I’ve always loved road trips. I could’ve been a good trucker…maybe still will be. When I was in high school I joined an overlanding club, and drove all over Montana with strangers from the internet. When I got to Montana State, I started dreaming about the ultimate Road Trip. I looked at what it took to join a Dakar Rally team, how far the Trans-Canada-Highway was, how to visit all 49 states in a car, and ultimately the Pan-American Highway: The wild route from Prudhoe Bay Alaska, to Ushuaia, Argentina. I mapped it out, and sat patiently for the opportunity.
Then I met Joe. California bros are not usually welcomed well in in Montana, but Joe is unique. He’s positive, resourceful, adventurous, and turned out to be an awesome roommate. We started talking about the Pan American Highway and plans started to fall into place.
Then I moved to Ohio, Joe got married to an awesome adventure partner, Hannah, I found an adventurous girlfriend, got the perfect Truck, found the decent job to help save and finally, found the inspiration we needed; DesktoGlory.com Desk to glory is a blog of a Canadian couple who made the trek in a 1989 Toyota Pickup, ext cab, 5 speed…which just so happened to be the exact truck I had just purchased.
Fast forward 3 years, Tay and I got engaged, and we found a second round of inspiration. Destabilization in Central America, and VoyageofTheRascal.com. Dwyer was our age, similar career, and similar personality. He sailed solo from Seattle to chile with the goal of skiing to the boat in the glaciers of Patagonia. Oh, and Team Tre got a dog.
The next two months were a whirlwind. We hired a yacht broker, found a wedding venue, looked at a few boats, low-balled a guy, and bought one. A 32 foot dreamboat: Scooter.
A year later, my resignation letter was sent, the trucks were packed, and we drove from Cincinnati to Seattle to move from a 3 bedroom house, to a 100 square foot bathtub.
Here goes nothing.
Hank