Latest / The Overland Journal Podcast / Grace Scheussler on Motorcycle Travel and Finding Your Story

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Grace Scheussler on Motorcycle Travel and Finding Your Story · The Overland Journal Podcast

0:04
Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to the Overlangeral podcast. I'm your host
0:07
Speaker 1: Scott Brady, and I'm joined today by Grace Schusler. Now.
0:11
Speaker 1: Grace is known as the Graceful Renegade on Instagram. She
0:15
Speaker 1: is a motorcycle rid overlander traveler. She's also a filmmaker
0:20
Speaker 1: and cinematographer, which she has actually won an Emmy four
0:25
Speaker 1: for some of her past productions. So we talk a
0:28
Speaker 1: lot about production on the road. We talk about traveling
0:32
Speaker 1: solo on a motorcycle. We talk about the transition in
0:36
Speaker 1: her life from one chapter to the next where she
0:39
Speaker 1: found her path forward as an adventure traveler, motorcyclist, and filmmaker.
0:45
Speaker 1: So please enjoy my conversation with Grace Schusler and a
0:49
Speaker 1: special thanks to on X for their support of this
0:52
Speaker 1: week's podcast. Going further on your adventures is about having
0:56
Speaker 1: the right tools. The on X off road apps intuitive
1:00
Speaker 1: maps make it easy to find trails and disperse camping,
1:04
Speaker 1: and their offline maps give you full GPS navigation capabilities
1:09
Speaker 1: even without cell coverage. Personally, I use on X for
1:13
Speaker 1: every trip in North America because I always know who
1:17
Speaker 1: owns or manages the land that I'm traveling on. It
1:20
Speaker 1: also makes for a reliable track recorder, and I can
1:24
Speaker 1: filter the trails based on the full drive or motorcycle
1:27
Speaker 1: that I'm using. On my most recent trip in the Quartermaster,
1:31
Speaker 1: I use the on X to find trails near where
1:34
Speaker 1: I was staying in Joshua Tree. I use the difficulty
1:37
Speaker 1: rating and the elevation to determine which trails are best
1:41
Speaker 1: suited to the vehicle and the weather. Thanks again on
1:45
Speaker 1: X for your support of the Overland Journal podcast. Grace,
1:51
Speaker 1: thank you so much for being on the podcast with
1:54
Speaker 1: me today. I appreciate it.
1:56
Speaker 2: Well, thank you so much for having me. I'm delighted
1:57
Speaker 2: to be here.
1:58
Speaker 1: Well, and we get to hang out at Randy perkins house.
2:01
Speaker 1: So those that want to hear more about Randy's life
2:03
Speaker 1: check out episode number one forty. Isn't that right, Randy one? Yeah,
2:08
Speaker 1: amazing journeys that Randy has had. And I'm on my
2:12
Speaker 1: way to to I'm picking up the Quartermaster and then
2:15
Speaker 1: I'm heading to Montana. But this is where you live?
2:18
Speaker 1: You live in Bend, Oregon or near it?
2:20
Speaker 2: Yeah, this is where I live.
2:22
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's amazing. So your story is incredible. We had
2:24
Speaker 1: a little bit of a chance to talk yesterday and
2:26
Speaker 1: hear more about your past. But one of the things
2:30
Speaker 1: that you mentioned to me that I found has been
2:33
Speaker 1: fairly consistent in many of the interviews is that your
2:37
Speaker 1: your parents took you traveling when you were when you
2:41
Speaker 1: were young, you feel, well, first of all, what did
2:43
Speaker 1: you learn from your parents? And second of all, was
2:45
Speaker 1: that part of the inspiration for you to travel?
2:47
Speaker 2: Absolutely? I mean, I think if you get that travel
2:50
Speaker 2: bug very early, that's one of the ways that I
2:53
Speaker 2: think you carry that into your adult life. And I
2:56
Speaker 2: was also very fortunate too that I played high level
2:58
Speaker 2: basketball up through college, and so I learned that appreciation
3:03
Speaker 2: for how hard work does payoff through athletics, and huge
3:07
Speaker 2: thank you to my dad for that. But you know,
3:10
Speaker 2: I was very fortunate growing up. My parents loved to
3:12
Speaker 2: travel and would take my sister and I everywhere with
3:15
Speaker 2: them when they could, and you know, as a result,
3:18
Speaker 2: it almost becomes normalized that and so when it feels normal,
3:20
Speaker 2: it's less uncomfortable than to leave the routine and go
3:23
Speaker 2: do something exciting. And so that's really where I picked
3:26
Speaker 2: it up at a very young age. And then obviously
3:28
Speaker 2: I've carried it with me till now.
3:30
Speaker 1: And what are some of the places that you went
3:32
Speaker 1: with your family that were the most memorable or you
3:35
Speaker 1: think maybe the most formative for you.
3:36
Speaker 2: I think one of the best trips I did with
3:39
Speaker 2: my parents was still when I was quite young. I
3:42
Speaker 2: think I was eight or nine years old when we
3:43
Speaker 2: went to Europe for the first time and went to London,
3:47
Speaker 2: with to Salzburg, went to Vienna and just kind of
3:50
Speaker 2: bounced around a little bit in in western Europe. And
3:53
Speaker 2: it was wonderful for me because I started to realize
3:56
Speaker 2: one that I loved history as much as my dad,
3:58
Speaker 2: So my mom and sister would drop us off at
4:00
Speaker 2: museums and come pick us up later, which is great, yep.
4:03
Speaker 2: But Two, I really enjoyed just kind of being on
4:07
Speaker 2: the run with them, Like I loved hopping on a train.
4:09
Speaker 2: I loved going and just kind of being on the fly,
4:11
Speaker 2: which is essentially how I built my entire travel career
4:14
Speaker 2: later on. Yeah, sure that that was just such an
4:16
Speaker 2: incredible experience. I know my sister says the same thing,
4:18
Speaker 2: because she's also a travel buff like me. Like, if
4:21
Speaker 2: you start early, just like with anything, it's an easy
4:24
Speaker 2: muscle to flex when you get to be an adult.
4:25
Speaker 1: And I think it's such an important lesson for kids.
4:28
Speaker 1: Is I believe that the more that you can expose
4:32
Speaker 1: children to places that are different, right, the more I
4:35
Speaker 1: think empathetic they can be, the more tolerant they can
4:38
Speaker 1: be of people that are different than they are. Speak
4:40
Speaker 1: different languages, have different beliefs, And that's obviously one of
4:45
Speaker 1: the lessons that travel teaches us. But I think the
4:47
Speaker 1: earlier you can learn it in.
4:48
Speaker 2: Life, yeah, absolutely makes a.
4:50
Speaker 1: Really big difference. Okay, so you travel with your parents
4:53
Speaker 1: and then and if I remember, you lived in was
4:56
Speaker 1: it Missouri that you get up? Okay, so you grew
4:58
Speaker 1: up in Missouri and somehow you have gotten from Missouri
5:02
Speaker 1: to Bend, Oregon. Now you you ended up on a motorcycle.
5:06
Speaker 1: So tell me that story.
5:07
Speaker 2: Well, my favorite story to tell about motorcycles is that
5:10
Speaker 2: I fell in love with motorcycles like a lot of
5:12
Speaker 2: young women do sometimes watching like The Matrix and Trinity
5:15
Speaker 2: and Larcroft, and you know, you have these essentially kind
5:20
Speaker 2: of badass women that do these really cool things and
5:22
Speaker 2: ride motorcycles. And so around sixteen, I floated the idea
5:25
Speaker 2: to my parents, and my father, being a physician, gave
5:27
Speaker 2: me a very hard no, but they said, you know,
5:31
Speaker 2: the minute I was done with college or with school
5:33
Speaker 2: at whatever capacity I did school, that I could have
5:37
Speaker 2: a bike on my own, I think, with the idea
5:39
Speaker 2: that it would burn out of me. Sure, much to
5:42
Speaker 2: my parents to grin, I turned after I turned twenty
5:46
Speaker 2: two and graduated from college that next weekend. After graduation,
5:50
Speaker 2: I got my endorsement and bought a bike the next week.
5:53
Speaker 1: So check.
5:54
Speaker 2: They were pretty curious, but they also couldn't say much
5:56
Speaker 2: at that point. But yeah. I then started road riding
6:00
Speaker 2: age twenty two and have been riding up until now,
6:02
Speaker 2: and didn't really get into adventure riding until I was
6:05
Speaker 2: about thirty one or thirty two. But I mean, obviously,
6:08
Speaker 2: if you like being on two wheels, the first time
6:10
Speaker 2: you get off road is the most remarkable time, I think,
6:13
Speaker 2: because you start to realize that exploration is endless and
6:17
Speaker 2: you have the opportunity to go places you never thought
6:20
Speaker 2: you could.
6:20
Speaker 1: And when you first started writing, or even when you
6:24
Speaker 1: were younger, did you ever get a chance to ride
6:26
Speaker 1: dirt bikes? Was that something that was no, that's challenge.
6:29
Speaker 1: It was the same for me. I didn't learn dirt
6:31
Speaker 1: writing until later in life.
6:33
Speaker 2: Right and it's very funny. I'm actually really lucky. In
6:35
Speaker 2: about a week, I'm going up to Canada and I'm
6:37
Speaker 2: doing a dirt riding course because I got thrown on
6:40
Speaker 2: dirt bikes in my thirties and no one ever taught
6:42
Speaker 2: me how to ride a dirt bike. It was just like, yeah,
6:44
Speaker 2: just you know, stand up and figure out the way.
6:46
Speaker 2: And I'm excited to go up and actually learn a
6:49
Speaker 2: skill set. But no, I didn't get on a dirt
6:51
Speaker 2: bike until I think I was thirty two, and I
6:53
Speaker 2: grew up riding horses and that was just a very helpful.
6:57
Speaker 1: But that would be helpful though, balance and yes, and
7:00
Speaker 1: that's true for me too. I mean, the first thing
7:03
Speaker 1: I rode was wasn't a motorcycle, was a horse. Yeah,
7:06
Speaker 1: And I and my dad will tell me. He's like, oh,
7:09
Speaker 1: those motorcycles are so dangerous. I'm like, Dad, how many
7:11
Speaker 1: times have you been in the er because of all? Oh?
7:12
Speaker 1: I know, I'm convinced that horses are more dangerous than motorcycles. Oh, absolutely,
7:17
Speaker 1: because they have a mind of their own totally, and
7:19
Speaker 1: they're gigantic.
7:20
Speaker 2: Yes, there's a lot more weight there. My mom still rides.
7:24
Speaker 2: She's sixty five and she still rides almost every days,
7:27
Speaker 2: but yeah, I give her trouble at the time, the
7:29
Speaker 2: same thing where I'm just like, you realize the animal
7:31
Speaker 2: you're on has a mi of its own and weighs
7:33
Speaker 2: a lot more than my.
7:33
Speaker 1: Motorcycle, right exactly, Yeah, and you may want the horse
7:37
Speaker 1: to go right and it's going to go lost.
7:39
Speaker 2: Absolutely.
7:39
Speaker 1: Yeah, No, that's so funny. So you decide at some
7:44
Speaker 1: point to go from more street focused motorcycling to some
7:49
Speaker 1: adventure motorcycling. Now did you buy did you buy a
7:51
Speaker 1: bike and then start going or did you borrow some
7:53
Speaker 1: bikes or what was the plan?
7:55
Speaker 2: Pretty much what happened was is I I was living
7:57
Speaker 2: in Portland and got divorced, and before I moved out
8:00
Speaker 2: to Bend, Oregon, I have bought a bmw F seven
8:03
Speaker 2: hundred gs, and I knew that I wanted to do
8:07
Speaker 2: more camping, more outside type of things, and I wanted
8:10
Speaker 2: to get more into the motorcycle world because I just
8:13
Speaker 2: never really had the opportunity to do as much of
8:15
Speaker 2: it as I wanted, And so I moved out here.
8:18
Speaker 2: I started essentially doing some gravel roads on the bike,
8:21
Speaker 2: nothing too crazy, just you know, occasionally getting out and
8:24
Speaker 2: seeing where I could get to and camping by myself,
8:27
Speaker 2: which learning how to camp by yourself in your thirties
8:29
Speaker 2: is an interesting way to go. But I did it,
8:31
Speaker 2: and here we are.
8:32
Speaker 1: But yeah, what bike was that that you started with?
8:35
Speaker 2: Seven hundred seven hundred?
8:36
Speaker 1: Got it? Yeah? And at some point you ended up
8:38
Speaker 1: with the Honda? Right?
8:39
Speaker 2: I did? Yeah?
8:40
Speaker 1: I And what was the reason for the change. Because
8:43
Speaker 1: an F seven hundred is a great bike.
8:44
Speaker 2: It's a wonderful bike. I needed something lighter, and it's
8:47
Speaker 2: actually why essentially I started to dive into the lighter
8:50
Speaker 2: bike rome. But I started working for an adventure touring
8:53
Speaker 2: company here in ben and I hopped on a CB
8:56
Speaker 2: five hundred acts a Honda during one of our Baja tours,
8:59
Speaker 2: which is the much lighter bike, a little less power
9:01
Speaker 2: but way less top heavy. And I did so much
9:05
Speaker 2: better on that bike, doing a lot more of a
9:07
Speaker 2: challenging off road stuff than I did with mine, to
9:10
Speaker 2: the point where I came home and I just decided
9:12
Speaker 2: that that was the bike I needed to have. And
9:14
Speaker 2: so I got home from a trip in Baja, bought
9:17
Speaker 2: a five hundred and essentially built it out myself and
9:21
Speaker 2: held onto it and then that's the bike I ended
9:23
Speaker 2: up traveling and being all over North American And.
9:26
Speaker 1: If I remember, that bike is very much like an
9:29
Speaker 1: adventure touring a smaller adventure touring bike. Yeah, but it
9:32
Speaker 1: is lighter, isn't it?
9:33
Speaker 2: Yes, much lighter.
9:34
Speaker 1: And then were you able to get skid plates for it?
9:37
Speaker 2: And absolutely, I've been very lucky to work with Outback
9:40
Speaker 2: Motortack for the last couple of years, so they completely
9:43
Speaker 2: hooked me up with skid plate crash bars, you know,
9:47
Speaker 2: essentially like a whole Penier system, so I could load
9:49
Speaker 2: all my luggage and have the bike be safe when
9:52
Speaker 2: I did ultimately, you know, crash a few times and
9:54
Speaker 2: drop it and whatever else.
9:56
Speaker 1: It was funny when you showed me the picture of
9:58
Speaker 1: all the gear on the back of the motorcycle, like
10:00
Speaker 1: we're all sensitive to it, Like after we've ridden for
10:02
Speaker 1: a while, you look back at those first trips and
10:05
Speaker 1: all the stuff you bring. But I think everybody does
10:08
Speaker 1: that absolutely, So yeah, for those that are listening. If
10:11
Speaker 1: you're like I'm always overloading my bike, we all did that.
10:13
Speaker 2: We all do it. We have to do.
10:16
Speaker 1: And then when you have to pick it up a
10:17
Speaker 1: couple of times or you start to find, like you know,
10:20
Speaker 1: you do two or three trips and you're like, I've
10:22
Speaker 1: never used that thing. Well, I never used the solar
10:26
Speaker 1: panel that I bring with me every time or whatever
10:28
Speaker 1: that is.
10:29
Speaker 2: It's the weeding out process and.
10:30
Speaker 1: You got to start get stuff out of there.
10:32
Speaker 2: I think the first couple of weeks I was on
10:34
Speaker 2: the road, I was definitely overpacked, and then slowly over
10:38
Speaker 2: time the things you don't use just kind of fall away.
10:41
Speaker 2: But yeah, in those moments where you do have crashes
10:44
Speaker 2: and drops, like I was in Big sur and I
10:46
Speaker 2: took I don't know if you've ever taken the old
10:48
Speaker 2: road up that's up above Big Sir. It's a beautiful
10:51
Speaker 2: so it's a beautiful just kind of gravel road. It's
10:54
Speaker 2: about twelve miles long, but you avoid all the traffic
10:57
Speaker 2: and you get all the views and it's amazing. And
10:59
Speaker 2: I had a little guys send me up there. But
11:01
Speaker 2: I had all my luggage on my bike and was
11:03
Speaker 2: having a great time and next thing you know, I
11:05
Speaker 2: hit a rut and all my one of my luggage
11:07
Speaker 2: packs came loose and knocked me down, which is totally fine,
11:10
Speaker 2: it happens, but you know, when you're in ninety degrees
11:13
Speaker 2: and your bike is horizontal and it weighs as much
11:16
Speaker 2: as it does. It takes a while and there's a
11:18
Speaker 2: little unnerving to unpack everything, get the bike up and
11:21
Speaker 2: repack it.
11:22
Speaker 1: Well that was smart though, so you just you took
11:24
Speaker 1: everything off of it to get the bike lighter and
11:26
Speaker 1: then strapped it all back home.
11:27
Speaker 2: I mean, I would love to say I could deadlift
11:29
Speaker 2: five hundred pounds, but I just don't think that's a reality.
11:32
Speaker 1: Or maybe not too many times, not too many times. Yeah, Yeah,
11:35
Speaker 1: it's amazing how heavy those bikes are when they're laying flat.
11:39
Speaker 1: And why do they always lay flat downhill? It dise
11:43
Speaker 1: They never lay flat uphill or it'd be easier.
11:46
Speaker 2: Always the most inconvenient.
11:49
Speaker 1: It's like it's a little lessons in humility for sure.
11:53
Speaker 1: So you are working this bike out, you're finding that
11:57
Speaker 1: it's working for you. And if I remember, you took
12:00
Speaker 1: off on a multi year journey, yeah, was it on
12:03
Speaker 1: that bike?
12:03
Speaker 2: It was so I started that journey and it was
12:07
Speaker 2: I essentially spent about a little over a year in
12:11
Speaker 2: North America and was able to kind of go all
12:14
Speaker 2: through the western US. And I know we talked about
12:16
Speaker 2: this a little bit last night. But one of the
12:18
Speaker 2: best pieces of advice that Sam Manacon gave me, other
12:21
Speaker 2: than writing everything down, was to take my time. So
12:24
Speaker 2: when I was in the Western US on the bike,
12:27
Speaker 2: I was also doing film projects with Alex Chracombe, but
12:31
Speaker 2: I took my time and really explored the areas, took
12:34
Speaker 2: roads I normally wouldn't. Wasn't just focused on getting from
12:37
Speaker 2: point A to point B. It was well, what's around
12:39
Speaker 2: here that I would want to go see you and explore?
12:42
Speaker 2: So did basically all of the Western US, went up
12:45
Speaker 2: through Canada. We didn't get all the way up to Alaska,
12:47
Speaker 2: but we got up to Prince George and made a
12:49
Speaker 2: lot of friends along the way and got to ride
12:51
Speaker 2: some incredible roads through BC that were just unreal. Then
12:55
Speaker 2: we did some time down in Baja and in Mexico,
12:58
Speaker 2: and once that was kind of up, I had a
13:02
Speaker 2: nice month here where I couldn't figure out what I
13:04
Speaker 2: wanted to do. And then I went to Asia for
13:06
Speaker 2: three and a half months and rode bikes all through
13:09
Speaker 2: Asia and spent a lot of time in Vietnam. I
13:12
Speaker 2: loved Vietnam. That was by far my favorite place I
13:14
Speaker 2: got to travel there people. Yeah, it's just it's incredible
13:18
Speaker 2: if you get the opportunity to definitely go BALI was great.
13:22
Speaker 2: I actually helped some friends run a tour there while
13:24
Speaker 2: I was there. They just needed yeah, they just needed
13:28
Speaker 2: a little a little backup. They had a big group
13:30
Speaker 2: that was there and very excited, but you know, kind
13:32
Speaker 2: of needed somebody to be in the middle and take
13:35
Speaker 2: care of everybody and be calm, the calm perspective if
13:39
Speaker 2: things got weird, which we did have a couple instances
13:42
Speaker 2: with you know, just you have a big group like
13:44
Speaker 2: that on the road. Yeah, so that was kind of
13:46
Speaker 2: a nice dabble back and touring, but also made me
13:48
Speaker 2: remember why I left touring, and then I got to
13:51
Speaker 2: go to.
13:52
Speaker 1: People who do that for a career. They have got
13:54
Speaker 1: to be sat I don't know how. I think some
13:59
Speaker 1: of them just really enjoy it.
14:00
Speaker 2: They do, and it is very fun to watch people
14:03
Speaker 2: grow on a motorcycle over a condensed time period. Like
14:06
Speaker 2: sometimes people come in with lesser skill sets and leave
14:09
Speaker 2: so much more comfortable on the bike and it's so
14:11
Speaker 2: cool to see that.
14:12
Speaker 1: But yeah, you are.
14:13
Speaker 2: Also kind of a customer service agent the whole time,
14:15
Speaker 2: and that can be exhausting.
14:18
Speaker 1: But yeah, and then you have to be on twenty
14:20
Speaker 1: four to seven. You really don't get any downtime. I
14:22
Speaker 1: mean I think about like the trips that build Raguda's
14:25
Speaker 1: and yeah, you know, raw Hide and everything else, Like
14:28
Speaker 1: those people work so hard.
14:30
Speaker 2: Absolutely, I mean our Baja trips when I when I
14:33
Speaker 2: was able to do them and kind of be a
14:34
Speaker 2: guide for them. I mean it was from the minute
14:37
Speaker 2: the sun came up until ten pm. It was you
14:40
Speaker 2: were on the whole time. And it is exhausting. I
14:43
Speaker 2: would come home from those tours and sleep for three days.
14:46
Speaker 2: But it's also the most fun because you know, at
14:48
Speaker 2: that point too, I was still really new into my
14:50
Speaker 2: offer of riding, and so I was getting better every
14:52
Speaker 2: time I was going, too, So it was great school
14:54
Speaker 2: of hard note. Yeah, exactly.
14:56
Speaker 1: So when you did your Western trip, pick out two
15:00
Speaker 1: three places that you found that you really love that
15:02
Speaker 1: really resonated with you when you were traveling and west.
15:05
Speaker 1: Was there some favorites or is there a thing that
15:08
Speaker 1: you find yourself looking for, like you always look for
15:11
Speaker 1: some historic site, or you know, you go watch the
15:14
Speaker 1: opera some I don't know whatever, you know, I really.
15:18
Speaker 2: Tried to I tried to hit historic if I can.
15:22
Speaker 2: I think one of my favorite parts of that summer
15:25
Speaker 2: that Alex and I had in the Western US was
15:28
Speaker 2: Yellowstone had been closed that June because they I don't
15:31
Speaker 2: know if you remember, but they got an astronomical amount
15:34
Speaker 2: of rain and flooding a bunch and so they had
15:37
Speaker 2: to keep everything close. We were just in the area
15:41
Speaker 2: the week they opened, and so they had canceled reservations,
15:44
Speaker 2: they had canceled I think a lot of people who
15:46
Speaker 2: had planned trips there for the summer ended up not
15:48
Speaker 2: being able to go right. And so we you know,
15:51
Speaker 2: obviously wanted to go to Yellowstone but couldn't. And all
15:54
Speaker 2: of a sudden we got a campsite. All of a sudden,
15:57
Speaker 2: we had the whole parked ourselves. We rolled in there
16:00
Speaker 2: two days after they opened, and I've never heard of
16:04
Speaker 2: anyone getting to Yellowstone National Park and getting a campsite
16:07
Speaker 2: on site ever. And we had our pick of what
16:10
Speaker 2: we wanted.
16:11
Speaker 1: And you took a selfie with the buffalo like everybody
16:13
Speaker 1: else does. Right.
16:14
Speaker 2: Oh man, The nightmare of watching people do that is
16:17
Speaker 2: quite terrifying. Yeah, just like, please don't lose an arm
16:21
Speaker 2: in front of me.
16:21
Speaker 1: It's like you wonder what's going on? Yeah, oh, I
16:24
Speaker 1: know what made you think that that was a good
16:26
Speaker 1: idea If you.
16:27
Speaker 2: Don't follow the National Park Service already, by the way,
16:30
Speaker 2: PSA for everybody follow them on Instagram because they have
16:34
Speaker 2: memes that that are so funny about people touching things
16:37
Speaker 2: they shouldn't in the wild and it's great. But we
16:40
Speaker 2: actually so we were doing a film project that ended
16:43
Speaker 2: up winning us an Emmy Award the following summer, but
16:46
Speaker 2: we got to essentially do Yellowstone National Park at sunrise
16:50
Speaker 2: with no one on the road with us, and the
16:52
Speaker 2: things we got to see in film no one else
16:54
Speaker 2: will be able to ever again. And so being able
16:57
Speaker 2: to have that experience, I mean, that's one of my
16:59
Speaker 2: favorite stories to tell because I think Yellowstone is one
17:02
Speaker 2: of the most magical places we have out in the West,
17:04
Speaker 2: and being able to see it at that capacity was incredible.
17:07
Speaker 1: Yeah, you had the serendipity of it being opened, and
17:11
Speaker 1: then you said yes to the opportunity. Yes, you didn't say, oh,
17:14
Speaker 1: we've got to be at this other place or whatever.
17:16
Speaker 1: You just reshuffled your schedule.
17:18
Speaker 2: And yeah, which is the beauty when you do kind
17:20
Speaker 2: of live on the road and don't have an agenda.
17:22
Speaker 2: Is when the opportunities do present themselves like that, you
17:25
Speaker 2: jump on them and you get to have an experience
17:27
Speaker 2: like that that a lot of other people won't get
17:29
Speaker 2: to have.
17:30
Speaker 1: So when you look back on I mean, it's first
17:33
Speaker 1: of all, it takes a lot of courage to decide
17:35
Speaker 1: I'm going to go leave and travel on a motorcycle. Yeah,
17:39
Speaker 1: So what were some of the things that you learned
17:41
Speaker 1: about or you could share with the audience about the
17:43
Speaker 1: process of leaving and going and making that decision, and
17:47
Speaker 1: maybe what were some of the things that you learned
17:49
Speaker 1: early on in the trip that you think would be
17:52
Speaker 1: beneficial for others to know.
17:54
Speaker 2: I think one of the big things I want to
17:56
Speaker 2: stress is you don't have to go to the extreme
17:59
Speaker 2: like I did, sell everything and just live off a bike.
18:02
Speaker 2: I think there's other ways you can do it. I
18:03
Speaker 2: know a lot of people that do the RV or
18:06
Speaker 2: you know, overlanding or van life. Those are all I
18:09
Speaker 2: think formidable options that you can take that aren't the
18:13
Speaker 2: extreme of what I did. I did the extreme because
18:16
Speaker 2: I think if I had the opportunity to do something
18:19
Speaker 2: maybe a little more comfortable, I would have but the
18:21
Speaker 2: only tool I had at that time was my motorcycle,
18:24
Speaker 2: my knowledge of camping, and me just having one of
18:27
Speaker 2: those personalities where I like being thrown into the deep
18:30
Speaker 2: end of the pool and figuring out how to swim sure,
18:32
Speaker 2: and so I was very lucky after working and touring
18:35
Speaker 2: that I had some great contacts with Alpine Stars and
18:38
Speaker 2: with Outback Motor Tech, and with a couple of other
18:40
Speaker 2: gear companies here, especially Giant Loop. Giantly was a great
18:43
Speaker 2: supporter of me in the beginning.
18:45
Speaker 1: Yeah, they're an awesome company. Yeah, I mean har some
18:47
Speaker 1: great products.
18:48
Speaker 2: Yes, Harold retired this year and Harold, yeah he did.
18:52
Speaker 1: Congrats Harold.
18:54
Speaker 2: Also, as always, I want to tell you I adore
18:55
Speaker 2: you and thank you for being so supportive. He was
18:57
Speaker 2: my number one guy for a while that.
19:00
Speaker 1: We need those for me. It was similar. It was
19:03
Speaker 1: a Wolfman luggage, Yeah, with my very first motorcycle support
19:07
Speaker 1: or sponsored them and Kurt from Black Dog.
19:10
Speaker 2: Kurt's so awesome. I had Don Kurt. Yeah, It's just
19:13
Speaker 2: it was very much like I kind of told Harold
19:15
Speaker 2: that I was going to do and then it was
19:17
Speaker 2: just well, what do you need? And having somebody that
19:19
Speaker 2: was that supportive at that time was so cool for me.
19:22
Speaker 2: But yeah, I just made the decision. I sold everything,
19:25
Speaker 2: I dropped my two adorable dogs, my parents in Missouri
19:28
Speaker 2: on their eighty acres because obviously they wouldn't miss me then,
19:31
Speaker 2: and I just I just went for it. But the
19:34
Speaker 2: thing that I learned pretty quickly one is that it's
19:38
Speaker 2: it's exhausting, and it really starts to put you in
19:42
Speaker 2: an uncomfortable state where you grow very quickly.
19:46
Speaker 1: But and it brings all kinds of stuff up, it does. I.
19:49
Speaker 2: You know, I had had a lot of a lot
19:52
Speaker 2: of time during the pandemic where you know, I had
19:54
Speaker 2: gotten divorced right before the pandemic, and I really hadn't
19:57
Speaker 2: made peace with a lot of parts of that, and
20:00
Speaker 2: and I just, you know, like a lot of us,
20:01
Speaker 2: was so distracted by the things going on in the
20:03
Speaker 2: world and trying to, you know, make life be somewhat
20:07
Speaker 2: normal that I never really addressed how I felt about
20:10
Speaker 2: a whole part of my life being over. And so
20:13
Speaker 2: the first couple of weeks for me were a lot
20:15
Speaker 2: of figuring out who I was actually and being okay
20:19
Speaker 2: with letting go of who I had been and becoming
20:21
Speaker 2: a new version of myself.
20:22
Speaker 1: It is a new chapter.
20:24
Speaker 2: Yeah, and it was an incredible journey that I felt
20:26
Speaker 2: so lucky to have. And that was in the first
20:28
Speaker 2: couple of weeks. So once I got that down, it
20:31
Speaker 2: was really nice to you know, make peace with myself
20:34
Speaker 2: and then go, well, where can we go? You know,
20:36
Speaker 2: what can I actually do on this bike that you
20:38
Speaker 2: know is going to be something different? And then that's
20:40
Speaker 2: when I started working at the camera.
20:41
Speaker 1: There's been a lot of divorces, new relationships and new
20:46
Speaker 1: chapters formed on motorcyclis. Oh yeah, absolutely.
20:48
Speaker 2: And again like I got very lucky. You know, I
20:51
Speaker 2: met Alex on the road and we were best friends
20:53
Speaker 2: before we got together, and you know, we're not together anymore,
20:56
Speaker 2: but it was a great season of life and we
20:58
Speaker 2: had so much fun traveling to get and filming together,
21:01
Speaker 2: and he was my mentor into how to use a
21:03
Speaker 2: camera and just also how to be a videographer. I mean,
21:06
Speaker 2: everything I learned I learned from him, and he essentially
21:10
Speaker 2: gave me a crash course of ten years of everything
21:12
Speaker 2: he'd learned traveling all over the world and being an
21:15
Speaker 2: amazing videographer and he got that into my head within
21:18
Speaker 2: a year. So being able to have that experience as well,
21:21
Speaker 2: again being in the deep end of the pool, right,
21:23
Speaker 2: that's me and it was just wonderful for me because
21:26
Speaker 2: I essentially was given a life that I could have
21:28
Speaker 2: only dreamed of within a year of leaving.
21:31
Speaker 1: Now, tell me a little bit about the film that
21:34
Speaker 1: you two produced that resulted in the Emmy.
21:37
Speaker 2: Well, it was when we were in Yellowstone is kind
21:40
Speaker 2: of where it started, and Alex, you know, at a
21:44
Speaker 2: time in his career where he was kind of looking
21:45
Speaker 2: for the next thing when we kind of decided to
21:47
Speaker 2: do this trip. We originally said we'd do two weeks
21:50
Speaker 2: in film Yellowstone in Titan National Park, and it ended
21:54
Speaker 2: up being I think eleven weeks we did on the
21:55
Speaker 2: road together, but we really focused on that area because
21:59
Speaker 2: it was so vacant of tourists at the time and
22:04
Speaker 2: being able to capture what we did was just so rare.
22:08
Speaker 2: We wanted to jump on opportunity. But the bigger piece
22:10
Speaker 2: for us, obviously was the storytelling aspect of it. So
22:13
Speaker 2: when we sat down to write the script, you know,
22:15
Speaker 2: one of the things we talked about together and it's
22:18
Speaker 2: called limits, but we talked about, how are the things
22:21
Speaker 2: we think our limits aren't exactly limits. They're just kind
22:24
Speaker 2: of the blocks in our minds sometimes, and so writing
22:27
Speaker 2: a script around that during a time where I was
22:29
Speaker 2: coming out of that and realizing that my limits didn't
22:32
Speaker 2: apply to me anymore, and he was also kind of
22:34
Speaker 2: having that himself in his own way. It just really
22:37
Speaker 2: easily put that script together and it's, you know, just
22:40
Speaker 2: under a four minute, little inspirational storytelling film. But it's
22:44
Speaker 2: why we were able to get what we did, get
22:45
Speaker 2: the shots we did, and be able to just show
22:48
Speaker 2: the majesty of Wyoming and Montana and how cool it
22:51
Speaker 2: is out there.
22:52
Speaker 1: And the timing was good too, because the TV show
22:56
Speaker 1: was doing well and there was just there was a
22:58
Speaker 1: lot of interest in Yellowstone with all of that, so
23:00
Speaker 1: that's amazing.
23:02
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's very cool.
23:03
Speaker 1: And then from there you went on recently within the
23:06
Speaker 1: last few years, and you did a project with some
23:09
Speaker 1: veterans up to tuk Tyak Tuk on motorcycles.
23:13
Speaker 2: One of the best things I've ever done with my life.
23:15
Speaker 2: I still to this day, I tell the guys all
23:17
Speaker 2: the time, it's the greatest honor of my life to
23:18
Speaker 2: be able to do that trip. But I actually came
23:20
Speaker 2: home from Asia and was very disenchanted with the social
23:25
Speaker 2: media aspect of everything. I really wanted to do. It is,
23:29
Speaker 2: you know, and I'm sure we'll talk on that more later,
23:31
Speaker 2: but I really wanted to just be a videographer and
23:34
Speaker 2: find a way to do that. And my buddy Brady,
23:37
Speaker 2: who's meerkat ADV on social media and he's pretty he's
23:40
Speaker 2: pretty big with the veteran adv community. But he called
23:42
Speaker 2: me and he needed a videographer to go with these
23:45
Speaker 2: seven veterans up to tuktoyak Tek and the Arctic Circle
23:49
Speaker 2: and back. They wanted to do this trip to also
23:53
Speaker 2: raise awareness about the veteran and active duty suicide epidemic
23:57
Speaker 2: and the military, and so he called me. I just thought, hey,
24:01
Speaker 2: could you just figure out a way to come film
24:03
Speaker 2: some of this and put some kind of video together,
24:06
Speaker 2: of course, And so I immediately said yes, because I had
24:09
Speaker 2: been home for three days and was having an identity crisis.
24:11
Speaker 1: What am I going to do next?
24:12
Speaker 2: And it's nice that the universe delivers when you expect it,
24:16
Speaker 2: you know, And so I packed my bags, I came
24:18
Speaker 2: right back to Oregon and met up with everybody. And
24:21
Speaker 2: that was my entire June last year. And it was
24:24
Speaker 2: one of them, and so I brought my five hundred.
24:28
Speaker 2: I didn't ride the whole time. We had a chase
24:31
Speaker 2: truck that yeah. Yeah, well one of our vets, my
24:36
Speaker 2: buddy Billy, he doesn't ride, but he wanted to be
24:39
Speaker 2: a part of the trip. And so when you also
24:41
Speaker 2: have that many guys and they're not really used to
24:43
Speaker 2: living off of bikes full time, having a chase truck
24:46
Speaker 2: is really convenient. Also tires, I mean when we got
24:50
Speaker 2: to the dumpsters, you can probably imagine We've blew so
24:53
Speaker 2: many tires on the truck. On bikes, fork seals everything,
24:56
Speaker 2: So it was nice to be in the truck. But yeah,
24:59
Speaker 2: we had a great kind of sense of camaraderie. Then
25:01
Speaker 2: I also had so much filming equipment then, Like I
25:03
Speaker 2: couldn't imagine doing that on a bike. Yeah, it would
25:06
Speaker 2: be way too much.
25:07
Speaker 1: So it works out it would be a different film, right.
25:09
Speaker 2: Yes, Yeah, And because we had the truck and I
25:13
Speaker 2: didn't have to do it on a bike, were able
25:14
Speaker 2: to make the incredible film we did, which is essentially.
25:18
Speaker 1: What's the name of the film.
25:19
Speaker 2: It's called Silent Battles Riding for Life And is it
25:22
Speaker 2: out now? Yes, it's on my YouTube page. It just
25:24
Speaker 2: got released I think the last.
25:25
Speaker 1: Two weeks, but oh coolfect timing.
25:28
Speaker 2: It's an incredible film and it really it's intense. It
25:31
Speaker 2: touches on some very hard subjects, but it's also something
25:34
Speaker 2: I think our country needs to hear, because unless you
25:37
Speaker 2: are a part of a military community or family, I
25:39
Speaker 2: don't think many people understand just the tragedy that's kind
25:42
Speaker 2: of happening with the mental health of our vets and
25:45
Speaker 2: our active duty guys. And you know, the numbers are
25:49
Speaker 2: so astronomical, you know. I know they say seventeen a day,
25:53
Speaker 2: but it's looking at more like twenty five a day
25:55
Speaker 2: at this point. And that's that's something terrible that we
25:58
Speaker 2: need to try and counter as best we can.
26:00
Speaker 1: Well, And I appreciate you as a veteran myself, I
26:02
Speaker 1: appreciate you taking the time to tell that story and
26:06
Speaker 1: to give them a voice. These guys have sacrificed so much,
26:11
Speaker 1: not only of themselves, but for their country and for
26:13
Speaker 1: all of us that we do have a responsibility in
26:16
Speaker 1: the ways that we can to provide them with support.
26:19
Speaker 1: And for our veterans that are listening, You're not alone.
26:24
Speaker 1: Reach out to me. You can reach me at Scott
26:27
Speaker 1: dot a dot Brady on Instagram and I'll help you
26:31
Speaker 1: or I'll put you in touch with someone who can.
26:33
Speaker 1: But you're not alone. You're respected and cared for, and
26:38
Speaker 1: there's people that are available.
26:40
Speaker 2: To help absolutely. And I think one of the biggest
26:45
Speaker 2: and most fascinating aspects of this whole thing for me
26:48
Speaker 2: was I appreciated so much the willingness of the guys
26:51
Speaker 2: on the trip and pretty much any that we met
26:53
Speaker 2: along the way of the community of wanting to take
26:56
Speaker 2: care of each other, but I think sometimes feeling a
27:00
Speaker 2: disconnect from one another at the same time. And so
27:04
Speaker 2: the idea that vets can help vets is something that
27:07
Speaker 2: I really wanted to push the film too, because you
27:10
Speaker 2: can have, you know, the average person sit down and
27:12
Speaker 2: have a conversation, but it's another veteran that's going to
27:14
Speaker 2: sit down and understand on a deeper level than sure
27:17
Speaker 2: a regular citizen could. And so I mean again, also,
27:20
Speaker 2: if anyone needs someone to talk to, you can always
27:22
Speaker 2: reach out to me on social media. I always say that.
27:25
Speaker 1: But what's your handle on Instagram?
27:27
Speaker 2: I'm the Graceful Renegade on all social media. You can
27:29
Speaker 2: also email me Schuslergrace at gmail dot com. But yes,
27:33
Speaker 2: just anything you can ever do to help the veteran community.
27:36
Speaker 2: I'm always on board. I have maybe and my family,
27:39
Speaker 2: and they've been so supportive of this project and and
27:43
Speaker 2: it's been great to see them push it amongst their
27:45
Speaker 2: you know, the people they work with as well.
27:47
Speaker 1: No, that's incredible work, and you know, I look forward
27:50
Speaker 1: to hearing the feedback from people who get a chance
27:52
Speaker 1: to watch your film, So that's that's quite an accomplishment.
27:57
Speaker 1: I also wanted to take a brief moment to thank
28:00
Speaker 1: all of you for listening to the Overland Journal podcast.
28:03
Speaker 1: By listening to this podcast and subscribing to the Overland
28:06
Speaker 1: Journal magazine, you're supporting our employee own and veteran owned business.
28:12
Speaker 1: Impartial reviews and in depth content like this would not
28:15
Speaker 1: be possible without your support. If you enjoy the podcast,
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Speaker 1: I think you'd really love the print magazine as well.
28:22
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28:30
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28:46
Speaker 1: the Code Overland podcast at checkout. Again, that's Code Overland
28:51
Speaker 1: podcast at checkout, and I'll give you twenty percent off.
28:54
Speaker 1: I sincerely appreciate your support. You really went from like
28:59
Speaker 1: two years on the road to Southeast Asia to tuk
29:04
Speaker 1: tiak Tuk, which you know, that's you know, that's the
29:07
Speaker 1: only place you can really hit the Arctic Ocean on
29:09
Speaker 1: a road unless you get special permissions in prude Obay,
29:13
Speaker 1: which is hard to get. So you get very close
29:16
Speaker 1: in prude Obay, but you don't actually get to the
29:17
Speaker 1: water with your motorcycle or your world drive. So that's
29:20
Speaker 1: an incredible accomplishment. And that's on the summer road, which
29:23
Speaker 1: isn't really that old, you know, it's maybe five six.
29:25
Speaker 2: Years old, nineteen, I believe, Yeah, something like that.
29:28
Speaker 1: Yeah, so quite the accomplishment.
29:31
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was a fun road. I mean, we definitely
29:34
Speaker 2: had our moments, that's for sure. And there's parts of
29:37
Speaker 2: that road that are they're nearly even for the most
29:40
Speaker 2: seasoned rider. I would say. Obviously, gravel, the gravel and
29:45
Speaker 2: the dirt is unlike anything you've ever really been on.
29:48
Speaker 2: And they also they do a lot of that chemical
29:51
Speaker 2: spray to try and keep dust down. And we actually
29:54
Speaker 2: had one of our guys, Carl, he was in KTM,
29:56
Speaker 2: but it got all of the dust and mud got
29:59
Speaker 2: so caked in from the chemical spray that his bike
30:01
Speaker 2: overheated and shut down right as we were rolling into
30:03
Speaker 2: Eagle Planes. Great timing, wow, But you know we were
30:06
Speaker 2: then in the shop with him just like trying to
30:08
Speaker 2: get all of it off because you know, it was
30:11
Speaker 2: just kind of a nightmare. But that's the type of
30:12
Speaker 2: stuff you went into up there. Obviously, tires go left
30:14
Speaker 2: and right too, Like I feel like that's a constant,
30:17
Speaker 2: no matter.
30:17
Speaker 1: Like what an outpost Eagle Planes is.
30:19
Speaker 2: Oh, Eagle Planes is a riot. I mean, it's just.
30:22
Speaker 1: I don't know how it's changed since the summer road opened,
30:24
Speaker 1: but like probably not at all. Yeah, I mean it's
30:27
Speaker 1: like there's a little restaurant, there's a little hotel, there's
30:31
Speaker 1: a gas station, there's obviously like a big mechanic shop
30:34
Speaker 1: because everybody would need that.
30:36
Speaker 2: That's what you got.
30:36
Speaker 1: Yeah, and in the winter time that's where they shut
30:38
Speaker 1: the road down. Yeah, I mean they literally like it's
30:40
Speaker 1: incredible block it at that point when when the when
30:44
Speaker 1: the whiteouts happened.
30:45
Speaker 2: Yeah, I can't imagine being up there during winter. I'm
30:47
Speaker 2: sure it's quite a sight.
30:49
Speaker 1: That's beautiful. Yeah, yeah, hard. It's very hard to do
30:51
Speaker 1: on a motorcycle. People have done it, but it's very difficult.
30:53
Speaker 2: I'll leave that for the people that like cycle is
30:56
Speaker 2: I'd much rather be in a truck at that point.
30:58
Speaker 1: Yeah, totally. So you complete that project, what are some
31:03
Speaker 1: of the lessons that you learned from traveling with the veterans?
31:07
Speaker 1: What were some of the takeaways that you had or
31:09
Speaker 1: some maybe some changes in perception or some things you
31:11
Speaker 1: learned about yourself on that trip with those guys.
31:16
Speaker 2: I think it was just a reminder of everything that
31:19
Speaker 2: I independently had learned on the road, which is that
31:24
Speaker 2: time is the most precious resource we have, and I think.
31:28
Speaker 1: We can't make more of exactly, And.
31:30
Speaker 2: It's the one thing that we spend without ever realizing
31:33
Speaker 2: what our bank account says, right like, we don't know
31:35
Speaker 2: how much time we have ever. You know, I could
31:37
Speaker 2: live to be one hundred or I could drop that
31:38
Speaker 2: in two days. We just don't know. And being a
31:42
Speaker 2: part of something like that with those guys, especially coming
31:44
Speaker 2: off the trip I did just on my own, was
31:48
Speaker 2: a very formative moment of realizing that I just wanted
31:52
Speaker 2: to live my life the best I could, see as
31:54
Speaker 2: much as I could and experience as much as I could,
31:56
Speaker 2: but also to value more than anything the people in
31:59
Speaker 2: my life and to not take them for granted, because
32:03
Speaker 2: being able to bond with a group of people like
32:06
Speaker 2: I did on that trip really teaches you the value
32:09
Speaker 2: of what human connection can do for mental and emotional
32:12
Speaker 2: health in so many positive ways.
32:14
Speaker 1: But we're supposed to have that.
32:16
Speaker 2: Yeah, we're supposed to have community, and we're supposed to
32:19
Speaker 2: I mean, we're hurt animals. Other people realize that, and
32:22
Speaker 2: not we're meant to be a part of a village
32:24
Speaker 2: and have that supplemental part of our lives from other
32:28
Speaker 2: human beings. And I really just loved coming away from
32:32
Speaker 2: that and knowing that I wanted to make the most
32:33
Speaker 2: of every minute I had in my life. And I
32:35
Speaker 2: think a lot of those guys felt the same way.
32:37
Speaker 1: You know.
32:38
Speaker 2: It's just it's very special to do something like what
32:42
Speaker 2: we did and to walk away very proud with what
32:45
Speaker 2: we did, and also to go home to our families
32:47
Speaker 2: and show you know what we put the work in for.
32:50
Speaker 2: But I think if I can ever, I say this
32:54
Speaker 2: message on my social media and a lot of my
32:56
Speaker 2: videos all the time. It's just take advantage of the time.
32:59
Speaker 2: You have. One of the biggest regrets I know we
33:02
Speaker 2: read these articles all the time with people on their deathbed, right,
33:04
Speaker 2: is I wish I was less focused on my job
33:06
Speaker 2: or money or all these other things that didn't matter.
33:08
Speaker 2: I wish I was more focused on spending time with
33:11
Speaker 2: my kids, with my wife, with my friends, going on
33:14
Speaker 2: that trip I always wanted to go on but never
33:15
Speaker 2: got there. You know, I think those are the things
33:17
Speaker 2: to focus on while we're alive, so that we don't
33:19
Speaker 2: get to the end of the road and wish we've
33:21
Speaker 2: done things different.
33:22
Speaker 1: And that's the challenge with social media is that people
33:24
Speaker 1: will spend three or four hours a day with people
33:26
Speaker 1: that they've never met. Absolutely, and human beings are supposed
33:30
Speaker 1: to have in person connection. We're supposed to be struggling
33:34
Speaker 1: overcoming working together in person, and so I think people
33:40
Speaker 1: have more connections than they've ever had, but they've never
33:43
Speaker 1: felt more alone. And I think that that's just because
33:45
Speaker 1: we aren't spending enough time with people close to us.
33:48
Speaker 2: Absolutely. I mean we had enough of an issue with
33:51
Speaker 2: that during the pandemic, and I think you add the
33:54
Speaker 2: complete rise of social media along with that, it's just
33:58
Speaker 2: completely stunted. I think our social skills as human beings,
34:02
Speaker 2: and you know, I do think there are a lot
34:04
Speaker 2: of people that do try to put the phone over
34:06
Speaker 2: here and be present when they're with other people, But
34:09
Speaker 2: there is a vast majority, I think, particularly in Western culture,
34:13
Speaker 2: that is just so phone focused. I actually was going
34:17
Speaker 2: to tell you I I tried and very very much
34:20
Speaker 2: so failed to start a trend in I think the spring,
34:23
Speaker 2: I was trying to start a project called the five
34:25
Speaker 2: hundred Hours Project, where it challenged people to take five
34:27
Speaker 2: hundred hours off social media, which is about three weeks.
34:31
Speaker 2: And I did it, my partner did it, and you know,
34:34
Speaker 2: I had a couple of other friends do it with us,
34:36
Speaker 2: and it was an incredible experience. Of course, I could
34:38
Speaker 2: get no one to do it with, you know, with
34:39
Speaker 2: us other than kind of our.
34:41
Speaker 1: Measure on social media.
34:42
Speaker 2: I did no, but it's kind of how do you
34:46
Speaker 2: do it? But it was like I'm going to give
34:48
Speaker 2: us to try and I'll let people know how it went.
34:50
Speaker 2: And it was like those three weeks were so great.
34:53
Speaker 2: I was so present. It felt like I was, you know,
34:55
Speaker 2: back on the road again, because when you're living on
34:57
Speaker 2: the road, you're so present in every second of every day.
35:00
Speaker 2: And having that phone just be completely somewhere else and
35:03
Speaker 2: only around if I needed to find somebody to make
35:06
Speaker 2: a quick call, so wonderful. But I think about that
35:10
Speaker 2: all the time, and I think it's.
35:12
Speaker 1: A good I think it's a good exercise to also
35:15
Speaker 1: remind yourself that you can be off of it, absolutely
35:18
Speaker 1: and probably the easiest way to address it, I think
35:20
Speaker 1: for most people is just take the social media off.
35:23
Speaker 2: Of the phone, right, which you've done, you know.
35:25
Speaker 1: Yeah, And I have an iPad mini that you know,
35:27
Speaker 1: when I need to get on and make a post,
35:29
Speaker 1: I just schedule it as part of my work day,
35:32
Speaker 1: and I do that, but I don't have it like
35:35
Speaker 1: this constant ping of especially notifications. Like if you can
35:39
Speaker 1: start with the notifications off, then get the apps off
35:42
Speaker 1: your phone right onto another device, And I think it's
35:45
Speaker 1: really powerful powerful.
35:47
Speaker 2: Well, and again if you do, I mean, I know
35:49
Speaker 2: there's a lot of people that and I agree one
35:51
Speaker 2: hundred percent. I have it with my work as well
35:53
Speaker 2: that need it as a marketing tool or just you know,
35:55
Speaker 2: to be out there. But if you can schedule it
35:57
Speaker 2: in your workday and have it be work related only,
36:00
Speaker 2: it's super healthy. You know, just have it be a
36:02
Speaker 2: part of that versus the constant you know, kind of
36:04
Speaker 2: like waiting to hear a paying waiting to hear a notification.
36:07
Speaker 2: Like there's nothing worse than that.
36:08
Speaker 1: It's well, I think a lot of people start by
36:10
Speaker 1: with the intention of I'm going to go on to
36:12
Speaker 1: Instagram and I'm going to make this great post with
36:14
Speaker 1: this beautiful photograph that I think, but they never actually
36:17
Speaker 1: get the post done because they spent three hours.
36:20
Speaker 2: Yeah.
36:21
Speaker 1: So like the thing that they opened the app to
36:23
Speaker 1: do never ended up happening, right, and they lost all
36:27
Speaker 1: that time. Like you said, the time is the one thing.
36:30
Speaker 1: Like Bill Gates has just as much time as you
36:32
Speaker 1: and I do in a day. Like no matter how
36:35
Speaker 1: much money he has, he can't make more more time. Yeah. Absolutely,
36:39
Speaker 1: So it's really about how we spend it.
36:41
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, and I'm not the first person to
36:44
Speaker 2: say I'm in a you know, an unbelievably great financial situation.
36:48
Speaker 2: But the happiest I've ever been was when I was
36:50
Speaker 2: broke and money didn't really matter. I had enough money
36:53
Speaker 2: to live and that was all I needed. I mean,
36:56
Speaker 2: it's it's a very different way of being versus Chase saying,
37:00
Speaker 2: you know, it's it's kind of that mentality. I think
37:02
Speaker 2: Americans have this, especially where it's if I can get here,
37:05
Speaker 2: I can get this job, or I can get to
37:07
Speaker 2: this point, you know, then I can relax, or then
37:10
Speaker 2: I can be happier then whatever else. And the unfortunate
37:14
Speaker 2: reality of that is getting to those milestones isn't what's
37:18
Speaker 2: going to make you happy. Being happy in the present
37:21
Speaker 2: is what's going to make your life matter that much
37:23
Speaker 2: more to you.
37:24
Speaker 1: That's all we have actually, is this moment. Because anything
37:28
Speaker 1: five minutes ago was in the past. Absolutely anything five
37:30
Speaker 1: minutes from now is not guaranteed. It's in the future,
37:33
Speaker 1: it's not in the present. And it's very difficult and
37:36
Speaker 1: it's required a lot of work on my part and
37:38
Speaker 1: I still work on it every single day to be
37:40
Speaker 1: more present, yeah, and to give myself some grace about
37:44
Speaker 1: like what are you running so hard towards?
37:46
Speaker 2: Absolutely?
37:47
Speaker 1: Why are you pushing pushing pushing?
37:49
Speaker 2: I mean, I have that difficulty with my personality I'm
37:52
Speaker 2: sure you do too. Where sometimes it's what's next, what's next,
37:55
Speaker 2: what's my next project? And one of the best things
37:57
Speaker 2: I did for myself this summer is, you know, we
38:00
Speaker 2: wrapped production on Silent Battles a couple of weeks ago,
38:04
Speaker 2: and I basically said, until the end of August, I'm
38:07
Speaker 2: not going to touch a project. I'm not going to
38:10
Speaker 2: sign on for anything. I'm going to just take a
38:12
Speaker 2: couple of weeks and decompress, be off my computer, go
38:16
Speaker 2: out and hike, spend time with my dogs, spend time
38:18
Speaker 2: with my partner, explore organ because I have one of
38:21
Speaker 2: the most beautiful backyards in the world, true, and really
38:24
Speaker 2: just be here. And it's been such a blessing for
38:27
Speaker 2: me because that nice ability to slow down is something
38:32
Speaker 2: we lose and it's nice to have that reminder and
38:34
Speaker 2: know you can do it.
38:36
Speaker 1: I think creatives really need that, Like It's one of
38:38
Speaker 1: the things that I really respect about Sinway Xavier that
38:41
Speaker 1: works with us on a bunch of projects, is that
38:43
Speaker 1: he will intentionally set up time to go play outside. Yeah,
38:48
Speaker 1: whether it's skiing or mountain biking or taking his truck
38:52
Speaker 1: onto some unnamed road with no planned outcome. Just going
38:56
Speaker 1: and being outside, and I think that that recharges for him,
39:00
Speaker 1: at least it recharges those creative impulses that he's so
39:04
Speaker 1: good at. But I think we need that.
39:06
Speaker 2: I mean, I don't think I've shared this with a
39:09
Speaker 2: lot of people, but I didn't ride a motorcycle for
39:11
Speaker 2: a month and a half. I took a huge break
39:14
Speaker 2: because it had you know, I got done with the
39:17
Speaker 2: Giant Loop ride where we premiered Silent Battles and it
39:19
Speaker 2: was an incredible weekend. I had a great time. I
39:23
Speaker 2: got to do a ton of fun riding. But I
39:25
Speaker 2: came home and also just like realized that the luster
39:27
Speaker 2: had worn't off. And so I think sometimes giving yourself
39:30
Speaker 2: those breathers and breaks, even from things you love doing,
39:33
Speaker 2: is really important and healthy.
39:36
Speaker 1: Yeah, now that hits home for me. Just finished a
39:39
Speaker 1: twenty year project, right and I'm like, people are like,
39:41
Speaker 1: what's next. I'm like, I got nothing.
39:43
Speaker 2: But right now, it's pretty nice.
39:45
Speaker 1: Right now, Right now, I got nothing, and I'm like,
39:47
Speaker 1: I'm not even upset about it. I literally don't have
39:50
Speaker 1: anything planned other than spending time with my family and
39:54
Speaker 1: doing creative projects, which I'm excited to do. So but
39:58
Speaker 1: I think I needed that.
39:59
Speaker 2: Yeah, well it's a great I mean seven continents twenty
40:02
Speaker 2: years is a huge accomplishment, Thank you and really really
40:05
Speaker 2: something cool to just show for all the work you've
40:07
Speaker 2: put in. But also it's probably nice to have either.
40:11
Speaker 1: Need a breather, Yeah, totally need a breather. So what
40:16
Speaker 1: if you were to give some advice to someone who
40:18
Speaker 1: wants to start capturing content off of a motorcycle. What's
40:22
Speaker 1: some of the gear that you use, What are some
40:24
Speaker 1: of the tricks or the little lessons that you've learned
40:26
Speaker 1: along the way about storytelling and about capture? How can
40:30
Speaker 1: someone learn to tell their own story?
40:33
Speaker 2: That is one of the things that is becoming increasingly
40:36
Speaker 2: more difficult with how particularly if you want to get
40:39
Speaker 2: into an entity like YouTube and a platform like YouTube.
40:42
Speaker 2: Because and I'll take this just from the adventure motorcycle perspective,
40:46
Speaker 2: you have a lot of incredible riding videos, but there's
40:50
Speaker 2: a lot of like really just very skilled, very talented
40:54
Speaker 2: riders out there that are making cool stuff. But what
40:57
Speaker 2: you need to understand, and this is just coming from
41:00
Speaker 2: my experience in the last three years of social media
41:02
Speaker 2: being my life, is that you need to find the
41:05
Speaker 2: way that you're unique. You need to find what's different
41:07
Speaker 2: about you that's going to make you stand out, and
41:10
Speaker 2: that's what you need to focus on. For me, how
41:13
Speaker 2: I did that was, you know, when I started out,
41:15
Speaker 2: I was taking terrible video because I was learning how
41:18
Speaker 2: to take video. But what made me different was I
41:21
Speaker 2: was storytelling the whole time. I had a narrative in
41:24
Speaker 2: the background of all my videos, talking about where I
41:26
Speaker 2: was going, how was impacting me, why it was important
41:29
Speaker 2: for me personally, and just you know, really documenting my journey.
41:33
Speaker 2: And that's what drew people into me originally. If you
41:36
Speaker 2: can find a way to do what's unique to you,
41:39
Speaker 2: that is what you know one hundred percent should be
41:41
Speaker 2: where your head's at. But start slow, Like if you
41:44
Speaker 2: want to get into video, start with, honestly, the Osmo,
41:47
Speaker 2: which I always talked about before we got rolling. It's
41:50
Speaker 2: a great little camera. It takes incredible, incredible four K video,
41:54
Speaker 2: and it's got a little gimbal on it. You know,
41:57
Speaker 2: if you want to try drones, drones were really fun,
41:59
Speaker 2: especially for you're a video gamer. You know that people
42:01
Speaker 2: tend to love that. But just start small and if
42:04
Speaker 2: you really love it, great, then you can move on
42:06
Speaker 2: to the next camera. I mean, cameras are getting easier
42:09
Speaker 2: and easier to handle. The tech is getting way better,
42:13
Speaker 2: you know. I dove into the deep end and got
42:14
Speaker 2: Sony A seven is three pretty much right off the
42:17
Speaker 2: bat because I had also had the experience filming with
42:19
Speaker 2: Alex and that was the camera he used. But I
42:21
Speaker 2: loved my camera, and yeah, and it's a great videography
42:24
Speaker 2: camera and I've filmed all of my docks on it.
42:27
Speaker 2: But start small. That's that's always what I would advise,
42:30
Speaker 2: because you can do a lot of really cool footage
42:32
Speaker 2: and make a lot of really cool videos with a
42:35
Speaker 2: really tiny camera.
42:35
Speaker 1: Now, and if you can make the camera not shake
42:39
Speaker 1: exactly and you can capture good audio, yeah.
42:41
Speaker 2: Which is a good Absolutely. Again, why I recommend and
42:45
Speaker 2: I love dgi's products, but why I recommend the OSMA
42:49
Speaker 2: is because it has the gimbal on it, so shaking
42:51
Speaker 2: is going to be very minimal as long as you're
42:53
Speaker 2: actually just being mindful about your drink, and video is
42:55
Speaker 2: going to look professionally done.
42:57
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's right. And then now they have where the
42:59
Speaker 1: MIC's I've got him on right here? They come with
43:01
Speaker 1: a Yeah, you compare it to the Osmo and.
43:04
Speaker 2: I mean, the tech we have is getting better and
43:07
Speaker 2: better all the time, So just start with something little
43:11
Speaker 2: and then if you end up wanting to do big
43:13
Speaker 2: time footage, just take your time to get there.
43:15
Speaker 1: Yeah. No, it's and it's about being vulnerable, connecting with
43:20
Speaker 1: your audience, and then and then kind of staying true
43:23
Speaker 1: to what you started with. One of the things that
43:25
Speaker 1: I see people challenge or challenged with is that they'll
43:28
Speaker 1: start off as the BMWGS guy and he's learning and
43:34
Speaker 1: he's making mistakes, and he's very relatable, and people become
43:38
Speaker 1: they become true fans, and then you see him he
43:41
Speaker 1: starts to get some success, and he gets some sponsorship,
43:44
Speaker 1: and the next thing you know, he's driving you know,
43:46
Speaker 1: some expensive truck that now is he's now nobody like
43:51
Speaker 1: what he started off as. And then they wonder why
43:53
Speaker 1: their views and their engagement goes down because they're now
43:56
Speaker 1: a totally different person. Absolutely, so, I think, and that's
44:00
Speaker 1: not wrong. It's just be aware that people started watching
44:04
Speaker 1: you and you got all of your traffic from the
44:07
Speaker 1: fact that you were this way. Absolutely, and if you
44:09
Speaker 1: change that, you can lose a lot of your audience.
44:11
Speaker 2: Absolutely. I mean, I think one of the greatest examples
44:15
Speaker 2: I can give for this and consistency paying off is
44:17
Speaker 2: you know my buddy Ben who's Dork in the Road
44:19
Speaker 2: on YouTube and social media. You know, he has stayed
44:22
Speaker 2: so consistent with his videos and his brand for the
44:25
Speaker 2: last couple of years, which is why he went from
44:28
Speaker 2: having seven thousand followers, so I think he's almost one
44:30
Speaker 2: hundred and thirty k a very short period of time. Yeah,
44:33
Speaker 2: And it's because one, he's very relatable, he's very funny,
44:37
Speaker 2: and he just stays with the program and a lot
44:40
Speaker 2: of people love that. And being able to kind of
44:43
Speaker 2: find your niche, like I was saying earlier, if you
44:45
Speaker 2: find your niche in your pocket, just stay with that.
44:48
Speaker 2: It's going to take time. Social media isn't what it
44:50
Speaker 2: used to be anymore. You don't go viral and have
44:52
Speaker 2: one hundred thousand followers. It's just not reality anymore likely. No,
44:55
Speaker 2: But if you can stick with the program and just
44:58
Speaker 2: keep with it, you will build over time. I'm just
45:00
Speaker 2: going to take more time.
45:01
Speaker 1: It takes more time. And then not to expect that
45:04
Speaker 1: you're going to necessarily earn a living from it. I
45:06
Speaker 1: don't think. I think if you go into the creative
45:09
Speaker 1: process with it's got to be your income. I think
45:13
Speaker 1: it compromises a lot of things that will actually allow
45:15
Speaker 1: you to build an audience long term. So you see
45:18
Speaker 1: that where people chase the dollars too soon. You know, build,
45:23
Speaker 1: build yourself up, build your skills, build your audience, build
45:27
Speaker 1: those connections, and then people will approach you like you've
45:31
Speaker 1: probably experienced. People probably reach out to you now and
45:33
Speaker 1: they say, hey, how can we work with you on
45:36
Speaker 1: your travels?
45:36
Speaker 2: And I mean, there is definitely a certain realm of
45:40
Speaker 2: influencer that will continue to make a living from it,
45:43
Speaker 2: but those people are already established. The age of becoming
45:46
Speaker 2: an influencer is very few and far between anymore, and
45:49
Speaker 2: it's not any anything anyone should ever expect. It is
45:52
Speaker 2: so much more difficult to be one of those people.
45:54
Speaker 2: Most of the influencers that I do know now, particularly
45:57
Speaker 2: in the motorcycle world, are no longer doing it as
46:00
Speaker 2: frequently because they're not making the money these It's just
46:04
Speaker 2: the industry and social media platforms have changed so much
46:07
Speaker 2: in such a short period of time. But yeah, I mean,
46:09
Speaker 2: it's just you gotta love it, that's the bottom line.
46:12
Speaker 2: You've got to love making videos. You got to love
46:14
Speaker 2: what you're doing. Otherwise, you know, you'll probably have fun
46:16
Speaker 2: with it for a while and then burn out.
46:18
Speaker 1: And people can see it. You can see the difference
46:19
Speaker 1: when you're having a good time. People know you're having
46:21
Speaker 1: a good time and they know that you enjoy what
46:22
Speaker 1: you're doing. And yeah, I mean, I'm not particularly relatable
46:26
Speaker 1: or funny, which is why, which is why I interview people.
46:30
Speaker 2: So now, on the contrary, I do think you're very
46:32
Speaker 2: relatable funny.
46:34
Speaker 1: Well, thank you, thank you, thank you. So what is
46:38
Speaker 1: next for you? What's coming up? It's coming down the pipe.
46:41
Speaker 2: I've got a great trip in BC next week where
46:44
Speaker 2: I get to ride some off road motorcycles which I'm
46:46
Speaker 2: greatly looking forward to, and I touched on that and
46:48
Speaker 2: it's with the E Traction guys up in BC and
46:52
Speaker 2: they've been great. They're having been a night up there
46:54
Speaker 2: to hang out with a group of people and learn
46:56
Speaker 2: how to ride off road better, which will be great
46:58
Speaker 2: for me. I always want to learn and how to improve.
47:01
Speaker 2: But other than that, I've got a lot of irons
47:03
Speaker 2: in the fire. It's just you know, kind of like
47:05
Speaker 2: I mentioned, I'm going to wait till that first week
47:08
Speaker 2: of September before I start making any big decisions. I've
47:10
Speaker 2: got possibility about going to Nepal, maybe back to Asia. Yeah,
47:15
Speaker 2: there's just a couple of things on the horizon that
47:17
Speaker 2: are potentials. But right now, I think the most important
47:20
Speaker 2: thing that I've been doing for the last few weeks
47:22
Speaker 2: is just being here and enjoying being here and getting
47:25
Speaker 2: good sleep and really having fun out.
47:27
Speaker 1: In organ And you bought a new motorcycle and I
47:30
Speaker 1: bought a new motorcycle. Tell us about the new motorcycle. Yeah,
47:32
Speaker 1: it's pretty rowdy compared to your outgoing motorcycle. Keep them both.
47:37
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I feel like that's kind of what happens.
47:40
Speaker 2: You're always kind of in and out of motorcycles. There's
47:42
Speaker 2: never one bike for you that it just kind of
47:44
Speaker 2: shifts with what you're focusing on. And one of the
47:48
Speaker 2: great shifts that I've been experiencing this summer is I'm
47:50
Speaker 2: getting into smaller bike, dual sport type of stuff. It's
47:53
Speaker 2: what I love doing. I love being outside in the
47:55
Speaker 2: back country. I have much rather be offer than on pavement.
47:58
Speaker 2: So I sold my touring bike trans out and essentially
48:02
Speaker 2: bought Randy's Kat four fifty. It's wicked and it looks
48:06
Speaker 2: like so much fun. So that's going to be a
48:08
Speaker 2: nice addition to my garage.
48:10
Speaker 1: And what do they call it? Four to fifty the
48:12
Speaker 1: fastest way to the emergency?
48:13
Speaker 2: Yeah, pretty much.
48:14
Speaker 1: It's like zero. The emerge room is the quickest.
48:17
Speaker 2: I reade like a grandma, So hopefully that'll help counter it.
48:20
Speaker 1: Should yeah, it should, it should? It should.
48:23
Speaker 2: Yeah. I'm very excited about that. And it'll be great
48:25
Speaker 2: too because my partner's a big overlanders, so being able
48:28
Speaker 2: to kind of have that together where he can be
48:31
Speaker 2: in his truck and I can be on my bike
48:32
Speaker 2: and we can go explore.
48:34
Speaker 1: I was laughing so hard at his tunderous stories last night.
48:37
Speaker 1: He's got it. He is a great storyteller, teller himself.
48:40
Speaker 1: It was so funny. Yeah, the number of times he
48:43
Speaker 1: got stuck in that truck.
48:44
Speaker 2: So he has been stuck in that truck so many times,
48:46
Speaker 2: but he always manages to get out of it, which.
48:48
Speaker 1: Is the key. Well, but I love like the hammock story.
48:51
Speaker 1: I was like, basically the hammock was how he was
48:54
Speaker 1: relaxing and keeping the truck from sliding off the cliff.
48:56
Speaker 1: Pretty much, that's pretty.
48:57
Speaker 2: Awesome, Kelty. Birth fun stuff that was.
49:00
Speaker 1: I thought that was so hilarious. So now you're also
49:02
Speaker 1: looking to do more video production work. So you know,
49:06
Speaker 1: we have a lot of people in the industry that
49:08
Speaker 1: listen to the podcast. So if anybody is looking for
49:10
Speaker 1: commercial production or if you need a videographer to come
49:13
Speaker 1: on your expedition, you know Grace is you're looking for
49:17
Speaker 1: those kinds of opportunities, so please reach out to her
49:21
Speaker 1: if that's something that you need. How else do people
49:25
Speaker 1: follow you? You talked about your Instagram handle? What's your
49:29
Speaker 1: Is your YouTube handled?
49:30
Speaker 2: This? My YouTube is also the Graceful Renegade. Yes, yeah,
49:32
Speaker 2: and usually the best way to get in touch with
49:35
Speaker 2: me is either to DM me on Instagram or to
49:37
Speaker 2: send me an email. And my email again is Shusler
49:40
Speaker 2: Grace at gmail dot com. It's super easy to find
49:42
Speaker 2: via my website. My website is also the Graceful Renegade
49:45
Speaker 2: dot com because that's my production company. But yeah, essentially,
49:49
Speaker 2: what I plan to do for the future is do
49:52
Speaker 2: expedition level filming. You know, That's what I'm good at.
49:55
Speaker 2: I'm a gorilla filmmaker. That's that's my bread and butter.
49:57
Speaker 2: So it's taking my gear on trips, whether there are
49:59
Speaker 2: motor cycle or overland or whatever, and just getting out
50:03
Speaker 2: into the world and showing people that you know, just
50:05
Speaker 2: how beautiful it is out there and the types of
50:07
Speaker 2: things they can get out of experience.
50:09
Speaker 1: Well, Grace, you are an inspiration. It's it's so cool
50:13
Speaker 1: to hear the stories of your life and the things
50:15
Speaker 1: that you've accomplished. I can't wait to see what you
50:17
Speaker 1: do in the coming years with all of these new opportunities.
50:23
Speaker 1: Please give her a follow check out what she's doing.
50:26
Speaker 1: And thanks so much for being on the podcast.
50:27
Speaker 2: So having me it was a pleasure.
50:28
Speaker 1: Yeah, and we thank you all for listening and we'll
50:30
Speaker 1: talk to you next time.