Latest / The Overland Journal Podcast / Liberating Leash on Leaving the Desk for Solo Overlanding

Transcript

Liberating Leash on Leaving the Desk for Solo Overlanding · The Overland Journal Podcast

0:02
Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to the Overland Journal podcast. I am
0:06
Speaker 1: your host, Scott Brady, and in today's conversation, I talk
0:11
Speaker 1: with Alicia from a liberating leash. She's an inspiring character
0:15
Speaker 1: that's traveled throughout the United States in her Toyota four Runner,
0:18
Speaker 1: and we spend some time together at the Overland Expo
0:22
Speaker 1: Mountain West, discussing not only how she travels solo, how
0:25
Speaker 1: she affords to travel while she works full time, some
0:29
Speaker 1: of the ways that she addresses travel while she's working
0:31
Speaker 1: full time. We also add on some additional conversation regarding
0:36
Speaker 1: her scholarship that she received from the Overland Expo to
0:39
Speaker 1: attend this event. So please enjoy my wide ranging conversation
0:43
Speaker 1: with Alisha. This content is brought to you by Overland Journal,
0:48
Speaker 1: our premium quality print publication. The magazine was founded in
0:52
Speaker 1: two thousand and six with a goal of providing independent
0:56
Speaker 1: equipment and vehicle reviews along with the most adventures and photography.
1:03
Speaker 1: We care deeply about the countries and cultures we visit
1:06
Speaker 1: and share our experiences freely with our readers. We also
1:11
Speaker 1: have zero averatorial policy and do not accept any advertiser compensation.
1:16
Speaker 2: For our reviews.
1:18
Speaker 1: By subscribing to Overland Journal, you're helping to support our
1:22
Speaker 1: employee owned and veteran owned publication. Your support also provides
1:28
Speaker 1: resources and funding for content like you are watching or
1:31
Speaker 1: listening to right now. You can subscribe directly on our
1:36
Speaker 1: website at Overland Journal dot com. All right, hello, and
1:42
Speaker 1: welcome to the Overland Journal Podcast. I am your host,
1:45
Speaker 1: Scott Brady, and I am here with Alisha from Liberating
1:49
Speaker 1: Leash and we just had a great time at the
1:53
Speaker 1: gathering event in Van Korum, Colorado.
1:55
Speaker 2: Didn't we yes to me? It was and it's not.
1:58
Speaker 1: To take away anything from any other overland event, but
2:01
Speaker 1: it was the first overland event that I left with
2:04
Speaker 1: a lower heart rate than I started, So like, I
2:08
Speaker 1: had a chance to relax. And there's something that I've
2:11
Speaker 1: always wanted to do, which was a tea ceremony. And
2:14
Speaker 1: Sonya and Nakota pulled in a great friend of theirs
2:18
Speaker 1: to conduct the tea ceremony.
2:20
Speaker 2: It was just the most amazing experience.
2:23
Speaker 1: Yeah, an hour and a half of just drinking tea
2:25
Speaker 1: and kind of letting see what else happens happened?
2:28
Speaker 2: Did you get a chance?
2:29
Speaker 3: I did get a chance to do it.
2:30
Speaker 2: What did you think of that experience.
2:32
Speaker 4: I thought it was really good. It was very calming,
2:34
Speaker 4: very peaceful for me. I feel like sometimes, you know,
2:38
Speaker 4: especially in today's world, like it's like you're always on,
2:41
Speaker 4: so just that time to just breathe and you know,
2:45
Speaker 4: have the tea.
2:46
Speaker 2: I loved.
2:47
Speaker 1: I loved the kind of analog nature of all of it,
2:50
Speaker 1: where there was these very simple looking teapots. They weren't
2:55
Speaker 1: or nate or anything like that. They were simple and
2:57
Speaker 1: they were just set on these It looked like a
3:01
Speaker 1: like a porcelain or a clay little chimenea kind of
3:04
Speaker 1: a thing with a little bit of flame in it,
3:06
Speaker 1: and it kept the tea just at the perfect temperature. Yeah,
3:10
Speaker 1: I think we made it through five, including the water,
3:13
Speaker 1: so I was I needed a bathroom quickly.
3:16
Speaker 4: My group did three in the water and I stayed
3:19
Speaker 4: a little bit after and then I was like, Okay,
3:21
Speaker 4: I have to go to the reaster.
3:23
Speaker 2: It's time to go.
3:24
Speaker 1: The other thing that was really amazing when I did
3:26
Speaker 1: the tea ceremony. It was in the morning, and it
3:29
Speaker 1: was after we had had that rain the night before,
3:32
Speaker 1: and the rain had just calmed down, and I was
3:34
Speaker 1: walking from my camper to where they were doing this ceremony,
3:38
Speaker 1: and this rainbow was on the horizon like nothing that
3:43
Speaker 1: I've ever seen.
3:44
Speaker 2: It was like it was.
3:45
Speaker 1: Like a rainbow explosion. There was like no more rainbow.
3:47
Speaker 1: It was like it hit the pot of gold and
3:49
Speaker 1: it all blew up and the rainbow was right there.
3:51
Speaker 2: It was stunning.
3:53
Speaker 1: And I remember I walked up so Toya was in
3:56
Speaker 1: there getting ready for the tea ceremony, and I said,
3:59
Speaker 1: you got to come look at this, and she hadn't
4:00
Speaker 1: seen it yet. We just stood there for a couple
4:02
Speaker 1: minutes and just watch this.
4:04
Speaker 2: Amazing is that just before it?
4:09
Speaker 1: What other things did you find about that event were
4:13
Speaker 1: unique from the other overland events.
4:15
Speaker 4: You've been going smaller in nature, which then allowed for
4:18
Speaker 4: more community and getting to know people better. There was
4:22
Speaker 4: a large focus on diversity, so seeing other people that
4:25
Speaker 4: look like myself and just I just was very happy,
4:30
Speaker 4: like that's all I like when I think back and
4:31
Speaker 4: just like, oh, this is great, Like I'm still sort
4:34
Speaker 4: of high off of that as well.
4:35
Speaker 2: It was totally joyful.
4:37
Speaker 1: Yeah, that and that I think is something that's so
4:40
Speaker 1: important to have when we do gather together, is to
4:43
Speaker 1: make sure that people can leave with that sense of
4:46
Speaker 1: feeling inspired to travel and feeling inspired to be with
4:50
Speaker 1: other travelers.
4:51
Speaker 2: And this is another thing that I noticed.
4:53
Speaker 1: There was a few questions about my truck and camper
4:55
Speaker 1: that came up over the weekend, but not most of them.
4:58
Speaker 2: Most of them were.
4:58
Speaker 1: About where you a travel next, Where did you just
5:01
Speaker 1: come from, what's your favorite thing about travel? It was
5:04
Speaker 1: all about travel and about being with other travelers, and
5:07
Speaker 1: I found that was also unique, whereas a lot of
5:10
Speaker 1: other events that can be you know, so what gear
5:12
Speaker 1: ratio do you have in your in your fan motor?
5:17
Speaker 3: Now? I totally agree. I felt the same way like
5:19
Speaker 3: it was.
5:20
Speaker 4: It was really just focused on like getting people out there,
5:25
Speaker 4: regardless of your experience level. So there were people that
5:29
Speaker 4: you know, had been doing it for a while, people
5:31
Speaker 4: that were like, Okay, I'm just gonna glamp in this
5:33
Speaker 4: tent or something, so just the range and it was
5:36
Speaker 4: just really about getting out there and getting to know
5:39
Speaker 4: each other and just learn from each other.
5:41
Speaker 1: And what do you think was one of the learnings
5:43
Speaker 1: that you had. What was one of your aha moments
5:47
Speaker 1: that you had from the event?
5:49
Speaker 4: For me, I would I think that it was how
5:53
Speaker 4: much I actually need community being a solo traveler. I
5:56
Speaker 4: was really looking forward to this because it's just like
5:59
Speaker 4: me and I run along, you know, and meet people
6:02
Speaker 4: along the road. But this was like the culmination because
6:05
Speaker 4: I'm actually towards the end of my trip, so I'm like, yeah,
6:07
Speaker 4: this is I just was going in looking for and
6:10
Speaker 4: just knowing that I, you know, need, desire and enjoy
6:14
Speaker 4: like that community.
6:15
Speaker 1: We would just recommend anyone that's listening to take a
6:19
Speaker 1: look at staplesintentse dot com and you'll find information about
6:23
Speaker 1: their gathering events. They typically hold one back east and
6:27
Speaker 1: they typically hold one out west. This one was just
6:29
Speaker 1: last weekend, so it was really easy to go from
6:32
Speaker 1: Western Colorado to Central Colorado where we are now in Denver.
6:36
Speaker 1: So please take a look at that event and support
6:38
Speaker 1: in the ways that you can by showing up, by
6:40
Speaker 1: asking ways that you can help them because what they're
6:43
Speaker 1: doing is really important and special.
6:44
Speaker 4: And even sharing about it because you know, you never
6:47
Speaker 4: know who's watching your own channel or just in conversations.
6:51
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was really amazing.
6:53
Speaker 1: Speaking of being a solo traveler, like you just mentioned,
6:56
Speaker 1: what inspired you to start to travel on your own
7:00
Speaker 1: and around the country.
7:01
Speaker 4: We'll go a little bit further back do We'll say
7:03
Speaker 4: just in childhood. Like my parents, we always traveled nothing
7:08
Speaker 4: major big as a young person, every summer where we
7:11
Speaker 4: have family friends in Ocean City, Maryland, so that was
7:14
Speaker 4: like every summer that's what we did, or we would
7:18
Speaker 4: just go somewhere and then from there as we got older,
7:21
Speaker 4: starting to travel internationally. They had a timeshare in Aruba,
7:24
Speaker 4: We've been to Saint Martin. That like they instilled that,
7:29
Speaker 4: I guess, and myself and just having a broader view
7:32
Speaker 4: of life in the world and experiences. So I think
7:35
Speaker 4: with that and then also just my nature, I'm you know,
7:39
Speaker 4: a little adventurous.
7:40
Speaker 3: I'm the wild child.
7:42
Speaker 4: So for me, wanting to get out was just sort
7:45
Speaker 4: of I guess natural in that for me. I before
7:49
Speaker 4: getting out on the road, I actually was doing a
7:51
Speaker 4: lot of international travel and I did that mostly solo.
7:56
Speaker 4: And really what inspired me to do is because like
7:58
Speaker 4: I wanted to but that no one. I didn't want
8:01
Speaker 4: to wait for somebody else to be like okay, I'll
8:03
Speaker 4: come or like to make sure that our time is met.
8:07
Speaker 4: So it was just more about this is what I
8:09
Speaker 4: want to do, I'm going to do it, and that's
8:11
Speaker 4: what I did. This particular mode of travel. I feel
8:15
Speaker 4: like everybody sort of like, oh, when COVID happened. So
8:18
Speaker 4: that's sort of how I got introduced to overlanding. Before that,
8:22
Speaker 4: I was interested in I didn't know anything about overlanding,
8:25
Speaker 4: so I was like, Oh, I'm going to get like
8:27
Speaker 4: a trailer and ride around the country and you know,
8:30
Speaker 4: watching YouTube things like that, I was like, Oh, this
8:32
Speaker 4: is a whole world.
8:33
Speaker 3: So the rabbit hole opened and I jumped in.
8:37
Speaker 1: When you look back on traveling with your family, what
8:41
Speaker 1: are some things that your parents did that you think
8:44
Speaker 1: set you up to be the traveler that you are today.
8:47
Speaker 1: What are some things that maybe you admired about them
8:49
Speaker 1: as travelers.
8:50
Speaker 4: They've made sure that you knew that, like you were
8:53
Speaker 4: not better than anybody else, that when you're going somewhere,
8:56
Speaker 4: you're going to their home, you be the one that's
9:00
Speaker 4: stepping back and learning from them in their space. So
9:04
Speaker 4: just being open, respectful, and you know, explore, talk to
9:08
Speaker 4: the people.
9:09
Speaker 3: Learn some things.
9:10
Speaker 1: Well, they taught you right, because that's exactly the way
9:12
Speaker 1: to do it, is to be open and also so
9:16
Speaker 1: mindful of the fact that you're a guest in their
9:18
Speaker 1: country and they're going to maybe do things completely different
9:21
Speaker 1: than we do, and that's why we're there, yes, is
9:24
Speaker 1: to see something completely different and to eat food that's
9:27
Speaker 1: completely different, and to experience maybe even religions and languages
9:32
Speaker 1: that are very different from our own.
9:34
Speaker 2: And that's the joy of it.
9:36
Speaker 4: I was around like fifteen sixteen when we started going
9:39
Speaker 4: to Aruba, and I'm not going to remember the name
9:42
Speaker 4: of their language, but I think it begins with a
9:44
Speaker 4: p popuamentu something like that. So that for me, I'm like, Okay,
9:48
Speaker 4: when I go to different places, I want to try
9:51
Speaker 4: to least be able to speak something. So there was
9:54
Speaker 4: like a little store that had like, you know, the
9:56
Speaker 4: basics of their language, so I would say that little hellos,
10:00
Speaker 4: goodbyes or thank yous or whatever in that.
10:03
Speaker 2: So, oh, that's wonderful.
10:04
Speaker 1: And I always love their expression when you try, because
10:07
Speaker 1: they know that you're not a native speaker, but they
10:10
Speaker 1: light up because they're used to just someone coming in
10:13
Speaker 1: and saying, hey, can I have a hamber exactly, but
10:16
Speaker 1: just to make an attempt. This is so wonderful. Now
10:19
Speaker 1: that you're traveling solo, the vehicle that you've chosen to
10:23
Speaker 1: use is a Forerunner, which just happens to be like
10:26
Speaker 1: one of the best choices.
10:27
Speaker 2: Did you already have the vehicle or did you decide
10:30
Speaker 2: to buy it.
10:31
Speaker 4: I already had the vehicle. It was I think it
10:33
Speaker 4: was around twenty eighteen. This is before I knew about overlanding.
10:37
Speaker 4: I had always wanted.
10:38
Speaker 3: A Forerunner when I was younger, just.
10:41
Speaker 4: More aesthetically that's what attracted me. And of course that
10:44
Speaker 4: rolled down window in the back. Yeah, it was just
10:47
Speaker 4: my car died and I was just like, this is
10:50
Speaker 4: my opportunity. Found the ones blue, that's my favorite color.
10:53
Speaker 4: I went for it. And then I found out that
10:56
Speaker 4: this was a great vehicle for this type of travel.
10:59
Speaker 4: So yeah, I have a twenty fourteen SR five stock.
11:03
Speaker 2: Oh that's amazing.
11:04
Speaker 1: And how have you found to travel in that vehicle?
11:07
Speaker 1: You what are the things that you like about it?
11:09
Speaker 1: And what are the things that you find are limiting?
11:11
Speaker 4: Maybe there isn't really anything limiting other than like I
11:16
Speaker 4: can't get up and walk around inside of it or whatever.
11:18
Speaker 2: But you sleep inside the vehicle, I think that's perfect.
11:21
Speaker 3: Yep.
11:22
Speaker 4: So, like I said earlier, I on the end of
11:24
Speaker 4: a five month trip and I've been across the country
11:27
Speaker 4: into Baja up the coast and I have not had
11:30
Speaker 4: one problem until today.
11:31
Speaker 3: I got a flood tire. I will go this morning
11:34
Speaker 3: to a flat tire. But yeah, it's it's been amazing,
11:37
Speaker 3: it hasn't.
11:37
Speaker 2: There's probably probably a nail here in the I know.
11:40
Speaker 3: Yeah, you got no IDEA.
11:43
Speaker 1: Great choice in vehicle and they're so capable. And which
11:48
Speaker 1: leads me to your trip, this most recent trip that
11:51
Speaker 1: you've done five months and it took you international as well.
11:55
Speaker 1: What inspired you to take such a long trip. Are
11:57
Speaker 1: you working from the road or how are you facility that?
12:00
Speaker 4: So, yes, I do work full time. I work in
12:03
Speaker 4: healthcare administration, so I work remotely. What inspired me to
12:08
Speaker 4: do this longer trip is that? So when COVID started
12:12
Speaker 4: happening in twenty twenty, I came out with I think
12:15
Speaker 4: that's like I said. Also the time that I learned
12:17
Speaker 4: about overlanding. So I had took a road trip or
12:19
Speaker 4: an overlanding trip with my with two friends of mine
12:24
Speaker 4: and we sort of just like stuck to campsites things
12:27
Speaker 4: like that, sort of did like a Midwest loop. I'm
12:30
Speaker 4: from outside of Philadelphia, so did a loop around the
12:33
Speaker 4: Midwest and then from there I'm like, oh, so the
12:35
Speaker 4: next year. I was like, maybe I can do one
12:38
Speaker 4: month to two months to see like so then I
12:40
Speaker 4: would go up and down the coast. So I did
12:42
Speaker 4: those and then I was like, okay, I really, like
12:45
Speaker 4: I said, I was in that rabbit hole. I was like,
12:47
Speaker 4: I really want to do this. Let me see if
12:49
Speaker 4: I can just take a bigger step. And that's why
12:52
Speaker 4: I chose to do it. And I guess I could
12:55
Speaker 4: do it because I'm here.
12:56
Speaker 2: You did it, Yeah, you did it going internationally?
12:59
Speaker 1: Was that the first time that you had crossed a
13:01
Speaker 1: border yourself internationally?
13:03
Speaker 3: Crossed it in a vehicle? Yes?
13:05
Speaker 2: How where did you cross into Mexico?
13:08
Speaker 3: MEXICALI number two?
13:10
Speaker 2: Okay, yeah? Cool? And how was that experience?
13:12
Speaker 3: They just waved me by.
13:14
Speaker 2: Isn't that great? Yes?
13:15
Speaker 4: I was like, you know, I'm like, okay, this is
13:17
Speaker 4: They're going to ask me this, this, this, and I
13:19
Speaker 4: guess like they must have some sort of like you know,
13:22
Speaker 4: vehicle X ray.
13:23
Speaker 3: System or something. But I just pulled up.
13:25
Speaker 4: They're chatting with each other, they look at something and
13:27
Speaker 4: then they're just like okay, I'm like, well wait, my pet,
13:30
Speaker 4: you want to see the you know whatever? And like
13:32
Speaker 4: I just from doing my own research was like, well,
13:35
Speaker 4: I know I need to get this FMM paperwork.
13:38
Speaker 3: Where do I do that?
13:39
Speaker 4: So I just like got out the car and walked
13:41
Speaker 4: to this building where it just seemed like nobody was around,
13:44
Speaker 4: and I saw this random woman.
13:46
Speaker 3: Walking and was like, where do I go to get
13:47
Speaker 3: this paper?
13:48
Speaker 4: And then there was just this guy in the building,
13:50
Speaker 4: just sitting by myself and I was the only one
13:52
Speaker 4: there getting the paper.
13:54
Speaker 1: So then you got your tourist visa, yes, because you
13:56
Speaker 1: had planned to be in the country for more than
14:00
Speaker 1: a few days, or you were going to go all
14:01
Speaker 1: the way down.
14:02
Speaker 3: To Baja or yeah, yeah, yep, that's that's yep. I
14:05
Speaker 3: did the whole in Isla.
14:06
Speaker 1: Tell me about that experience in bah because it's one
14:09
Speaker 1: of my favorite places to travel, and it's so convenient
14:12
Speaker 1: for all of us that live in the United States
14:16
Speaker 1: to get there. Even if you're back hest it's not
14:18
Speaker 1: that far away. You can even ship your vehicle out
14:21
Speaker 1: and then cross the border. Where did you travel in
14:23
Speaker 1: Baja and what were some of the things that you
14:25
Speaker 1: really enjoyed about it?
14:26
Speaker 3: So I'm going to forget the very first step that
14:28
Speaker 3: I took.
14:29
Speaker 4: It was on the eastern side of the peninsula, just
14:34
Speaker 4: at a regular like little RV on the beach with
14:37
Speaker 4: the palapa.
14:37
Speaker 2: Perfect, Yes, the ideal little stop.
14:40
Speaker 4: Did that to just get my bearings. I think I
14:42
Speaker 4: was there for two nights and then just moved my
14:46
Speaker 4: way down the place that I stayed that I just
14:49
Speaker 4: like I had no particular plan of like, Okay, I'm
14:51
Speaker 4: going to stay at this place for this long of times.
14:54
Speaker 3: There was a place.
14:55
Speaker 2: Did you stay in San Felipe the first night, Yes.
14:57
Speaker 3: That's where. Yeah.
14:58
Speaker 4: The next stop I believe was in Bahia de Los Angeles,
15:03
Speaker 4: and I believe the camp was called like La Tortuga
15:09
Speaker 4: and it was just beautiful. Like they also are geared
15:12
Speaker 4: towards towards more of like an ecological way of camping,
15:15
Speaker 4: so just like camping on their beach. They did have palapas,
15:18
Speaker 4: but I was just camping on the beach. I was like,
15:20
Speaker 4: I love this place. I stayed there for like five
15:23
Speaker 4: days or something like that. And did you have Wi
15:25
Speaker 4: Fi there at their cafe?
15:27
Speaker 3: Yeah?
15:27
Speaker 2: So you were able to do the work you needed
15:29
Speaker 2: to do. That's amazing.
15:31
Speaker 1: Now, how does it work with your work? Do you
15:33
Speaker 1: have like a set amount of things that need to
15:35
Speaker 1: be done? And you can do them in the morning,
15:37
Speaker 1: or you can do them late at night, or do
15:38
Speaker 1: you have to be on for certain times during the day.
15:41
Speaker 3: There are things that you know, I just have to do.
15:43
Speaker 4: There's are projects that I have to work on, but
15:46
Speaker 4: it's more so like if I get the job done,
15:48
Speaker 4: then it's, you know, fine.
15:50
Speaker 3: Because of the nature of my job, there.
15:52
Speaker 4: Are people that need sort of assistance in the moment,
15:57
Speaker 4: so I do try the whole time. I tried to
15:59
Speaker 4: stick to like coast hours, maybe be like one hour
16:02
Speaker 4: behind in work. So that was also a challenge because
16:05
Speaker 4: I'm not a morning person. I'm with you, that's really
16:07
Speaker 4: really yeah, So I mean there was definitely opportunity to
16:11
Speaker 4: flex things, but I did try to maintain the hours
16:14
Speaker 4: that I normally had.
16:15
Speaker 1: So from Bahia de Los Angeles, then you continued south, Yes,
16:20
Speaker 1: And what was the next spot that you stopped that
16:22
Speaker 1: you really kind of fell in love with?
16:23
Speaker 3: Mlay Hey.
16:24
Speaker 4: I'm not sure if from skipping any spots, but malay Hey,
16:27
Speaker 4: I do remember going and I just the scenery just changes,
16:31
Speaker 4: like it's like desert and then you're in this like
16:34
Speaker 4: tropical oasis with this river going by, and yes, yeah,
16:39
Speaker 4: it was very beautiful. I didn't actually get to stay
16:41
Speaker 4: there as long as I wanted to, but it was
16:44
Speaker 4: it was beautiful.
16:45
Speaker 1: And it's a great spot to resupply. They have a
16:48
Speaker 1: laundry mat there. We were talking about that earlier for
16:51
Speaker 1: the full time traveler. It's like the air water laundry
16:56
Speaker 1: in the math hierarchy of needs. So when you left
17:01
Speaker 1: mouhe did you go and camp in the Conception Bay
17:05
Speaker 1: area as well?
17:06
Speaker 4: So yes, I just remember making this one turn going
17:11
Speaker 4: down like you know, the mountain or whatever to see
17:14
Speaker 4: the bay and I'm like, this is beautiful, credible color
17:18
Speaker 4: of the water, the white sand. I was just like
17:20
Speaker 4: and the first thought that I was like, I want
17:22
Speaker 4: to stay here, Like I want to stay here. And
17:25
Speaker 4: then I the area didn't have any cell service, but
17:29
Speaker 4: or like you know, yeah, cell service or Wi Fi
17:32
Speaker 4: or anything like that. When I was in Bahia de
17:35
Speaker 4: Los Angeles, there was a couple, an Irish couple that
17:39
Speaker 4: we sort of like we made friends or whatever, and
17:41
Speaker 4: so we were sort of like caravanning a little bit
17:44
Speaker 4: or just we're going to be like following the same path.
17:46
Speaker 4: So when I had gotten to the bottom of the
17:48
Speaker 4: hill and turned, I saw their van like from the
17:51
Speaker 4: hill and I was like, oh, they're here, So I
17:53
Speaker 4: went and they just were like, no, just stay, just stay,
17:57
Speaker 4: and I was like, yeah, I'm going to stay and
17:59
Speaker 4: then go find Wi Fi in the morning or something
18:01
Speaker 4: like that. So, yes, I did get to camp there.
18:03
Speaker 4: It was just it was amazing.
18:05
Speaker 2: It's and it just keeps getting more beautiful.
18:07
Speaker 1: Yes, and there's fewer and fewer tourists the further south again.
18:11
Speaker 3: Yeah.
18:12
Speaker 2: And then did you make it to Toto Santos, Yes.
18:15
Speaker 3: I did.
18:15
Speaker 4: I actually went the other like, so I stayed on
18:18
Speaker 4: the east side. I did like Lapis and then Cabo Pulmo.
18:21
Speaker 2: Oh you did the East Cape? Yes, super cool.
18:24
Speaker 3: Kabo Pulmo. The like park there. The sea park was great.
18:28
Speaker 4: We had done a like snorkeling trip in the first stop,
18:33
Speaker 4: so many like fish and underwater things that were just
18:37
Speaker 4: so beautiful, and but the current was like too rough
18:40
Speaker 4: or too strong, so they told us we had to
18:43
Speaker 4: move on. But so moved on from there and I
18:45
Speaker 4: did make my way around to Toto Santos and I
18:47
Speaker 4: stayed there for probably about.
18:49
Speaker 3: A week or so.
18:50
Speaker 1: Yeah, because it's really easy to do work there, a
18:52
Speaker 1: great restaurants. Yeah, that's it's one of my favorite spots
18:56
Speaker 1: along there. But that what's interesting about Cabo polmo Is,
19:00
Speaker 1: I believe that is the northernmost reef structure in the world.
19:05
Speaker 1: I think it's the furthest north that you can find
19:07
Speaker 1: coral reefs like that that are still living and thriving.
19:11
Speaker 4: We got to and I'm not even going to remember
19:14
Speaker 4: the name of the fish, but they usually show it
19:16
Speaker 4: like when they're doing like Discovery Channel type things. But
19:18
Speaker 4: that big school of fish that like you know, are
19:21
Speaker 4: going together, we got to like swim with them, and yeah,
19:24
Speaker 4: that was just awesome too.
19:26
Speaker 1: So now that you've done several big trips around the
19:30
Speaker 1: country and even traveling internationally, what have you found that
19:35
Speaker 1: that experience changed about you, about.
19:37
Speaker 2: Your view of the world, about your perspective on life.
19:40
Speaker 2: What is it taught you?
19:42
Speaker 4: One that people are not as scary as the world
19:46
Speaker 4: makes them seem. And also just simplicity of life, not
19:52
Speaker 4: needing all the things that you know we think that
19:55
Speaker 4: we need.
19:56
Speaker 3: Being more kind.
19:58
Speaker 4: To myself and actually like removing my own armwork.
20:02
Speaker 2: Well, those are amazing things to learn about ourselves.
20:06
Speaker 4: Also, I would say the big thing is that I
20:09
Speaker 4: can do it that's that's the big thing that I learned.
20:12
Speaker 1: Yeah, you not only can do it, you are doing
20:14
Speaker 1: I think, which is and you're inspiring so many And
20:18
Speaker 1: one of the things that I remember hearing, in fact
20:21
Speaker 1: it was at the gathering, but I remember hearing this
20:23
Speaker 1: comment that you made that when you left on your
20:26
Speaker 1: first trip, I think you borrowed a tent from your dad,
20:29
Speaker 1: so you weren't going to allow anything to stop you
20:31
Speaker 1: from going, and liked was that part of that lesson.
20:35
Speaker 2: Of like, I can do it.
20:36
Speaker 4: So with that tent. The story with the tent is
20:39
Speaker 4: that it's this big, huge tent. I'm still in the beginning,
20:42
Speaker 4: like you know, beginner stages. I guess I technically still am.
20:46
Speaker 4: I guess I don't know me too so and I
20:49
Speaker 4: don't I think I had a platform in the car,
20:52
Speaker 4: but I wasn't, you know, sleeping on it.
20:53
Speaker 3: I was just like, I'm going to use my tent.
20:55
Speaker 4: I determined that this is a dry weather tent because
20:57
Speaker 4: there were a lot of leaks and holes in this tent.
21:00
Speaker 4: With that, being patient with yourself. So I think that's
21:02
Speaker 4: another thing of learning about learning, is that something is
21:05
Speaker 4: inevitably going to go wrong. Being soaked out and rained
21:08
Speaker 4: out of this tent multiple times. I was just like, Okay,
21:11
Speaker 4: maybe this is not the gear that I need. But yeah,
21:14
Speaker 4: just being like patient and you know, figuring out what
21:17
Speaker 4: you need to do to get out of a situation
21:20
Speaker 4: or you know, make something better for yourself.
21:22
Speaker 1: It's so neat to see you come to that realization
21:25
Speaker 1: that sleeping in the truck is a great solution, because
21:28
Speaker 1: I totally agree with you, Like it's the best shelter
21:31
Speaker 1: we have with us, Like the best roof ten in
21:34
Speaker 1: the world is not going to be Toyota, like insulation, glass,
21:39
Speaker 1: sheet metal, door seals, yeah, all that other stuff.
21:43
Speaker 4: I ended up after realizing that was my driver weather tent.
21:46
Speaker 4: I actually did get a pop up tent, and I
21:49
Speaker 4: just was like, it's a small, little pop up tent
21:51
Speaker 4: because I'm just like, I'm just going to sleep in it.
21:53
Speaker 4: I don't need like a big room or anything like that.
21:55
Speaker 4: So for this I have used that tent, but for
21:58
Speaker 4: this particular trip, you know, I had it with me,
22:00
Speaker 4: but I did start out by sleeping in my car
22:03
Speaker 4: or ortra. I never actually wanted to go back to
22:06
Speaker 4: the tent, so I think I slept in it like
22:09
Speaker 4: once during this trip, and even actually when I've come
22:12
Speaker 4: across like family or friends and have stayed with them
22:15
Speaker 4: in their homes.
22:16
Speaker 3: Like, oh, this isn't as comfortable as my bed in
22:19
Speaker 3: my trap.
22:20
Speaker 1: Sinway's house, you met Sinwey at the gathering and he's like,
22:23
Speaker 1: I got.
22:23
Speaker 2: Your room already for you. I'm like, nope, I got
22:26
Speaker 2: my scout camper.
22:27
Speaker 1: I've got It's exactly the way I want it so
22:30
Speaker 1: and I sleep like a baby in it. So it's
22:32
Speaker 1: funny how that that all works out. But one thing
22:34
Speaker 1: that's nice about having a small tent, especially if it's
22:37
Speaker 1: one of those ones that pop up really easy. That's
22:39
Speaker 1: where you can stick the gear that you take out
22:41
Speaker 1: when you go to sleep. You can get your gear
22:43
Speaker 1: out of the weather and kind of zip it up.
22:45
Speaker 1: And I have used like small little pop up tents
22:48
Speaker 1: for that when I'm sleeping in a vehicle. You've learned
22:51
Speaker 1: some things about yourself, and you've learned some things about
22:54
Speaker 1: others that you've encountered along the way. What advice would
22:58
Speaker 1: you give to someone that is thinking about starting a
23:01
Speaker 1: journey like yours, or has maybe done shorter trips. What
23:04
Speaker 1: what advice and recommendations would you give others that are
23:07
Speaker 1: thinking about doing that one.
23:08
Speaker 4: Don't let perfection, you know, or the perfect plan or
23:12
Speaker 4: the perfect route or the perfect whatever keep you, like
23:15
Speaker 4: delay you from going. So just just do it. And
23:18
Speaker 4: it doesn't actually matter what you have or don't have.
23:21
Speaker 4: I mean, you want to make sure that you have
23:23
Speaker 4: you know, essentials of things that you need, and you
23:24
Speaker 4: want to make sure that your vehicle, you know, is reliable.
23:27
Speaker 4: But to literally just go and do it. You don't
23:30
Speaker 4: need the rooftop tent. You don't need you know, this
23:33
Speaker 4: big system of anything. You can just start small and
23:36
Speaker 4: determine what you need. And that's how I have done
23:39
Speaker 4: my trip, you know, the one to two month trips.
23:41
Speaker 4: They were fine because I'm just like, oh, you know,
23:44
Speaker 4: I just need like, you know, this much clues or
23:46
Speaker 4: something like that. Becoming on this trip, I'm like, oh, like,
23:48
Speaker 4: I'm literally going to be living on the road, So
23:51
Speaker 4: I brought everything and I literally use like a quarter
23:55
Speaker 4: of the stuff.
23:55
Speaker 3: That I have.
23:56
Speaker 4: Yeah, just take like the minimum of what you need
23:59
Speaker 4: and then figure out your style and what you need
24:02
Speaker 4: on the way.
24:03
Speaker 1: You're one of the very few people that I have
24:05
Speaker 1: met that have done that. I think for a lot
24:07
Speaker 1: of travelers. I think that in general, what we see
24:11
Speaker 1: on social media, I think it starts to make people
24:14
Speaker 1: feel like they have to have all these things in
24:17
Speaker 1: order to travel in a safe way or in an
24:19
Speaker 1: effective way. But the way that you've done it is
24:22
Speaker 1: really the best, because as you've gone along, you have
24:24
Speaker 1: made changes and you've decided, Okay, the tent doesn't work,
24:27
Speaker 1: I'm going to stay in my track. But you actually,
24:29
Speaker 1: by doing that, you actually removed a piece of equipment
24:32
Speaker 1: for the most part that you even needed.
24:34
Speaker 3: I ended up sending something home.
24:36
Speaker 1: Sure, and that's very rare for people to do that.
24:39
Speaker 1: And I'm such a believer in even if what you
24:43
Speaker 1: drive as a prius, start with that and figure out
24:47
Speaker 1: what do you need in order to go where you
24:48
Speaker 1: want to go, and then you realize like, oh, I
24:50
Speaker 1: actually really do want to go to these places that
24:52
Speaker 1: are off the beaten track, and I do need something
24:54
Speaker 1: with some ground clearance, And then maybe you change the car.
24:57
Speaker 1: But you also might find that what you love is
25:00
Speaker 1: just road trips and roads that a priest can do.
25:03
Speaker 1: And then you've saved yourself all of that money and energy.
25:06
Speaker 4: Your your trips, and you know your setup is for
25:11
Speaker 4: you so you know, not looking at like, oh because
25:14
Speaker 4: this person has this that I need, you know, to
25:17
Speaker 4: be this way or have this thing, like it's literally
25:20
Speaker 4: your trip, your whatever you want.
25:22
Speaker 1: One of the things that I love to ask on
25:25
Speaker 1: the podcast is your favorite books. This is always a
25:28
Speaker 1: selfish question.
25:29
Speaker 2: I have no idea.
25:31
Speaker 1: Actually those are listening, let me know if you do
25:33
Speaker 1: love the book recommendations, I'm not going to change, but
25:37
Speaker 1: I love hearing the book recommendations. So what what books
25:41
Speaker 1: have you found interesting for you in your life?
25:43
Speaker 4: So I think one of the very first ones that
25:47
Speaker 4: I can recall like that just lit a fire in
25:49
Speaker 4: me was The Alchemist. Yes, I have you know, traveled
25:53
Speaker 4: as a child with my family and internationally and you know,
25:56
Speaker 4: you know, domestically on my own, but there have been
25:59
Speaker 4: a period of time where you know, I just like
26:02
Speaker 4: felt trapped, I guess, and just like afraid to do
26:05
Speaker 4: these things even though I had the experience with my family,
26:08
Speaker 4: but being able to do it by myself was scary.
26:11
Speaker 3: So that was also an inspiration for me.
26:14
Speaker 4: The other book that I really enjoy was A New
26:17
Speaker 4: Earth by Eckert Toley that that was really good for
26:20
Speaker 4: just allowing myself to become more into myself and less
26:25
Speaker 4: all over the place I guess or whatever, to be
26:27
Speaker 4: more centered, to be more aware of myself and you know,
26:32
Speaker 4: triggers and like you know the way I react to
26:35
Speaker 4: certain things. So yeah, I really enjoyed that book.
26:38
Speaker 1: He has these very simple concepts that once you listen
26:43
Speaker 1: and did you listen to the book or did you
26:45
Speaker 1: read it?
26:46
Speaker 4: I read it. I read it a couple of times.
26:47
Speaker 4: But I do, actually he does.
26:49
Speaker 2: He has such an interesting voice.
26:51
Speaker 4: Yes, he I do listen to some of his like
26:53
Speaker 4: either podcasts or little like you know, recordings that have
26:56
Speaker 4: been done yet.
26:57
Speaker 2: Because I listen.
26:58
Speaker 1: He has another book called The Power of Now, and
27:01
Speaker 1: I listened to that and it was actually when I
27:04
Speaker 1: was crossing the Pacific. In the sale book, it's quiet
27:07
Speaker 1: up at the helm because everybody else is sleeping or whatever,
27:11
Speaker 1: and just listening to that guy's voice and this realization
27:14
Speaker 1: that so rarely are we present, like right now you
27:18
Speaker 1: and I are engaged in being together and listening to
27:20
Speaker 1: your stories.
27:21
Speaker 2: But how often do we get to do that.
27:23
Speaker 1: Most of the time, we're either ruminating over something dumb
27:26
Speaker 1: we did yesterday, or we're thinking, like, oh, I'll be
27:30
Speaker 1: happy when this happens, or when I get to this place,
27:32
Speaker 1: or when I get to go do this thing. Yet
27:34
Speaker 1: we're in this amazing place with amazing people at an
27:38
Speaker 1: amazing event, and being present is very difficult, it seems
27:42
Speaker 1: to do.
27:42
Speaker 2: It is for me.
27:43
Speaker 1: I don't know if it is for others, but just
27:45
Speaker 1: to be really present is hard. So, yeah, he's got
27:48
Speaker 1: a couple great books. Those are good recommendations. Thank you
27:51
Speaker 1: for that. Is there anything that you would like to
27:55
Speaker 1: challenge the audience on or things that you would like
27:59
Speaker 1: to share with the audience that you think would be helpful.
28:02
Speaker 3: Things will go wrong all the time.
28:05
Speaker 4: For me, I think when I first started out, within
28:08
Speaker 4: like the first two months, and at this point I
28:10
Speaker 4: can't necessarily remember what exactly they are. Some of the
28:14
Speaker 4: things were like electrical based on like the setup that
28:16
Speaker 4: I have. Every it seemed like every day or maybe
28:19
Speaker 4: like every other day, something was happening, and I'm just like, man,
28:23
Speaker 4: you know, And but because of having read Ecker and
28:27
Speaker 4: everything like that, and like trying to keep myself calm
28:29
Speaker 4: and president in the moment even when those so called
28:32
Speaker 4: like bad things would happen. Then at the end of
28:35
Speaker 4: the night, I saw a beautiful sunset where I had
28:37
Speaker 4: a beautiful experience or exchanged with a person, or just
28:41
Speaker 4: something amazing would happen and be like what happened earlier
28:44
Speaker 4: today it doesn't matter like.
28:45
Speaker 3: So it'll always the good will come over as.
28:48
Speaker 1: The band, Yeah, and travel teaches us those things over
28:52
Speaker 1: and over again for sure, Alicia, I want to thank
28:55
Speaker 1: you so much for being on the podcast. I want
28:57
Speaker 1: to thank you for being such an inspet and for
29:01
Speaker 1: not being afraid to go see this beautiful country and
29:05
Speaker 1: to have those experiences to share them on your Instagram,
29:09
Speaker 1: which let people know what your.
29:10
Speaker 4: Instagram is is liberating leash, that's l E A s H.
29:16
Speaker 3: So my friends call me leash, So.
29:18
Speaker 2: That's really clever. I love it.
29:19
Speaker 1: And so people can follow you on Instagram and they
29:23
Speaker 1: can they can reach out, and they can also see
29:25
Speaker 1: your adventures.
29:26
Speaker 2: Around the country and around the globe. The globe, no doubt.
29:29
Speaker 1: I just want to thank you also for being at
29:31
Speaker 1: the gathering and for talking about that event, because it's
29:34
Speaker 1: really important that we make that make people aware of
29:37
Speaker 1: how amazing that experience is.
29:40
Speaker 3: So well, thank you.
29:41
Speaker 4: I was surprised but also just very humbled, you know.
29:46
Speaker 4: I listened to the podcast, and I'm like, Okay, which
29:49
Speaker 4: what new podcast came out that I can listen to?
29:52
Speaker 4: So yeah, I'm just I'm very thankful and humbled to
29:55
Speaker 4: be interviewed by you.
29:56
Speaker 2: Oh it's wonderful. Thank you again so much.
29:58
Speaker 1: Well, we want to open things for questions to our
30:01
Speaker 1: live audience here if anybody would like to ask questions.
30:05
Speaker 1: So the question was where are you going to travel next?
30:07
Speaker 4: Yes, so I am at the end of a five
30:10
Speaker 4: month long trip, so I am heading home. But after
30:13
Speaker 4: that I will end up going to another gathering event
30:17
Speaker 4: that is happening in October. I believe it's the fourteenth
30:21
Speaker 4: to the sixteenth, So if you go to Stapleintens dot
30:24
Speaker 4: com you can look up more information about that and
30:27
Speaker 4: you know if you're interested. But as far as like
30:29
Speaker 4: big trips or something, I haven't. In being present, I
30:32
Speaker 4: have not planned anything in the future.
30:35
Speaker 3: I do.
30:36
Speaker 4: I did get presented with the opportunity to go to
30:39
Speaker 4: Japan with my nephews next year.
30:42
Speaker 3: I'm looking forward.
30:43
Speaker 4: To possibly doing that and then but I think I
30:45
Speaker 4: probably will do something small in the winter. I don't
30:49
Speaker 4: really like it being dark at four pm, so I
30:53
Speaker 4: will probably you know, in this trip I really sort
30:56
Speaker 4: of booked it to BA, so I didn't get to
30:58
Speaker 4: spend time like in the Gulf area.
31:00
Speaker 3: So I think I'll probably go there in the winter.
31:03
Speaker 1: So, as a solo black female traveler, what has been
31:07
Speaker 1: barriers or other issues that you've encountered and overcome?
31:11
Speaker 2: Did I get that right close?
31:15
Speaker 4: So I will say that I personally have not had
31:19
Speaker 4: any upsetting or discouraging experiences. However, knowing that that could
31:27
Speaker 4: be the case and just knowing like you know, the
31:29
Speaker 4: climate and just being a black woman, I am also
31:33
Speaker 4: very aware. So I can tell when I go into
31:38
Speaker 4: a certain space that I'm like, Okay, somebody's going to
31:40
Speaker 4: be staring at me, like you know, they're not used
31:42
Speaker 4: to seeing, you know, a black or brown person. And
31:45
Speaker 4: sometimes I have had people like look, but I don't
31:48
Speaker 4: necessarily know, Like for me, it's not I can't understand.
31:51
Speaker 4: Don't know if that person's looking at me like, oh,
31:53
Speaker 4: there's this black person here, or if they're just like oh,
31:56
Speaker 4: like they just never you know, it was a surprise
31:58
Speaker 4: or whatever. So I have had anything in regards to
32:01
Speaker 4: like concern for my safety or feeling uncomfortable in any way,
32:05
Speaker 4: But I do acknowledge that that can be the case
32:09
Speaker 4: for other people.
32:10
Speaker 3: So I do believe that I'm lucky.
32:12
Speaker 4: And I also I know that I'm also a fair
32:15
Speaker 4: skin black person, so I know that colorism also is
32:18
Speaker 4: a thing that plays in that. So I don't know
32:22
Speaker 4: if that's a reason why I haven't had any bad experiences,
32:25
Speaker 4: but yeah, I mean even places where I thought that
32:28
Speaker 4: I was going to have like a weird experience or
32:31
Speaker 4: that people were just going to be like smiles, welcome,
32:34
Speaker 4: telling me stories about you know, wherever nearby.
32:37
Speaker 2: So yeah, that's wonderful.
32:39
Speaker 1: Thank you for sharing that, And thanks for the question, Sonya.
32:42
Speaker 1: What was your favorite place that you visited in country?
32:46
Speaker 4: So I attended Expo PNW and that was my first
32:52
Speaker 4: time in Bend.
32:54
Speaker 3: So I was just like, this is a great place.
32:57
Speaker 4: And that was the Pacific Northwest. I was like, this
33:01
Speaker 4: is amazing, you know, mountains, water, good weather. It just
33:06
Speaker 4: so from Bend all the way up to Washington, Northern
33:09
Speaker 4: Wyoming like Yellowstone area that I just I was just like, oh, yeah,
33:13
Speaker 4: I need to come back here a lot.
33:15
Speaker 2: So yeah, Bend is amazing. It's so beautiful.
33:18
Speaker 1: Then to Shoots River, it's like is this a post?
33:20
Speaker 1: It's like living post Guard.
33:22
Speaker 4: Yet I feel like the area has so many like
33:25
Speaker 4: rivers and stuff. It was just like driving this like river,
33:28
Speaker 4: this river, this river. I'm like, oh my, and I
33:30
Speaker 4: chase water, so I you know, like to camp on
33:33
Speaker 4: you know, seeing water by a lake or buy a river.
33:35
Speaker 1: So yeah, that's a great, great one, no doubt, I
33:37
Speaker 1: thought any I thought the event was really well produced,
33:40
Speaker 1: and I really liked the Pacific. It was their first
33:43
Speaker 1: time in Bend for the Overland expos and I think
33:45
Speaker 1: they did such a fantastic job. It was a great
33:48
Speaker 1: venue too, so I was really impressed with it. Lots
33:50
Speaker 1: of shade and pretty trees and stuff like that. So
33:53
Speaker 1: all right, thank you Alicia for coming back with us
33:57
Speaker 1: for a little follow up question, because after we finished
34:00
Speaker 1: our conversation at the Overland Expo Mountain West, that was
34:05
Speaker 1: where it was when the Mountain West, Yes, that we
34:09
Speaker 1: realized that we wanted to talk a little bit more
34:12
Speaker 1: about the scholarship that you receive from the Overland Expo.
34:16
Speaker 1: I think it's one of the things that's very notable
34:19
Speaker 1: about the organization is that they do provide these opportunities
34:22
Speaker 1: for people new to overlanding that would like to be
34:25
Speaker 1: able to experience an Overland expo to do so under
34:28
Speaker 1: a scholarship program. So how did you find out about
34:32
Speaker 1: the scholarship?
34:33
Speaker 4: So I had been following Overland Expo on Instagram and
34:40
Speaker 4: one Wednesday evening, Eva Rupert was doing a live. I
34:44
Speaker 4: think she might do that a little bit before each expo,
34:47
Speaker 4: So she was doing a live and then just in
34:50
Speaker 4: that conversation she had mentioned about the foundation and how
34:55
Speaker 4: they were offering scholarships, and so I was like, well,
34:58
Speaker 4: all right, that's a perfect opportunity, and sure I signed up.
35:02
Speaker 4: I think actually like right after that live was over.
35:05
Speaker 1: So and then it was was there a pool of
35:09
Speaker 1: people that had submitted or do they offer just a
35:12
Speaker 1: single scholarship or do they offer multiple scholarships?
35:16
Speaker 4: So I believe it was a poll, and I interviewed
35:20
Speaker 4: with Alison de lap and Azure, and I believe there
35:24
Speaker 4: might have been one other person, So I think that
35:27
Speaker 4: there was like an interview process through that and then
35:30
Speaker 4: they reached out with you know, who received a scholarship.
35:33
Speaker 4: I do know that there were also two other people
35:38
Speaker 4: I don't maybe later in the year or different throughout
35:41
Speaker 4: the year as well that also received scholarship.
35:44
Speaker 1: And what does the scholarship include, So.
35:46
Speaker 4: It includes an opportunity to attend an expo and have
35:51
Speaker 4: the overland experience so that you can take the courses.
35:54
Speaker 4: But then also you have the opportunity to take the
35:58
Speaker 4: actual driving courses is where you learn how to use
36:02
Speaker 4: your your four x four capabilities with your vehicle.
36:06
Speaker 1: And you have a four runner. Yes, so what did
36:09
Speaker 1: you What did you think of the of the classes?
36:11
Speaker 3: Oh? I I loved him.
36:13
Speaker 4: It was very interesting because I actually, I think we
36:16
Speaker 4: touched on this previously, but I had gotten the fore
36:18
Speaker 4: Runner originally just because that was something I had wanted
36:21
Speaker 4: from childhood, and so I gain awesome, Yes exactly. So
36:25
Speaker 4: I hadn't used my four x four. I don't think
36:28
Speaker 4: I needed it. Our winners were mild, so so I
36:31
Speaker 4: actually don't even think I really knew anything about using
36:34
Speaker 4: it until that time, and you know, learning about four
36:37
Speaker 4: low and all that, and the experience was great because
36:40
Speaker 4: then like right after one of the places that I
36:43
Speaker 4: decided to camp overnight, I needed to use my four.
36:47
Speaker 3: Low, So I was like, yeah, I learned something I remember.
36:51
Speaker 1: Oh that's awesome, And it was it was so great
36:54
Speaker 1: to finally meet you at the I think we met,
36:58
Speaker 1: maybe even at a previous Overland A.
37:00
Speaker 3: Yeah, at the gathering, that's right.
37:02
Speaker 1: At the gathering, that's right.
37:03
Speaker 2: So it was.
37:04
Speaker 1: It was so great to see you at the gathering
37:07
Speaker 1: and at the Overland Expo, to have the chance to
37:10
Speaker 1: have the podcast together and then now to kind of
37:13
Speaker 1: regroup around this conversation. Any updates that you've got since
37:17
Speaker 1: since our talk at Overland Expo that you want to share.
37:21
Speaker 3: Slow going, nothing major.
37:23
Speaker 4: I am looking to maybe get another vehicle, a van,
37:27
Speaker 4: but that's still in the works. I'm looking to see
37:31
Speaker 4: those different opportunities and what that will come, what will
37:33
Speaker 4: come from that. Still wanting to get out I do know,
37:36
Speaker 4: just in general for regular for travel in general, I'm
37:39
Speaker 4: looking to go actually to India and then possibly be
37:43
Speaker 4: Japan with family and friends. But and then just yeah,
37:47
Speaker 4: whenever the opportunity comes again to just hit the road.
37:51
Speaker 1: Travel however we can get it, there we go.
37:53
Speaker 3: I agree exactly.
37:55
Speaker 1: Well, A, Lisia, thank you again so much for being
37:58
Speaker 1: on the podcast, and I'm so glad we just time
38:00
Speaker 1: to talk about the scholarship program through Overland Expo. It's
38:04
Speaker 1: something that I'm so proud of the fact that they
38:07
Speaker 1: do it and it's such an important resource. And for
38:10
Speaker 1: those that are watching that would like to reach out
38:13
Speaker 1: to the Overland Expo, you can go to Overlandexpo dot
38:15
Speaker 1: com to find out more information about their scholarship programs.
38:19
Speaker 1: And then you are on Instagram as Liberating Leash, isn't
38:24
Speaker 1: that right?
38:24
Speaker 3: Correct? Yes?
38:26
Speaker 1: All right, so people can follow you on on the
38:29
Speaker 1: gram and see your travels, yeah, and find out whatever
38:33
Speaker 1: vehicle comes next.
38:34
Speaker 4: So yeah, yeah, I won't let go the Forerunner though,
38:36
Speaker 4: keep it, I don't believe mind.
38:38
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's probably gone up in value since you got it.
38:42
Speaker 3: I'm sure.
38:43
Speaker 1: Oh that's wonderful. Well, Alicia, thank you so much. Thank
38:47
Speaker 1: you for being on the podcast again.
38:49
Speaker 2: We really appreciate you.
38:50
Speaker 3: Yes, I appreciate you as well.
38:52
Speaker 1: Thank you all right, and thank you all for watching,
38:54
Speaker 1: and we'll talk to you next time.