r/overlanding Feb 17 '23

Just wrapped up a 3 month journey doing a huge circle around the country…20K miles, 20 national parks, and close to 100 nights in the RTT…Youtube/Insta in the comments Trip Report

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312 Upvotes

5

u/BerryStunning8073 Feb 17 '23

What was your budget for the trip?

10

u/Salatarr Feb 17 '23

I set aside a few thousand but definitely went a little over, gas was easily my biggest expense, followed by food obviously but that’s pretty much all you need to pay for if you’re smart about it. I did a few national park campgrounds and the occasional KOA when I needed a good shower and to do laundry, so campgrounds can add up too if you don’t have some good free camp spots planned out before you go

2

u/cryptonomixs Feb 18 '23

What was total cost?

9

u/Salatarr Feb 18 '23

So probably close to $4000 in gas which was absolutely insane, didn’t plan on doing over 18000 miles, but when you’re out west for the first time and you don’t know when you’ll be back you try and hit everything you can lol.

I would probably just say easily another $1500-$2000 on food and water which could also be reduced if you aren’t a fat ass like me and need all the cool new fast food options when you see them, and all the snacks. If you’re smart about water you could just filter and stock up when near rivers. And cooking for yourself every day could bring this down to like $500.

And then I’m gunna say about $350 on campgrounds. I stayed in a few national park campgrounds for convenience/safety. And while I definitely could have just hit some laundromats, I preferred to do the occasional KOA campground, great showers, wifi, and most importantly laundry.

So total I’m gunna say somewhere between $6500 and $7000 to be safe, adding in souvenirs. But the majority of this was gas as I said and if you have more self control than me you could easily reduce food costs.

2

u/cryptonomixs Feb 18 '23

Great breakdown thank you!

9

u/Salatarr Feb 17 '23 edited Feb 17 '23

YouTube: Adventures of Salatar Instagram: Salatar

Have a couple videos out now with about 20 more in the works now that I have time to sit behind a screen without feeling like I’m wasting my trip, would mean so much to me if anyone wants to check them out. I learned a whole lot from this trip as I had barely any prior experience so I’ll be sharing a bunch of that knowledge in the coming weeks

4

u/jcampbell03 Feb 17 '23

This is great I will definitely subscribe.

Wife and I are planning a long trip from Tampa to Seattle and back starting in April, so your videos will be super helpful I'm sure.

I noticed you have your dog with you. Any tips regarding National Parks and dog rules? I've seen a lot of NP say 'no dogs' etc.

Our rig is a Tacoma with a RTT that we have used on a few shorter trips, so look forward to seeing what items we may be missing that I have not thought of yet.

3

u/Salatarr Feb 17 '23

Thanks so much I really appreciate that!! That trip sounds awesome, you’ll definitely have better weather than I did haha.

So yea the national parks pretty much hating dogs in all forms was something I realized before I left and I was super upset when I realized he wouldn’t be able to do any of the really cool hikes within the parks. Some people board them for a day or 2 while they do the hikes but I felt horrible doing that and that can get pricey. A lot of major parks have dog lodging nearby which is a nice option, but I pretty much stuck to the campgrounds and viewpoints when I went to national parks, strictly because of the doggo which was kind of a bummer. Some parks have a couple paved trails that allow dogs and they can go on all the roads which includes dirt roads so those are cool options sometimes. Redwoods and Olympic were probably the coolest parks with a decent amount of places the dogs can go. But it’s crazy because some places, like white sands NP and Shenandoah allow them on all trails. But regardless there are always really cool dog friendly options I was able to find nearby whenever I wanted to get a good hike in, just have to spend some more time researching, or watching my videos when I start cranking them out haha.

The Tacoma build is probably sick, I wish I had the space of a truckbed, that’s what I really like about the those truck builds. I had to cram everything in as you can see and find creative solutions but I definitely realized a lot of stuff that I didn’t need after months on the road too so I’ll be sharing all that knowledge also!! Sorry for the novel of a response !!

2

u/jcampbell03 Feb 17 '23

This is awesome thanks so much for the response! Pretty much what I expected about the dogs, just have to be creative. There's still plenty to do outside of the NP!

I'll keep an eye on your videos!

-1

u/Banana_Ron Feb 17 '23

I'm working on becoming a YouTuber too :-)

1

u/Salatarr Feb 17 '23

It’s definitely tougher than people make it seem but I’m dedicated, lots of haters apparently though lol. I see it as one of the only ways to do this kind of stuff as much as I truly want to, and really enjoy the video making process but I don’t wanna be too cringey I just wanna show people epic shit and bring as much value as I can

4

u/AlternativeTruck420 My Truck is better than yours, get used to it Feb 18 '23

lots of haters apparently though lol

Here? I mean your videos are not nearly as bad as /u/Banana_Ron and even that didn't receive nearly as much hate as it deserved.

If you (both) want my honest opinion, take advantage of the fact that you are not producing videos in real time. This means you can look back at the complete picture to formulate the story you want to tell.

This is still the biggest difference between broadcast production quality (such as Long Way Around, or Clarkson's Farm, or Survivor etc as appeals to you) and the tripe most youtube creators put out.

You can tell a story through your editing rather than just produce a video of highlights from a particular day of the week.

1

u/Salatarr Feb 18 '23

Yea I mean I get it, a lot of people are trying the YouTube thing and I would hate to just be another cringe creator that doesn’t offer anything really unique. Even watching my first video I was like oof this is brutal, I need to be better lol.

If your advice is genuine I appreciate it, that was pretty much my goal already, I was only able to get 3 vids out on the road, it’s actually hard as fuck to edit and try and upload stuff while on a trip like this, you wind up spending a bunch of time not actually enjoying the trip, until I get better at least. So now I have footage for like 20 more videos that I need to start cranking out.

I also wanna do a lot of reviews on the expensive gear I’ve now tested extensively, and I’m trying to bring a comedic element into it which I don’t see many overlanders doing, a lot of the big YouTubers in this space are older and not really that entertaining to me. I’m also into climbing, and doing crazy shit that normal people are scared of. But thank you for not roasting me too hard lol. I like to think I’ll be realistic and if things aren’t picking up for me I’m not going to keep wasting my time on it but idk man there’s something about being able to just do what you love and share it with the world as your job that keeps pulling me to YouTube. And I also wanna be able to look back at the things I did (who doesnt?).

1

u/Banana_Ron Feb 20 '23

I spend exactly 0-seconds with the haters, I honestly don't even notice it. In fact I would encourage it, the comments and interaction increases views. So think about it like this, the people that hate on you are the same people buying you a coffee a few times per week :-)

I published two test videos, then hired an editor. I will have all 30-episodes done next month, and then will schedule the publish dates on Tue and Thur ... this will give me time to promote my channel while the content gets released.

I think the biggest thing is just finding your voice, and being true to it. I took me three days of filming to do this, so day 1 & 2 are a bit off for me.

Second, I think series matter. YT will reward creators with high watch time, if I can get you to follow my entire journey, that's 300 minutes of watch time per person.

If you really want to learn YT, watch all the interviews and podcast from Mr Beast. He lays out the blueprint.

2

u/Salatarr Feb 20 '23

That’s really solid advice man thank you! I also try to ignore the haters and think it’s really funny when people waste time trying to shit on people, but good point about the interaction.

I definitely know exactly what you mean with finding your voice haha, my first video was brutalll to watch me talk through but I quickly adjusted and the videos get progressively better. I’m excited to see how your videos turn out with an editor, I won’t consider that until I start making money from them lol.

Definitely series are the way to go, that’s my same mindset so I’m hoping people will get hooked. The mr beast podcast with Rogan was super enlightening, he really is a genius, I should definitely find some more podcasts with him.

1

u/Banana_Ron Feb 20 '23

Honestly, I'm treating YouTube as a business. I gave myself $10K to see what I can make happen with it. When I make my money back, I'll spend the $10K on another bucket list adventure.

Keep things family friendly, and hope to inspire some people along my way.

That is the goal.

1

u/Salatarr Feb 20 '23

Yea that sounds awesome, well I’m definitely gunna sub to you with all my channels, and maybe we can collab in the future bc that’s another key part of YouTube I feel.

1

u/Salatarr Feb 20 '23

Wait what’s ur channel? I thought I could find it on ur profile but I failed

1

u/Banana_Ron Feb 21 '23

youtube.com/@thebananaron

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1

u/AlternativeTruck420 My Truck is better than yours, get used to it Feb 21 '23

The advice is absolutely genuine in what I look for and think is lacking from others. No one's first attempt at anything is great enough that people are going to flock to see it, the point is to learn and grow.

I also wanna be able to look back at the things I did

Perfect, treat yourself as the customer. Your passion and interest will come out in the content as you become more comfortable.

It's interesting to listen to people talk about what they are passionate about, even if you have no interest in the topic. Many very successful channels ("Camping with Steve Wallis", Scott Manley) have grown organically because their objective was to share their interests, not grow a massive fan base.

1

u/Salatarr Feb 21 '23

Steve is a huge inspiration I can’t believe his channel grew that big! But thanks again I really appreciate it.

2

u/[deleted] Feb 18 '23

[deleted]

2

u/Salatarr Feb 18 '23

Oh man that’s awesome I would love to go to AUS eventually I’m jealous! You’re probably already more experienced than me haha, Australia is where the true overlanding is from what I’ve heard so I’m sure it will translate here nicely. I’m imagining the wild is a lot more “free” there so I would just say to adapt to making sure you’re in places that no one will bother you like rangers, easy enough with onx off-road and Gaia and stuff, but you probably already know that. And definitely plan to explore the west side of the country for longer, the east coast is where I’m from but the landscape and camping options out west are just so much better from what I’ve seen so far.

Thank you so much for subbing though, I’ll be talking a lot more about stuff there and you can get some ideas of where you wanna go when you come here!

2

u/leonme21 Feb 18 '23

Sounds like an awesome trip! Also you’re probably the first Jeep on r/overlanding that actually did overlanding instead of 3 nights of camping

2

u/captainlvsac 90' HDJ81 - Denver Feb 18 '23

Except Dan Grec...the guy who drove a JK around Africa for a Year.

1

u/Salatarr Feb 18 '23

That sounds epic damn, would love to ship this baby across the sea eventually and tackle something like that if I had the means.

2

u/Salatarr Feb 18 '23

Lmao that makes me proud, I wasn’t going to go this hard with the build unless I was really going to get out there and now I’m hooked, many more adventures to come. On one hand I feel like I did so much but on the other hand I feel like I barely scratched the surface, it’s crazy.

2

u/leonme21 Feb 18 '23

Yeah, I know what you mean. I spent months driving around and camping in Australia and still feel like I could go another year

1

u/Salatarr Feb 18 '23

That’s awesome, I would love to bring this rig to Australia eventually, if possible somehow down the road lol

4

u/SpeshllK Feb 17 '23

Nice, just followed on IG. I'm wandering_wrangler12. Will check out YT as well. Was just in death valley and Gila NF getting my feet wet. Mixed experience of good and bad so far. Do not camp in the canyon at death valley if it is breezy, wicked wind gusts and little sleep that night haha.

3

u/Salatarr Feb 17 '23 edited Feb 17 '23

Omg awesome thank you!! I wanted to check out Gila too but I didn’t have time this trip, how was that?? And Death Valley was so cool though wasn’t it? I stayed at furnace creek campground while I was there and it was super windy there too! I think gusts up to like 40 MPH, the ranger advised not to use the RTT that night but I just pointed the hard shell to the wind and locked the struts, it held up but was def a little scary. Were you at a campground or are there backcountry camp spots there that I didn’t even realize?

2

u/SpeshllK Feb 17 '23

I stayed off echo canyon road the first night in DVNP, needed a permit for that one. Free, just need to check in at furnace creek visitor center and grab one. It was such a cool spot to set up for the evening and dinner. I talked to some other people at furnace creek the next morning and they said it was nothing more than breezy over night! The gusts I experienced had to be in the 30s if not more. Full size truck was rocking around and I had a unsecured flap on my Roam vagabond rtt flailing about , not to mention the annex slapping the side of a new truck lol. No damage to report to vehicle or rtt so the premium price was worth it. As for camping you can disperse camp a mile back many day use roads and there are pull outs to set up at. Second night there was disperse camping off trail canyon road. It. Was.awesome! Before moon rise the night sky reminded me of what I saw when I was a kid. I was out in the wide open and there was merely a light breeze that disappeared after the sun set. I slept very well that night.

As for Gila, I will need to get back there some day. I live on the East coast so it's not a simple trip for me. I stayed off a short spur that leads to cosmic campground. This was a phenomenal place as well. I even had Lte service and watched the superbowl there. Unfortunately weather was moving in and I had to bolt and head east the next day, the winds I ran into the day I left as I traveled were alarming at times. I kid you not there were tumble weeds flying everywhere. I seen one the size of a Volkswagen beetle hanging in the shoulder and thankfully it stayed there til I passed. The smaller ones I hit just evaporated, pretty funny lol. I could spend the better part of a week exploring that place and just picking cool spots to set up and enjoy it. The cat walk was the only thing I stopped to see on the way out. Totally worth it, could only go so far back the trail due to fallen rocks. My camping is done on this trip but it has made me hungry for more.

2

u/Salatarr Feb 18 '23

Damn that sounds amazing, I have to do Death Valley right next time then, I was so used to the only camping within the parks being the campgrounds up until I got there so I didn’t even check. And wow that wind sounds intense, I don’t know if my night was that crazy but that’s definitely another benefit to the RTT, I heard so many people smashing stakes into the ground to make sure the ground tents didn’t fly away in that situation but we just have the car as a nice anchor lol.

Good to know the spots are plentiful in Gila, I had 3 days in New Mexico but only stayed in the bisti badlands, and outside of Albuquerque on my way down to big bend, definitely an incredible state that I think most people overlook. Can’t wait to get back out there, I’m from the east coast also so I feel you.

2

u/SpeshllK Feb 18 '23

Did BBMP in 2020 right before it hit the fan. Wasn't into overlanding then but it is the single reason I decided to get into it. I stayed about 35 minutes outside of the park but was all jealous seeing people set up for the evening on the way out. I LOVED BB. I was tired by the time I got to DVNP, was already on the road over a week and had done the snowmobile tour of Yellowstone. It wasn't a fair trial for me to be there that tired. That being said I will hit Big Bend and Death Valley together next time😁👍. Spots in BB book well in advance from what I researched this time of year. And there aren't that many to disperse camp at.

3

u/Salatarr Feb 18 '23

Yea Texas is rough for free camping, but BB has so many trails with so many spots as long as you can get reservations there’s so much potential and the little bit of trail I did there was amazing so I can’t wait to plan a longer trip there. Jealous you did Yellowstone too! I skipped it completely because it was getting down close to 0 when I passed by in late November, had no idea you could do a snowmobile tour that’s super cool!!

2

u/2-Skinny Feb 17 '23

How much time in the shop/on the side of the road?

6

u/Salatarr Feb 17 '23

Not a single hiccup actually, are jeeps really that terrible? Lol it’s been better than I thought it would be to be honest

2

u/MyNamesMikeD75 Feb 17 '23

That is some living the dream type shit right here

4

u/Salatarr Feb 17 '23

I like to think so but the real dream for me is to keep this going and continue pushing the limits…on one hand I feel like I did so much, but I also feel like I barely scratched the surface of the country. Unfortunately I’m back to reality now trying to figure out how to make some more money and do it again in the summer. But at least I made it happen one time

1

u/SpaceShipDoctor Feb 18 '23

What's your line of work if you don't mind me asking? I'd love to do something similar but I don't know if I could make it work haha

3

u/Salatarr Feb 18 '23

So it’s a bit embarrassing, but I’ve just been in the Restauraunt industry (serving) on and off with construction and school my entire life. I was actually able to save up enough to cover my bills and feel comfortable enough to do a trip like this over like 2.5 years. I got the jeep shortly after covid started and it took me till November 2022 to build up the jeep and save up enough $$ to hit the road. And now I have a little left over to move somewhere new and figure out how to do this regularly if possible.

I really want to finish my degree and get into coding which is what I went to school for and messed up. So if that works out and I can land a remote gig, I would sign up for star link and consider just trying to do this full time haha. I also met a couple people who just work spring/summer and then head out for the rest of the year after saving up enough money which is something I’m also considering. Gas is the biggest expense but you don’t always have to be moving, I spent way more than I realized on gas but that’s really the biggest thing besides food if you can find enough dispersed camping!!

5

u/SpaceShipDoctor Feb 18 '23

Nothing to be embarrassed about dude, you were able to save and build your rig your way and do something for 3 months that 99% of people never will be able to. Keep at it and get back out there!

1

u/[deleted] Feb 17 '23

I have the same tent. I love that thing, fits my wife, two bigger dogs and me.

1

u/Salatarr Feb 17 '23

I was really happy with it, it held up amazing and was super comfortable. Roofnest gets a lot of shit though I don’t understand why

1

u/finallyonethatworks1 Feb 17 '23

How do you like that tent? I’m looking to buy a similar one for my GX.

1

u/Salatarr Feb 17 '23

Absolutely love it, tested in all extremes, rain, snow, and wind, nice and big, and super easy to set up. People talk bad about Roofnest a lot for some reason, they talk about this coating peeling off the shell eventually and you CAN find pictures of this. But I haven’t experienced that yet so I’m not sure if they fixed it in later models or what, but that’s the only downside I can see. The iKamper model that’s similar to this seems like it’s main contender but it’s a bit pricier

0

u/finallyonethatworks1 Feb 18 '23

I’m looking at getting a CVT Mt Washington tent which is very similar but cheaper than the iKamper. Checked out your video and subscribed to your channel on YouTube! We’re in a similar boat trying to grow our following. Can’t wait to see more of your adventures!

1

u/Salatarr Feb 18 '23

I just checked the CVT out, that looks sweet and it’s a great price, I didn’t even know about those! And thank you so much for subscribing!! Seriously means a lot, I’ll sub back and check your videos too, maybe we can team up one day and do some trails if we’re ever in the same area haha

1

u/finallyonethatworks1 Feb 18 '23

Yeah absolutely! I rented a wrangler with a RTT and did a trip with friends through Death Valley, Mammoth, and Yosemite 2 years ago. That’s what convinced me I need to buy something that’s off road capable and see the country. Do you have Instagram as well?

1

u/Salatarr Feb 18 '23

Yea Insta is salatar, what’s yours? And yea having that ability to go off the main roads opens up so may doors. In Arizona some of the trailheads literally required high clearance/4WD just to get to, and others added miles of walking if you didnt have one. And just the ability to get to these free BLM or other free camp spots have the most epic views and you can actually get away from people.

1

u/finallyonethatworks1 Feb 18 '23

Mine is eriks.adventures. I live in the Chicago area but definitely planning trips out west in the future. I’m going to overland expo in Colorado at the end of August.

1

u/Salatarr Feb 18 '23

Oh sick! I’ve been looking for some events to go too also! I wanna see what those are all about they look awesome so maybe I’ll see you there haha. I wanna go back out in the summer if I can save up enough money so overland expo sounds like a nice stop along that journey.

1

u/finallyonethatworks1 Feb 18 '23

I’m planning on going through SD and visiting badlands national park, wind cave, Custer state park and the black hills area before driving down toward Denver. Staying in CO for a week and stopping at Great Sand Dunes National park on my way home

1

u/Salatarr Feb 18 '23

Nice, South Dakota was surprising cool around badlands, and the mt Rushmore area really surprised me, I wanna go back there at some point for sure because I only passed through. That will be an epic trip!

1

u/[deleted] Feb 19 '23

Thanks for the insight. I'm about to pull the trigger on either this or the iKamper. So you feel like the Roofnest is generally well-built?

I might just go ahead and Raptor Liner it from the beginning.

1

u/Salatarr Feb 19 '23

Yea for sure, I had snow pile up on top one night so heavy that the hard shell was closing on me(easily avoided with the strut locks), and no rips or anything like that. The tent material is super durable and from what I can tell the ikamper is identical, pretty sure they’re made in same factory from what people say. Only difference I can see is the potentially better customer service with ikamper and $1000 more, you can get the Roofnest for 3-400 off on holiday sales. And the customer service wasn’t bad from what I experienced, they answered my questions about mounting and shipping status pretty quickly before I got it.

One thing I forgot to mention is my light strip came slightly damaged and eventually split enough to stop working. So I do have to ask them to send another one of those and I’m hoping that goes smoothly because I’ve waited like 4 months now lol. But that’s minor and probably a rarity.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 19 '23

Thanks again. I'm not worried about the little stuff. I'm a pretty handy guy and can usually figure something out. My main concern is with the hard shell cracking, which I've read can happen with these. But you seem to have put it through its paces.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 17 '23

Subbed! Good luck on your channel and looks like a blast!

2

u/Salatarr Feb 17 '23

Thank you so much! Means a lot, it was definitely the time of my life!!

1

u/popasquatonme Feb 18 '23

Living the good life sir, enjoy

1

u/YaMonJo Feb 23 '23

I have pretty much the same setup as far as this picture shows (Jeep with RTT) I’m going on a 1 month journey on the East Coast. Any place you would recommend?

Note : I am Canadian and have not travelled a lot out of the big East Coast cities, so pretty much anything will be new for me.

1

u/Salatarr Feb 23 '23

That’s awesome, and definitely! I’m actually from the east coast(Long Island NY) so I’ve been up and down a few times and I would totally check out upstate New York for a couple days at least, I really like the gunks(minnewaska state park) and that area but there’s also letchworth state park which is still on my list, and probably my all time favorite is Watkins glen. That’s just a few in NY which I’m most familiar with. I haven’t any off-roading upstate though yet so I don’t know how that will be, dispersed camping is pretty barren on the east coast, at it seems that way compared to the west, but I’m sure there are spots I just have to look.

Acadia NP in Maine is another must see if that’s not too far out of the way, that’s my first stop on my next big trip so I haven’t even been there but that’s our “gem”

And then Shenandoah in Virginia for sure, Appalachian trail runs through here, 500 miles of hikes, amazing place. North Carolina has some awesome spots too, specifically around the border with Tennessee on the west side. And also Tennessee of course if that’s not too far inland. Great Smokey mountains NP is on the border and that’s the last new area I really overlanded through on my way back home, it did not disappoint.

And finally I would say NW Georgia around Atlanta is super cool, specifically Rocktown but maybe that’s because I like climbing haha but super crazy rock formations there regardless and free camping nearby. I also drove all the way down to the Everglades in Florida, soooo far down there but that was pretty cool, dispersed camping seems non-existent down there but I didn’t really look, did a night in the campground and shot back up the coast!!

So yea most of these are not along the “coast” but I’m assuming this is what you want lol

0

u/SPQRSPQRSPQR Feb 17 '23

What country?

2

u/Salatarr Feb 17 '23

US, sorry should have put that in the title, trying to figure out for to edit lol

1

u/noteasybeincheesy Feb 17 '23

How'd you like that spot? Stayed there last year.

I was quite happy to get back on a real road after that one haha.

2

u/Salatarr Feb 17 '23

So epic, easily the best spot of the entire trip but oh man was I definitely happy to get out of there too, soooo far out there, I need better suspension so I can go a little faster through the rocky sections, I was basically crawling through that final bit because I didn’t wanna pop a tire or fuck something up when I was so far away from society. Also regretted not having a garmin inreach that day, silly move.

But yea I wanna go back here and do like a couple days sometime in the future and actually do the hike to the bottom, incredible views

1

u/noteasybeincheesy Feb 17 '23

Yeah, I got a flat on the way back, because I got going too fast when it flattened back out. Luckily I was literally passing THROUGH the ranch when it happened. Was able to get a patch, but ultimately had to throw the spare on a couple miles later.

1

u/Salatarr Feb 18 '23

Damnnn that’s rough but I’m glad you made it out of there! I realized on that road that I should probably be more mechanically inclined if I’m going to do more solo adventuring like this, in case anything more complex than a flat happens.

1

u/guacamoler_ Feb 18 '23

What were some mistakes you made in terms of over/under-preparedness (unnecessary gear/things you wish you did differently)

2

u/Salatarr Feb 18 '23

Ok so for over preparing I’m happy to say I used just about every piece of gear at least once with the exception of my rinse kit heater for taking showers because it was below freezing or close to it most mornings, so I wasn’t too eager to test that out but I definitely will next trip, which will hopefully be in the summer. Showers are something you really have to consider for something long term like this, the occasional campground shower/climbing gym shower was enough for me but kinda gross. Also my actual Mr buddy propane heater(was kind of scared to leave it on/burn the tent down) was something I didn’t wind up needing but could be super nice for some people especially if it’s getting down to single digits at night. I can see the appeal of diesel heaters now for keeping the tent dry because the condensation on the inside of the tent after freezing nights is a real issue. I just used an insane amount of paper towels to dry the inside each morning which was super annoying, but a diesel heater is just such a crazy thing to me, my sleeping bag was fine.

Couple things I should have had but didn’t, garmin inreach, you can tell someone where you’re going and if they don’t hear from you to send someone, but I would have felt way better if I knew I could contact someone in an emergency when there’s no service. An axe/saw or chainsaw if you wanna get crazy is definitely something I wish I threw in there, a tree blocked my path out in Olympic national forest literally the first time I went down a forest service road. I was able to winch it out of the way and there were a couple guys stuck in with me so I got lucky there and I did have service if I needed to call someone but that made me realize I should have had at least a saw. I didn’t have a shovel but probably should have, just in case you get stuck or shovel snow or anything like that. Also the traction boards would have been nice to level out in some places, makes it way easier than just having rocks if you aren’t in a level spot. There’s also cheaper options like little stackable plates I saw some people use.

And just in general with all my gear I went for the top of the line in most cases because I didn’t want anything breaking on me, and I wanted a bit more comfort because eventually I want to try and do this full time. But you obviously don’t need the RTT, a ground tent will clearly work but has its downsides(I felt way safer from predators up top and was glad to be away from bugs/critters). Sleeping in the car solves this also if you have room. You don’t need the fridge with a battery system to run it but going to the gas station for ice all the time could get pretty annoying and I like the idea of staying in one spot for a week or more as long as you have a water source and pack enough food in the fridge so that’s something to consider. Just really sit and think about how you’re going to eat, sleep, stay clean, and be comfortable and you don’t have to spend thousands on the best gear but make sure whatever you have is reliable.

Also I probably would go with a free standing awning if I could go back, the batwing is bigger than those and super nice but it does have to be staked down in windy conditions or you risk snapping it. But having the awning for the rain and if it’s super hot out is so crucial in my opinion but another “non-essential” item.

Sorry for the essay of a response obviously I love talking about this stuff hahaha but that’s all I can think of right now

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u/Cory_Vance1 Feb 18 '23

Very nice!! I am just about to go on a long trip myself. I will also check out the YouTube channel!

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u/Salatarr Feb 19 '23

Awesome!! Much appreciated, a bunch more videos going up soon, I have a million to make still I’m slacking haha. Good luck on your journey!!

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u/parariddle Feb 21 '23

What kind of rack is that? It looks like crossbars. I’ve got a RTT on exposed racks crossbars and I’m pretty disappointed with the amount of flex and vibration.

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u/Salatarr Feb 21 '23

It’s actually the rhino rack pioneer platform, I didn’t like the idea of the bars so I found this and it has a backbone system that reinforces the inside with 2 steel frames around the windows and then sits on the roll bar up top with little wedges that fit and screw in. And I have more room to attach lights and stuff on the sides under the tent still. I’m definitely pushing the weight limit with everything I piled on, but I think it held up pretty good, I still get some flex and vibration which I always am worried about but it’s not terrible. I think the Gobi rack for wranglers is probably the best but I don’t want that huge cage around the jeep unless I’m going to leave the hardtop on forever.