natural

[00:48:30] you know and I ended up sitting behind somebody's car because they let me and

[00:48:36] you know shooting the ships with everybody and we were exchanging some snacks and you know we

[00:48:41] took a group photo and I just remember leaving there and being like this was freaking awesome

[00:48:48] just like and everything inside of me was just like energized and regretting not meeting up sooner

[00:48:55] oh yeah immediate regret and I was like I can't believe it was such a chicken

[00:49:03] literally because I was scared of judgment and it just shows you like you know sometimes you

[00:49:09] gotta be uncomfortable to be comfortable and that was definitely one of those moments for me

[00:49:13] and like you said like I wish I had done it sooner I wish I pulled the bandaid off sooner so

[00:49:19] that that's kind of how I got exposed to the community and then ever since then you know

[00:49:25] started to get to know other people and you know taking that group shot exposed me to others

[00:49:31] as well and you know I made it a mission to be part of every event that they did in the Bay

[00:49:37] Area and while I was talking to a few others um at least at that first meet a lot of

[00:49:42] people were like yeah like we don't really have you know a community here in the main part of

[00:49:48] the Bay Area that does this you know and it was really cool to just hear from others that

[00:49:54] you know this is the community for them and really from that point on I felt like it really

[00:50:00] grew from there and you know like I feel like every year since then we've had new folks

[00:50:07] who again like have never been exposed to this come up to us and say like you know you guys

[00:50:13] really create such an incredible safe space a welcoming space for people like me who've

[00:50:18] never done this before and you know it encourages them to even bring their friends and you know

[00:50:24] you know people want to have fun people want to be outdoors so it's it's such a great

[00:50:29] incredible community and you know I speak nothing but good things when I share this with

[00:50:36] you know folks who don't know anything about this type of community so it's it's so great

[00:50:42] it's so special and I'll always remember that first meet for sure yeah that's going to always

[00:50:48] like hold a special place in your heart and then you know you deciding to be brave and

[00:50:53] open up and go to that event but you know and I'm sure you've been to many since then

[00:50:58] but like besides the meetups like that I know y'all get out to hit trails and stuff but where

[00:51:04] are some of the places that y'all have been because now at this point I'm sure you're starting

[00:51:09] to you're like I have this car that can go off-road now let's go off-road and go do

[00:51:14] some stuff so like what was that first experience like and where did you go yeah so one of the

[00:51:21] you know other reasons too that I got the cross truck was really to also be a confident

[00:51:26] driver because as I told you I was born with crossed eyes and that really just you know it

[00:51:32] put my confidence down and I just felt like I couldn't be a competent driver and I would always

[00:51:37] like second guess myself on the road and I felt like I was kind of like how can I say this

[00:51:45] I was kind of just preventing myself from growing in that realm because I just was like

[00:51:51] there's no way I can do it there's no way I'm capable so you know once I got on a trail for

[00:51:57] the first time it was like baby steps you know like I was going really slow and then I was

[00:52:02] like okay I can push a little bit more gas and then you know I think I had Ryan in my car for

[00:52:08] the first time but places that one of the first few places I went off-roading was actually

[00:52:13] the Santa Cruz mountains so there's a little area there that most of the guys at least in

[00:52:20] Safford Nation or Cal group at the time were going to to kind of expose others who hadn't

[00:52:28] really off-roaded before and it's like a little mini playground there's a lot that you can do

[00:52:33] there but you know there's a lot of grooves and a lot of bumps and you know you got to watch

[00:52:39] your lines but one of the first trails I did I had Ryan sit in the passenger seat with me

[00:52:44] because at the time like I didn't really know how to you know read a line you know if that makes

[00:52:50] any sense or watch out for certain things and I felt like I really just needed to hear somebody

[00:52:56] who had that experience already so I think like being able to have somebody there guide you

[00:53:02] at first was really good for me at least oh yeah um yeah and it you know it really allowed

[00:53:08] me to be like okay like I know my limits and I know what I need to work on and it was funny

[00:53:12] because that first trail day that we did it was so much fun and the thrill and everything

[00:53:19] and it was funny because the next day I woke up my entire neck and back were sore because

[00:53:25] I don't know if you do this but like my posture is like super like on point when I'm

[00:53:30] in the driver's seat and I've got my hands right and you're like constantly concentrating

[00:53:36] and so I guess I built some of that up in my back but the next day I was so sore and

[00:53:41] it just felt like I worked my back out which is so funny I'm like wow so

[00:53:45] it kind of is an exercise if you think about it even though you're sitting down in your car and

[00:53:51] you're off-roading so yeah um but yeah yeah and going off-road for the first time too

[00:53:57] and having that experience especially in your own car it's just like it's such a it's such

[00:54:02] a fun experience and like I know with me when I first went I was very timid and kind of

[00:54:08] slow and then like built up built up and you know now like looking back on like my first

[00:54:13] experience I'm like I would have done so much more you know but it's so so I'm just gonna have

[00:54:19] to go back I guess yeah 100% you have to come back and you have to go hard um and know that

[00:54:26] you have people here that are going to guide you and not leave you in the know which is

[00:54:30] another important aspect about operating you definitely don't want to go alone you want to go

[00:54:35] with a group of people and especially people who have the right recovery gear because

[00:54:40] you know as much fun as it looks like you definitely want to make sure you're not putting

[00:54:44] yourself in a position which you know this last year actually was in my first like trailer

[00:54:50] run you know and it was a huge learning experience but um going back to your previous

[00:54:56] question so Santa Cruz mountains um we went to Trona Pinnacles I think at at least two

[00:55:03] years at this point that was such an incredible trip and if you've never been to Trona Pinnacles

[00:55:09] in California I highly recommend it it's I think right by Death Valley um but when you're

[00:55:17] in that space it's just I always tell people there's something in the air there

[00:55:22] that is just so hard to describe but it is absolutely beautiful there's nothing like it

[00:55:28] we did some off-roading there we did some fun off-roading as well too um I think that was the

[00:55:34] first time I was able to do donuts in sky which I hadn't done oh man um that's I know it was

[00:55:40] it was so fun and it was really great to just feel the car and the way it handles that way

[00:55:46] but I had the time of my life it was like a playground it was like that I don't know if

[00:55:51] you've ever seen that commercial Rafa that cross-truck commercial that they need um oh yeah

[00:55:56] like dogs going out dog park yeah yeah it literally felt like that it was so it was so

[00:56:02] amazing so that's another great spot um another spot that I also got more exposure was um

[00:56:12] Hollister vehicular park it's a very common area here that we go off-roading but one of

[00:56:19] the first trips that I was kind of able to be part of with the Sofra Nation group was

[00:56:26] that trip at Hollister and Rick um which is Coyote Trek and Ryan and Dan who at the time

[00:56:32] were the admins uh of Sofra Nation um coordinated that event and that was like the first time I

[00:56:40] was actually able to kind of play around with the car see you know what the limits were

[00:56:46] um and we did all types of terrain I mean there was some muddy areas after that trip I actually

[00:56:52] went back again with I think it was Suvi Bob Mish Mika which is uh my uh truck twin is what

[00:57:00] I call her Michelle she's got a limited uh CGK and a few others but um they have this

[00:57:09] thing called the seesaw and it's literally a platform that seesaws and you have to drive up

[00:57:15] it and there's a point where you have to stop and it goes back down that thing was freaking

[00:57:22] awesome but it also scared the living shit out of me because I've seen that before yeah it made

[00:57:28] such a loud boom when I landed but that was one of those reels for me that just blew up

[00:57:34] my page because everyone was like that that truck is launched you know like everyone thought

[00:57:39] I was the airbags are gonna go off and stuff and I definitely learned my lesson because

[00:57:44] I went up the platform a little quicker than I should have and so when I landed it was like

[00:57:48] a big thud but it was so much fun I mean they have a four by four playground there so

[00:57:54] while we were there we got to get into some mud and it was really funny because there was

[00:58:00] a trail of jeeps that were going up um there's a there's another trail between that four by

[00:58:05] four course and there was a bunch of jeeps that were trailing up and in fact um one of

[00:58:11] the groups uh ended up being on one of our radio channels and we were kind of talking with them

[00:58:16] back and forth but it was so funny because at the time too like the stigma was like oh don't

[00:58:22] mess with jeeps because they don't mess with us you know at least when it came to Subaru

[00:58:25] so it was really cool to kind of see that play out when we were there but yeah I mean

[00:58:32] love Hollister I definitely recommend it and then it's also an area where you know people

[00:58:37] take their motorbikes as well so half of the the park if you will is dedicated to motorbikes

[00:58:47] and then the other half is all like off-roading which is so fun so I haven't been back since

[00:58:53] I think last year was the last time I went so I'd love to make it out again this year if I

[00:58:57] can but those are some some great spots to trail in for sure here and just being in

[00:59:03] California you know a lot of people take this for granted but I don't is just we have access

[00:59:09] to such incredible you know parks and trails that other people don't have the luxury of

[00:59:16] we don't I know I know so I'm literally you know I'm I'm never complaining I'm happy with

[00:59:23] what we have here and you know whenever you come back Rafa hopefully we can hit the trail

[00:59:28] and you can enjoy some of that northern California sun so yeah and you know whenever you start

[00:59:34] mentioning people that you hang out with it's cool because like you start naming off people

[00:59:39] and I'm like oh I've met that person I've met that person I met that person so like

[00:59:43] you know I'm way over here in Houston and it's hard for me to get out to places very often

[00:59:48] and so I feel blessed that I've been able to get out there and meet some of the people

[00:59:53] that you hang out with and some really good people too.

[00:59:57] Yeah oh my god we have such great a great group here and I know a lot of them have kind of moved

[01:00:02] around but you know like it's just one of those you know friendships that you have where

[01:00:07] you know you don't talk for months but when you see them you just kind of pick up where

[01:00:11] you left off so that's another reason why I just love the community because you meet all

[01:00:16] types of people and you know like you'll see others sometimes and then you won't but you know

[01:00:24] you'll see them maybe a year later so it's just so great that I'm able to have those different

[01:00:29] types of friendships with other people and even people I haven't met so yeah.

[01:00:34] Yeah so with all of the off-roading and stuff that you've done I'm sure you've driven through

[01:00:40] different types of terrain but like what is your favorite because I know you've driven on

[01:00:44] trails it looks like you've been through some mud and snow maybe even some sand so

[01:00:50] what would you say you enjoy driving through the most?

[01:00:53] So I'm gonna be honest with you I was triggered when you said sand just kidding but one of the

[01:01:00] one of the first or yeah one of the in my first year one of the trips we went to I'll

[01:01:04] quickly share this story is we went to the Pismo beach dunes and Carrie actually went on

[01:01:09] this trip and thank god that she went because she literally was our recovery angel throughout

[01:01:15] the entire experience but that was the first time I've ever driven on sand and for those who

[01:01:21] haven't driving in sand is a it's just incredibly challenging and it was so funny because

[01:01:29] five minutes into getting into the dunes I was already stuck in sand and it was about just

[01:01:35] getting the recovery boards on you know all of us in panic mode and then when I got stuck two

[01:01:41] other people got stuck so it was just you know it was not the funnest but I do recall Carrie

[01:01:47] telling us that the area that we were in wasn't the best and that we should have gone

[01:01:51] somewhere else so it could have been because of that but also another thing you definitely do

[01:01:55] not want to get sand in your engine bay so after that trip I remember I think it took

[01:02:02] like almost a week for me to clean out every single crevice in my engine bay so I

[01:02:08] wasn't having the paranoia of possibly damaging my engine because of it so don't recommend sand

[01:02:14] but it's different part of it's different yeah but feels weird too oh my god it feels so

[01:02:20] weird and I actually felt it this past year with my trail scare and the cool part about

[01:02:25] Pismo is that you can drive right in front of the beach so that's all flat and it's so

[01:02:32] incredible oh my god I'll never forget it and I'm really shocked I haven't been back since but I

[01:02:38] definitely feel like I need to redeem myself and give the dunes another go and I feel like if I'm

[01:02:44] in a good area with um obviously a group that has the right recovery gear and I have some

[01:02:49] recovery gear now myself but I think that will definitely change my perspective now that I have

[01:02:55] more experience but yeah don't like sand but my favorites are definitely snow as I said love to

[01:03:02] take a sky up to Tahoe and mud so I wasn't really a fan of mud just because I was really

[01:03:10] one of those people when I got my car that I wanted to keep it as pristine as possible but

[01:03:15] as you know that that never is going to happen in this community so I had to convince

[01:03:19] out of that mindset but love going into mud it's so much fun and I love the splashes and all that

[01:03:27] and I definitely have to say snow and not are my two favorite terrains to drive into

[01:03:32] yeah definitely mud for me and I haven't haven't really driven pearl through proper

[01:03:38] snow but definitely mud and I always enjoy that but it's uh it's it is fun and it's

[01:03:46] messy and it's a heck of a cleanup but you know it's just yeah but so I mean you know

[01:03:53] obviously you really really enjoy your cross-track but what would you say about

[01:03:57] it brings you the most joy I would say being able to just go out and adventure when I want

[01:04:04] to and with that is just meeting others who are very like-minded I mean I feel like if I

[01:04:09] didn't get the car and I didn't you know make the commitment of creating the page and

[01:04:15] going out of my way to meet others through these you know events I feel like I wouldn't have done

[01:04:21] it myself you know so I feel like those two things bring me joy and that's all connected

[01:04:28] to Skye and just being able to work on her as well gives me a sense of pride and

[01:04:35] accomplishment you know because there's not that many women in the community who can say

[01:04:39] they they do their own mods or you know they do their own oil change which I just learned how

[01:04:44] to do and it's just really rewarding so I feel like I'm able to grow with Skye if that makes any

[01:04:51] sense um and you know just you know be able to connect with others who you know share the

[01:04:58] same passions that I do and like I said I feel like I wouldn't have been able to do that if I

[01:05:03] didn't get the cross-track so yeah so you have your cross-track you love it but what if

[01:05:11] if you could drive somebody else's Subaru for a day whose would it be and why so I

[01:05:19] I'm gonna have to go with Lori's husband Chris which rest in peace um yeah I actually got to know

[01:05:28] him through others but I would love to drive his blue Forester that's nice that thing is

[01:05:38] decked out that would be the ultimate experience ever so I told Lori if I'm ever down there in

[01:05:45] Southern California which I do a trip I'm due to go see her that I would be honored to drive

[01:05:52] that car so that's definitely been some something I've always wanted to do and funny is that me

[01:05:59] and Chris actually share the same birthday so really it was really nice yeah it was

[01:06:04] really sweet to hear Lori and you know she's like yeah you you guys share a birthday together and

[01:06:09] so every year when it's my birthday I always give them a shout out and you know I I send

[01:06:15] some love towards uh Lori and family so that's nice yeah how would you say your cross-track

[01:06:22] is most matches your personality so I definitely say the color speaks for itself she's kind of

[01:06:31] loud and in terms of who I am I tend to be loud um in terms of like what I do and I love to stand

[01:06:39] out I like to be unique and so I think we very much match each other when it comes to that type

[01:06:44] of energy and yeah she's cute and she's small so again another thing I can relate to so

[01:06:52] yeah and how would you if you could describe your cross-track in one word what would it be

[01:06:57] so this one was a really hard one because I've always seen her and I'll give you the two words

[01:07:04] that come to mind is free spirit and wild heart and it's hard for me to put those into one

[01:07:10] obviously but those are the two words that come to mind when I think of sky so free spirit

[01:07:16] and wild heart no those are good I mean it's it's very fitting for that car and what it is

[01:07:23] kind of like what it brings to you totally totally I love it so how would you say that owning your

[01:07:30] Subaru and being part of the Subaru community has changed your life I know you've kind of

[01:07:34] already touched on that some and but you know if you want to expand on it some you can

[01:07:40] yeah I mean like I said in the beginning and what I alluded to earlier is I'm just so blessed

[01:07:47] to just be able to meet so many incredible people here and like I said I feel like if

[01:07:53] I didn't get the cross-track I wouldn't be exposed but you know starting off with being

[01:07:58] able to be an admin with Softroad Nation or Cal and even before I was an admin I was able

[01:08:05] to be with them for a year and you know be part of those events and celebrate their one

[01:08:09] year together and that sort of kind of allowed me to go deeper and be you know a member and

[01:08:19] specifically coordinate events with them and kind of prove myself and I love doing those

[01:08:24] types of things and for me I'm very community-based so I love to bring people together whether that

[01:08:30] be in one form or another and then with that I was also lucky enough to be invited to be

[01:08:37] an admin from Lori which previously the ladies of Softroad Nation which is now known as Girls

[01:08:43] in Gears so that was really awesome because like I said one of the main goals for me was just to

[01:08:50] expose more women and have them kind of be part of this community so it was such an

[01:08:56] honor for her to allow me to be part of that and also be part of the rebranding

[01:09:03] so it's just awesome that I'm able to do that as well and then between all of that I was also

[01:09:11] working with another brand which was known as Boxer Overland aka or now known as CUV Pros.

[01:09:20] Yeah I saw that.

[01:09:22] Yeah and they reached out to me and one of the guys was mentioning to me that they had this

[01:09:32] product at the time which was the Trail Pros and that you'd be able to switch the color

[01:09:38] with just the switch of your headlights and I'm like there's no way like there's no way

[01:09:43] there's something like that and he and I sort of kind of were chatting back and forth

[01:09:48] and he's like it would be great if you could kind of kick this off for us and so

[01:09:52] he reached out to me and he's like let's meet at the Golden Gate and I got somebody who can

[01:09:59] film and let's showcase these lights and see where it goes and as soon as I filmed that reel

[01:10:06] with them and we posted it and that thing blew up and that's I felt like when I started to get

[01:10:12] more become more part of the community and hear from others right and it was really cool to be

[01:10:19] one of the first people to have those lights and showcase it so I was able to you know build

[01:10:26] with a brand and I'm so thankful for them you know I've been able to see them at other events

[01:10:32] as well so shout out Boxer Overland again which is known on the CUV Pros for just giving

[01:10:40] me the platform to be able to share the trail pro lights and I love them and they still go

[01:10:46] strong they are incredible sets of headlights and I definitely blinded a few people so I apologize

[01:10:55] for that but I was able to re-aim them so we don't have that issue anymore so again tip

[01:11:02] for those who have very bright headlights make sure that you take the time to re-aim them

[01:11:07] because you don't want to get honked at or even flipped off how do you do that how do you re-aim

[01:11:12] them it's literally just this little screw behind that you take a wrench and you're literally just

[01:11:18] loosening it up and it'll go down if you want to put it back up you just tighten it so

[01:11:23] it's very very easy I actually have a video of it on my page so for those who want to know

[01:11:28] how to do it check out my reels it's probably somewhere you know deep down in your

[01:11:35] reels but you'll be able to see it I did a whole video of it so okay good yeah and then um yeah

[01:11:42] and so talk about girls and gears and um soft road nation but just overall the community is

[01:11:49] incredibly special and like I said I've met so many awesome people who you know I still

[01:11:56] am able to reach out to if I have a question and again a really cool part about this

[01:12:00] community is that there's no such thing as a stupid question because either somebody knows

[01:12:05] the answer through trial and error or somebody has never experienced it before so you're sort

[01:12:10] of kind of learning as you go and you're kind of taking other experiences with you

[01:12:17] and you know you're growing and learning which was the goal for me to be able to

[01:12:21] you know take hold of a scary you know you know place that I didn't think I would fit in

[01:12:30] and then also being able to understand and learn my car and feel confident about it um so yeah

[01:12:39] yeah it's definitely I think you know a lot of people get into it and they don't know

[01:12:45] what's out there they don't know about all the people and everything and so it really opens up

[01:12:50] a whole new world and you get a chance to meet a lot of amazing people and create a lot of really

[01:12:58] great experiences and then you know it just goes back to what I said before is if we hadn't

[01:13:03] bought this car we wouldn't have met all these people and been able to do all these great

[01:13:07] things and you know it's just I know a lot of people are like I don't know where I would

[01:13:11] see myself now if I didn't have this you know totally and it's and it's and so funny

[01:13:17] too where I feel like I just like every time I go to an event and I'm driving home like

[01:13:23] this is a weird thing that I do and I'm sure others do it but I'll sort of kind of have a

[01:13:28] conversation with Sky and just be like you know that went great and I learned so like

[01:13:33] I'll just say little things like that and just kind of recap the day and then the best

[01:13:38] part is is I'll just like rub the dashboard just to show her like I deeply care about her

[01:13:44] and I'm so grateful that she's been able to bring me into this community and you know like

[01:13:49] be so accepting of others so that's my little weird thing that I do with my car I'm sure other

[01:13:54] people do that but if you don't now you know that people do that so well I've actually done

[01:13:59] that recently just because like as just kind of as a thank you to Pearl for lasting and

[01:14:06] doing really well for 104 000 miles so you know it's like it's kind of like I just wanted to

[01:14:14] reach out and show some love and thanks for getting me through some of the stuff that I've

[01:14:19] been through not that I've been through anything crazy but you know I've just I've

[01:14:23] put a lot of miles on her and it's uh I want her to keep going yeah so for those listening

[01:14:31] take the time to give a little hug or rub to your Subaru Crosstruck or whatever you drive

[01:14:38] just to thank them for getting you to that point you know because you know they're doing

[01:14:43] work too so yeah well this is the part of these the episode where we get to know

[01:14:49] you a little bit more they get to know the person behind the account but who is Roxanne

[01:14:55] yeah so this is always a hard question when it comes to asking yourself but

[01:15:02] I would say Roxanne is a proud brown Latina from the Bay Area born and raised

[01:15:10] who loves community who loves positivity and carries and leads that way and you know loves

[01:15:18] to be empathetic and loves to be around others loves to uplift people that's like my main

[01:15:24] thing I love to uplift others and I love the thrill of adventure and I don't think I'll ever

[01:15:30] back down and I'm pretty unique when it comes to other people fun fact Rafa I've never been

[01:15:36] drunk or hungover I don't drink never done any hard drugs but it's funny because if you

[01:15:41] meet me everyone's like you don't need those things like you operate in what would you be

[01:15:47] like if you did I know I would not be who I am for sure today so I'm really thankful and I know

[01:15:54] I'm one of the few rare ones that are still left that you know operates that way but yeah

[01:16:00] and that's okay there's nothing wrong with that at all well you answered my question about

[01:16:04] where you were born but what so what is a favorite memory from your childhood

[01:16:09] yeah so uh I am very fortunate and shout out 90s babies I was born in 94

[01:16:18] um but I am so thankful that I spent all of my childhood outdoors but one of um my favorite

[01:16:26] things to do was ride bikes outside of my home and with my friends and funny enough and

[01:16:32] this still kind of rings true today I was always the slowest and I was always the smallest so

[01:16:40] I remember entering the fifth grade and using all of that summer before to master the craft

[01:16:47] of speed on my bike because I was like I am not going to be the last one here and not

[01:16:53] only was I able to do that Rafa but I learned how to drive or sorry learn how to ride the bike

[01:16:59] without hands which was such a major flex back in the day it was like you know when you went

[01:17:04] to go sharpen your pencil to show off your outfit in class it felt like that so it was

[01:17:10] one of those moments and that was definitely one of the things I love to do and then here in the

[01:17:16] Bay Area in Mountain View specifically there's a park I used to go to called Cuesta Park

[01:17:22] and in that park they had a little dog park section and that used to be my favorite thing

[01:17:28] and growing up we weren't allowed to have pets so that was like my outlet to be able to connect

[01:17:34] with you know pets and their owners and I used to make my dad drive me there sometimes

[01:17:40] after school just to spend time there and he'd just play handball or tennis and I'd just be

[01:17:46] sitting there at the dog park and waiting for the dogs to come up to me or coming up to the

[01:17:51] owners and asking them if I could throw the ball for them so that's what I those are my two

[01:17:58] special childhood memories for sure. And now you have a dog right? I do so for those who

[01:18:05] haven't looked at my Instagram recently I am fostering which will soon be adopted a cute

[01:18:13] little dachshund named Dexter and I do want to give a quick shout out here to Scarlett

[01:18:18] the Outback which is Kai. I think you had her on here. She actually works at the SPCA

[01:18:26] here in the Bay and I sort of kind of was chatting with her before and I was like

[01:18:33] she was asking me she's like do you ever want a dog and I was like of course I want a dog

[01:18:36] and I told her I'm really picky and the specific dog breed I wanted was a dachshund

[01:18:42] which as everyone knows is a wiener dog and so she was like I'll keep a lookout but you know

[01:18:47] no promises and I told her you know it it'll be a one in a million if a dachshund ever comes

[01:18:53] through the shelter and I'm able to adopt it. So I really didn't think much of it but

[01:18:58] a few months passed by and she texted me and she's like you will not believe what just

[01:19:03] happened we just got two brother dachshunds that got dropped off and they're about five

[01:19:11] or six weeks old and I was like sign me up no questions asked and what I had to do to be you

[01:19:18] know one of the first ones is we had to fill out like a foster application in order to be

[01:19:24] able to adopt so we have to foster first before we can officially adopt. So I got him

[01:19:30] at the end of March and now it's May so I've had him for nearly almost two months and he is

[01:19:39] my pride and my joy I love him and everyone jokingly says because I'm in my 30s that

[01:19:46] this is my child and it totally is so I haven't taken him on any off-roading

[01:19:53] trips yet but he's been with me on a few events that we've done with Swafford Nation so a few

[01:19:59] of people have actually seen him and he's adorable he's currently almost six pounds

[01:20:05] and I have this little dog carrier bag that I'll carry him in and it's so cute because he'll just

[01:20:10] snuggle in there but he's a big lover boy he loves to cuddle loves to kiss and loves to like

[01:20:15] and he's super social for a puppy in my opinion but me and my best friend are actually

[01:20:21] fostering so I'm fostering him and she's fostering his brother and we live about five

[01:20:26] minutes away so yeah so they're able to you know get raised together and you know have each

[01:20:33] other and it's so sweet every time they they meet they just cry for each other because they

[01:20:38] love each other so much and I'm so happy that I didn't take them away from each other and

[01:20:43] that they're able to grow up together so lots of puppy training still happening and a few

[01:20:49] accidents but he's getting the hang of their routine so can't complain yeah he'll get there

[01:20:54] he'll get there yeah he'll get there so what is it that you do for a living

[01:20:59] Yeah so my first job out of college was actually at Yelp and so I was doing account management there

[01:21:07] for three years and then shortly after that I ended up going to a startup and I was doing

[01:21:13] some customer success which is very similar to account management so my background is in tech

[01:21:20] even though I went to school for anthropology funny enough which is on the other side of the

[01:21:25] spectrum but I do feel like that has kind of laid out the foundation of just understanding

[01:21:33] people how they operate and those skills are so helpful in anything you do especially you

[01:21:39] know those client-facing jobs that people do so in a way it sort of kind of helped me but

[01:21:47] I recently unfortunately got laid off from that job and that sucks it was so crappy and

[01:21:55] it was everything that everyone describes it to be and you know being a hard worker and you

[01:22:01] know being who I am I was really devastated but a couple of days after that I got a phone call

[01:22:08] from an old co-worker who presented me with this crazy dream job and I was like oh my

[01:22:15] this crazy dream job for this company called Vintage Broncos and for those who don't hey hey

[01:22:22] this is a Subaru podcast come on shout out Vintage Broncos I'm kidding I'm kidding I'm

[01:22:28] kidding um no but for those who don't know search them up on Instagram but um I was

[01:22:34] able to interview with them and you know one thing led to another and they made me an offer

[01:22:40] and so what I do there is my official title is a client concierge manager so what happens is

[01:22:47] once you put your deposit in for your slot I'm with you for the five to eight month journey

[01:22:53] that V Broncos being built and you know giving those updates and you know giving what we call

[01:22:58] that gold glove service and then um we are with each other for that pre and post delivery

[01:23:06] and then all the vehicles have a three-year bumper to bumper warranty so I'm also with them up

[01:23:13] until that point um as their main point of contact so it's really a dream job I mean the

[01:23:17] clientele we have is like next level I mean we're talking about celebrities athletes

[01:23:24] entrepreneurs you name it so I really scored here and you know I was so bummed about

[01:23:31] getting laid off but you know looking back I'm such a firm believer that when one door closes

[01:23:36] another one opens and everything happens for a reason so and then yeah some of those things

[01:23:43] that can happen end up turning into a blessing because you if you'd still been working there

[01:23:47] you wouldn't be doing this oh my god 100% and it's so cool because it's kind of you

[01:23:54] know putting two worlds that I love together you know the car world and then doing what I'm

[01:23:58] doing which was client facing um so like I said it's a dream job and I'm so grateful I pinch myself

[01:24:04] every day because I'm like is this real am I actually doing this and it's not an easy job

[01:24:09] but like I said I I'm incredibly grateful and so thankful that you know the universe has my

[01:24:15] back and other people too you know you I feel like in those moments in your life when

[01:24:20] you're at your lowest you really see who's there for you and who isn't and it's incredible

[01:24:26] that you know people that you uplift or you know that you you know that they were also down or the

[01:24:33] lowest point in your life and you were there for them are able to be there for you at some

[01:24:37] point later in your life so I'm such a big you know advocate about making connections with

[01:24:43] other people because you never know they could really save you and you know put you in the

[01:24:49] path that you've always wanted to be or that you're destined to be on so so grateful so

[01:24:54] that's what I do now and um I started that job actually three weeks ago so it's still very brand new

[01:25:01] and yeah I have no plans by the way of trading out my cross truck for those people who thought

[01:25:08] that because I know you reached out Rafa but I had a few others to reach out and they're like

[01:25:13] are you departing with your car? No I didn't switch the cross truck for the Bronco um that car is way out of my price range but

[01:25:24] I am gonna keep my cross truck until the very very last breath that she'll take and I have no

[01:25:30] plans on swapping her out so. Good good because then if you do I'll have to delete your episode

[01:25:36] I know I know and then no one will ever know who Cross Truck Babe was yeah long live the legend

[01:25:42] yeah no what other hobbies do you have I mean besides getting out and enjoying your cross truck

[01:25:49] yeah so I'm one of those people that accidentally likes to put too much on their plate so

[01:25:55] I'm definitely always doing something but the two things that I'm very very passionate about and

[01:26:01] those who have been able to camp and trail with is I'm a huge baker and I make a mean

[01:26:07] sourdough I also do New York style bagels so I know a few folks who have trailed with

[01:26:13] about to try my sourdough and I'm not trying to toot my own horn here Rafa but you know

[01:26:18] I got 11 out of 10 which I take as a win here so and for those who don't know how to make

[01:26:24] sourdough it's a labor of love and if you don't have patience I don't recommend it but

[01:26:30] if you do it's the best experience it's so rewarding and my tip for those who want to

[01:26:35] start out in the starter world is you have to have a good starter if you do not have a

[01:26:41] good starter you will not have a good sourdough so for those who want any tips feel free to slide

[01:26:46] into my dns happy to showcase some photos but I love to bake that's like one of my hobbies

[01:26:52] that I like to do I also love to cook cooking is my love language that's how I connect with

[01:26:59] other people and I specifically like to cook like Asian cuisine so I've been kind of

[01:27:08] experimenting with a lot of those umami flavors recently which is so fun but aside from that love

[01:27:15] true crime so if you've seen any of the true crime series that have been out I've probably

[01:27:20] already seen it and if not it's teed up in my queue but love to read listen to podcasts

[01:27:26] or watch any true crime related things and then aside from that I love to spend time with

[01:27:33] my fiance and my family so we do a lot of you know group activities with friends

[01:27:40] we always love to host here at our place so yeah that's what I that's what I like to do

[01:27:46] in my off time and I'm very spiritual as well so meditating or doing some type of mindfulness

[01:27:53] each week is something I strive to do and I try to work out every week but you know

[01:27:59] sometimes I'll miss that but being in physical activity is really good for your mental health

[01:28:05] so I love to incorporate that in any way and yeah those are those are a few things that I

[01:28:12] like to do and I obviously like to work on my car and now that I'm in the bronco industry

[01:28:18] it's really cool to see the factory line and see you know get more exposure on how

[01:28:23] you know cars are built from the top to the bottom so that's really cool yeah that's all

[01:28:28] good stuff it's good to have hobbies too especially you know things that you can be

[01:28:33] passionate about but so what is something that makes you want to get out of bed every day

[01:28:39] yeah I love this question I think coming from a personal perspective I think just you know

[01:28:46] especially coming from two immigrant parents who are now fortunately citizens but for some context

[01:28:52] here my mom was actually born in El Salvador and she was actually a civil war refugee that came

[01:28:59] to the U.S. to seek asylum because the war was so bad and she had been through so much

[01:29:05] trauma and she unfortunately lost her brother as well so you know coming here and providing

[01:29:13] me and my three older sisters a place where we can grow and do what we want is one of the

[01:29:20] reasons why I get up every day and you know my mom's always like don't do it for me do it

[01:29:25] for yourself and you know she's right in that aspect but I always remind her you know I

[01:29:31] wouldn't be here if you didn't come here you know and if you didn't meet my dad who was on

[01:29:36] a similar journey but you know didn't leave because he had to sort of left because he

[01:29:41] wanted to so just being able to just wake up every day and have like the basics of blessings

[01:29:50] whether that be your health or having a roof over your head or just being able to you know

[01:29:55] buy groceries you know the little things that's that really what's what motivates me and like

[01:30:02] I told you in the very beginning as well Ralph I'm a very positive person so I always

[01:30:08] like to be that light for others who maybe don't you know have that person in their lives

[01:30:15] so you know whether I'm helping somebody out or brightening somebody's day

[01:30:20] that's usually what makes me want to get out and start my day so yeah those are good reasons

[01:30:27] good reason to get out of bed but what is something that makes you want to stay in bed

[01:30:31] Stay in bed so um some people know this but I need my beauty sleep and if I don't get it I'm

[01:30:40] very irritable so the weekends I try to at least leave one day where I can at least sleep in

[01:30:46] until eight or even nine and if I'm lucky I can sleep more than that I know I know but

[01:30:53] nowadays since I have Dexter my dog he's got me up at like six a.m. so I don't really get

[01:31:00] the luxury of sleeping in but definitely I'm in bed if I'm sick debilitated or I need sleep so

[01:31:08] those would be the reasons why I would stay in bed yeah those are good reasons you know and

[01:31:13] you're not up in the northeast like a lot of people are and then having to say you know the

[01:31:17] answer is oh if it's really cold outside then I like to stay in bed because I'm sure you

[01:31:21] don't deal with that too much yeah I know but also if you ask somebody like me who's from

[01:31:27] California like you know we're such babies here and I have a lot of friends on the east coast who

[01:31:32] will always make fun of me because you know we consider a 65 cold and that is nothing

[01:31:40] oh it's the same here yeah we get that too from people in the northeast yeah so I feel you on

[01:31:45] that one yeah so try not to complain and I try to tough it out but you know so I'm

[01:31:51] spoiled with the California weather for sure so yeah it's nice out there what would be your

[01:31:56] best bit of advice to give to someone about anything yeah so I love this question because

[01:32:05] you know I feel like every couple years it's different for me but you know being just

[01:32:11] just recently turned 30 and looking back at the milestone of my 20s I would definitely say

[01:32:20] listen to the little voice inside of yourself because a lot of the time especially in your

[01:32:25] young in your early 20s or mid-20s you're sort of kind of in this position where you know you

[01:32:32] have a lot of influence from others and a lot of people are telling you what to do and it's

[01:32:37] sort of kind of hard to shut out the noise and listen to yourself so I always you know

[01:32:42] when I look back even at my own journey I always tell myself you know if I had listened

[01:32:46] to that little voice inside of myself I don't think I would have been as timid or scared or

[01:32:53] etc whatever that may be because I was so busy listening to what other people thought I should do

[01:32:59] and that like rings true even you know for example with you know people's builds right

[01:33:04] like I remember when I first joined this community and so many people were telling me

[01:33:08] what to do with my car and I was just like dude like I can do whatever the hell I want

[01:33:14] to do with my car and it's really my prerogative and not yours and yeah and it

[01:33:20] should be that way for everybody in their own build right and in a way to like especially

[01:33:25] for somebody like me who's a people pleaser I almost felt like I needed to do that you know

[01:33:29] and I just remember taking a step back and being like why did I create this page in the

[01:33:34] first page first place right and that was really to be creative and the creativity

[01:33:40] stems from within myself not from other people so I remember kind of you know taking

[01:33:46] a little bit of a step back and just shutting off that noise and not letting that get to me so

[01:33:53] you know that's my piece of advice listen to that little voice inside of yourself

[01:33:57] and listen to your intuition and follow your gut and of course you know you can have other

[01:34:03] people you know give you advice and whatever it is that you're dealing with or going through

[01:34:10] but at the end of the day you know do what's right and do what feels right in your heart

[01:34:15] and you know it's you yourself and I and I'm not saying that in a selfish way I'm just saying

[01:34:21] that more so of you know listening to yourself rather than listening to others or having others

[01:34:27] guide for you if that makes any sense so yeah yeah it does yeah no that's good advice

[01:34:33] it's a good uh it's especially the whole you know when it comes to your build to do it do

[01:34:40] it the way you want to do it not the way people you mean you can have people make

[01:34:44] suggestions on things but not right shouldn't have anybody tell you how to build it but

[01:34:48] yeah that's great like I remember like somebody was telling me to cut off my

[01:34:53] bumper in the front and I had like what like 10 people message me and say you should do it you

[01:34:59] should do it and I was like Ruff I was this close to doing it like I was like maybe I

[01:35:05] should do it and I'm so glad I didn't yeah and no hate to those people who do do it

[01:35:11] and that's the look and the aesthetic they're going for but that's just not the look I'm

[01:35:15] going for and that's just not me so I'm glad I didn't listen to people and I'm glad I didn't

[01:35:21] you know go into the whole people pleasing mindset and you know trying to make others

[01:35:26] like my build and it's like no like I'm doing this for myself and nobody else and I really

[01:35:32] have to listen to my own advice you know and when it comes to that so yeah yeah listen

[01:35:38] to your own advice yes definitely well I want to say thank you so much for taking the time

[01:35:44] to do the podcast I know we've been talking about it for a long time but we kind of it

[01:35:50] kind of came up last minute to actually do it so I want to thank you for being available

[01:35:56] and for sharing your Subaru journey and more about you and it's nice to hear a lot of

[01:36:02] good things about you and and your Subaru of course and Rafa it is my ultimate pleasure

[01:36:09] and again it is such an honor to be invited on here and you know you know hear the stories

[01:36:15] that I have and meet the people I have because of this podcast so again thank you so much

[01:36:19] for doing this and I hope people enjoy this episode and you know and I am happy if other

[01:36:27] out or ask any questions but you know thank you again and I look forward to hearing it

[01:36:33] when it comes out so you're welcome all right well I hope you have a good evening and uh

[01:36:40] you know enjoy the rest of the week because we're only halfway through but got a few more

[01:36:46] days and then it's nice to have a Monday off soon especially for me I know not everybody

[01:36:51] gets Memorial Day off but I'm looking forward to it oh yeah me too and I'm so thankful that the

[01:36:56] office is closed because you know if it wasn't I definitely have FOMO but I'm definitely going

[01:37:02] to be enjoying this three-day weekend so I hope you enjoyed as well and do you have any

[01:37:07] fun plans um for the Memorial Day weekend yeah I'm actually going to meet up with

[01:37:12] Jonathan who goes by Sage the Crosstrek he moved here yeah he moved from the northeast

[01:37:18] to Austin and we're gonna meet up at Bastrop and I get to meet him for the first time and

[01:37:24] we'll go trailing and so yeah so I'm looking forward to that that's going to be fun that's

[01:37:29] so awesome I was just talking to him actually the other day and I love his build he's really

[01:37:32] put a lot of work in so give him a give him a hello on my behalf I will yeah and of course

[01:37:38] this will come out after that happens but you know people will hear it and that's okay

[01:37:44] of course maybe a little like teaser so yeah so again thank you and hope you have a good night

[01:37:50] and I'll talk to you later as well you as well Rafa take care and blessings all right

[01:37:56] hello everybody thank you for tuning in to another episode of the Subi and You podcast

[01:38:00] if you are not doing so already give Roxanne a follow she can be found at

[01:38:05] Crosstrek babe on Instagram and thank you so much Roxanne for taking the time to record

[01:38:11] with me and be a guest on the podcast I hope you all have a great week and I hope your summer is

[01:38:18] going well so far I know that it seems like most of the kids should be out for summer by

[01:38:23] now hopefully and you can start planning some summer vacations or just enjoying some time

[01:38:29] off so again have a great week and we will see you on another episode next Monday so thank

[01:38:38] you all so much really appreciate it have a great week much subi love rap the subi and you podcast

[01:38:45] is hosted by Raphael in a closet in Houston produced by Raphael in a room next to the closet

[01:38:51] in Houston and edited by Raphael on a computer in the room next to the closet in Houston

[01:38:56] with music by Luke Ruiz in another room in Houston you can find the subi and you podcast

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