S&YE191 - Out 2 Roam

[00:00:10] So hey, this is Johnny Walker and you can find me on Instagram at Out2Roam. You are listening to episode 191 of the Subie & You podcast.

[00:00:20] Hello everybody, welcome to another episode of the Subie & You podcast. As you just heard, I have Johnny Walker on who goes by Out2Roam on Instagram.

[00:00:29] So we will hear about his build and his Subaru journey here in just a little bit.

[00:00:34] But I've been talking to, I started talking to Johnny I think over two years ago and about being on the podcast.

[00:00:43] And he finally said that he was ready so we made it happen and here we are.

[00:00:49] So since we had a holiday last week, I hope that everybody had a happy Thanksgiving and was able to spend some time with friends and family or friends or family.

[00:00:58] And either way, just be thankful for these, you know, relationships that we have with other people, the Subaru community, our cars and everything else that we may have in our life.

[00:01:10] I spent Thanksgiving Day at Universal Studios with my son and my daughter and her husband.

[00:01:17] So I was thankful to be able to take that trip. We saved up for quite a while to be able to do it.

[00:01:24] And I had been wanting to take my son to Disney World, which we did Monday through Wednesday and then Universal Studios on Thursday.

[00:01:31] So I was just thankful to be able to do that and give that experience to my son.

[00:01:38] So I'm going to talk more about it on next Monday on the Subie Scoop because I really want to tell the story because it was just it was a lot of fun and we got to see some really cool things.

[00:01:49] So I'm excited to share that. But this week, it's all about Johnny Walker.

[00:01:54] The Subie and You podcast is brought to you by Eccentric Designs.

[00:01:59] For those of you who don't know, Eccentric Designs is a small community driven business that offers custom fit vinyl overlays for most Subaru models.

[00:02:07] This includes various designs for the rear reflectors, taillights and side taillights.

[00:02:12] I also offer fun decal designs like the popular fender stripes and stickers.

[00:02:16] To find designs for your Subie, head on over to eccentricdesigns.com.

[00:02:20] There's always more projects in the works. So be sure to follow at eccentric.designs on Instagram.

[00:02:27] Thank you so much always for sponsoring the Subie and You podcast.

[00:02:31] And today is Cyber Monday.

[00:02:33] So at eccentricdesigns.com, you can save 20% off your purchase by using the code cyber20.

[00:02:40] So if you've been if you've had your eye on some decals, now is the time to go get them and save 20%.

[00:02:47] So go check it out.

[00:02:49] So not only am I thankful since we just had Thanksgiving for being able to go to Disney World and Universal Studios with my family,

[00:02:59] I'm also thankful for the community and for all of the support for the podcast for almost four years.

[00:03:06] Because by the end of December, we'll be closing out four years of the Subie and You podcast.

[00:03:12] So for all of you that continue to listen every single Monday, I really, really appreciate it.

[00:03:18] And I'm very thankful to you.

[00:03:19] And for those of you that have been around since the very beginning and are still listening, thank you as well.

[00:03:26] And of course, for those of you that may be listening to this episode and listening to the podcast for the very first time,

[00:03:33] thank you for checking it out.

[00:03:35] If you're here to listen to Johnny Walker out to Rome and you like the episode, go check out the other episodes.

[00:03:42] There's 190 other episodes along with some bonus episodes.

[00:03:46] So thank you all so much.

[00:03:49] I really, really appreciate you sticking around and supporting the podcast.

[00:03:53] Another thing that I'm very grateful for is for Subaru Gear sponsoring the Subie and You podcast.

[00:04:00] They've been a sponsor for, I believe, like close to three years now.

[00:04:04] So really, really appreciate the sponsorship.

[00:04:07] And right now is a good time to go check out subarugear.com.

[00:04:11] You can use the code SUBIEANDU24 at checkout to get 20% off your purchase.

[00:04:16] And if the total of all of the items you put in your cart are $50 or more after the 20% discount,

[00:04:24] you will also get free shipping, which is a really great deal.

[00:04:28] So be sure to go check out subarugear.com.

[00:04:32] Go do your Christmas shopping.

[00:04:33] It's not too late to have orders shipped and delivered before Christmas.

[00:04:37] And again, just want to thank you so much, Subaru Gear, for sponsoring the Subie and You podcast

[00:04:43] and extending this great offer to our listeners.

[00:04:47] So now it's time to get into what you're here for.

[00:04:50] And that is to listen to this episode, this conversation with Johnny Walker,

[00:04:56] aka OutToRoam on Instagram.

[00:04:59] Let's go check it out and hear what he has to say.

[00:05:14] Hey, Johnny.

[00:05:15] Welcome to the podcast.

[00:05:16] Thanks.

[00:05:17] You're welcome.

[00:05:17] I hope you had a good Thanksgiving because we're recording this a couple of days after Thanksgiving.

[00:05:23] And I know people were either with friends or family or both.

[00:05:27] So how was yours?

[00:05:29] Yeah, it was good.

[00:05:30] It was different from previous Thanksgivings, only because I moved here to New York.

[00:05:38] So I have a few friends, co-workers and whatnot.

[00:05:42] But I pretty much woke up in the morning and went, took the train down to Manhattan and did my own kind of like food tour, Asian food tour.

[00:05:55] Oh, nice.

[00:05:55] Nice.

[00:05:56] And then met up with a buddy after.

[00:05:58] But first stop was dumplings.

[00:06:00] Got a bunch of those.

[00:06:02] And then walked around a bit with the Christmas lights that they have starting all set up down there.

[00:06:08] And then ramen.

[00:06:10] Just randomly walked by a ramen joint.

[00:06:13] That looks good.

[00:06:13] And I looked up for reviews.

[00:06:14] And I was like, oh, it's comparable to West Coast ramen.

[00:06:21] Okay.

[00:06:22] I was pretty impressed.

[00:06:24] Nice.

[00:06:24] Well, that's good.

[00:06:25] So and then met up with a buddy and it was a party after that.

[00:06:31] That's good.

[00:06:32] Yeah.

[00:06:32] What about yourself?

[00:06:33] So I was out of town with my daughter and her husband and my son.

[00:06:39] And we decided to go to Disney World and Universal Studios the week of Thanksgiving.

[00:06:44] So on Thanksgiving Day, we were at Universal Studios.

[00:06:47] And we didn't try to get like any particular type of meal.

[00:06:51] We just ate whatever.

[00:06:52] But it was a good day.

[00:06:53] And it was fun to be doing that and doing something different on Thanksgiving.

[00:06:57] Nice.

[00:06:58] So you brought up food for Thanksgiving, doing like a little food tour.

[00:07:03] So one of my first questions is whether you prefer waffles or pancakes.

[00:07:09] Yeah.

[00:07:09] So I love pancakes.

[00:07:13] Good.

[00:07:14] That's good to hear.

[00:07:15] No syrup, though.

[00:07:16] Just butter.

[00:07:17] That's yeah.

[00:07:18] So that's interesting.

[00:07:20] But I just say this real quick.

[00:07:23] A lot of times whenever I eat pancakes, I will put butter on it and I will take a bite of pancake with just butter before I put syrup.

[00:07:31] Because I do love syrup on it.

[00:07:32] But I totally get the butter only.

[00:07:35] Yeah.

[00:07:36] But also snickerdoodle pancakes are definitely where it's at.

[00:07:40] Never heard of that.

[00:07:41] Yeah.

[00:07:42] So you in the batter, you mix basically like a snickerdoodle mix, you know, like the sugar, the brown sugar cinnamon.

[00:07:50] It's all in there.

[00:07:51] Oh, so good.

[00:07:52] That's life changing.

[00:07:55] Oh, yeah.

[00:07:57] I'm going to have a little.

[00:07:58] It's funny you say that because snickerdoodle cookies are my favorite.

[00:08:01] So I got to try that sometime.

[00:08:04] Yeah.

[00:08:05] So just or even just mixing just a little cinnamon into the pancake batter.

[00:08:09] It does wonders.

[00:08:10] Okay.

[00:08:11] So, but also I love pancakes or waffles.

[00:08:15] My dad used to make them every Saturday morning.

[00:08:20] And I mean, chicken waffles, Belgian waffles.

[00:08:23] I guess I like both, but I prefer pancakes.

[00:08:27] Yeah.

[00:08:28] Same here.

[00:08:28] I mean, I like waffles a lot also, but yeah, pancakes is my preference.

[00:08:33] So, but yeah.

[00:08:35] So I guess we'll go ahead and get into your Subaru, which is why we're here.

[00:08:39] But so if anybody goes on your Instagram page and looks at your Subaru, it's kind of unlike, I mean, it doesn't, I wouldn't say that it looks 100% different than anything else because it's a built up Subaru and there's a lot of built up Subarus.

[00:08:55] So just the aspect of it being a built Subaru, it's not, that's not uncommon, but there are some uncommon things about your Subaru, which is really cool.

[00:09:05] But I guess to get it started off, is this your first Subaru?

[00:09:08] No.

[00:09:09] So this, this is actually my sixth Subaru.

[00:09:12] Wow.

[00:09:12] Nice.

[00:09:13] My fourth, my fourth legacy wagon.

[00:09:17] My first turbo Subaru though.

[00:09:20] So I had a 93, a 94 and a 99 legacy wagon.

[00:09:27] Okay.

[00:09:28] A 96 Impreza 2 that I used to rally cross.

[00:09:33] Oh, nice.

[00:09:33] Nice.

[00:09:34] That was, yeah, that was a fun, fun time.

[00:09:37] And then I had a lifted Outbat Sport Impreza wagon with a bunch of rear parts on it.

[00:09:43] And I kind of rallied that one kind of, but that was an off-road, off-road build.

[00:09:49] Gotcha.

[00:09:50] How long did you rally cross the Impreza?

[00:09:54] It lasted.

[00:09:56] So I had the car forever, but I only rally crossed it one season.

[00:10:00] Okay.

[00:10:02] And then there was a really pretty major accident that I got into.

[00:10:08] Like I was okay.

[00:10:09] Yeah.

[00:10:09] But the car was completely totaled.

[00:10:12] Oh, that sucks.

[00:10:13] So yeah, that was in Detroit way back in the day when I lived there.

[00:10:20] Yeah.

[00:10:20] Yeah.

[00:10:20] So you lived in Detroit, you live in New York now, and you used to live on the West Coast,

[00:10:25] right?

[00:10:25] California?

[00:10:26] I've lived all over.

[00:10:29] California, Washington, two places in Washington, Detroit.

[00:10:38] Yeah.

[00:10:39] New York.

[00:10:39] And then I'm originally from Colorado.

[00:10:41] Okay.

[00:10:42] So with the living in the different places, was that moving because of work or moving just

[00:10:47] to move?

[00:10:48] Moving for work.

[00:10:50] Okay.

[00:10:50] So I do environmental response and enforcement.

[00:10:55] Okay.

[00:10:55] Cool.

[00:10:56] So.

[00:10:56] Takes you around different places.

[00:10:58] Yeah.

[00:10:59] Yeah.

[00:10:59] Nice.

[00:11:01] So having owned six Subarus now, where did your interest in Subarus come from in the first

[00:11:06] place?

[00:11:10] So, you know, growing up, my family always had Subarus and we have like one of the greatest

[00:11:19] Subaru mechanics that my family used to use just for like basic maintenance and stuff.

[00:11:25] And then like one of my best friends, well, both my best friends, Ryan and Lucia, they're

[00:11:31] both in the sewers and it just, just kind of spawned from there.

[00:11:35] Yeah.

[00:11:36] Growing up with them and just being around them is, you know, there's an interest that

[00:11:41] comes from that.

[00:11:41] And then having friends that own them too, that can definitely do it for you.

[00:11:45] Yeah.

[00:11:46] So, yeah.

[00:11:47] And like Lucia, she has, you know, her, oh, I think it's an 04 STI that she's had forever.

[00:11:53] And then Ryan, he's had all sorts of swapped Imprezas, WX swapped Imprezas.

[00:12:00] And now he has an Outback XT and it, yeah.

[00:12:07] Nice.

[00:12:07] So all Subaru friends.

[00:12:10] Yeah, that's, that's good.

[00:12:11] It definitely keeps you interested, keeps you in the community and it keeps you like wanting

[00:12:15] to do more and, and just keep going with it.

[00:12:18] So, but, uh, so this is your fourth legacy wagon, right?

[00:12:23] So what's, what, what was your draw to the legacy wagon?

[00:12:27] Well, so originally I wanted, oh, well, the draw was honestly the cargo space.

[00:12:34] I love a long roof.

[00:12:36] I mean, everyone loves a long roof deep down in, but, um, yeah.

[00:12:43] So originally I was not looking for an 05, uh, latency GT.

[00:12:49] So a turbo latency, uh, originally I would planned on doing like a 91 to 94, uh, turbo

[00:12:56] latency wagon, uh, with a five or six speed conversion.

[00:13:02] That's what I originally planned on doing.

[00:13:04] So what happened with that and then getting what you have now?

[00:13:08] I remember that Subaru for one year, uh, in 05 did a five speed for the turbo

[00:13:17] legacies or legacy GTs.

[00:13:19] And that is what I was like, ah, shoot, if I can find one of those in like mint condition,

[00:13:28] then we'll do that.

[00:13:29] It'll be a lower mileage too.

[00:13:31] And, um, I really love the body lines of that.

[00:13:35] So yeah, we'll, we'll, we'll search for one of those.

[00:13:38] Um, the one I found was in Pennsylvania.

[00:13:42] I was living in California at the time.

[00:13:44] Oh yeah.

[00:13:45] It's quite a ways away.

[00:13:47] So I was, I was a little nervous because I'd never bought something sight unseen, but

[00:13:52] the guy checked, you know, he took it to the dealership, uh, got inspected, had every single

[00:13:58] record, uh, possible for it.

[00:14:00] He was the second owner.

[00:14:01] He worked from home and he said, the only time he took it out was if the roads were dry,

[00:14:07] the sun was out and the weather was supposed to be nice besides that sat in his garage

[00:14:12] and he covered it.

[00:14:13] Oh, that's good.

[00:14:14] Yeah.

[00:14:14] That means it was kept in really good condition.

[00:14:17] Yeah.

[00:14:18] So, um, my dad at the time was flying in that area for work.

[00:14:22] Um, and he flew out, picked it up, uh, did the work thing, then drove it back to Colorado.

[00:14:29] I met him in Colorado and then drove it from Colorado to California.

[00:14:32] Gotcha.

[00:14:32] I was like, man, you made him drive it all the way back to California.

[00:14:37] But even from there to Colorado is a good drive.

[00:14:40] Yeah.

[00:14:41] Yeah.

[00:14:42] But it, it's a, I don't know.

[00:14:43] Have you ever driven one even in stock form?

[00:14:46] Wait.

[00:14:47] Uh, so not in stock form.

[00:14:49] I think so.

[00:14:51] The girl that made this for me, she has a legacy GT wagon and it's, uh, it's modified some

[00:14:58] and that the, just the body is, I love it.

[00:15:03] And to drive it, it's a, it's a manual and turbo and man, that was fun.

[00:15:06] Oh yeah.

[00:15:07] Yeah.

[00:15:08] Yeah.

[00:15:08] It's even in like stock form, it's such a blast to drive.

[00:15:12] Everything is like perfect on it.

[00:15:14] I mean, everything, you know, anything to be, uh, modified, but yeah, in stock form, it

[00:15:20] really is a good car.

[00:15:21] So how long did it take you to find it once you decided like, that's what you wanted?

[00:15:26] I think I spent six to eight months for it around.

[00:15:32] Yeah.

[00:15:32] And mine at the time, I think I paid a little higher price, but I was like, well, he has

[00:15:37] all the records.

[00:15:38] It's in mint condition.

[00:15:39] Do you know, tail of the dragon?

[00:15:41] Have you heard?

[00:15:41] Oh yeah.

[00:15:42] So it's been on, he's taken it on tail of the dragon 13 times.

[00:15:47] Wow, man.

[00:15:49] He obviously enjoys driving that car or did.

[00:15:53] Yeah.

[00:15:53] Yeah.

[00:15:53] He did.

[00:15:54] Uh, he got into a motorcycle accident, uh, and his clutch blade was killing him.

[00:16:00] Um, and that's why he had to part with the wagon.

[00:16:04] Yeah.

[00:16:04] That would, man, that would suck.

[00:16:06] Yeah.

[00:16:07] Cause it's fun driving a manual.

[00:16:08] My cross trick is a manual.

[00:16:10] Oh, sweet.

[00:16:11] Oh yeah.

[00:16:12] Yeah.

[00:16:12] I love it.

[00:16:13] I mean, so when we went to, when we went on our trip to Disney world and universal studios,

[00:16:19] we drove out to Florida from Texas and drove my daughter's cross trick.

[00:16:24] She has a third gen and I drove a good portion of the way cause I would drive at night cause

[00:16:29] she didn't feel comfortable driving at night.

[00:16:31] And it's a, it's an automatic and you know, it's smooth, it's nice and everything.

[00:16:36] But I was like, I miss shifting.

[00:16:38] I really do.

[00:16:39] Yeah.

[00:16:40] The only, there is a part of me.

[00:16:43] I wish I had an automatic only because the, because I do the off-road stuff with it now

[00:16:48] too.

[00:16:50] And I feel like the off-road and automatic would just be much easier, but.

[00:16:56] Yeah.

[00:16:56] I have a little funny story.

[00:16:59] My first off-road experience, I went to Colorado cause there was a couple of guys that had on

[00:17:04] the podcast and I had been planning a trip with my kids to Colorado anyway, cause we'd

[00:17:08] been out there before and we wanted to go back.

[00:17:10] And so they took me to some trails.

[00:17:13] I'd never driven off-road before, like other than like a dirt road and I'd never driven

[00:17:19] a manual off-road.

[00:17:21] And so there's this like just tiny little hill that was kind of a steep hill to go up and

[00:17:26] over.

[00:17:27] I was not having done it before, especially not in a manual, you know, you don't just

[00:17:31] push the gas and go.

[00:17:33] I'm trying to get up and over this, trying to navigate it and figure it out.

[00:17:37] And my son was like, what's that smell?

[00:17:39] And I was like, it's my clutch cause I was trying to figure out how to get up and over

[00:17:44] and I had the, you know, the clutch and the gas going.

[00:17:46] And so finally figured it out.

[00:17:48] But yeah, that was an interesting experience, but yeah, I get that.

[00:17:52] You know, it'd be, it is much easier driving automatic off-road, especially depending on,

[00:17:56] you know, where you're going and what you're going through and over.

[00:17:59] Yeah.

[00:17:59] And being turbo granted is a twin scroll turbo now.

[00:18:04] So the, the boost is lower, you know, the, the power band is lower, but trying in the

[00:18:11] beginning to get into boost when you're stuck on a dirt hill is kind of ridiculous sometimes.

[00:18:18] Yeah.

[00:18:20] Yeah.

[00:18:21] So, uh, let's see, where may I have my question?

[00:18:25] Okay.

[00:18:26] So what was your intention with the legacy?

[00:18:28] Because you bought this car that was in really good condition and it sounds like it was probably

[00:18:36] pretty close to stock, if not stock.

[00:18:38] And then you look at it now, it's like quite the transition.

[00:18:43] So what was your intention with it when you first bought it?

[00:18:46] Yeah.

[00:18:46] So, so when I first bought it, that was back in November, December of 2012.

[00:18:51] Uh, it had 87,000 miles, you know, perfect condition.

[00:18:55] No, no paint fade.

[00:18:57] Um, no scratches.

[00:18:59] Matt, the pain was immaculate.

[00:19:01] It was left-hand drive, uh, all stock except for DBA 5,000 front rotors.

[00:19:07] The previous owner, that was his only complaint about the entire car, especially on tail of the

[00:19:13] dragon.

[00:19:13] Yeah.

[00:19:14] I was just thinking, I bet that came in handy there.

[00:19:16] Yeah.

[00:19:17] So we upgraded the pads and rotors, but besides that, yeah, it was all stock.

[00:19:22] So with that, you know, I originally planned on just doing like basic bolt-ons, uh, and

[00:19:28] then throwing it in the garage, keeping the mileage off of it and only bringing it out on

[00:19:33] the weekends or for like maybe a cool car meet or car show.

[00:19:37] So that didn't work out, did it?

[00:19:41] Uh, no, no, that, that, that changed a little.

[00:19:46] Yeah.

[00:19:46] Just a little bit.

[00:19:48] So, um, I, you know, what really changed it was when, uh, one of my close friends, Brandon,

[00:19:57] he was like, what, what are your intentions with this vehicle?

[00:20:00] Like, are you ever going to sell it?

[00:20:02] That was his, that was his like key question.

[00:20:04] Like, no, I don't think I'm ever going to sell it.

[00:20:08] He's like, well, then why are you keeping the mileage off it?

[00:20:11] Why don't you just drive it?

[00:20:13] And like, that's what it's for, man.

[00:20:15] Come on.

[00:20:16] You know, like after that day, I was like, shoot.

[00:20:20] Yeah.

[00:20:20] Let's, let's drive this thing.

[00:20:22] So.

[00:20:23] So what were some of the things that you started doing first?

[00:20:26] Like after that, you're like, okay, well, this is going to be my car long term for the

[00:20:29] long haul and I can, I want to drive it and I want to do what I want to do with it.

[00:20:34] So where did the gear start turning in your head of like, okay, well, let's see what we

[00:20:39] can do with this thing.

[00:20:39] Because you said you were only intended to do like some bolt ons, but then where did

[00:20:43] it start going beyond that?

[00:20:45] Correct.

[00:20:46] So the bolt ons I had were, let's see, riveted flares, ISC coilovers, work my 18 inch custom

[00:20:55] workmeisters.

[00:20:56] Now they were a one-off.

[00:20:59] Then an exterior parts like a, I fit a O2, O3, WRX three piece slip, the OEM one.

[00:21:07] Nice.

[00:21:09] Well, I was able to fit that, modify it to fit, did a wing, exhaust.

[00:21:15] And then let's see, that was in California.

[00:21:20] I moved to Seattle.

[00:21:24] Yeah.

[00:21:25] I moved to Seattle and start commuting back and forth from Seattle to like NorCal.

[00:21:32] How long of a drive was that?

[00:21:34] 12 hours.

[00:21:35] Oh, geez.

[00:21:36] How often were you doing that?

[00:21:42] Every three, four weeks.

[00:21:44] Okay.

[00:21:45] I had the option to fly with work, but I love driving.

[00:21:50] So I was like, I'll just drive.

[00:21:51] I do too, man.

[00:21:52] It's like, you got a car like that.

[00:21:54] You don't want to let it sit there and take a plane.

[00:21:56] It's like, come on, let's drive this thing.

[00:21:57] And you're in the West, you're on the West coast.

[00:22:00] I mean, what more could you ask for?

[00:22:01] I'm sure you had like amazing scenery with that drive.

[00:22:06] No.

[00:22:06] So on the, yes.

[00:22:10] On the, if you wanted to go on the sight scene route, it was great.

[00:22:15] But if you want to just get back, you take the five North all the way.

[00:22:21] It's, it's pretty boring.

[00:22:23] Okay.

[00:22:24] But you're still driving.

[00:22:25] Yeah, you're still driving.

[00:22:26] Uh, and I also had a buddy that I worked with at the time.

[00:22:30] Um, he was an outdoors person and we just started kind of camping along, um, and going on heights

[00:22:36] and, you know, doing adventure kind of stuff out there.

[00:22:38] And I guess one thing led to another where I was like, well, I think I can, I think I

[00:22:44] can start modifying the vehicle to live out of it.

[00:22:47] We just stay at campsites because he's a backpacker.

[00:22:51] So he had like little backpack with, or I guess he had a backpack with all his camping gear

[00:22:57] in it.

[00:22:57] And then I set up my vehicle to sleep in.

[00:23:01] Okay.

[00:23:01] Yeah.

[00:23:02] I mean, you've, I'm sure it's got quite a bit of space back there too, being a wagon and,

[00:23:08] uh, cause it's kind of long, isn't it?

[00:23:09] Yeah.

[00:23:11] Yeah.

[00:23:11] I don't remember exactly how long, but I want to say I measured at one point it was 17 feet

[00:23:20] total length.

[00:23:22] But, uh, originally I was sleeping in the back of it.

[00:23:27] Uh, used a hatch tent and then slept in the back with like a sleeping bed or a camping

[00:23:32] pad and sleeping bag.

[00:23:34] How'd that work out?

[00:23:36] Uh, in the beginning it was cool.

[00:23:39] You know, it was budget friendly.

[00:23:40] It was nice.

[00:23:41] Um, but as time progressed, having to pull like having to pull everything out to go to

[00:23:51] bed really sucks.

[00:23:52] Uh, sometimes, especially like when you get in late and you just want to pass out.

[00:23:57] Yeah.

[00:23:57] It makes sense.

[00:23:59] So, um, and then on top of that, like I had to figure out where to put everything, which

[00:24:03] usually went under the awning, uh, food stayed in the car with me.

[00:24:08] Um, but I was just like, oh, I'm over this and the hatch tent hatch tents are great.

[00:24:16] They're great.

[00:24:17] Um, but they do take a little bit of time to set up.

[00:24:21] So my first like set up, you know, it, when I was sleeping in the vehicle to park, set

[00:24:28] everything up, including the tent and where I'm sleeping.

[00:24:30] And then the cooking area, it was long enough where I stopped halfway and would pour myself

[00:24:37] a glass of whiskey and take a break.

[00:24:41] Yeah.

[00:24:42] Yeah.

[00:24:42] It sounds like it's just, just kind of a pain to have to do all that.

[00:24:46] And just the time to take, to, to do all that, just go to bed.

[00:24:51] I'm sure it was like, I'm over this after a while.

[00:24:54] Yeah.

[00:24:54] Cause like now my current setup, if I'm just going to bed, like if I'm parking, uh, popping

[00:25:01] the tent and going to bed two minutes.

[00:25:04] Nice.

[00:25:05] Yeah.

[00:25:06] Convenience.

[00:25:07] Yeah.

[00:25:07] All about convenience.

[00:25:09] 100%.

[00:25:09] And, you know, set up and breakdown time.

[00:25:12] I learned are like the T, the biggest things, um, when I'm on the road.

[00:25:17] Yeah.

[00:25:18] And it sounds like as much as you were on the road, those are things that you're just going

[00:25:21] to learn what works and what doesn't and what you want to put up with and don't want

[00:25:26] to put up with, you know, like, cause there's gotta be a better way to do this and make it

[00:25:30] more convenient because I'm the one that's doing it and I want to just get to bed.

[00:25:34] I don't want to have to set up all this stuff.

[00:25:36] Correct.

[00:25:36] And if you're ever out with friends and they have a fast setup or breakdown and you're

[00:25:42] still stuck, like rolling up your sleeping bag.

[00:25:47] Yeah.

[00:25:47] Great.

[00:25:48] Man.

[00:25:48] These guys have been sitting there finishing up.

[00:25:50] They're ready to roll out and still putting my stuff up.

[00:25:53] Sorry.

[00:25:53] Give me like 10 more minutes.

[00:25:54] Not me.

[00:25:55] Yeah.

[00:25:56] I mean, make, make, make some more coffee.

[00:25:58] And by the time.

[00:25:59] Pour that whiskey.

[00:26:00] Yeah.

[00:26:01] Add some whiskey to my coffee.

[00:26:04] Yeah.

[00:26:04] But when you're done, I'll be ready to go.

[00:26:08] Yeah.

[00:26:08] Yeah.

[00:26:08] So, so like, uh, when you started doing that, is that kind of where, is that what led to

[00:26:16] wanting to get out and adventure more and get you out to Rome?

[00:26:23] See what you did there.

[00:26:24] I see what I did there.

[00:26:26] Yes and no.

[00:26:27] In the beginning.

[00:26:28] So when I moved to Seattle, an awesome opportunity presented itself where I convert the car, the

[00:26:35] right-hand drive.

[00:26:37] Yes.

[00:26:38] That's that's, we gotta, we gotta back up and talk about that because that came first before

[00:26:43] the whole off-road portion.

[00:26:44] Okay.

[00:26:45] Um, so a very big opportunity presented itself and, uh, to get this front clip, um, from an

[00:26:54] importer, uh, friend that I had.

[00:26:56] And, uh, you know, it was out of my price range in the beginning, but after about six months,

[00:27:02] we worked out a deal.

[00:27:04] Now let me go back for just a little bit more there.

[00:27:06] Was it, you said an opportunity presented itself.

[00:27:10] Now, is this something that you were pursuing or did somebody be like, Hey, we can convert

[00:27:15] this into a right-hand drive.

[00:27:17] Yeah.

[00:27:18] Uh, so I saw, um, when my buddies was an importer and on social media, he posted up new front

[00:27:25] clips that he had in and he happened to bring in a Liberty, Liberty, uh, GT front clip.

[00:27:31] And I was like, Oh man, that'd be, that'd be really cool.

[00:27:35] That's all I said.

[00:27:36] And then once a month he would, he would hit me up and I was, I was like, I can't afford

[00:27:41] it right now.

[00:27:41] You know, it's out of my price range.

[00:27:43] It would be really cool to do basically.

[00:27:45] Like he had another shipment of, uh, front clips coming in and he said, name a price.

[00:27:53] And we worked something out.

[00:27:55] And then at another friend I asked, you know, like, Hey, have you ever done a right-hand

[00:28:01] drive conversion or ever thought about it?

[00:28:03] And he's like, yeah, I've done, I've done actually quite a few of them.

[00:28:06] Um, we definitely do it.

[00:28:08] I was like, okay, here we go.

[00:28:10] Uh, there was, I'm not, I won't get into like the details, but there was definitely a

[00:28:14] lot of drama.

[00:28:14] But at the end of the day, he, as well as a bunch of close friends helped me do the conversion.

[00:28:21] Oh, that's good.

[00:28:23] Yeah.

[00:28:23] It's nice to have.

[00:28:24] Definitely good to have help.

[00:28:25] But I have a quick question.

[00:28:27] What do you mean by front clip?

[00:28:28] Uh, so everything from the beef B pillar forward.

[00:28:33] Okay.

[00:28:34] So the motor, which originally we didn't buy the motor, but we ran out of time.

[00:28:40] Uh, so we ended up buying the motor from the importer, uh, motor dash, the ECU, the full

[00:28:47] wiring harness, um, and the firewall.

[00:28:52] So basically cut the car where the B pillar is.

[00:28:55] Gotcha.

[00:28:55] And that's what we, that's what I had.

[00:28:58] Okay.

[00:28:59] So do you, you just import the components of that portion of the car or do you like, is

[00:29:04] it like half?

[00:29:05] No, I had, I had, I had half a car show up on the pallet.

[00:29:08] Oh, okay.

[00:29:09] Interesting.

[00:29:11] Yeah.

[00:29:12] Five months and 28 days later, we had a fully right hand drive, uh, Liberty GT.

[00:29:19] Technically.

[00:29:20] How was that driving it for the first time?

[00:29:25] So I finished it at six or six 30 in the morning.

[00:29:31] And then there was a show West coast Subaru show three hours away from the shop that I

[00:29:37] had registered for.

[00:29:38] Like we got to get this done.

[00:29:40] Yeah.

[00:29:40] And some of it was highway driving, but all of it was mainly like two lane roads all the

[00:29:45] way up.

[00:29:46] Yeah.

[00:29:46] It was an experience I had to learn.

[00:29:48] So this was your first time driving a right hand drive.

[00:29:51] Yeah.

[00:29:52] Oh yeah.

[00:29:53] The only other time I'd been in a right hand drive was, uh, in Detroit.

[00:29:57] One of my buddies had one of the first, uh, motorettes, uh, skyline R34 GTRs.

[00:30:05] It was legal and everything.

[00:30:08] Um, but yeah, he gave me a ride in it and showed me and I was like, Oh man, if I ever

[00:30:13] get an opportunity for a right hand drive vehicle, this is what I want.

[00:30:17] So, so I know that like the pedals are in the same spot.

[00:30:22] The shift pattern is the same.

[00:30:23] It's just that you're shifting with your left hand, but is the, are the blinkers and the

[00:30:30] windshield washer, those are reversed, right?

[00:30:32] Those are reversed.

[00:30:33] Yeah.

[00:30:33] Okay.

[00:30:33] Did that take a while to get used to like, I want to turn the blinker on and I'm turning

[00:30:37] the windshield wipers on.

[00:30:39] One hundred percent that, um, yeah.

[00:30:42] Like, so you're turning signals now, you know, you do with your right, uh, right hand

[00:30:47] and then wipers with the left hand.

[00:30:50] It took about a solid month of driving that, uh, but the other big thing.

[00:30:56] Stop doing that.

[00:30:57] I've been driving for how many years and it's just automatic to flip my left hand and change

[00:31:01] for change lanes.

[00:31:02] And I, I still, I still sometimes do it every so often.

[00:31:07] Um, muscle memory.

[00:31:08] My bad.

[00:31:09] Yeah.

[00:31:11] Well, my dailies left hand drive.

[00:31:13] Oh yeah.

[00:31:14] So that can, that can totally do that.

[00:31:15] Yeah.

[00:31:17] But, um, the other, the other big thing when you drive right hand drive, if you've never

[00:31:21] driven right hand drive before is so when you drive on the left side, right?

[00:31:27] You're, you've been trained your whole life to drive on the left side.

[00:31:30] When you hop in a right hand drive car, your brain automatically like wants to move you and

[00:31:36] recenter you in the lane.

[00:31:39] Oh yeah.

[00:31:40] I can.

[00:31:40] Because yeah, that would be weird.

[00:31:42] Why are you so far over here on the right side?

[00:31:45] You need to be over here.

[00:31:46] So your brain will automatically drift you over.

[00:31:49] So that you're closer to like, let's say the center stripe and it looks more centered.

[00:31:56] Yeah.

[00:31:57] Yeah.

[00:31:57] I am going to get a chance to drive a right hand drive because there's a guy at my office

[00:32:01] who ordered a sandbar and it should be in, in about three months.

[00:32:04] Nice.

[00:32:05] And he said, I can drive it.

[00:32:06] Yes.

[00:32:07] Yeah.

[00:32:08] Yeah.

[00:32:08] I'm looking forward to that.

[00:32:09] So when you're, when you're driving it, yeah.

[00:32:12] Think about those things.

[00:32:13] Yeah.

[00:32:13] Like, Oh, that's what he was talking about.

[00:32:15] You said you did the right hand drive conversion and that was before you started doing off

[00:32:20] roading and overlanding.

[00:32:21] What was your transition to start moving towards an overland rig?

[00:32:27] Like what were some of the first things that you realized that you needed to do?

[00:32:31] I don't know if you noticed that I went, I've been to Antarctica three times.

[00:32:35] Really?

[00:32:35] For work.

[00:32:36] Yeah.

[00:32:36] Yeah.

[00:32:36] And photography and stuff.

[00:32:38] So when I was down there, I...

[00:32:41] How'd you drive your legacy down there?

[00:32:43] You know, threw it on a boat.

[00:32:47] No, it, the legacy, when I was down in Antarctica, went to a shop to get work done.

[00:32:53] Okay.

[00:32:54] Um, from Randy at Medlock and Sons.

[00:32:57] Uh, they, ironically, Randy used to be in the super world.

[00:33:02] He used to be like one of those guys that could find you any rare part.

[00:33:06] Yeah.

[00:33:07] Um, but now they, he joined his dad and they're like big Tesla people.

[00:33:13] Um, but...

[00:33:14] You don't hold that against him though?

[00:33:16] No.

[00:33:18] Cause they work, they work on the, uh, oh man.

[00:33:21] What are those Tesla coops called?

[00:33:24] Oh, is that the, like the first ones that he did that were the, like the roadsters?

[00:33:29] Yeah.

[00:33:30] The roadsters.

[00:33:31] Yeah.

[00:33:31] So that's what their business is in now.

[00:33:34] Randy though, they did a, they did a ton of work on, on the wagon.

[00:33:38] Uh, everything from electrical to installing the lift system and some body stuff as well.

[00:33:46] And that's, I think where it really started to take off.

[00:33:50] Okay.

[00:33:51] Well, so they, they installed a dual battery kit from Genesis off-road.

[00:33:56] Nice.

[00:33:57] Uh, so I'm using their, their dual battery system, uh, using Odyssey, uh, AGMs group 34s

[00:34:05] that you would normally find in like a Tacoma or a 4Runner.

[00:34:08] Okay.

[00:34:09] We fit two of those in the, in the car.

[00:34:12] Nice.

[00:34:13] Which was quite a mission.

[00:34:15] So what's the dual battery set at powering?

[00:34:18] What are you using that for?

[00:34:20] Yeah.

[00:34:20] So primary battery is primary battery, right?

[00:34:22] But the auxiliary battery runs all the accessories.

[00:34:27] So all of the lights, um, the winch, do I have the win?

[00:34:32] Uh, no, I think the winch is on the primary actually.

[00:34:35] Um, the wee boost, the fridge, uh, the inverter.

[00:34:43] And I think that's it.

[00:34:47] Okay.

[00:34:48] Good to have that though.

[00:34:49] Yeah.

[00:34:50] Oh yeah.

[00:34:51] Yeah.

[00:34:51] Cause I can run, cause I also run 200 Watts of solar when I need it.

[00:34:56] Oh, nice.

[00:34:57] Or if I'm stopped.

[00:34:58] Um, I have a removable panel that I'll put out and that's put directly into the auxiliary battery.

[00:35:04] Okay.

[00:35:05] That's good.

[00:35:06] So if that's out, I can run the inverter, which is a 2000 watt inverter.

[00:35:10] I can run that all day long and just about, uh, all night as well.

[00:35:16] And on top of that, the fridge will run for multiple days.

[00:35:21] Yeah.

[00:35:21] It's good to have those fridges, especially if you're out for multiple day trips.

[00:35:25] Yeah.

[00:35:26] What?

[00:35:27] I can't remember.

[00:35:27] Do you, do you have a fridge?

[00:35:29] I do not.

[00:35:29] No, I don't, I mean, I don't really get out much.

[00:35:32] Unfortunately, I mean, there's, there's really not much here in Texas and there's a lot of

[00:35:37] private land.

[00:35:38] So we don't have like, you know, trails and trails to just go explore, unfortunately.

[00:35:45] But, uh, I mean, there are like, you know, there's like state parks and national parks

[00:35:49] and stuff, but I just don't really get out much.

[00:35:53] Yeah.

[00:35:53] The, um, well, I guess for all your listeners, if they're thinking about doing a fridge, I

[00:35:59] would definitely do one.

[00:36:00] I wish I would have done one, um, in the very beginning rather than waiting so long.

[00:36:06] Yeah.

[00:36:07] I know people that have them and it's just, I, cause I mean, I've, you know, I've been

[00:36:10] out on trips when people have one and they slide it out.

[00:36:13] I'm like, man, that's so cool.

[00:36:14] Throw your stuff in there.

[00:36:16] You know, I mean, like most of the people that I know that have them, they've got like,

[00:36:19] uh, um, the portable, you know, battery pack running it, but it works out.

[00:36:26] Works out well.

[00:36:27] And you don't have to worry about ice, which is a big thing.

[00:36:30] Yeah.

[00:36:30] Yeah.

[00:36:30] And the biggest, the probably the best part about it is your food and everything else

[00:36:36] is not wet when you pull it out.

[00:36:39] Yeah.

[00:36:39] Cause I mean, you put stuff, it's like, you know, you put, sometimes you put stuff in

[00:36:44] a Ziploc bag and it's like, oh, maybe this had a small hole in it somewhere because now

[00:36:48] my sandwich is soaking wet.

[00:36:50] But that's definitely a huge plus because that's, you know, if you've got like something

[00:36:57] in a box, the box gets all wet and soggy and just everything's dripping.

[00:37:02] And yeah, I can see where that's just a huge, huge advantage and like nice to have.

[00:37:07] And I have a single zone, like a 35 quart.

[00:37:10] But if you, I learned from someone else that if you use, um, basically backing bad your

[00:37:17] meals, you can save a ton of space.

[00:37:21] Therefore being able to put, you know, a ton of meals in that, which was that, that helped

[00:37:28] immensely when I found out.

[00:37:30] Oh, sure.

[00:37:30] Yeah.

[00:37:31] Yeah.

[00:37:31] Cause if, again, if you, even if you're not having to worry about boxes getting soggy,

[00:37:35] if you've got boxes, it's boxes or boxes and you're going to take up a lot of space.

[00:37:39] So vacuum sealing would definitely do it.

[00:37:42] Yeah.

[00:37:42] Even with like a Ziploc, like I'll go to the store if I'm on the trip, I'll go to the

[00:37:46] store, pick up a gallon zip, you know, Ziploc that, uh, press all the air out and then put

[00:37:52] it in the fridge.

[00:37:54] So I was at, I think it was for Thanksgiving or something.

[00:37:57] I was at my, my stepbrother's house and he had some Ziploc bags and he closed it up almost

[00:38:04] all the way.

[00:38:05] Then he left this little spot and then he went and sucked all the air out.

[00:38:10] And I was looking at him.

[00:38:11] I was like, what are you doing?

[00:38:12] And he was like, it works better than if you just like try to press the air out.

[00:38:16] You just suck it all out.

[00:38:17] And I was like, man, that's genius.

[00:38:19] So guess who does that all the time?

[00:38:23] It works.

[00:38:24] You're going to have to borrow that.

[00:38:25] Oh, it works, man.

[00:38:27] It's great.

[00:38:27] Talk about vacuum seal.

[00:38:29] Man, you have to pay for a vacuum seal.

[00:38:31] You just suck it all out.

[00:38:34] Give it a try.

[00:38:35] Yeah.

[00:38:36] But sorry, we got, we got a little off topic.

[00:38:38] So yeah, in Seattle, that's, that's where it really started.

[00:38:42] I was kind of doing a blend at the time.

[00:38:45] Cause at that time also was when I drove out to Idaho for a Prince U rack.

[00:38:53] Okay.

[00:38:54] Roof rack.

[00:38:54] Yeah.

[00:38:54] Um, because they, they use the vehicle for marketing purposes to help launch the Prince

[00:38:59] U rats for the Subarus, you know, their Prince U line.

[00:39:04] Yeah.

[00:39:04] So did they install it for you?

[00:39:06] They did.

[00:39:07] Nice.

[00:39:08] Unfortunately, they, for my particular like model.

[00:39:13] So the Outback LACs, the fourth gen.

[00:39:16] So the 05 to 09, they're not making rats for.

[00:39:21] So we'll just leave it at that.

[00:39:23] Okay.

[00:39:24] Multiple people have asked them.

[00:39:25] Cause I'm like, I don't know if they're making them or whatnot.

[00:39:28] You just got to contact them and know where it is that.

[00:39:32] Yeah.

[00:39:33] They're, they're not going to do it.

[00:39:34] So I have a, I guess I have a one of one Prince U rack.

[00:39:37] Yeah.

[00:39:38] That's nice.

[00:39:40] Worked out.

[00:39:41] Yeah.

[00:39:42] Did that, um, bought a Rome adventure, you know, Rome bots and everything for storage up

[00:39:47] top.

[00:39:48] Um, and then I think the winch, I don't remember when the winch went in.

[00:39:58] Have you had to use it?

[00:39:59] I have, I've used it, uh, I think about a half dozen times.

[00:40:03] Okay.

[00:40:05] For, uh, self recovery.

[00:40:08] I'm sure that was like, you're glad you had that.

[00:40:10] Yeah.

[00:40:11] I know when it, when Randy was doing everything to it, it was still on the 18 inch work Meisters.

[00:40:16] I was on Nokia, uh, Nokia, the Hawk Politas.

[00:40:22] That's what I was using for off-road tires at the time, just because I didn't have the

[00:40:27] wheel space for 18 inch wheels with an all off-road tire.

[00:40:32] Oh, gotcha.

[00:40:33] Yeah.

[00:40:33] So I figured, yeah.

[00:40:36] And the wheel wells are, are, you know, small.

[00:40:39] Yeah.

[00:40:40] Yeah.

[00:40:41] But I figured that I used Nokia and Hawk Politas, uh, for rally cross.

[00:40:45] So I was like, yeah, they should hold up off-road.

[00:40:48] They didn't really hold up too well.

[00:40:52] So I guess you ended up going with a different wheel size after that.

[00:40:56] Yeah.

[00:40:57] So I was approached by Raceline, uh, to help launch their, uh, 401, uh, aero wheels, which

[00:41:06] were their Subaru sized off-road wheel.

[00:41:10] Um, they were trying to get in the market, you know, like method wheels and everything

[00:41:14] like that.

[00:41:14] Yeah.

[00:41:15] And Sparkle wheels, they want to, you know, get a piece of the Subaru community as well.

[00:41:19] Um, so I helped, I helped launch those with them and then, uh, threw on some, uh, Nitto

[00:41:27] Nomad Grapplers, which again was approached by, uh, Nitto to help launch those.

[00:41:33] So it was like the perfect storm of helping launch a wheel and tire combo.

[00:41:37] Yeah.

[00:41:38] Get you set up to, uh, get out there and attack the trails.

[00:41:41] Yeah.

[00:41:42] Yeah.

[00:41:43] That's good.

[00:41:43] So, and those, those wheels are 17 inch, um, 17 inches instead of 18s.

[00:41:48] Gotcha.

[00:41:49] Works out much better than.

[00:41:50] It does.

[00:41:51] Yeah.

[00:41:52] And the all terrains are great.

[00:41:54] Now that you're kind of getting it all set up to be able to go off-road and overland,

[00:41:59] what were some of the most essential mods other than like the wheels and tires?

[00:42:04] And like, what essential gear do you have with you at all times while you're out?

[00:42:09] It really depends on if it's a day trip versus a quick, you know, weekend trip or even a multi-day

[00:42:15] trip.

[00:42:16] A day trip, I'll just pat the recovery gear and fill the auxiliary fuel tank.

[00:42:21] You have an auxiliary fuel tank?

[00:42:23] Yeah.

[00:42:23] So I have a four gallon, I have a four gallon, uh, rotopats.

[00:42:27] Oh, okay.

[00:42:28] Uh, tank, uh, that's mounted to the third window.

[00:42:31] Gotcha.

[00:42:32] Okay.

[00:42:32] I thought you meant you had like an actual auxiliary tank installed.

[00:42:38] So I've, Oh, funny.

[00:42:40] I have looked into doing that and I have, I have a contact for it.

[00:42:45] I just funding.

[00:42:47] Yeah.

[00:42:48] And deciding if I really want to, uh, do that.

[00:42:51] But, um, I go back and forth on that, but yeah, so I'll fill the fuel, you know, the

[00:42:57] extra fuel tank.

[00:42:58] Um, I might bring my Ukiah propane fire pit and five pound, uh, tank with me.

[00:43:05] Uh, it's small.

[00:43:06] It fits right behind my seat.

[00:43:08] You know, if I'm at a cool spot, uh, towards sunset, I can, um, you know, set up, uh, the

[00:43:15] awning, put out the fire pit, grab a chair and, uh, hang out until the sun goes down and

[00:43:21] drive home.

[00:43:22] Um, sounds like a nice little setup.

[00:43:26] Uh, it really is.

[00:43:28] And even if I don't bring that, I always have my, I have a hammock mount on top of the roof,

[00:43:33] you know, on my rooftop deck as I like to call it.

[00:43:37] So, uh, like one of those fold out ones, it's like a frame and then you just have a hammock

[00:43:42] that you string across that on top of your roof.

[00:43:45] Yeah.

[00:43:45] So the, that sounds cool.

[00:43:48] Adventure hammock systems makes are basically a roof platform for your hammock.

[00:43:54] Everything just, you know, it's all pins that you just pull it, slide it out or pull it

[00:44:00] up, slide it out and hang the hammock and you can have it anywhere.

[00:44:03] Yeah.

[00:44:04] That's your profile picture.

[00:44:05] Yeah.

[00:44:06] I see that now.

[00:44:07] That's awesome.

[00:44:09] Yeah.

[00:44:09] So a lot of times I've spent a lot of time up in that hammock, just napping or taking

[00:44:15] in the view.

[00:44:16] Oh yeah.

[00:44:16] I mean, that's, man, that's really cool.

[00:44:18] How I do usually is when I get to a spot, if it's a cool spot and the weather's nice

[00:44:23] out, uh, I'll hop up there for a little bit, have a drink, you know, uh, cook dinner and

[00:44:29] whatnot.

[00:44:30] And then, or come down, cook dinner and then I'll put the tent up.

[00:44:35] So I'll pop the tent and then sleep.

[00:44:38] Uh, and then in the morning I'll drop it back down, make a cup of coffee and go have coffee

[00:44:44] up, uh, in the hammock.

[00:44:47] That looks like a really cool addition.

[00:44:49] That's like pretty awesome.

[00:44:50] It was, uh, so stoked when I got it, uh, installed and everything.

[00:44:54] Going back to your question though, weekend and multi-day, multi-day trips, um, I pack

[00:45:01] everything.

[00:45:02] So I would rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it.

[00:45:07] So everything is your recovery gear, like food.

[00:45:12] And then I guess what, what else is included in everything?

[00:45:16] Let's see.

[00:45:17] So everything is, uh, propane fire pit, solar panel ladder, sleeping bag or blankets, uh,

[00:45:28] heater or fan, depending on what the weather is.

[00:45:31] Okay.

[00:45:32] Uh, food, cooking utensils, uh, recovery gear, uh, and the battery and all the cooking.

[00:45:44] Cause I use, uh, uh, Oh, eco flow.

[00:45:48] I use their smaller battery, uh, lithium battery, uh, because I recently changed to the

[00:45:54] Stolk voltets, uh, nomadic cooking system.

[00:45:59] You know, it's, it's all electric.

[00:46:01] Oh, nice.

[00:46:03] Which is nice.

[00:46:04] Cause you don't need butane or propane to cook anymore.

[00:46:07] Uh, however, my inverter did not really like that.

[00:46:12] Oh.

[00:46:13] So I bought, I bought a eco flow with the battery for the cooking stuff.

[00:46:18] Okay.

[00:46:19] Oh, but that's, I can do bring tools as well.

[00:46:23] Uh, I have a mobile bar, so I bring that.

[00:46:26] Oh, that's fun.

[00:46:28] Yeah.

[00:46:28] And then, um, the propane hot water, uh, shower.

[00:46:35] Oh, that's nice.

[00:46:37] Nice.

[00:46:38] So, yeah, that's, and then camera gear and all that other, other good stuff.

[00:46:44] But now is your fridge and your kitchen system?

[00:46:47] Is that like on sliders and cabinets and drawers and stuff that's always in there?

[00:46:52] Correct.

[00:46:53] Uh, so I've had, uh, the nomad kitchen company is a company.

[00:46:57] Um, and I've been using his products for two, well, maybe almost three years now.

[00:47:05] Okay.

[00:47:06] Nice.

[00:47:06] Um, great system.

[00:47:08] Um, I was originally going to build my own, uh, but I ran out of time before heading to

[00:47:13] Glacier National Park.

[00:47:16] So I found his company.

[00:47:17] I was like, cool.

[00:47:19] It's everything I'm looking for.

[00:47:20] Plus he owns a Subaru and he built it for the Subaru platform.

[00:47:24] Oh, very nice.

[00:47:25] And it's marketed for temporary.

[00:47:28] So he uses a heavy duty ratchet system, um, with your tie downs in the back.

[00:47:34] And I was like, perfect.

[00:47:36] So when I'm not using it, you know, I can pull it out and I can still use my cargo space.

[00:47:40] Cause Oh, that's good.

[00:47:41] I mean, I do have a wagon.

[00:47:43] Yeah.

[00:47:44] Yeah.

[00:47:44] But what I found personally is it's always in the car.

[00:47:49] So it's hard mounted now.

[00:47:51] Okay.

[00:47:51] Cause I guess because of your situation and everything, there's not a need to pull it out.

[00:47:57] So correct.

[00:47:57] Yeah.

[00:47:58] That's good.

[00:47:59] Yeah.

[00:47:59] Makes it easy.

[00:48:00] Yeah.

[00:48:01] So I have, I have a kitchen slide on one side.

[00:48:03] So that's the area for the cooking utensil or the cooking devices, um, a cutting board and

[00:48:11] the sink.

[00:48:12] And then on the other side is storage.

[00:48:15] It holds all the utensils.

[00:48:17] And on top of that is the slide with the fridge.

[00:48:22] It sounds like this stuff is getting used often.

[00:48:25] Yeah, it really is.

[00:48:26] It's good.

[00:48:27] Yeah.

[00:48:27] It's good.

[00:48:27] Yeah.

[00:48:27] Cause I mean, you don't, you know, I mean, if you're, I'm sure that the way that you've

[00:48:33] built your rig is probably you get out there and you're like, Oh, I could use this.

[00:48:38] And then you get out again.

[00:48:39] I could use this.

[00:48:39] I can do this.

[00:48:40] So I'm sure that everything that you have is very purpose built and for, you know, a specific

[00:48:44] reason, which is of course what you want.

[00:48:47] And that it, it took me a really long time.

[00:48:50] I'm not going to lie to get to this point because like I would, I would buy a product,

[00:48:55] you know, like you said, go out, use it, come back home, figure out if it actually worked

[00:49:00] or not.

[00:49:01] And if it didn't work, find a different product, find something else, go out, test that,

[00:49:06] come back.

[00:49:06] Um, so yeah, it took a long time to get where I'm at.

[00:49:14] Yeah.

[00:49:15] So it sounds like it's been kind of a long progression to really get it into a good overland

[00:49:20] build.

[00:49:21] So like, what is that?

[00:49:22] How long has that process been going on?

[00:49:24] Uh, so like I said earlier, been building the wagon for 12 years total, uh, since 2017

[00:49:35] or 18.

[00:49:36] Okay.

[00:49:37] Oh, it's been that long.

[00:49:39] Wow.

[00:49:40] Yeah.

[00:49:40] That's a while.

[00:49:41] That's good.

[00:49:42] Yeah.

[00:49:43] Yeah.

[00:49:44] Cause 16 and 19 is when I was traveling back and forth from Seattle to California.

[00:49:52] Yeah.

[00:49:52] So sometime in between there is when I started the off road and overland portion of the

[00:49:57] build.

[00:49:57] Okay.

[00:49:58] Nice.

[00:49:58] Yeah.

[00:49:59] So it sounds like, I mean, it's, you've got like the perfect setup for what you're

[00:50:03] wanting to get out there and do.

[00:50:05] And, you know, like you said, with your kitchen system and your refrigerator and your rooftop

[00:50:09] hammock, which is awesome.

[00:50:11] And your rooftop tent.

[00:50:12] So those are like all the kind of things that help you when you get out there and get set

[00:50:17] up and, you know, camp for the night and stuff.

[00:50:20] But there's some things that you've done, you know, besides the conversion to the right

[00:50:25] hand drive that are a little custom or maybe more than a little custom, but like you have

[00:50:31] a custom dual range gearbox.

[00:50:33] So let's talk about that.

[00:50:36] Oh, okay.

[00:50:37] So now mind you, this has been a very long dream of mine to have a dual range gearbox.

[00:50:46] I have some friends I made down in Australia when I was traveling back and, you know, back

[00:50:52] and forth to Antarctica and they were able to help me source a dual range from an O6 outback

[00:50:59] non-turbo.

[00:51:01] That's okay.

[00:51:01] That part's important.

[00:51:02] Okay.

[00:51:03] Because it gets a bit rough.

[00:51:05] This was pre-COVID when this, when we sourced this, we took it to, had them, one of the guys

[00:51:14] took it to Osmond's Racing in Melbourne and they are like a, you know, a performance shop,

[00:51:22] but the, they have a great GearBots builder there.

[00:51:25] So they took it, they took everything apart.

[00:51:28] They rebuilt it with OE Subaru parts and then chemically washed the case halves and added

[00:51:34] a 1.447 low range, low range.

[00:51:38] While that was all going on, he took all the internals and pulled them out, sent them off

[00:51:45] to be cryo-treated and shop-pinged.

[00:51:48] The whole gear set, dual range gears and front crown wheel and pinion were all sent off to

[00:51:54] be treated because they're, the dual range is not available here in the States.

[00:51:58] I didn't want to blow it up.

[00:52:01] Yeah.

[00:52:03] Especially since I'm a turbo vehicle and I'm making a little additional power than what normally,

[00:52:12] you know, turbo, uh, series would make.

[00:52:16] So yeah, I didn't want to blow it up.

[00:52:19] And because it was from a naturally aspirated, uh, outback, it was never available in turbo models,

[00:52:25] only naturally aspirated ones.

[00:52:27] We did everything we could, um, for strength.

[00:52:30] Yeah.

[00:52:30] While that was being done, I also sourced a five-speed DCCD center differential from a

[00:52:38] type R type RA, uh, STI in Japan, which that was a very long process because not only did

[00:52:46] we have to find one, we had to then ship it from Japan to me.

[00:52:53] And then I took a month or two to decide if I was going to either ship it down to them in

[00:53:01] Australia and then have them ship the transmission back to me or wait to have that part put on here

[00:53:08] in the States.

[00:53:10] Ultimately I decided to ship it down to Australia.

[00:53:14] So, and then stuff going on.

[00:53:16] And then they also, there's more.

[00:53:20] So the, the transmission builder down there, he sourced a Torsen front differential from a type

[00:53:31] R, uh, JDM STI and then assembled everything after, you know, after all the parts were finally

[00:53:38] together and mind you too, they had, I want to say they had two major floods as well as

[00:53:46] they moved shops.

[00:53:48] Wow.

[00:53:49] This is a long process.

[00:53:51] Yeah.

[00:53:51] How long was this?

[00:53:52] And COVID too.

[00:53:54] Jeez.

[00:53:55] And Australia was super strict with COVID.

[00:53:57] Yeah, they were.

[00:53:58] We got the transmission to them like a month, I think before COVID started.

[00:54:03] Okay.

[00:54:04] Uh, and then it finally landed here at VSR performance on Vancouver, Washington.

[00:54:12] That was earlier this year.

[00:54:15] I think that was earlier this year.

[00:54:17] It took that long.

[00:54:19] Yeah.

[00:54:20] Oh my gosh.

[00:54:21] So that's what, like four years in the making.

[00:54:23] Yeah.

[00:54:24] It was a, it was a long process, but it was worth it.

[00:54:27] It was, it was, oh man, if I had to do it all over again, I'd probably go a little faster.

[00:54:32] Yeah.

[00:54:33] So now it's installed and running and doing okay.

[00:54:37] Correct.

[00:54:38] Uh, getting it in was, I give props to VSR performance and Ed's clutch.

[00:54:46] Funny enough, uh, I'm no longer allowed to use the words easy and Bolton ever again at

[00:54:53] the shop.

[00:54:54] I've been banned from using those two words.

[00:54:57] You come in there and they're like, don't, don't even, don't.

[00:55:00] So the word of the day for them was, uh, custom, the transmission itself bolted in, uh, good.

[00:55:10] What was the hardest part was first of all, connecting the dual range together.

[00:55:15] At some point there was a bracket that was misplaced during shipping, uh, for the short

[00:55:22] lever.

[00:55:24] So we got creative or they got creative and, uh, custom with that.

[00:55:30] Uh, that was the easier, the two issues.

[00:55:32] And then what took the longest was, um, the clutch setup.

[00:55:38] So I used, uh, I was using a previous or a different company in the past.

[00:55:44] I gave them all, you know, all the numbers and all the, all the measurements, uh, for

[00:55:49] the clutch I was using.

[00:55:50] I gave all that to X clutch at clutch in turn, send a sheet out to be like, Hey, you

[00:55:58] know, when you get this trans, you know, clutch in, just give us these values.

[00:56:02] We want to make sure everything lines up.

[00:56:04] Everything's good to go.

[00:56:05] We're like, I guess, okay, whatever.

[00:56:07] You know, I, everything's been working fine to begin with, but what, what did you

[00:56:11] get you the numbers?

[00:56:14] Uh, when we initially sent them the numbers, they did not jive with that's clutch.

[00:56:20] So that was like the biggest thing.

[00:56:22] Yeah.

[00:56:23] It took, uh, I think the better part of a week of VSR and X clutch going back and forth

[00:56:32] on, um, you know, getting, getting the values and the numbers that X coach was looking for.

[00:56:38] A lot of custom work was done by VSR.

[00:56:43] Uh, basically the snout or, and the pivot ball height are two of the major differences, uh,

[00:56:51] when installing a clutch meant for a turbo Subaru versus a non turbo Subaru on a dual range

[00:56:55] gearbox.

[00:56:57] And VSR had to trim a little, you know, a little here and a little there to give the

[00:57:02] release barrier enough clearance for its travel.

[00:57:04] The pivot ball from a turbo transmission and small spacer were used to give the clutch

[00:57:09] fork to proper throw as well.

[00:57:11] So after all that was finally done, the only thing left to do install was, um, the DCCD center

[00:57:20] differential, looking all that up.

[00:57:22] Uh, so I got ahold of DCCD pro and got one of the spider controllers, which was pretty straightforward.

[00:57:30] I mean, it's, it's wiring.

[00:57:33] Um, no one likes wiring, but well, I guess some people do.

[00:57:38] Yeah.

[00:57:39] Um, I wire probably.

[00:57:40] Yeah.

[00:57:42] And funny enough, like, uh, we looked at doing I wire.

[00:57:46] I can't remember if we used some parts from I wire.

[00:57:50] I don't think we did, which is unfortunate.

[00:57:55] Um, but yeah, Tegan and his team over at I wire are great peeps.

[00:58:00] Oh yeah.

[00:58:01] Yeah.

[00:58:01] They're good.

[00:58:03] So you got it all together and it's working.

[00:58:06] Yeah, it's working.

[00:58:07] It's great.

[00:58:08] Yeah.

[00:58:08] So how does the dual range work off road?

[00:58:11] And like, how does that, what, what advantage do you have with that over what you had before?

[00:58:18] Like, what does it allow you to do?

[00:58:20] It's, um, I already have a complaint.

[00:58:24] I wish it were lower.

[00:58:25] So they say low gear in the dual range is like, um, Jeep's first high.

[00:58:34] Gotcha.

[00:58:34] If that makes, if that makes sense.

[00:58:36] It's still better.

[00:58:37] Yeah.

[00:58:37] Oh yeah.

[00:58:38] It's, it's, uh, it's definitely lower.

[00:58:42] You can definitely tell.

[00:58:43] Yeah.

[00:58:43] That's good.

[00:58:44] I mean, if I, if I put it in low range, uh, first year, uh, there's very little to stall

[00:58:56] it.

[00:58:57] There we go.

[00:58:57] Yeah.

[00:58:58] That's good.

[00:58:59] So it doesn't probably due to my weight of the vehicle.

[00:59:04] Uh, it, it doesn't crawl up things.

[00:59:09] Um, but I do, I give it a little gas and it'll crawl right up.

[00:59:12] That's good.

[00:59:13] Yeah.

[00:59:14] So what other mods have you done that are not typical?

[00:59:18] Torque rear locker.

[00:59:19] Yeah.

[00:59:20] Uh, so there's a, so pair that with the dual range, um, and this, you know, the center diff

[00:59:26] controller and the front torsen, uh, limited slip.

[00:59:31] Uh, I, I have more traction than I could ever need.

[00:59:36] Yeah.

[00:59:36] No, that's good though.

[00:59:38] Oh yeah.

[00:59:39] 100%.

[00:59:39] Um, I have snapped the rear axle already.

[00:59:43] Fun.

[00:59:44] Um, yeah, that was a fun time.

[00:59:48] So we did a trail fits on that with a, with my buddy, uh, drew.

[00:59:53] So I guess that's good.

[00:59:54] You were with somebody, huh?

[00:59:56] Correct.

[00:59:56] And he knew exactly how to fit it.

[00:59:58] And it's a good thing.

[00:59:59] Like I'm more or less four wheel drive now.

[01:00:02] Okay.

[01:00:03] Um, the trail fits, we cut the axle.

[01:00:06] Oh, there you go.

[01:00:07] Yeah.

[01:00:09] Just cut it in half.

[01:00:10] Um, you know, kept the ends, both ends, uh, in the vehicle.

[01:00:15] But yeah, if it had been all wheel drive, pretty sure wouldn't have been able to go anywhere,

[01:00:20] but because it was four wheel drive, we turned it into a three wheel drive.

[01:00:25] Hey, whatever works.

[01:00:26] Yeah.

[01:00:29] So I, I'm, I'm sure this is going to be a hard question to answer because you have so

[01:00:34] many mods and you have a lot of really good mods.

[01:00:37] And, but like, do you have a favorite and then which one has been most useful?

[01:00:43] You know, I, I laughed at this question.

[01:00:47] I mean, honestly, everything I've done was because I found I needed and it filled a void.

[01:00:52] Um, I love, I love everything, but if, if I had to choose, uh, the hammock mount that's

[01:01:01] on the rooftop deck or the slide out kitchen, those are probably the most useful.

[01:01:06] Uh, and then, I mean, the gear bots, that was a, that was a very long, long build.

[01:01:13] Um, but it was well worth the money, you know, and pretty dang useful.

[01:01:18] Oh yeah.

[01:01:19] Yeah.

[01:01:19] And with, I mean, with everything you have going on, cause you've got, sounds like you

[01:01:24] have a lot of stuff that you've done to it.

[01:01:26] You know, a lot of, you know, you've got custom stuff and then stuff that you can just look

[01:01:30] at and it's obvious, but do you have a list anywhere?

[01:01:33] I mean, I know you said you're working on that video, but I guess maybe that video will

[01:01:37] serve as a list.

[01:01:38] I'm just curious for people who may want to know like everything that you've got on it.

[01:01:42] Yes.

[01:01:43] So I, I have a list.

[01:01:45] Uh, I mainly just, I use it for, as a part of my display for car shows or, uh, events

[01:01:52] I'll bring it out.

[01:01:54] Um, there's so much that it's on an iPad, so it's all digital, which is really nice.

[01:01:59] There's no other real place.

[01:02:00] I don't think that I've put it.

[01:02:03] My Instagram, maybe you search through there.

[01:02:04] Maybe I'll have to make a post about that.

[01:02:06] Yeah.

[01:02:07] Um, and then obviously YouTube.

[01:02:09] Yeah.

[01:02:10] Uh, cause the first video or it's going to be the second video is going to be a walk

[01:02:16] around, you know, detailing every single little thing I've done in the last, uh, 12 years.

[01:02:22] Okay.

[01:02:23] Yeah.

[01:02:23] Cause you're just kind of getting your YouTube channel started, right?

[01:02:26] Correct.

[01:02:27] I have zero videos.

[01:02:30] Yeah.

[01:02:31] Well, there's one coming.

[01:02:32] Yeah.

[01:02:33] So how much of your work on your rig have you done yourself and how much has been done by

[01:02:39] shops?

[01:02:41] Remember, I will say this.

[01:02:43] It's not, you know, it's not what, you know, it's who, you know.

[01:02:46] So I had a lot of friends help me with this and a lot of companies helped me in the beginning.

[01:02:50] I was, I did a lot of the work myself.

[01:02:52] You know, I've always had access to a garage.

[01:02:54] When I got to Seattle, that's really where I was working on it all the time by myself.

[01:03:03] Um, or with help from friends, but a lot of it was done by myself.

[01:03:07] Um, I had access to like, you know, a lift, uh, and that, that garage area was heated,

[01:03:14] which was really great.

[01:03:15] Oh, that's.

[01:03:16] Yeah.

[01:03:17] Yeah.

[01:03:18] And I mean, that's just the fact that you have access to a lift in a garage.

[01:03:21] I mean, that's a lot of people don't have that.

[01:03:23] So that's a huge benefit.

[01:03:25] And then, you know, access to any tool I could ever need.

[01:03:28] And if they didn't have the tool, then they go out and get it for me.

[01:03:31] And then I think that's, I got, I got kind of, uh, spoiled.

[01:03:40] Yeah.

[01:03:41] Cause after I moved, then it was back working on the ground in a garage or maybe outside.

[01:03:48] Um, so now like I'd rather, because I've been building for so long, I'd rather just take

[01:03:55] it to someone and have them, you know, do what I need to have done.

[01:04:00] Yeah.

[01:04:00] There's definitely a convenience to that and not having to take up so much of your own time

[01:04:04] and then trying to figure out where to do it and when to do it and how to do it.

[01:04:08] So, so, but a lot of the parts like custom parts, like I'll design or I'll have the idea

[01:04:13] in exactly how I want to look.

[01:04:16] And then I'll go, you know, find the fabricator or the person that I can have my dream become

[01:04:21] a reality.

[01:04:22] Oh yeah.

[01:04:23] So nice.

[01:04:25] So with as much as you travel and like, cause you've, I know you've attended shows and you

[01:04:31] know, and all that, but like back and forth, you know, to Seattle and, and to California and

[01:04:36] then all the other driving that you've done.

[01:04:39] Have you had any, like, I know you said you snapped an axle out on the trail, but you have,

[01:04:43] you had any other major issues?

[01:04:45] Cause I saw you, you posted something about what happened before a competition Subaru car

[01:04:50] show.

[01:04:51] So that's, uh, that was interesting to read.

[01:04:56] Yeah.

[01:04:57] So, oh man, this is embarrassing.

[01:05:02] Uh, not really kind of.

[01:05:04] Yeah.

[01:05:05] Yeah.

[01:05:05] It kind of is.

[01:05:06] Uh, cause it was, Hey man, it's public.

[01:05:08] You posted about it.

[01:05:09] I know.

[01:05:11] So, uh, I blew, so I'm on my fourth Subaru motor.

[01:05:17] Oh, nice.

[01:05:18] I mean, it's a Subaru.

[01:05:20] Not surprised.

[01:05:21] Yeah.

[01:05:22] Uh, so the second motor was, um, EJ 20, a JDM EJ 20 Y, which is the, uh, you know,

[01:05:33] OEM Liberty GT, uh, motors or the latency GT motors in Japan or Australia blew that.

[01:05:42] Uh, I think I'm melted a piston and had ringling failure.

[01:05:46] Oh, that sounds fun.

[01:05:47] Yeah.

[01:05:49] You know, then I wasn't really happy about that, but what can you do?

[01:05:54] Um, and the funny part is I was just driving normally to work.

[01:05:58] Took it to VSR performance.

[01:06:00] You know, they diagnosed and everything.

[01:06:01] And we came up with a build plan.

[01:06:03] Uh, we did a fully built, uh, motor at that point.

[01:06:06] So we rebuilt it and did a 2.2 stroker with forged internals.

[01:06:12] So it was a EJ 22 Y now with forged internals.

[01:06:18] Great motor.

[01:06:19] The power was, you know, the low end power was great and everything.

[01:06:23] Um, and then I moved, I moved in July of this, this year.

[01:06:32] So 2024, you know, when it was super hot out everywhere in the entire country, the car

[01:06:38] was loaded.

[01:06:40] Uh, I forgot to have the movers take a bunch of stuff.

[01:06:43] So had to throw it in the wagon.

[01:06:46] And then on top of that, I had all my camping gear and everything.

[01:06:49] So yeah, it was loaded.

[01:06:51] Um, fully loaded.

[01:06:52] I tried to stay as far North as I could, uh, just because of the heat.

[01:06:56] Cause I was driving, I was doing 10, 12 hour days.

[01:07:00] Wow.

[01:07:01] Um, yeah, that's a lot of driving.

[01:07:03] Yeah.

[01:07:04] Um, only because I wasn't going directly from Vancouver, Washington to Long Island, New York.

[01:07:11] Uh, I wanted to make stops, you know, all on the way in like Colorado, uh, Iowa, Montana,

[01:07:18] make an adventure out of it.

[01:07:19] Yeah.

[01:07:20] I went all the way down to Nashville, came all the way back up.

[01:07:23] Oh, wow.

[01:07:23] Um, that's quite the trip.

[01:07:26] Yeah.

[01:07:26] I did, uh, 4,600 miles.

[01:07:30] Jeez.

[01:07:31] Uh, and all loaded with all this stuff, huh?

[01:07:34] Yeah.

[01:07:35] And 10, 12 hour days.

[01:07:37] Temperatures were generally every day over a hundred.

[01:07:40] Jeez.

[01:07:41] I did an oil change at one point.

[01:07:45] And this is my fault.

[01:07:48] I think I, I'm pretty sure I used too thin oil for the, for the, you know, how long I

[01:07:55] was driving and for the hot temperatures.

[01:07:57] And then on top of that, um, there were a few times I accidentally did full pulls.

[01:08:03] So first through fifth in low range, not realizing I was still in low range, uh, because there's

[01:08:11] no indicator light.

[01:08:12] It's just literally the, the little shifter, um, that tells you, you know, if you're in low

[01:08:17] range.

[01:08:18] So between those two things and the weight, the, the engine lasted, uh, well, it, it spun

[01:08:27] a bearing a week after I got to Long Island.

[01:08:29] You made it all that way.

[01:08:31] And then it does it when you get there.

[01:08:33] Yeah.

[01:08:33] I know.

[01:08:35] Jeez.

[01:08:36] But I'm, you know, I am, I am happy that it, that I made it.

[01:08:40] Yeah.

[01:08:41] Um, of course.

[01:08:41] Yeah.

[01:08:42] With no instant.

[01:08:42] The car, the entire, the entire trip ran phenomenal, even in a hot weather and everything.

[01:08:51] Yeah.

[01:08:51] Um, that's one of those things too, where it's like, man, this could have happened anywhere

[01:08:56] along the trip and like way before.

[01:08:58] And, you know, it happened when you got there.

[01:09:00] So it's like almost a blessing in a way that it didn't happen sooner.

[01:09:04] Right.

[01:09:05] Um, and wasn't that, uh, so Tim at VSR, he's one of the owners.

[01:09:10] Um, I told him the sad news and, you know, we, you know, called around to a few of the

[01:09:20] local Subaru shops here, um, which it ranged in right around the 10 grand region for a rebuild

[01:09:32] to install, you know, pull the old motor out and put a new motor in, um, and not having

[01:09:37] contacts out here.

[01:09:39] Tim and I came up with the craziest idea, but we saved money.

[01:09:44] So I imported or I got, I found a, um, uh, JDM motor, another EJ 20 Y in Jersey had that

[01:09:55] shipped out to me on long Island.

[01:09:58] Uh, and then bought Tim his plane ticket to fly out to me.

[01:10:05] Oh, nice.

[01:10:06] And he suggested it too.

[01:10:07] He's like, why don't I just fly out there?

[01:10:09] Just pay for, you know, you know, pay for the ticket and, uh, labor and then, uh, pay for

[01:10:16] the motor and I'll just, I'll come swap it in your one car garage.

[01:10:20] Okay.

[01:10:21] So he came and he flew out with a bag of tools and yeah, slept, slept on the couch and we

[01:10:28] got some food.

[01:10:29] He flew in Friday morning.

[01:10:31] I had the clip delivered Wednesday and by Sunday morning we had it running.

[01:10:40] That's good.

[01:10:41] And we, yeah, we got it running.

[01:10:42] And then we're, we were like, I think I, I was like, look, if we can make the show on

[01:10:47] Sunday, that'd be phenomenal, but there's no competition Subaru was show was on Sunday

[01:10:52] and you got it finished Sunday morning.

[01:10:54] Oh my gosh.

[01:10:56] Yeah.

[01:10:56] With, uh, yeah, I think we were like half hour late, but yeah, ended up, ended up winning.

[01:11:04] Uh, well, I'm sure they gave you some grace for that.

[01:11:06] Be like, wait a minute.

[01:11:08] What was just going on?

[01:11:10] Yeah.

[01:11:10] That's why you're late.

[01:11:11] Okay.

[01:11:13] Like you were doing what?

[01:11:14] I was like, oh yeah, we literally just finished an engine swap.

[01:11:17] Oh, that's funny.

[01:11:19] So, and then yeah, won the, uh, Bucky's choice award.

[01:11:23] So Bucky was there and.

[01:11:24] Very nice.

[01:11:25] That was just recently, wasn't it?

[01:11:26] Yeah.

[01:11:27] Yeah.

[01:11:28] That's what I thought.

[01:11:29] So I got to talk to him and everything.

[01:11:30] So that was really cool.

[01:11:32] You did a lot of driving on that trip, but how much of the, I mean, it sounds like you've

[01:11:37] traveled quite a bit throughout the U S how much of the U S have you traveled

[01:11:41] throughout?

[01:11:43] Traveled or just driven through?

[01:11:44] Cause there was a difference in my mind, like traveled where I stopped and I explored

[01:11:49] the area.

[01:11:50] I guess driven through counts.

[01:11:52] I mean, just making it through the States.

[01:11:54] Cause some sounds like you've been through quite a few of them.

[01:11:56] Yeah.

[01:11:57] I can tell you Nebraska is very boring.

[01:12:00] I don't know if you've ever driven through Nebraska.

[01:12:02] I have not.

[01:12:03] Wait, I've been to Nebraska, but I've never driven through it.

[01:12:07] I flew into Nebraska.

[01:12:10] Porn.

[01:12:11] That is all you see, but it was between Kansas or Nebraska.

[01:12:16] And I was just like, well, I've already driven through Kansas before.

[01:12:20] Never driven through Nebraska.

[01:12:23] Same amount of time.

[01:12:25] Let's go to Nebraska.

[01:12:26] Yeah.

[01:12:27] Been there, done that.

[01:12:29] Yeah.

[01:12:29] Don't need to go through there again.

[01:12:30] Yeah.

[01:12:31] If I can avoid those two States, uh, if you're listening and you're from there, I'm really

[01:12:36] sorry.

[01:12:39] Yeah, that's okay.

[01:12:41] But, um, man, you know, I've actually never looked at a map before to see how many States

[01:12:48] I've gone to.

[01:12:50] Um, that would be interesting.

[01:12:51] Yeah.

[01:12:52] I, I know here in a couple of years, um, I do want to plan a huge trip, uh, with the

[01:12:59] lower 48.

[01:13:00] Okay.

[01:13:01] For sure.

[01:13:01] The lower 48 and hit like all the national parts.

[01:13:04] You know, there's like something on social media going around every so often you see like

[01:13:08] the greatest road trip of all time.

[01:13:10] And I want to do that road trip.

[01:13:12] Uh, I don't know if it'll be in the Subaru.

[01:13:14] It might be in something a little bit bigger.

[01:13:18] Okay.

[01:13:19] Um, uh, bigger.

[01:13:24] Oh, okay.

[01:13:25] Uh, I'm been toying with the idea of a Ford five 50.

[01:13:29] Okay.

[01:13:30] So the monstrous huge truck.

[01:13:33] Yeah.

[01:13:34] Um, the series is great.

[01:13:35] Don't get me wrong.

[01:13:36] It's a great weekend to one week, but doing like, if I was going to have to do the

[01:13:44] Subaru for months, I don't know if I could.

[01:13:51] Yeah.

[01:13:51] It'd be hard to think about putting that many miles on it and that much strain driving as

[01:13:56] much as, I mean, how many miles do you have on it?

[01:13:59] By the way?

[01:13:59] I mean, I know you just swapped out that motor.

[01:14:02] So it can't.

[01:14:03] So the motor's that roughly 65,000 and I think the body's up around 350.

[01:14:08] Wow.

[01:14:09] So yeah.

[01:14:10] But, and the thing is like, I've been in, uh, I have some friends, you know, with like

[01:14:14] truck campers, you know, the pop-ups in the back or, you know, um, where they're able

[01:14:19] to just like live inside the vehicle and not have to, if they're cooking or whatnot,

[01:14:25] they don't have to get wet.

[01:14:28] Yeah.

[01:14:28] Just stay inside.

[01:14:29] Yeah.

[01:14:30] Yeah.

[01:14:31] It's easier.

[01:14:32] Being closed by four walls.

[01:14:34] Uh, I would really like something like that if I do a big road trip.

[01:14:38] Yeah.

[01:14:39] That'd be the way to do it anyway.

[01:14:41] I was just thinking while we've been, you've been talking about all the stuff you've done

[01:14:45] to this car.

[01:14:46] Have you kept in touch with the guy you bought it from?

[01:14:51] Uh, like what did you do to this thing?

[01:14:54] Um, I, I, so I haven't talked to him for a few years.

[01:14:59] No, I think I did, uh, did tell him it's, uh, that, yeah, I turned it into more of an off

[01:15:04] road and street vehicle.

[01:15:07] So what was his reaction to that?

[01:15:09] He was like, wow.

[01:15:14] Okay.

[01:15:15] Yeah.

[01:15:16] I had this beautiful car and he took it.

[01:15:19] Yeah.

[01:15:20] He's like, all right.

[01:15:21] Looks like you'll love the thing.

[01:15:22] He's like, you ever got to sell it?

[01:15:23] I was like, nope.

[01:15:25] Ooh.

[01:15:26] When I bought it from him 12 years ago, I think he was around 65, 68 years old.

[01:15:33] Oh, okay.

[01:15:34] Gotcha.

[01:15:35] Yeah.

[01:15:36] Older gentleman.

[01:15:37] So again, with, with all the traveling that you've done, do you have like a top five memorable

[01:15:43] moments that you can, you know, spurt out whether it's like just an event or a place

[01:15:49] you travel to or someone you met up with?

[01:15:52] Yeah.

[01:15:53] I can touch on each one of those almost.

[01:15:55] Okay.

[01:15:55] So I have a couple of spots that were given to me by a few close friends.

[01:16:01] One of them was, I mean, most of them are all camping above the clouds.

[01:16:06] So that's, that sounds amazing.

[01:16:09] Yeah.

[01:16:11] NorCal.

[01:16:11] Now I have a spot now that's above the clouds.

[01:16:15] You either, what was it?

[01:16:16] Was it when I went to bed or when I woke up?

[01:16:19] No, it was at sunset is when the clouds came rolling in.

[01:16:23] And as I'm driving up the dirt road on this ridge, um, the clouds just, you can't see

[01:16:31] anything except clouds and you're above it.

[01:16:34] And then you have the sun, the sun setting with the ocean right there too.

[01:16:38] That just sounds amazing.

[01:16:40] Yeah.

[01:16:41] That was one of the coolest experiences that I've had.

[01:16:44] But also I have a spot near Mount St. Helens, uh, in the Pacific Northwest.

[01:16:50] Um, that same thing, you know, cloud, uh, sleeping above the clouds or above the clouds and then

[01:16:57] a place in, uh, green water, um, which is in Washington as well.

[01:17:03] Okay.

[01:17:03] Um, that's really cool spot.

[01:17:05] So those three spots, uh, I have to say are, you know, uh, breathtaking for view wise.

[01:17:12] Yeah.

[01:17:14] Another memorable spot would be Bethel Ridge in Washington.

[01:17:17] So the spot, if you look on my social media of the just cliff face where I'm parked right

[01:17:25] towards the end of it, it's where I'm in the hammock, I think.

[01:17:28] Okay.

[01:17:29] Yeah.

[01:17:30] That took me three or four tries just for various reasons, but I was finally able to get there,

[01:17:37] um, before I left, uh, the Pacific Northwest.

[01:17:41] Really cool spot, you know, has the greatest view.

[01:17:44] A little windy, definitely windy.

[01:17:48] Funny moving from the West coast to the East coast.

[01:17:51] And when people are like, oh yeah, the mountains, you know, over here, uh, I'm like, these are,

[01:17:57] these are hills.

[01:17:57] Yeah.

[01:17:59] Come back home with me to the West coast or even Colorado.

[01:18:03] And I will show you mountains.

[01:18:05] Yeah.

[01:18:05] Colorado is one of my favorite places.

[01:18:08] The mountains out there are just amazing.

[01:18:10] Have you been to Utah?

[01:18:10] Utah.

[01:18:11] I've, so I've flown into Utah and just for work.

[01:18:16] I don't remember exactly where I was.

[01:18:18] I was South of Salt Lake city, but, uh, yeah, I haven't really been to like explored around

[01:18:25] Utah.

[01:18:25] I've seen the mountains off in the distance from where we were working, but yeah, I, I want

[01:18:30] to go out there and do some more exploring.

[01:18:32] Yeah.

[01:18:33] Utah, um, Glacier National Park.

[01:18:37] Heard of that many times.

[01:18:39] Oh, I've not.

[01:18:40] I was just going to the sun road.

[01:18:42] You, your mind will be blown.

[01:18:44] Yeah.

[01:18:46] Life changing experience.

[01:18:47] Oh, I have no doubt.

[01:18:49] I mean, just some of the stuff that I've seen already, I can only imagine that, you know,

[01:18:53] some of these spots are just incredibly beautiful.

[01:18:55] Yeah.

[01:18:57] I, you know, with your question, I would definitely add Glacier onto that question, onto that answer.

[01:19:02] Another, another memorable moment was, uh, winning best of show at bid Northwest a couple

[01:19:10] of years ago.

[01:19:11] Nice.

[01:19:11] Uh, that was completely unexpected to the point where like, I didn't win, you know, best legacy

[01:19:21] didn't win best off-road.

[01:19:23] So I was like, all right, cool.

[01:19:25] You know, you win some, you lose some.

[01:19:28] It doesn't really matter.

[01:19:29] You know, I came, I got to meet a lot of different people, show them the building and everything.

[01:19:32] And, um, so I started walking away and, and I hear, uh, yeah, best of show, uh, with a 2005,

[01:19:41] uh, Subaru legacy GT, Johnny Walker.

[01:19:44] And I was like, that's me.

[01:19:46] Well, I turned around and I was like, me.

[01:19:51] Everyone started laughing.

[01:19:53] I was like, wait, wait, wait.

[01:19:55] Did I really just win?

[01:19:57] Wow.

[01:19:57] Yeah.

[01:19:57] That would be super cool.

[01:19:59] Especially.

[01:19:59] Yeah.

[01:19:59] Not, not winning the other categories, but then winning best in show.

[01:20:03] It's like, okay, well, thank you.

[01:20:05] Well, uh, off-road vehicle.

[01:20:09] Uh, very rarely wins best of show.

[01:20:12] So that was, that was really cool.

[01:20:14] Yeah.

[01:20:15] That's good.

[01:20:16] Another memorable, I mean, memorable, uh, moment is also when I'm on the road and when

[01:20:23] like followers or, you know, just people come up and say, you know, I've been following

[01:20:28] on social media since the early days and I'm finally so stoked to see this in person, you

[01:20:34] know, or your wagon is my inspiration for my build.

[01:20:37] Um, I've had, I've definitely heard that a handful of times, which is really cool, uh,

[01:20:42] to hear cause I never thought, um, you know, I'd be, my wagon would be something like that.

[01:20:49] Uh, and then the last memorable thing, you know, uh, is a tread, tread magazine article.

[01:20:56] Yeah.

[01:20:56] And we can, we can talk about that a little bit later because that's, uh, I know there's

[01:21:00] more of an explanation behind it, but I want to kind of save it for a little bit later.

[01:21:04] Yeah.

[01:21:05] So like, I know that like you get out and you, you know, do a lot of this stuff, but

[01:21:09] are you doing most of this stuff by yourself?

[01:21:11] Like solo camping and traveling?

[01:21:14] Yes and no.

[01:21:15] Uh, so I'll go out with a select few of individuals.

[01:21:20] No, it's not because I don't like you, but I am like trying to get away from people.

[01:21:28] And because I mainly do solo because I want to film content, um, and I don't want to be

[01:21:35] on anyone's time except my own.

[01:21:37] And I find if I go out with people, uh, I do not film at all.

[01:21:42] And you don't want to hold anybody up, but like, you know, if you're trying to do stuff

[01:21:45] and they're wanting to go and.

[01:21:47] Yeah.

[01:21:48] Cause if I have to refilm something a couple of times and, you know, I brought someone

[01:21:53] along and they're like, are you done yet?

[01:21:55] I'm going to be like, I'm so sorry.

[01:21:57] Yes.

[01:21:57] We're done.

[01:21:58] I didn't get the shot, but let's go.

[01:22:00] Yeah.

[01:22:01] If I do go out with a group, I also try to keep it small.

[01:22:05] Um, like three, four people.

[01:22:07] Yeah.

[01:22:08] Just because when you're on those trails or you're on the fire roads or even single, you

[01:22:14] know, single track trails, any more than like three, four people, it, it gets crowded.

[01:22:22] I don't just go out with a Subaru people.

[01:22:25] Uh, I mainly stick to like the four runners, the Jeeps, the Tacomas, you know, a lot of

[01:22:32] my friends have now all upgraded, uh, to those vehicles and I kept with the old Subaru.

[01:22:39] Yeah.

[01:22:39] Hey, that's good.

[01:22:40] So a lot of time.

[01:22:42] Yeah.

[01:22:42] A lot of time.

[01:22:42] I'm generally out with, um, everything but a Subaru.

[01:22:47] Yeah.

[01:22:48] Right.

[01:22:49] So what would you say, like with all your travels has been the most challenging location

[01:22:53] you've ever encountered?

[01:22:54] And have you ever gotten, well, you said earlier that you've used your, your winch for self

[01:22:59] recovery, but so I'm guessing you've gotten stuck in snow or mud.

[01:23:03] So I've gotten, so winch wise, mainly in the sand on the beaches.

[01:23:09] I don't think I've ever used it on the trail.

[01:23:12] Oh no, actually I did use the winch on the trail.

[01:23:16] Oh yeah.

[01:23:17] Uh, snow.

[01:23:18] I was stuck in the snow with my buddy Rob.

[01:23:21] I slid into a ditch.

[01:23:22] Oh, fun.

[01:23:25] Yeah.

[01:23:25] That's not easy to get out of.

[01:23:27] Yeah.

[01:23:27] No.

[01:23:29] And he was having trouble too.

[01:23:30] Cause we had just got past the unplowed part.

[01:23:34] Oh, okay.

[01:23:35] Yeah.

[01:23:36] And there was, I think there was two, three feet of snow and it was the wet, like Pacific

[01:23:40] Northwest snow.

[01:23:42] Yeah.

[01:23:42] The, okay.

[01:23:44] Have I ever got stuck?

[01:23:46] So that's one time.

[01:23:47] Well, and then the other times were sand times, but those are easy.

[01:23:51] Yeah.

[01:23:51] Uh, there was a scary kind of incident where I was trying to get to,

[01:23:58] uh, waterfall, uh, during the winter time.

[01:24:01] Cause I was like, I'm going to go out exploring.

[01:24:03] There's this waterfall.

[01:24:04] I really want to check out.

[01:24:05] There are three bridges and I think bridge three is where the, um,

[01:24:12] waterfall was.

[01:24:13] And it's like right next to the bridge.

[01:24:15] And I was like, this would be awesome.

[01:24:16] You know, like I can get up there.

[01:24:18] Uh, it's sunny and bright out right now.

[01:24:22] Hopefully will be no snow.

[01:24:23] What I didn't know was the road going up there, the fire road.

[01:24:27] Um, was on the bat side or on the non sunny side of the mountain.

[01:24:32] And on top of that, the temperatures had warmed and freezed, warmed and

[01:24:38] free.

[01:24:38] So it turned it into basically, you know, that icy snow.

[01:24:43] Yeah.

[01:24:43] It didn't really break, uh, break when you stepped on it.

[01:24:47] Uh, so yeah, I made it almost up to bridge three.

[01:24:55] There was a, uh, a downed tree.

[01:24:58] Uh, and I saw tracks that looked like I could get over the tree, uh, by going to the ditch.

[01:25:06] But I was like, I don't know about this.

[01:25:11] It's kind of getting late.

[01:25:12] You know?

[01:25:13] Um, I don't know if anyone is coming up here and on top of that, my fault, but I didn't tell

[01:25:19] anyone where I was going that day.

[01:25:21] I was like, Hey, that's I'm headed out.

[01:25:23] Come on, man.

[01:25:25] Yeah.

[01:25:26] And cell service was non-existent even with the wee boost on.

[01:25:30] So I was like, ah, you know, you know, I think I've gone far enough.

[01:25:35] Let's just, let's turn around and then got myself stuck when turning around.

[01:25:40] Um, you know, trying to reverse out of this tracks, um, that someone had previously made

[01:25:48] when it's frozen on an uphill, like it was even worse.

[01:25:54] Yeah.

[01:25:54] It was a recipe for disaster and, uh, good thing I brought my shovel along.

[01:25:59] Cause I did a lot of shoveling that day.

[01:26:01] Finally, right around, I think, uh, dusk, I made it back down to bridge one and I happened

[01:26:08] to see a local guy, you know, and he was, uh, I was like, Hey, just, just a quick question.

[01:26:14] You know, uh, do you come up here often?

[01:26:17] He's like, yeah, yeah.

[01:26:18] You know, there's, there's a few local guys that come up here.

[01:26:20] I was like, cool.

[01:26:22] Oh, how does anyone ever go to that waterfall?

[01:26:25] He's like, not in the wintertime, man.

[01:26:29] Oh, great.

[01:26:31] He's like, no one ever really goes past bridge.

[01:26:34] Uh, one.

[01:26:36] Oh, great.

[01:26:37] Like, no.

[01:26:39] Perfect.

[01:26:39] So no.

[01:26:40] Yeah.

[01:26:41] Yeah.

[01:26:41] He's like, so how far did you make it?

[01:26:44] I was like, Oh, just past bridge two.

[01:26:46] Oh, you're crazy, man.

[01:26:49] I have a Subaru.

[01:26:51] That's why.

[01:26:53] Yeah.

[01:26:54] So that was, that was probably the most challenging and kind of slightly scary encounter I've ever

[01:27:02] had by myself.

[01:27:04] Yeah.

[01:27:04] Yeah.

[01:27:05] That would, uh, that would definitely be scary, especially with no cell service and getting,

[01:27:10] getting sounds like it was starting to get dark and.

[01:27:13] Yeah.

[01:27:14] Yeah.

[01:27:14] And I was just there.

[01:27:16] Yeah.

[01:27:16] I didn't bring anyone like, you know, that was also when I didn't have that much recovery

[01:27:20] gear, just my show.

[01:27:21] Okay.

[01:27:22] Yeah.

[01:27:22] And I think the winch was in.

[01:27:26] Yeah.

[01:27:26] The winch was in.

[01:27:27] Okay.

[01:27:28] So.

[01:27:29] Yeah.

[01:27:29] But the, but the winch one is, you know, only so long and the trees are either up on the

[01:27:36] hill or down the hill.

[01:27:38] Yeah.

[01:27:39] So that's not going to do you any good.

[01:27:40] Yeah.

[01:27:42] Yeah.

[01:27:43] Yeah.

[01:27:44] So that's out.

[01:27:45] Yeah.

[01:27:47] So traveling to all these spots have, and I, cause I mean, it sounds like you've been

[01:27:51] to some pretty amazing spots, but is there a spot that you would say, like I could go

[01:27:57] back there over and over and over again?

[01:28:00] The Mount St. Helens spot I was talking about earlier.

[01:28:03] It's got the perfect view of Mount St. Helens, you know, a lake down below.

[01:28:09] Sometimes you can see, um, big horn sheep on the side of the mountain with binoculars.

[01:28:16] Um, if the weather is perfect, like the sunsets and sunrises is epic.

[01:28:22] And then if the conditions are just right, you'll get, you know, the cloud, you'll be

[01:28:26] above the clouds.

[01:28:27] Yeah.

[01:28:28] That's super cool.

[01:28:29] So, and the road, you know, the fire road getting back isn't too bad, but it is 30 miles

[01:28:36] down a fire road.

[01:28:38] And then like the last quarter mile is some pretty gnarly stuff, um, that it'll, yeah, it

[01:28:47] puts you on some off-canver situations.

[01:28:51] Um, but the view at the top is, is well worth it.

[01:28:54] Yeah.

[01:28:55] And it is only available probably two, three months, I think out of the year because of

[01:29:00] the location and how high it is.

[01:29:02] I would have to say that's probably my favorite spot.

[01:29:06] Um, and I got sworn to secrecy not to tell anyone the location or the coordinates.

[01:29:14] All right.

[01:29:15] Yeah.

[01:29:15] You don't want to give that out to too many people.

[01:29:17] Yeah.

[01:29:18] There's other ones I'll give out, but, um, yeah, this particular one is, uh, yeah, a no

[01:29:23] go.

[01:29:25] Yeah.

[01:29:26] So I'm guessing that now that, you know, you've got your rooftop tent, you're probably

[01:29:30] mostly just sleeping in there.

[01:29:33] Yeah.

[01:29:34] Yeah.

[01:29:34] So the whole, I mean, besides like this whole trip, when I came here, I was sleeping, sleeping

[01:29:39] in it and living out of it, except for like, you know, when I went back home in Colorado,

[01:29:43] instead of my folks house, but.

[01:29:45] Okay.

[01:29:45] So no hotels ever, just always in the tent.

[01:29:48] Sometimes I'll do hotels.

[01:29:50] It depends.

[01:29:52] Uh, I'll try to do Airbnbs.

[01:29:54] Okay.

[01:29:54] Yeah.

[01:29:55] Yeah.

[01:29:55] Or a campground with, uh, electrical and water hookups.

[01:29:59] Okay.

[01:30:00] Uh, because I do have a 14 gallon freshwater tank.

[01:30:03] Nice.

[01:30:04] Um, in the back.

[01:30:05] So if I'm running low on water and it's summertime, like, uh, I'll use the campground.

[01:30:11] Usually it's the campground is where I'll stay.

[01:30:14] So I can fill up.

[01:30:15] What would you say with all your travels that you've learned most about yourself since,

[01:30:20] well, it's been owning your Subaru and then traveling out.

[01:30:23] It's going to be short and sweet.

[01:30:25] Okay.

[01:30:26] Expect the plan to change and stay flexible.

[01:30:29] Yeah.

[01:30:30] Yeah.

[01:30:31] Like if you're driving, going to New York and you blow a motor.

[01:30:35] Yeah.

[01:30:37] Or even like, you know, there, there are definitely times when I've been like, okay, so on this

[01:30:43] day, I'm going to go here, you know, um, you know, at this time I'm going to leave.

[01:30:50] Um, and then I'll get to this destination or this location here at this time, you know,

[01:30:57] where the plans change completely where I'm like, I love this place.

[01:31:01] I'm going to stay here an extra two or three days.

[01:31:03] And I've done that before.

[01:31:04] So that's like a glacier national park.

[01:31:09] My buddy and I, we were going to go explore, uh, or find a different site.

[01:31:14] And we, the site that we got given, um, to us was phenomenal.

[01:31:20] You know, it was in the national forest, right.

[01:31:23] And that's the national part.

[01:31:24] It was on the river, you know, had a perfect view.

[01:31:27] Um, and it was quiet.

[01:31:30] Um, and we were right next to water, you know, a stream and river.

[01:31:35] And we, we stayed there four days.

[01:31:39] So three nights.

[01:31:40] Nice.

[01:31:40] And we had only planned on one.

[01:31:43] What about your legacy GT best matches your personality?

[01:31:48] Adventure and versatility.

[01:31:49] It's definitely a one of a kind build I'd say.

[01:31:54] Cause you know, it's, it's both street and off-road.

[01:31:59] So the street side, like I can still go, you know, check out my local food joints, uh, with it.

[01:32:06] And the off-road or adventure side, you know, adventure it.

[01:32:10] I can hop in it, live out of it.

[01:32:13] Um, while on the road going, you know, to tops of mountains or waterfalls or whatnot.

[01:32:17] So, um, yeah, I'd say that's, that's a good, those are some good words for my personality.

[01:32:24] All right.

[01:32:26] And then if you could describe your Subaru in one word, what would it be?

[01:32:30] Hmm.

[01:32:31] Functional.

[01:32:32] Yeah, definitely.

[01:32:34] Definitely is.

[01:32:37] So with all that, you had mentioned earlier that you got featured in Tread Magazine.

[01:32:42] So how did that come about?

[01:32:44] And like, what was that experience like?

[01:32:47] Uh, one of the coolest experiences I've ever had with the car.

[01:32:51] It's been, so it's been like a dream to be, have a vehicle in a magazine.

[01:32:56] Um, and it's, it's honestly happened now a few times.

[01:33:01] Um, but the Tread Magazine article is probably the coolest and best feature I've ever had.

[01:33:06] But initially it was during COVID, um, and they were looking to run, you know, a small vehicle,

[01:33:13] um, or the off-road Subaru world.

[01:33:16] I can't remember what it was.

[01:33:18] Um, but yeah, we started talking and, um, because it was during COVID, the photographer

[01:33:24] couldn't come out and take, you know, we couldn't go out on the trails and do some trail shots,

[01:33:29] which is a bummer.

[01:33:31] Uh, but he was like, I know you, Johnny, I'm sure you have a backlog of photos and I know

[01:33:39] you have a bunch of photographer friends and everything, uh, that do this stuff professionally.

[01:33:45] I was like, yeah, yeah.

[01:33:46] So, um, it was really cool because I got to use a lot of my friends, um, that were like

[01:33:53] professional photographers or just, you know, really good photographers and they can now

[01:33:58] say they are published.

[01:34:00] Yeah, no, that's good.

[01:34:01] That worked out well for them and you too, you know, to be able to use your friends for

[01:34:05] it.

[01:34:05] But yeah, it, it, it really has been like a lifelong goal to get featured in the magazine.

[01:34:10] And originally I had only expected it to be no more than like half a page, you know, with

[01:34:19] maybe a couple of photos or whatnot.

[01:34:21] They ended up giving me, it was the centerfold.

[01:34:25] So the main article and then like six or seven pages, um, on the whole wagon.

[01:34:31] That's pretty awesome.

[01:34:33] Yeah.

[01:34:33] So when, when the, the writer, he dropped the, uh, issues off.

[01:34:39] So they didn't tell you that that's what it was going to be.

[01:34:44] In terms of like, yeah, no, they didn't tell me that.

[01:34:47] Wow.

[01:34:48] Yeah.

[01:34:48] So you get this magazine and you're like looking for this half page thing and then you see

[01:34:53] that I'm sure that was just like, wait, what's going on?

[01:34:57] Yeah, that was, that was absolutely, uh, mind blowing.

[01:35:02] Um, yeah, he just handed me, he's like, yeah, just let's do that.

[01:35:05] Uh, let me know what you think.

[01:35:06] Uh, it's already, uh, what do I think?

[01:35:12] I think he's like, can't remember if the issue was already out or if it was being released

[01:35:19] that very next week.

[01:35:22] So, but yeah, either way, I just opened up and my jaw just dropped to the ground.

[01:35:28] And my, my buddy was so excited because that was one of, you know, one of his shots and

[01:35:34] that shot, um, can't remember on the online version, what it, what the top photo is, but

[01:35:41] in the magazine, you know, it's the centerfold and it's in a vineyard and you just have trail

[01:35:50] of dust in the background.

[01:35:52] I'm driving through the vineyard with the, uh, with the water or the, you know, the old

[01:35:58] building in the background too and everything.

[01:36:01] Yeah.

[01:36:01] So it's right at, I think dusk or sunset.

[01:36:05] So, and that's the centerfold photo.

[01:36:08] So that's really cool.

[01:36:10] I know it's in your link tree, so I'll have to go check that out.

[01:36:13] Cause I, you told me about it a long time ago when we first started talking and I went

[01:36:18] and read through it and I thought that was like really, really cool.

[01:36:20] So I don't remember what the photo is cause I haven't looked at it since then, but yeah,

[01:36:24] I know it's in your link tree.

[01:36:25] So I'll have to check it out.

[01:36:26] So, and there, there is another article possibly coming from a different magazine.

[01:36:33] Nice.

[01:36:34] We'll see though.

[01:36:35] Okay.

[01:36:37] They messaged me.

[01:36:38] Okay.

[01:36:39] We want to, we want to do an article on your wagon.

[01:36:42] I was like, cool.

[01:36:43] I'm totally down.

[01:36:44] You know, I got to meet them in person and everything.

[01:36:47] Nice.

[01:36:48] But I haven't heard back from them yet.

[01:36:50] So I guess to be continued on that.

[01:36:52] Yeah.

[01:36:53] Was there anything else that you want to share about your build or your journey that maybe

[01:36:58] I haven't asked?

[01:37:02] And you asked some really good questions.

[01:37:04] Thank you.

[01:37:05] Thank you.

[01:37:06] I, you know, it's funny cause I like, I'll come up with questions and I'm like, I hope

[01:37:11] these are okay.

[01:37:11] I hope they sound good, you know, and it makes for some good conversation.

[01:37:15] Yeah.

[01:37:16] No, no, it really did.

[01:37:16] And it made me think deep about my build and the journey over the last 12 years.

[01:37:22] So I appreciate it.

[01:37:24] It was a lot of fun.

[01:37:25] Good.

[01:37:25] Well, here's kind of the end segment where we get to know you a little bit better, but

[01:37:30] who is Johnny?

[01:37:34] Well, I'm Johnny Water.

[01:37:35] I'm Johnny Water.

[01:37:36] Uh, the most interesting person around.

[01:37:41] Yeah.

[01:37:42] I'm, um, man, what do you, what do you want to know about?

[01:37:44] I'm, uh, 39.

[01:37:47] Um, been the series a very long time.

[01:37:52] Um, when I, well, when I'm working, I do environmental protection, uh, and enforcement.

[01:38:02] Um, but when I'm not working, oh boy, I have a lot of hobbies.

[01:38:07] Um, I'm definitely a foodie.

[01:38:10] Yeah.

[01:38:10] It sounds like it from your little tour in New York.

[01:38:14] Yeah.

[01:38:14] It is good.

[01:38:15] If I'm not, if I'm not on call, if I'm not working, if I am a, if I have a free moment,

[01:38:21] I'm finding the next best restaurant.

[01:38:24] Yeah.

[01:38:24] So where were you born?

[01:38:26] Yeah.

[01:38:26] So I was born in, uh, Korea.

[01:38:28] Oh, nice.

[01:38:29] Uh, but I'm adopted.

[01:38:32] Okay.

[01:38:33] So sadly, no running for president.

[01:38:36] Yeah.

[01:38:37] Uh, but, uh, my mom is from California and dad is from Ohio.

[01:38:44] Okay.

[01:38:44] Nice.

[01:38:45] Yeah.

[01:38:46] Two good places.

[01:38:47] Yeah.

[01:38:48] Yeah.

[01:38:48] Yeah.

[01:38:49] So we know that what you said that you do for a living, but then did you, do you happen

[01:38:54] to have like a dream job, you know, like something that you'd be like, oh, I would love to do

[01:38:59] this.

[01:39:01] So, uh, dream job would be something in the automotive world.

[01:39:06] Um, you know, like design a products or speccing out full builds for people.

[01:39:10] Yeah.

[01:39:10] I think that'd be a lot of, a lot of fun to do.

[01:39:13] Um, or something like, like a content creator.

[01:39:17] Um, but I don't know, at the end of the day, something that can keep me mobile and working

[01:39:23] remote, that would be really cool to do.

[01:39:26] So one of the questions that I asked too, is like, what is something that makes you want

[01:39:31] to get out of bed every day?

[01:39:33] Yeah.

[01:39:34] Uh, coffee and is it the weekend?

[01:39:39] Yeah.

[01:39:40] Those are both, uh, both good.

[01:39:42] Cause, uh, coffee's definitely, that's an answer that I've gotten a lot.

[01:39:46] And, uh, but I haven't gotten it's, is it the weekend yet?

[01:39:49] That's a good one.

[01:39:50] Cause if it's the weekend, that means, um, you know, I don't have to go to work.

[01:39:54] I can get in the sewer and go explore, take the train down and go explore the city and

[01:40:00] everything.

[01:40:00] So yeah, let's get up and go.

[01:40:02] Yeah.

[01:40:03] What is something that makes you want to stay in bed?

[01:40:07] Is it windy outside?

[01:40:11] Yeah.

[01:40:12] I got, I don't mind.

[01:40:13] I don't mind the cold.

[01:40:14] I don't mind rain.

[01:40:15] I don't mind snow.

[01:40:16] I love snow.

[01:40:17] First of all, and the rain, but if it's windy and it's any of those or all of those, uh,

[01:40:25] I will just stay in bed.

[01:40:26] Rainy, snowy, windy, not good.

[01:40:30] So what would be your best bit of advice to give to someone about anything?

[01:40:36] Speaking for automotive stuff.

[01:40:38] Well, we'll say that since this is an automotive channel, remember it's, it's not what you know,

[01:40:43] but who, you know, uh, you know, never, never try to burn the bridges as you never know

[01:40:49] what the future may hold.

[01:40:50] Um, so remember companies do talk and your reputation kind of, you know, it can spread

[01:40:59] very quickly, uh, in the automotive world, uh, especially when you're trying to work with

[01:41:05] companies.

[01:41:07] So that would be, you know, one bit of advice companies do talk to each other.

[01:41:14] So if you're not that cool of a person to work with, uh, or whatnot, um, there.

[01:41:21] Yeah.

[01:41:22] Don't work with this guy.

[01:41:23] Yeah.

[01:41:24] Uh, and then, uh, I guess do it right the first time.

[01:41:29] Uh, even though it's gonna, even if it's gonna take a little bit longer, save money for that

[01:41:33] part that you've been wanting.

[01:41:34] Don't try, you know, don't buy the knockoff part or whatnot.

[01:41:38] That's cheaper.

[01:41:39] So there was something that I typically ask, and I don't know why I didn't put it in your

[01:41:44] list of questions, but do you think you will always own a Subaru?

[01:41:47] Yes.

[01:41:48] One hundred percent.

[01:41:49] Okay.

[01:41:50] Uh, specifically this, uh, wagon we've been talking about, uh, this evening.

[01:41:55] There's so much money, stupid money, time, blood, sweat, tears, and then that thing, um,

[01:42:05] that I will probably have that forever.

[01:42:09] And the other thing, the last thing that I want to ask you is like, you know, you, you've

[01:42:13] owned quite a few Subarus, but like this one in particular, how would you say that owning

[01:42:18] this Subaru has changed your life?

[01:42:22] Ooh.

[01:42:23] Yeah.

[01:42:24] Um, question.

[01:42:25] Yeah.

[01:42:26] It has opened a lot of doors and it has given me a lot of, uh, new friendships.

[01:42:38] And I, you know, a funny part is I originally planned on building a different vehicle.

[01:42:45] Um, uh, uh, older Subaru Outback wagon is what I originally planned to do and keep this one

[01:42:53] as, you know, a street vehicle.

[01:42:55] Yeah.

[01:42:55] And they just kind of, uh, plans change.

[01:42:59] Yeah.

[01:43:00] It morphed into everything all in one.

[01:43:03] Yeah.

[01:43:04] Yeah.

[01:43:04] And it's a great build too.

[01:43:05] I mean, it's, it's great what you've done with it and, you know, it's great.

[01:43:10] You're welcome.

[01:43:10] Yeah.

[01:43:11] The, the awards that you've won, uh, those, that's really cool.

[01:43:14] And just, you know, being so unique, it's like, you know, it's just, I don't know.

[01:43:20] It's really cool.

[01:43:20] I like it.

[01:43:21] And it, it's a blast.

[01:43:22] It really is a blast to drive, you know, the smiles per gallon are really high.

[01:43:27] And, uh, like I, I drove it earlier, uh, earlier today and, uh, it's just, it's so

[01:43:32] fun.

[01:43:33] Oh yeah.

[01:43:34] Yeah.

[01:43:35] But Hey, I want to thank you so much for your time for, to record and talk about your Subaru

[01:43:40] journey and about your legacy and learn more about you and what you're doing with it.

[01:43:46] Yeah.

[01:43:46] No, thank, thank you.

[01:43:47] Thank you for the opportunity to be on your channel and everything.

[01:43:50] So.

[01:43:51] Yeah.

[01:43:52] Great to have you.

[01:43:53] So I hope you enjoy the rest of your night and, uh, hope you enjoy the episode.

[01:43:59] Yeah.

[01:43:59] Thank you.

[01:44:00] You're welcome.

[01:44:00] Awesome.

[01:44:01] Hello again, everybody.

[01:44:02] Thank you so much for tuning into another episode of the Subi and you podcast.

[01:44:06] I hope you enjoyed this conversation with Johnny Walker.

[01:44:09] If you're not doing so, go give him a follow on Instagram.

[01:44:12] His handle is out.

[01:44:13] The number two and then Rome.

[01:44:15] Pretty simple.

[01:44:16] So thank you again, Johnny, for taking the time to record with me and share your Subaru

[01:44:21] journey and talk about your awesome build.

[01:44:24] So really, really appreciate your time.

[01:44:26] So that's it for this week, but we will be back with another episode and a, well, the Subi

[01:44:31] scoop next Monday.

[01:44:32] And I will talk about my experience at Disney world and universal studios.

[01:44:38] Cause it was a lot of fun and I had a great time and I have some suggestions if you've never

[01:44:43] been, if you're planning to go, cause we saw some really, really cool stuff.

[01:44:48] So thank you all so much.

[01:44:50] Hope you have a great week.

[01:44:51] Much Subi love.

[01:44:53] Raph.

[01:44:53] The Subi and you podcast is hosted by Raphael in a closet in Houston, produced by Raphael

[01:44:59] in a room next to the closet in Houston and edited by Raphael on a computer in the room

[01:45:04] next to the closet in Houston with music by Luke Ruiz in another room in Houston.

[01:45:10] You can find the Subi and you podcast wherever you listen to podcasts, including Apple podcast,

[01:45:15] Spotify, and many more to support the podcast.

[01:45:18] Please head over to patreon.com slash Subi and you podcast.

[01:45:22] Once you join, you will have access to the discord channel and discord chats with other patrons.

[01:45:27] If you'd like to get in contact with the show, you can find them on Instagram at Subi and

[01:45:31] you podcast online at Subi and you podcast.com or by email Subi and you podcast at gmail.com.

[01:45:39] That's all for this week.