Latest / The Overland Journal Podcast / Interviewing Eva Rupert, Adventurer, Survivalist, and Overlander

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Interviewing Eva Rupert, Adventurer, Survivalist, and Overlander · The Overland Journal Podcast

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to the Overland Journal podcast. I am
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: your host, Scott Brady. My co host Matt. Scott is
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: not with me today because he is driving a rear
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: engine car, likely too fast on curvy roads in southern California.
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: So he's having a great time, which we will also
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: be having today. I hope you're enjoying yourself, Matt. And
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: for today's guest, we have Eva Rupert, who is a
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: longtime friend and certainly an amazing character within the overland industry.
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: She has traveled around the United States. She has spent
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: a lot of time in Madagascar, which we'll get to
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: a little bit later. And actually the first time that
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: I met Eva was a project she was starting called
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: tiny Bikes, and I think she was on a trail
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: ninety or something like that, traveling across Arizona, and I
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: was so inspired by her story and her desire to
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: find adventure, no matter what the form. And that is
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: certainly a theme of Eva's life, which has been finding adventure,
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: no matter the form. So thank you so much, Eva
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: for being on the podcast.
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: Ah, thank you so much, Scott, what a great introduction.
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: I love that well.
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: And you are also the Motorcycle community brand ambassador for
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: Overland Expo as well. Why don't you give us a
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: little bit of insights on what your day looks like
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: as a community ambassador for for such a cool event.
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Well, I will tell you that I sometimes think
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: that I have the best job in the entire world. Like,
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: my entire life revolves around promoting motorcycles and motorcycle riding
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: through the Overland Expo vehicle, which is really great. You know.
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: I feel like in overlanding we always think of like
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: these really cool four wheel drive vehicles and big trucks
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: and you know, traveling across the Sahara. But motorcycles are
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: the original adventure machine. And one of my entire missions
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: with Overland Expo is to get more people on bikes,
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: get more people out adventuring, And so, you know, my
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: day kind of runs the gamut from writing stories and
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: articles and gear reviews to connecting with the community and
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: getting more people out at the shows and doing more
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: fun stuff on two wheels.
• 1:57
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: And you've been doing the Overland or at least attending
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: the Overland expos for almost a decade now.
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: Right, which is crazy to think about.
• 2:05
  Speaker 3: It's inciting to think about and I've.
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: Worked for the company for multiple years now, which as well,
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: I don't typically hold down jobs for very long because
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: I typically moved to a different town and do something
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: totally different or something else piques my interest, and I'm
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: very much of that freelance, self employed kind of DIY
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: employment kind of person. But it's been such a great
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: company and seeing it go through the changes in the
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: past few years has been really fun and it's just
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: kind of held my interests.
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: Oh, and they've done such a wonderful job. I have
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: such respect for Jessica and that whole team there. They
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: just really Lindsey, all of them are just such fantastic individuals,
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: and they've done such a good job with the event,
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: and they've just continued to elevate it in my mind,
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: and you know, they've added additional venues, and I think
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: it's just has so much potential going off into the future.
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: So it's very exciting to see and a special thanks
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: to this week's sponsor, GCI Outdoor. Whether you're heading out
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: for a weekend of adventure in the woods or to
• 2:59
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• 3:03
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• 3:07
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• 3:09
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• 3:13
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• 3:17
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• 3:21
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• 3:24
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• 3:28
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• 3:30
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• 3:34
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• 3:36
  Speaker 1: Thanks again, GCI. Yeah, no doubt. Well awesome, So I
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: think it would be fun to hear kind of a
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: little bit of your origin story. There are so many
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: things that we could cover today that I don't know
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: if it's even possible to get it into one podcast,
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: But I'd like to start with a little bit about
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: like where you started from, because we were even talking
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: this morning, you have you do not have a recognizable accent,
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: so give listener a little bit of idea where you
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: started from early formative education and how you ended up
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: in Arizona.
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: Thanks well. I was born in Connecticut Bridgeport, Connecticut in
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: nineteen eighty which is crazy to think that I've made
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: it through four decades on the planet Earth. Spent my
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: early life in the Northeast Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts for college,
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: and then as soon I mean I was twenty years old,
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: I graduated from college and high tailed it about as
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: far west as you can get without falling into the ocean.
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: And you know, I love that I have these like
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: strong New England Northeast roots. But I've lived in nine
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: different states. I've traveled all over the country. I think
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: that's kind of what makes me who I am. I've
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: been a lot of different places, and I can call
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: a lot of different places home.
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: What inspired you to be in those different places? What
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: brought about that desire to roam for you?
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: I feel like I was just born with that itch
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: right as a kid. I got to travel a lot
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: with my parents, and then you know, independently riding the
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: train in and out of New York City. I've always
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: just I don't know, it's just one of those things
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: like I've always wanted to go and see more places
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: and be more places. And I'm really driven by people.
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: It's kind of my jois de vive, Like I love humans,
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: I love conversating. I love connecting. I love finding new places,
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: and I love synking my teeth into it. And I
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: do that by connecting with other human beings. And so
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: as a kid, I don't exactly know where I'm going
• 5:25
  Speaker 2: with that, you know. I guess as a kid, a
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: lot of my ramblings would be, you know, on bicycles
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: and kid style adventurings. And then once I had a
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: driver's license, then the world was your oyster, right Like
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: every road trip imaginable and every new place that I
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: could get my hands on is kind of what just
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: drove me. And I still feel pretty compelled by those
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: those same inner itchings to go see and do more
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: things and connect with more people.
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: And you said that your mom was a creative and
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: then you went to college for film and photography. Talk
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: a little bit about that creative process for you and
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: how does it tie into what you do with overlanding.
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: That's a really good one. Both of my parents are
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: super creative. My mom was an artist, my dad is
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: like a jazz pianist and engineer. And I always like
• 6:08
  Speaker 2: walking that line between the logical and the creative. I
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: don't necessarily consider myself an artist necessarily but I definitely
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: consider myself a creative person. There's always that spirit of
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: inquiry that runs through travel and exploration and overlanding, just
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: like it runs through the creative process, you know, so
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: constantly seeking to see new ways, see in new ways,
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: do new things, discover new avenues of understanding. I think
• 6:35
  Speaker 2: that's kind of the impetus of it.
• 6:37
  Speaker 3: Yeah, that makes sense.
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: I've always thought of every day that I'm in a
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: new place is literally like a new canvas to me,
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: and I painted in a few ways. I get to
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: experience it firsthand, which means that that whole canvas is
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: forming for me throughout the day or throughout the trip,
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: and then as a photographer, I also get to capture
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: those moments. So I do find that overland travel does
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: allow for a lot of creativity, and even like you said,
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: those human interactions are constantly changing and evolving and surprising us.
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: It makes a lot of sense. Why you love it
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: is because you are this creative person that doesn't like
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: to be in one place for very long and likes
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: to interact with people. That's like the perfect combination.
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's the sweet spot for sure.
• 7:20
  Speaker 3: Yeah, sure, that's great.
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: You also talked a little bit about after you left
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: the California coast, you moved to Estes Park, Colorado, and
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: you started to do a lot more rock climbing.
• 7:31
  Speaker 3: Talk a little bit about that.
• 7:33
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean you name a state, I've probably lived there, right, California, Oregon, Washington, Utah, Colorado,
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: and now Arizona plus the old New England roots and
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: you know, moving to Estes Park. I moved there to
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: start a teaching fellowship. There's a really cool alternative residential
• 7:50
  Speaker 2: high school in Estas Park. It's called the Eagle Rock School,
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: and it is this really intensely creative, really unique educational program.
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: And I have a background in outdoor education, and so
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: move to ess Park to work at this school and
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: get my teaching certificate and you know, learn some interesting
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: interdisciplinary educational techniques that I thought I might be able
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: to apply to the outdoor industry. But what I really
• 8:10
  Speaker 2: ended up doing was moving to ess Park and doing
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: tons and tons of rock climbing. It was like that
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: thing that you know, that thing that just like stokes
• 8:18
  Speaker 2: the fire inside of you. It was my passion and
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: my drive for so long, and it was like, it's
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: really funny because I just reconnected with my old climbing
• 8:27
  Speaker 2: partner and recently reminded like how formative that experience was
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: for me, Like it was my everything, you know, that's
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: what we were all doing, me and all my friends,
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: and you know, you know how things are, like you're
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: super passionate about something and then something else captures your
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: imagination and you wander off in that direction. And it's
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: really fun to remember those years and how pivotal they
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: are to my life as a traveler and an explorer.
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: Now, what do you think were some of the key
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: lessons learned from climbing, Like how do you see a
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: lot of that, like equipment consideration and maybe even your
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: level of fitness for operating a motorcycle. How does that
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: translate or did you find that some of those tools
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: came over from rock climbing to motorcycling.
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: As you were as you're asking that question, I was
• 9:10
  Speaker 2: thinking about that balance between self reliance and teamwork, right,
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: because there's some of that in motorcycling and in climbing
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: or maybe any outdoor pursuit. Right at the very core
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: of it, you have to be intensely self reliant, like
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: that's you, that's you with your hand on the throttle.
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: That's you on the sharp end of the rope. Having
• 9:29
  Speaker 2: amazing partners in those activities really speaks volumes. Right, you
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: don't climb giant mountains unless you know. I mean, some
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: people climb giant mountains all by themselves, but typically we
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: have a climbing partner, and very often when we're out riding,
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: I mean, I love riding by myself, but it's also
• 9:44
  Speaker 2: great having a buddy there, right, And so that camaraderie
• 9:48
  Speaker 2: and that teamwork I think is so critical in both
• 9:51
  Speaker 2: of them. But at the core it really just fortifies
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: that inner flame of who you are as an individual.
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: And I suspect that because climbing is you're being supported
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: by someone else in the fact that they're you're usually
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: on blat or your lead climbing and someone else's has
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: you belayed from below. But it is very intensely individual,
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: but also kind of this team activity. Just like motorcycling.
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: You're not operating a motorcycle with a cod driver. Usually
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: I mean, maybe there's someone on the pillion seat, but
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: normally you're operating it all on your own. And then
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: when everybody gets their helmet off, then you're chatting or
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: you're having a coffee or whatever, and you're making this
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: team effort again. So I can see that parallel for sure.
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: And you talk a little bit about self reliance, which
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: brings me back to the fact that you've spent a
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: lot of time very well understanding survival techniques, primitive survival techniques,
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: being self reliant in the back country, which I think
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: is such an important skill. We're so lucky in the
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: modern age that we have everything from broadband internet access
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: available to us all the way down to these highly
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: mechanical and efficient machines that move us around. When all
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: of that stops working, how do we handle that? How
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: do we survive that? And if we listen to the
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: news much at all, we find out that lots of
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: people don't survive that when they get stuck in the
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: back country, when they get snowed into a location, or
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: when their vehicle fails. So talk a little bit about
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: how did you learn these primitive survival and backcountry techniques
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: and what were some of the key ones that you
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: think translate back to our community.
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: So in my early twenties I started working in outdoor education,
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: right and we put on these giant backpacks and we
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: wear these giant boots and everything is covered in gore
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: techs and waterproof material and I started thinking about what
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: were people doing before gore tech, right, because obviously we're here,
• 11:39
  Speaker 2: we survived, we haven't always had all this stuff, and
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: so that kind of core question of like, what were
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: we doing before all the fancy high tech gear allowing
• 11:46
  Speaker 2: us to be these astronauts in the wilderness? Right? That
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: kind of led me down this path of primitive skills
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: and primitive survival. And so I just started asking the
• 11:56
  Speaker 2: question and finding different teachers. And it turns out there
• 11:58
  Speaker 2: are some really incredible primitive technologists and primitive survival experts
• 12:03
  Speaker 2: in this country, and I'm sure many many more around
• 12:05
  Speaker 2: the world. These people are so willing to share their
• 12:09
  Speaker 2: knowledge and information, and so I just started traveling and
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: studying and finding really incredible teachers everything from like you know,
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: walking barefoot, to tracking animals, to making fire by friction,
• 12:21
  Speaker 2: to harvesting clay from the riverbanks and making pots. And
• 12:24
  Speaker 2: somehow that process of using these really earth centric materials
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: took me further and further deeper and deeper into the wilderness.
• 12:31
  Speaker 2: And it kind of all comes back to that self
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: reliance thing, right, gosh, it's such a core component of
• 12:35
  Speaker 2: who I am. Like, the idea of survival I think
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: is so inherent to who we are as human beings,
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: Like it is absolutely at the core of this sure,
• 12:42
  Speaker 2: but I think so much with all of the infrastructure
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: of the modern world, we get really far away from that. Right,
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: It's so easy to think that we can't survive. But
• 12:52
  Speaker 2: when we're stripped down to the very core of our
• 12:53
  Speaker 2: existence and thrown out into the wilderness, there's something in us,
• 12:57
  Speaker 2: or there's some level of our ancestry that just knows
• 12:59
  Speaker 2: that place so well. Like we've been surviving in the
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: wilderness for tens of thousands of years, right, And like
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: it's only when you put yourself in that intense wilderness
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: experience where you remove all the layers of comfort and safety,
• 13:14
  Speaker 2: that you find that you really are at home in
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: the back country, that you really do have the skills
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: you need to keep yourself alive in some really challenging
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: or inhospitable environments.
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: And it's interesting hearing that it seems like that the
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: modern life is so unhealthy for us as humans. I mean,
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: we were never supposed to have this ready access to food.
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: We were supposed to have periods of fasting, which triggers
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: all kinds of interesting changes in our body when we
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: do fast for even short periods of time, positive changes.
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: And we were never supposed to have this ready access
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: to sugar. I mean, we would get access to fruit
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: on occasion when it was in season, and of course
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: we would gorge on it, you know, ten thousand years ago,
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: and now we have access to it all the time,
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: and it's very unhealthy for us, and a lot of
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: people suffer as a result of that. And even as
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: simple as a cold exposure. I mean, they know medically
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: how beneficial cold exposure can be, but we're so afraid
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: of being uncomfortable, so we keep our homes and our
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: bodies at this like seventy four seventy eight degree temperature.
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: And it's shocking, actually how well we can survive in
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: a wide range of temperatures, and we have for millennia.
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: Who are some of the instructors that you most liked,
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: Like if one of our listeners wanted to go get
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: some training from a primitive survival expert. Who are some
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: people that come to your mind that you would recommend?
• 14:29
  Speaker 2: Oh gosh, So there are two incredible teachers that I've
• 14:34
  Speaker 2: had the fortune of learning from. Both have recently passed.
• 14:38
  Speaker 2: One is Eric Callahan, who is one of the most
• 14:42
  Speaker 2: incredible flint nappers on the face of the planet and
• 14:45
  Speaker 2: just an incredible primitive technologist and great teacher, and just's
• 14:49
  Speaker 2: he falls into this category of experiential archaeology, so recreating
• 14:54
  Speaker 2: the past a modern day to kind of study how
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: it you know, how was it, how does it degrade
• 15:01
  Speaker 2: over time? How do people interact with this structure, this dwelling,
• 15:04
  Speaker 2: or this tool. And that was Eric Callahan, and then
• 15:06
  Speaker 2: Steve Watts, who was another incredible primitive technologist, an amazing
• 15:10
  Speaker 2: teacher and curator of all things aboriginal and old and human. Yeah,
• 15:15
  Speaker 2: I've had the pleasure of studying with both those guys
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: intermittently over the course of the years. There's a great
• 15:20
  Speaker 2: organization called Backtracks. They produce a couple of primitive skills
• 15:25
  Speaker 2: gatherings that I would recommend anybody go to. I'm assuming
• 15:29
  Speaker 2: it's probably Backtracks dot Org. They do an event called
• 15:32
  Speaker 2: Winter Count and one called rabbit Stick, and all these
• 15:34
  Speaker 2: great teachers come. It would be like the Overland Expo
• 15:37
  Speaker 2: of Primitive Skills. Right, There's all these different teachers. Somebody's
• 15:39
  Speaker 2: teaching hide tanning, and somebody's teaching fire by friction, and
• 15:42
  Speaker 2: somebody's teaching you know, bow making or not tying or
• 15:46
  Speaker 2: whatever the case may be. But it all comes from
• 15:47
  Speaker 2: this really like primitive human technology. And so that's just
• 15:51
  Speaker 2: a really fun way. I would recommend that to anybody.
• 15:53
  Speaker 2: Just go for a weekend or a couple of days
• 15:55
  Speaker 2: and get your learn on. Figure out what people were
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: doing long before all this fancy stuff that we have.
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: If you were to pick maybe the top two to
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: five skills that you would recommend someone learn these primitive skills,
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: what would they be?
• 16:08
  Speaker 2: Oh, my gosh, Well, fire by friction is the be
• 16:11
  Speaker 2: all end all to primitive skills because through the process
• 16:14
  Speaker 2: of making friction fire you learn so many other things.
• 16:17
  Speaker 2: You learn plant identification because you're picking out your materials,
• 16:20
  Speaker 2: your woods and your string. You're finding rocks, you're learning
• 16:24
  Speaker 2: rock forging techniques because you're pecking your handgrip. You know.
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: So fire by fiction is just incredible. It's I feel
• 16:31
  Speaker 2: like it's like the core primitive skill, right because fire
• 16:34
  Speaker 2: is such an important part of our life. I mean,
• 16:36
  Speaker 2: it's like, you know, psychologically comforting, it's physically challenging. It
• 16:41
  Speaker 2: puts your ego in check because it's really hard, and so,
• 16:45
  Speaker 2: you know, I feel like that's a great thing to
• 16:47
  Speaker 2: learn and do and practice on a regular basis. I'm
• 16:50
  Speaker 2: sure you can learn everything you need to know from
• 16:51
  Speaker 2: you two, but the best way to do it is
• 16:53
  Speaker 2: to get out there and experiment and play with different plants.
• 16:56
  Speaker 2: I've really loved primitive pottery, so like turning earth into
• 17:01
  Speaker 2: usable things. I've made a bunch of different pots and
• 17:04
  Speaker 2: bowls and tools and things like that, and that's just
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: really fun. It's a really slow, intentional, grounded process. Then
• 17:11
  Speaker 2: fire it at the end and it's just this awesome celebration.
• 17:15
  Speaker 2: And so that's another one of my favorites.
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: And you can transport water after that, really interesting. Well,
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: those are all great things for people to look into,
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: and I think that it's a reminder that the more
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: of these primitive concepts maybe back to full first principles.
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: I think we can get so caught up in the
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: technology and in the maderna of what we have now
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: that we really forget about the fact that there are
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: all of these primitive skills that have been with humans
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: for hundreds of thousands of years and they are still
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: very useful for those of us that get into the
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: back country and maybe even reframe a lot of our
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: thinking about the front country as well. And that's really
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: fascinating that you've made that such an interesting part of
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: your life. And if I think about that process, it
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: seemed like it literally prepared you for something that was
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: fairly significant that happened later in your life, which was
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: you participated in a television show called Naked and Afraid.
• 18:08
  Speaker 3: Is that right?
• 18:09
  Speaker 2: That is true? Multiple times?
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: Oh you did many times. Okay, so talk a little bit.
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: I've not been able to see it yet, so I
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: need to look that up. But talk a little bit
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: about what that show was and what the experience was like,
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: and what you learned from that that has changed you
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: for today.
• 18:25
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that was a really interesting experience. I was actually
• 18:29
  Speaker 2: living in Prescott at the time, walking home from work
• 18:33
  Speaker 2: and I got a phone call and it was this
• 18:34
  Speaker 2: casting agencying, Hey, We're going to make this survival TV
• 18:37
  Speaker 2: show and I'm like, WHOA, that's like right up my alley.
• 18:40
  Speaker 2: I have all kinds of survival skills and she's like,
• 18:42
  Speaker 2: and you have to be naked, And I was like,
• 18:44
  Speaker 2: what is this this is crazy. So it's a really
• 18:47
  Speaker 2: crazy concept, but it's a really interesting project. I'm so
• 18:50
  Speaker 2: glad that I did it, and I'm so glad I
• 18:52
  Speaker 2: have that experience under my belt. But you know, the
• 18:54
  Speaker 2: whole premise of Naked and Afraid is they drop you
• 18:56
  Speaker 2: off in the middle of nowhere with nothing. You get
• 18:59
  Speaker 2: a tool of sorts, and I think maybe the show
• 19:02
  Speaker 2: is still going on, it's still being produced. You get
• 19:04
  Speaker 2: a tool of your choosing and a partner that hopefully
• 19:08
  Speaker 2: you get to get along with, and then they film
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: the whole thing. And so for twenty one days, I
• 19:12
  Speaker 2: was dropped off in Madagascar with a guy I had
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: never met before, and we just got to figure it
• 19:18
  Speaker 2: all out.
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: You know.
• 19:19
  Speaker 2: One of the producers of that show, I was like,
• 19:22
  Speaker 2: this is so weird. You know, it's so weird. First
• 19:24
  Speaker 2: of all, you're walking around naked, You're trying to be
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: in survival mode, but it kind of having a bunch
• 19:29
  Speaker 2: of cameras around you all the time. It's hard to
• 19:31
  Speaker 2: like truly sync into that space where you're connected to
• 19:36
  Speaker 2: the earth and focused on the task at hand, because
• 19:39
  Speaker 2: somebody's running around with a camera trying to get that
• 19:41
  Speaker 2: other angle or anything.
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: Like that, but she's just probably slightly awkward given the context.
• 19:46
  Speaker 2: It's you know, it's a mixed bag. Like I love
• 19:49
  Speaker 2: the experience, I love the challenge associated with it. I
• 19:52
  Speaker 2: love the added challenge of having a camera crew there
• 19:55
  Speaker 2: who's totally disturbing the environment. But one of the producers
• 19:57
  Speaker 2: at one point said to me, he's like, Eva, there
• 19:59
  Speaker 2: are too naked. In a phrase, he's like, there's the
• 20:02
  Speaker 2: experience that you're having out here, and then there's a
• 20:04
  Speaker 2: television show that's going to result from that. And I
• 20:07
  Speaker 2: relied on that to put this experiencing context in my life,
• 20:11
  Speaker 2: because you go out there, you do this really intensely hard, challenging,
• 20:15
  Speaker 2: life shaping thing, and then you're back at home or
• 20:19
  Speaker 2: you're sitting at the pub watching it on television. You're like,
• 20:21
  Speaker 2: that's not what that's not how that went down. That's
• 20:24
  Speaker 2: not the experience. But they're making a television show, right,
• 20:27
  Speaker 2: So they have this wealth of material. You know, how
• 20:29
  Speaker 2: many hundreds or thousands of hours of footage do they
• 20:32
  Speaker 2: have over the course of the twenty one day or
• 20:34
  Speaker 2: forty day filming, and then they have ninety minutes or
• 20:37
  Speaker 2: however long the show's I guess forty five minutes to
• 20:40
  Speaker 2: compress a month long experience into and so that's like
• 20:44
  Speaker 2: two minutes a day. So there's definitely some Hollywood crafting
• 20:50
  Speaker 2: of the experience that goes on. But the thing that's
• 20:52
  Speaker 2: really cool about that show is that the survival is
• 20:55
  Speaker 2: at its core so incredibly real. Which is the experience
• 20:59
  Speaker 2: that means the most to me.
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: So beyond the things that you learned on the survival
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: side of it, which many of it you already knew,
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: how was that experience having a stranger there that you're
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: trying to survive with. What did you learn from that
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: that you've taken away? And then also how has that
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: show affected you and your travels and maybe even the
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: trajectory of your life as a professional too.
• 21:21
  Speaker 2: Yeah. I mean as far as the partner goes, I
• 21:23
  Speaker 2: totally pride myself on being the kind of person who
• 21:26
  Speaker 2: can work with pretty much anybody. Like I love people,
• 21:29
  Speaker 2: I get along with people. If you watch the TV show,
• 21:31
  Speaker 2: like it definitely looks like we're feuding at times, that
• 21:35
  Speaker 2: was not the case. Like we my partner and during
• 21:38
  Speaker 2: in my twenty one day Naked in a Food we
• 21:40
  Speaker 2: worked so well together. You know, we'd make a plan.
• 21:42
  Speaker 2: You know, he'd be like, I'm gonna hunt lizards. I'd
• 21:44
  Speaker 2: be like, okay, I'm gonna collect firewood, like okay, We've
• 21:46
  Speaker 2: got like a cup and a half of water, Like okay,
• 21:48
  Speaker 2: I'm going to drink first and then you drink second.
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 21:50
  Speaker 2: There was a really great camaraderie and really and we
• 21:52
  Speaker 2: were really both in it together. You know, like that
• 21:54
  Speaker 2: first day that we met, We're like, we're not calling
• 21:56
  Speaker 2: we're not tapping out, we're not calling in sick, We're
• 21:59
  Speaker 2: not doing it that We're both making it to the end.
• 22:00
  Speaker 2: It was like just like that blood packed and that
• 22:02
  Speaker 2: was really great because you know, when I do something,
• 22:04
  Speaker 2: I always want to do something all the way rights
• 22:06
  Speaker 2: it's off the cliff with two feet, like first jump,
• 22:09
  Speaker 2: And it was really nice to have somebody who came
• 22:11
  Speaker 2: in with that same mindset, not like, oh I can
• 22:14
  Speaker 2: phone a friend and get picked up at any time,
• 22:16
  Speaker 2: because that would ruffle my feathers. But yeah, you know,
• 22:18
  Speaker 2: and then you know the experience of naked and afraid.
• 22:20
  Speaker 2: Like the first time I did it, I went to Madagascar,
• 22:23
  Speaker 2: which was great. I mean, I had traveled all over
• 22:25
  Speaker 2: the US, Canada, Mexico, but those are all places that
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: I can pull out of my driveway and go to.
• 22:30
  Speaker 2: You know, I guess I'd been to Europe maybe a
• 22:32
  Speaker 2: little bit. But getting flown halfway around the world at
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: the drop of a hat, like they were basically like, hey,
• 22:38
  Speaker 2: can you leave on Tuesday? I was like, whoa, okay,
• 22:41
  Speaker 2: you know, like change everything, go get a bunch of vaccines,
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: get on a plane, you know, like just fly around
• 22:47
  Speaker 2: the world really fast. And it was really cool because
• 22:49
  Speaker 2: the whole production team got held up in that early
• 22:52
  Speaker 2: naked and afraid that we were filming it. So I
• 22:54
  Speaker 2: had the opportunity to travel around Madagascar with like a
• 22:57
  Speaker 2: couple of locals for days or weeks before the production
• 23:00
  Speaker 2: team showed up. And it was so cool, like meeting
• 23:03
  Speaker 2: those people's families and like traveling on like these gnarly
• 23:06
  Speaker 2: roads and seeing all these crazy, you know, plants that
• 23:09
  Speaker 2: just I mean, all the species in Madagascar. Everything's just
• 23:12
  Speaker 2: totally endemic to that island. And it's so cool. And
• 23:15
  Speaker 2: Madagascar is just really cool. I can't wait to go back.
• 23:17
  Speaker 2: But traveling in that way in a place where I
• 23:20
  Speaker 2: don't speak the language, and didn't you know, like my
• 23:23
  Speaker 2: high school Spanish doesn't get you around in Madagascar, although
• 23:26
  Speaker 2: high school French actually does, which was pretty convenient. You know.
• 23:29
  Speaker 2: It really just opened my eyes to the possibilities of
• 23:32
  Speaker 2: travel and bigger travel and more far flung travel. And yeah,
• 23:36
  Speaker 2: and I mean, I can't wait to go back, and
• 23:39
  Speaker 2: it really makes me want to go more places, which
• 23:42
  Speaker 2: which is great.
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: Between the fact that you did the show and that
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: you started your education in film and in that more
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: creative vein, how did the combination of those two things
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: help you kind of.
• 23:55
  Speaker 3: Be where you're at today.
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: You've done You've had some great ideas like the Tiny
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: Bikes project, and now you do a lot of media
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: with the Overland Expo. What are some of the things
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: that you think maybe people who are new to documenting
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: their own experience or new to creating their own audience.
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: What's some piece of advice that you'd give to those travelers.
• 24:13
  Speaker 2: I would say, first and foremost, when you're traveling, be present,
• 24:18
  Speaker 2: be in your experience, Let the creation of content come
• 24:22
  Speaker 2: second to that. First and foremost, just sink yourself into
• 24:25
  Speaker 2: that environment, right and if you get a great selfie
• 24:27
  Speaker 2: out of it, that's awesome too. I'm really cautious to
• 24:31
  Speaker 2: not let the desire to write something, or film something,
• 24:35
  Speaker 2: or photograph something or put something really nice on my
• 24:38
  Speaker 2: Instagram stand in the way of me being here now
• 24:41
  Speaker 2: and being really present. And I think, you know Instagram
• 24:43
  Speaker 2: culture these days, it's like everyone wants to go climb
• 24:46
  Speaker 2: up onto the prettiest cliff because they saw some other
• 24:48
  Speaker 2: influencer climb up onto the prettiest cliff. And I think
• 24:50
  Speaker 2: most importantly, we need to have real authentic experiences, right.
• 24:53
  Speaker 2: We need to really be there, We really need to
• 24:55
  Speaker 2: be talking to the people, because the experience that you
• 24:58
  Speaker 2: have there lives in your body like everything else might
• 25:01
  Speaker 2: live on your Instagram or on your YouTube channel. Having
• 25:04
  Speaker 2: a real experience, feeling authentically there and having that experience,
• 25:08
  Speaker 2: you'll carry that with you for the rest of your life,
• 25:10
  Speaker 2: long since the pixels have faded into the background. And
• 25:13
  Speaker 2: so that's I think most important to that whole process.
• 25:16
  Speaker 3: I like that.
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: I like that perspective because I believe that one of
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: the challenges is that in the influencer culture, it's very
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: difficult actually to make that be a profession. You've got
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: to have hundreds and hundreds of thousands of followers. Can't
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: really make a profession out of ten thousand followers, and
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: so then it becomes very much this vanity project as
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: opposed to really gaining the skills and experience that you
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: need to create a business. So I think that for
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: those that are listening and thinking about, like, how do
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: I become more effective or how do I make this
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: a business, don't focus on the likes or, as Matt
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: Scott calls it, the chuck e cheese tokens because they're
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: not transferable. You can't pay your mortgage with a like,
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: and you can't feed your family with a like. So
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: I think that that makes a lot of sense what
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: you're talking about, which is be authentic, be in the moment,
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: gain those skills, really focus on the experience, which then
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: makes you experienced, and then you can translate that into
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: actual professional activities.
• 26:17
  Speaker 2: So totally, and I feel like, you know, I'm looking
• 26:21
  Speaker 2: more and more to have my life and my career
• 26:24
  Speaker 2: kind of fall into total alignment, you know. So like,
• 26:27
  Speaker 2: so if there is content creation and it's part of
• 26:30
  Speaker 2: my job, while I'm also traveling someplace amazing, so it's
• 26:33
  Speaker 2: part of my life, right and to have those things
• 26:35
  Speaker 2: roll together seamlessly, I think is you know, it's really
• 26:38
  Speaker 2: one of my goals for me and the more I
• 26:39
  Speaker 2: can move into that space, like with my gig with
• 26:41
  Speaker 2: Overland expot right now it's like I used to do
• 26:44
  Speaker 2: food and beverage stuff and now I'm like totally intensely
• 26:46
  Speaker 2: involved in motorcycles, which is far more aligned with my passion.
• 26:48
  Speaker 2: I mean, as much as I love making great cocktails
• 26:51
  Speaker 2: for everybody, you know, riding motorcycles and traveling is far
• 26:53
  Speaker 2: more in alignment with who I am. And I'm always
• 26:56
  Speaker 2: trying to move better into that space, like being aligned
• 26:59
  Speaker 2: with my soul, my calling, my true self, my passion,
• 27:03
  Speaker 2: and just constantly I'm constantly working to slough off the
• 27:07
  Speaker 2: stuff that doesn't fit, it doesn't work, it's taking time
• 27:10
  Speaker 2: away from the things that I love to do.
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: So this episode is made possible in part by red
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: Arc Electronics, Australia's premier manufacturer of electric vehicle brake controllers,
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: in vehicle dual battery chargers, vehicle management systems, gauges and monitors,
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: and I have personally used red Arc products for three
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: crossings of Australia, including the full length of the Canning
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: Stock route and all the way to the tip of
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: Tasmania and back. This included using their electronic brake controllers
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: or a crossing of the Great Australian Byte and their
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: Manager thirty system for multiple crossings of Oceania. For more information,
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: visit Redarc Electronics dot com. Yeah, it's funny you've spent
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: essentially four decades becoming an overnight success, right, and that
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: I think a lot of times people don't see that.
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: They don't see that you have worked so hard, You
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: have done so many things in your life that makes
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: you uniquely capable of doing this very cool job today.
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: If you try to take out all of those steps
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: between point A and that ultimate job, you'll never get
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: there because otherwise you just have never gained the experience.
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: You don't have the relationships, you haven't taken the time
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: to learn the skills to be a professional. So, yeah,
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: forty your overnight success. And it does take time. And
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: for those that are listening, just remember it just takes time,
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: and it takes investing in those relationships and investing in
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: your skills to then become that overnight success. I like that,
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: Like that, And if I think about all of that
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: you've done, what comes next for you? I mean, what's
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: on the horizon now? You've got these all of this experience,
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: you've done these amazing things. Where would you most want
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: to go next. What's the big crazy idea that you've
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: got on your horizon?
• 28:55
  Speaker 2: Oh gosh, so many crazy ideas, so many good things. Well,
• 28:59
  Speaker 2: so my part Sterling and I have this great little
• 29:01
  Speaker 2: motel and it's by the name of it. It's called
• 29:04
  Speaker 2: the Jonquill Motel. It's in Bisbee, Arizona, and we're about
• 29:07
  Speaker 2: five miles north of the Mexican border. So that's a big,
• 29:10
  Speaker 2: crazy project, right, like something that neither of us have
• 29:13
  Speaker 2: ever done before. But we've both traveled so much. It's
• 29:16
  Speaker 2: really fun to be on the receiving side of the hospitality,
• 29:19
  Speaker 2: so receiving the guests, bringing people in because we have
• 29:21
  Speaker 2: a really good sense of what makes a great host,
• 29:24
  Speaker 2: right because we've been hosted so many times by so
• 29:27
  Speaker 2: many amazing people around the world. So the motel is
• 29:30
  Speaker 2: like a big focus right now figuring out what to
• 29:32
  Speaker 2: do with that, how to make it better. It's got
• 29:34
  Speaker 2: seven little rooms and a giant backyard. You know, anybody
• 29:37
  Speaker 2: who's listening, please come see us. If you've got an
• 29:39
  Speaker 2: overland vehicle, come stay in the back or adventure bikes.
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: That's right, you've got you've got enough room for people
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: to you know, park their sprinter or their camper and
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: tow their little trailer and bring it in the back.
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: And as I remember, it was kind of a of
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: a narrow entryway, so you guys don't really have like
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: the big RVs and stuff like that. You've got true
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: overland vehicles back.
• 29:59
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, we cap it at Class B. We can't
• 30:01
  Speaker 2: get anything through that gate, and that is a very
• 30:05
  Speaker 2: intentional move. We're not trying to make an RV park
• 30:07
  Speaker 2: in our backyard. We don't have any hookups either in
• 30:09
  Speaker 2: the backyard, and so you have to be self reliant.
• 30:12
  Speaker 2: We do have a very nice clean restroom outside for
• 30:15
  Speaker 2: people to use, but other than that, you're on your
• 30:17
  Speaker 2: own as far as solar and power and water and
• 30:19
  Speaker 2: all that kind of stuff goes. And that's great too
• 30:21
  Speaker 2: because we get those self reliant overlanders coming through and
• 30:24
  Speaker 2: staying in our backyard. And then we've got seven little
• 30:26
  Speaker 2: rooms with great little beds and all the amenities for
• 30:29
  Speaker 2: the guests who aren't driving in in their rigs. And yeah,
• 30:32
  Speaker 2: it's a ton of fun. It is so cool. You know,
• 30:34
  Speaker 2: the motel was built in nineteen thirty six, and I
• 30:37
  Speaker 2: really feel like we're like breathing new life into it
• 30:40
  Speaker 2: and fanning the flame that it's always wanted to be.
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: So it's really so exciting and such a neat little town.
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: It's got so much character and again that kind of
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: creative space, and there's a lot of creative people that
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: live there. We were talking this morning when Sterling and
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: you and I were having breakfast, and Sterling was describing,
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: you know, the creative peace people, and then it feels
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: like Brants of the nineteen thirties or something like that.
• 31:03
  Speaker 3: So it's a very cool spot.
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: We'd recommend for sure that people that are listening go
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: check out Bizbe and maybe go state at your hotels.
• 31:11
  Speaker 2: Yeah, we'd love to have everyone.
• 31:13
  Speaker 1: So other than the hotel, what are some other things
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: that you've got coming down the pipe for you?
• 31:18
  Speaker 2: Well, I am cooking on a lot of travel this
• 31:20
  Speaker 2: summer on this new motorcycle that I'm building for Overland Expo.
• 31:24
  Speaker 2: So I'm hoping for just lots of Western adventures, getting
• 31:28
  Speaker 2: up into Utah, getting up into Colorado, hopefully spending some
• 31:31
  Speaker 2: time in New Mexico, but just lots of like you know,
• 31:34
  Speaker 2: you know how good it is to be motorcycling in
• 31:36
  Speaker 2: the high country in the summer, and so that's really
• 31:38
  Speaker 2: what I have my sites set on short term. But
• 31:41
  Speaker 2: I keep thinking, I'm like, not too far off in
• 31:45
  Speaker 2: the future, there's going to be a longer trip, you know.
• 31:48
  Speaker 2: I've been between the pandemic and the motel work, like,
• 31:53
  Speaker 2: I feel like I've been bankrolling time off and so
• 31:56
  Speaker 2: I've got my sites set pretty strongly on South America,
• 31:59
  Speaker 2: but I just want to wait for the time to
• 32:00
  Speaker 2: be right. Yeah, and a lot.
• 32:02
  Speaker 1: Of those borders are still closed or restricted, and yeah,
• 32:07
  Speaker 1: I know that a lot of people that were traveling
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: down there when this all kicked off, they really struggled
• 32:12
  Speaker 1: with the locals becoming very fearful of international travelers. So
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: I think that it's going to take a little time
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: for those for those locals to feel comfortable with someone
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: from outside their country again.
• 32:23
  Speaker 2: So yeah, along those lines, you know, I feel like
• 32:25
  Speaker 2: we need to be really sensitive as travelers right now.
• 32:28
  Speaker 2: Right if we're if we have the luxury of leaving
• 32:31
  Speaker 2: leaving our home country and trapesing around the world, I
• 32:34
  Speaker 2: think it's really important that we're sensitive to the needs
• 32:37
  Speaker 2: of the people in the places where we're traveling.
• 32:40
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's just going to take some time for people.
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: I believe it'll just take some time and people will
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: be ready, They'll be they'll be comfortable with foreigners traveling
• 32:47
  Speaker 1: their back roads. Again, I think that that'll be on
• 32:49
  Speaker 1: on the horizon, but maybe for now, it's like you said,
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: it's that remote trail in Utah, or jump on a
• 32:55
  Speaker 1: sailboat or something, right, get remote absolutely.
• 32:58
  Speaker 2: You know, during the pandemic, I had coined this idea
• 33:01
  Speaker 2: called one tank adventures, right because we were all supposed
• 33:03
  Speaker 2: to stay really close to home because there was the
• 33:05
  Speaker 2: pandemic going on. You know, the idea of the one
• 33:07
  Speaker 2: tank adventures. You fill up. I happen to live next
• 33:09
  Speaker 2: Ordery gas station, which makes it really fun. You fill up,
• 33:12
  Speaker 2: and you explore something in your immediate locale, try and
• 33:15
  Speaker 2: see your hometown or your own backyard or your favorite
• 33:18
  Speaker 2: forest road with the same eyes that you see the
• 33:20
  Speaker 2: world when you're traveling on a different continent. And so
• 33:23
  Speaker 2: I feel like that's just a really fun challenge. And
• 33:25
  Speaker 2: I think it's a practice that we can put into
• 33:26
  Speaker 2: our lives at any time. And I think we always
• 33:28
  Speaker 2: think like, oh, we need these far flung adventures. You know,
• 33:31
  Speaker 2: we're kind of spoiled in the overland space. You're like, oh, yeah,
• 33:34
  Speaker 2: I'm just going to go back to Columbia again this
• 33:35
  Speaker 2: year or whatever, you know, But really, there's so much
• 33:38
  Speaker 2: right here, and I feel like we tend to gloss
• 33:40
  Speaker 2: over the things that we see too often. And so
• 33:43
  Speaker 2: how do we take that same spirit of inquiry and
• 33:46
  Speaker 2: that same like you know, hunger for seeing with new
• 33:49
  Speaker 2: eyes and apply it to our immediate locale.
• 33:52
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 33:53
  Speaker 1: We had an article years ago in Overland Journal. It
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: was entitled Fractal Exploration, and I thought that was It
• 33:59
  Speaker 1: was written by Jonathan Hanson. I thought it was a
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: really great perspective on seeing places near us with new
• 34:06
  Speaker 1: eyes and maybe with a level of detail that we
• 34:08
  Speaker 1: haven't experienced in the past.
• 34:10
  Speaker 2: I love it. Yeah, factial exploration.
• 34:12
  Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, I think it's a great way to describe it.
• 34:15
  Speaker 1: If you were given all of your travel and your
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: crazy experiences and everything else like that, if you were
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: talking to someone new to overlanding, or maybe someone that's
• 34:24
  Speaker 1: thinking about doing their first adventure, what would be some
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: advice that you would give to someone new to this
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: whole pursuit.
• 34:32
  Speaker 2: Definitely tell people that they have everything they need right
• 34:37
  Speaker 2: now to get out there and to explore. You don't
• 34:39
  Speaker 2: need some fancy truck or for some fancy farkle through
• 34:42
  Speaker 2: your motorcycle or some fancy gear. Right you have everything
• 34:45
  Speaker 2: you need. Whatever's parked in your driveway right now. Whatever
• 34:48
  Speaker 2: you have the keys to, that's your overland vehicle. Take
• 34:51
  Speaker 2: that and do whatever you can with it. I mean, like,
• 34:53
  Speaker 2: if it's a like early seventies Honda Trail ninety, or
• 34:56
  Speaker 2: if it's the fanciest new Rivian pick chuck, whatever it is,
• 35:01
  Speaker 2: you don't need anything specially. You've got it all, you know,
• 35:04
  Speaker 2: because that's where that authentic experience comes from. Don't get
• 35:06
  Speaker 2: stalled out in your garage. Don't let you know, the
• 35:09
  Speaker 2: fear of not having the fanciest new stuff stop you
• 35:13
  Speaker 2: just go do it. I think that's that's totally key.
• 35:16
  Speaker 2: And then I think the other thing I would tell
• 35:18
  Speaker 2: people to slow down. You know, I think people get
• 35:21
  Speaker 2: a long weekend and they feel like they need to
• 35:23
  Speaker 2: like cross you know, the entire state. It's like, if
• 35:25
  Speaker 2: you have a long weekend, slow down, you know, pick
• 35:28
  Speaker 2: something closer or shorter that you can really sink your
• 35:31
  Speaker 2: teeth into. Because that's where the good stuff happens. You know,
• 35:33
  Speaker 2: take your time, talk to the locals, like take that
• 35:36
  Speaker 2: extra detour because it's totally going to be worth it.
• 35:38
  Speaker 2: Don't feel like you have to like call ass from
• 35:40
  Speaker 2: point A to point B and you know, gloss over
• 35:43
  Speaker 2: some of the real gems of your trip.
• 35:46
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 35:46
  Speaker 1: No, that's such wonderful advice. And we've heard that more
• 35:49
  Speaker 1: often than not on this podcast when we interview someone.
• 35:52
  Speaker 1: Is just the reminder to go and that we learn
• 35:55
  Speaker 1: along the way that you can have all you can
• 35:58
  Speaker 1: have the whole tur tech catalog, but into so you
• 36:00
  Speaker 1: go and drop the bike the first time, or get
• 36:02
  Speaker 1: it scratched or get lost. I mean, that's how we learn.
• 36:05
  Speaker 1: Your stories of primitive skills reinforces the fact that human
• 36:11
  Speaker 1: beings have been crossing the planet for millennia without any
• 36:15
  Speaker 1: of that stuff, So it is possible to do that
• 36:19
  Speaker 1: in the simplest form. I actually remember reading about an
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: expedition called the Goliath Expedition, and it was a British
• 36:26
  Speaker 1: soldier that it had some pretty traumatic experiences in the
• 36:29
  Speaker 1: military and he decided to walk around the world. So
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: he left I think USHWAYA and he walked all the
• 36:35
  Speaker 1: way up the full length of South America, walked across,
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: put himself in disguise, and walked across the Dairien Gap,
• 36:41
  Speaker 1: and then walked the full length of North America all
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: the way up through Alaska to the Bearing Straight. And
• 36:47
  Speaker 1: then he waited until the Bearing Straight rose, and then
• 36:50
  Speaker 1: he walked across the Bearing Straight. And what got him
• 36:53
  Speaker 1: in trouble is, you know, there's a lot of polar
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: bear up there. So he had a firearm with him,
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: and the Russians caught it. He didn't have the right documentation,
• 37:01
  Speaker 1: Like he had a visa to go into Russia, but
• 37:04
  Speaker 1: like he didn't have permission to like walk across the
• 37:07
  Speaker 1: Bearing Straight into like no man's land, So he got caught.
• 37:11
  Speaker 1: And I think he spent some time in a Russian
• 37:14
  Speaker 1: equivalent of a goolag. But it was just I remember
• 37:17
  Speaker 1: reading about it years ago. And if you think about
• 37:20
  Speaker 1: he experienced fractally all of these places, like he was
• 37:24
  Speaker 1: going so slow. That walking is the most pure form
• 37:27
  Speaker 1: of travel because it's recognizable to any other human in
• 37:30
  Speaker 1: the planet of like we all walk around and it
• 37:33
  Speaker 1: doesn't carry with it any misgivings or any sense of pretension.
• 37:37
  Speaker 1: It's I'm just walking, and so I think people tend
• 37:41
  Speaker 1: to invite you in their home and you're seeing things
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: at a much slower pace. I've always wanted to talk
• 37:46
  Speaker 1: to that guy, and maybe there's a way that we
• 37:48
  Speaker 1: can have him on the podcast. But it's just such
• 37:50
  Speaker 1: a fascinating story of just what you've described about that
• 37:53
  Speaker 1: self reliance at slowing down, at not waiting to go
• 37:57
  Speaker 1: until you've got all the things like he left with
• 37:59
  Speaker 1: basically thing. So it's a pretty impressive thing if you
• 38:02
  Speaker 1: look at it and it's totally doable.
• 38:03
  Speaker 2: That is such a great story.
• 38:05
  Speaker 1: Yeah, Geliah Goliath Expedition. It's been a long time since
• 38:08
  Speaker 1: I've seen anything on it. I think he stalled out,
• 38:10
  Speaker 1: but it would have been quite the experience. Super cool
• 38:13
  Speaker 1: I finished it, Yeah, super cool. I mean maybe it
• 38:15
  Speaker 1: is finished.
• 38:15
  Speaker 2: Maybe that's maybe that's where that's the hero's journey, right.
• 38:20
  Speaker 1: That is so cool, no question, and I suspected it
• 38:23
  Speaker 1: changed him in a lot of ways too. I also
• 38:25
  Speaker 1: like to ask on the podcast some of your favorite books,
• 38:30
  Speaker 1: some of the books that you've read that you found
• 38:32
  Speaker 1: were really defining for you.
• 38:34
  Speaker 2: Gosh, books is always a challenge. I read like I'm
• 38:37
  Speaker 2: like a binge reader, like, I'll read a ton of
• 38:40
  Speaker 2: books and then I won't read for months. So I'll
• 38:42
  Speaker 2: tell you what's on my bookshelf right now next to
• 38:45
  Speaker 2: my bed is a book called Creative Authenticity, which is
• 38:49
  Speaker 2: a really cool little book. I took down the author's
• 38:51
  Speaker 2: name so that I could remember it Ian Roberts. He's
• 38:55
  Speaker 2: he's a painter and he writes these little vignettes, these
• 38:59
  Speaker 2: little gems about kind of discovering the creative spirit through
• 39:03
  Speaker 2: kind of through the lens of being a painter. But
• 39:04
  Speaker 2: you can apply it to your photography or you're writing
• 39:06
  Speaker 2: or whatever it is. And it's just a lovely little
• 39:09
  Speaker 2: book and you can just read one and then you know,
• 39:11
  Speaker 2: drift off to sleep with something really awesome and inspiring
• 39:14
  Speaker 2: in your mind. And then I was just sent a
• 39:17
  Speaker 2: copy of the book ghost Rider by Neil Pert, who
• 39:21
  Speaker 2: was like part of the band Rush, and I just
• 39:24
  Speaker 2: dug into it and it was recommended by somebody I
• 39:26
  Speaker 2: know through the Internet sphere and he was like, I
• 39:31
  Speaker 2: send this to all of my motorcycle riding friends, So
• 39:34
  Speaker 2: here's a copy for you and Sterling to read. And
• 39:36
  Speaker 2: I just started in on it and it's delicious. It's like,
• 39:38
  Speaker 2: really well written. It comes from a place of deep
• 39:41
  Speaker 2: pain and sorrow and the process of going on that
• 39:45
  Speaker 2: long motorcycle ride as an active healing, as an act
• 39:49
  Speaker 2: of meditation, kind of some of that stuff we were
• 39:51
  Speaker 2: talking about before, and I just launched in on it.
• 39:54
  Speaker 2: So I'm really excited about that book.
• 39:56
  Speaker 1: Those are both totally new and great recommendation. I appreciate
• 39:59
  Speaker 1: you sharing that. If people want to find out more
• 40:02
  Speaker 1: about you, where do they find you on the interwebs?
• 40:05
  Speaker 1: Where do they find all these authentic EVA experiences.
• 40:08
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm pretty easy to hunt down. My website is
• 40:13
  Speaker 2: EVA rupert dot com. I'm on Instagram as August EVA
• 40:17
  Speaker 2: and I it's like August like the month, and Eva
• 40:20
  Speaker 2: like my name all one word. I'm pretty scarce on
• 40:23
  Speaker 2: the rest of social media. I try not to engage
• 40:25
  Speaker 2: much in the Facebook Twitter thing. I probably have accounts there,
• 40:30
  Speaker 2: But find me, find me on my website, shoot me
• 40:32
  Speaker 2: an email, find me on Instagram, or just come see
• 40:35
  Speaker 2: us down in Bisbee at the Chanquill Motel.
• 40:37
  Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly, and then likely see you at the next
• 40:41
  Speaker 1: Overland Expo, which I think the next one that's coming
• 40:43
  Speaker 1: up is the Colorado event.
• 40:45
  Speaker 3: Is that right?
• 40:45
  Speaker 2: Yeah, which is super exciting. So this at the end
• 40:48
  Speaker 2: of August in Loveland, Colorado. This is a brand new
• 40:51
  Speaker 2: show for us in a really great location. You know,
• 40:54
  Speaker 2: I'm particularly fond of it because I used to live
• 40:56
  Speaker 2: in Colorado and it's just a stone's throw from where
• 40:58
  Speaker 2: I lived in Estes Park. But it's going to be
• 41:00
  Speaker 2: a ton of fun. You know, basically the first event
• 41:03
  Speaker 2: in what a year, a year and a half. It's
• 41:07
  Speaker 2: been a long time, and so I'm really looking forward
• 41:09
  Speaker 2: to it because of the community. Like that's what that
• 41:12
  Speaker 2: whole show is about. Seeing your friends that you only
• 41:14
  Speaker 2: see once or twice a year, and you know, connecting
• 41:16
  Speaker 2: with people and you know, just getting all that fresh inspiration.
• 41:19
  Speaker 2: So I'm really excited. I'm so excited for all the
• 41:21
  Speaker 2: great folks to come in for that, and it's going
• 41:23
  Speaker 2: to be a ton of fun. If you really do
• 41:25
  Speaker 2: want to stall out your trip in favor of like
• 41:27
  Speaker 2: putting farkles on your motorcycle, that's the place to go
• 41:29
  Speaker 2: and do it. You can buy all the things, they're
• 41:33
  Speaker 2: all the great classes. So it's going to be a blasts.
• 41:35
  Speaker 2: It's great. We're working hard. We're definitely in crunch times.
• 41:39
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I can see that that's well, but it's so
• 41:41
  Speaker 1: nice to see that that event is coming back into play.
• 41:44
  Speaker 1: So that's really that's really wonderful totally, and I thank
• 41:47
  Speaker 1: you so much Eva for being on the podcast and
• 41:50
  Speaker 1: being such an inspiration. I do remember distinctly our first
• 41:54
  Speaker 1: meeting actually here at the offices. I think we determined
• 41:57
  Speaker 1: it was probably twenty twelve, twenty thirteen, something like that,
• 42:00
  Speaker 1: or maybe even earlier than that, but it was a
• 42:01
  Speaker 1: long time ago, and you were talking about writing ninety
• 42:05
  Speaker 1: CC motorcycles across Arizona, and we were grateful to have
• 42:09
  Speaker 1: the chance to participate in that with you and to
• 42:12
  Speaker 1: support you in that way. And ever since then, you
• 42:14
  Speaker 1: have been an inspiration to so many people in the community,
• 42:17
  Speaker 1: and you and Sterling both are doing amazing work that
• 42:20
  Speaker 1: I think defines this new level of authenticity that I
• 42:23
  Speaker 1: think is so important for all of us to embrace.
• 42:25
  Speaker 3: So thank you so much for being on the podcast.
• 42:28
  Speaker 2: Scott. It is such an honor. Thank you so much
• 42:30
  Speaker 2: for all the inspiration that you've brought to my life
• 42:32
  Speaker 2: and everything you guys are doing here at Overlin Journal.
• 42:34
  Speaker 2: It's really cool, it's really fun, and I'm so proud
• 42:38
  Speaker 2: to be a part of this community.
• 42:39
  Speaker 1: Yeah awesome, and for all that are listening, we thank
• 42:41
  Speaker 1: you so much for being a part of the podcast
• 42:43
  Speaker 1: as well. You can find out more information about the
• 42:46
  Speaker 1: podcast on Instagram at Overland Journal. You can reach out
• 42:50
  Speaker 1: to me directly at Scott dot a dot Brady on
• 42:53
  Speaker 1: Instagram as well if you've got any questions that you
• 42:55
  Speaker 1: would like to add to an upcoming Ask Me Anything episode,
• 42:58
  Speaker 1: which we're going to have debut in the next few weeks.
• 43:01
  Speaker 1: So thank you all for listening and we'll talk to
• 43:03
  Speaker 1: you next time.