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S&YE210 - XTrek Alice
About this episode
Carter shares his deep connection with his 2018 Subaru Crosstrek, named Alice in tribute to his late great-grandmother. He discusses his journey from a commuter mindset to an enthusiast, detailing his rallycross experience, off-roading adventures, and various mods including a standout engraved billet shifter. Carter also reflects on Subaru community events like Subifest, his love for road trips, and how Subaru ownership has enriched his social life and personal growth. The episode blends heartfelt stories with practical insights on modifications, driving experiences, and the unique bond between driver and car.
Topics:
subaru crosstrek
car modifications
rallycross experience
off-roading
subaru community events
personal car stories
road trips
car enthusiast lifestyle
vehicle customization
car and owner connection
Carter joins us today to talk about his Subaru Crosstrek, the special dedication he made with his car, and his love of the community and rally.
Links from the show, links to sponsors and discount partners, and ways to support the podcast:
XTrek Alice
https://www.instagram.com/xtrek_alice
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On the website you will find all the episodes, reviews from Apple Podcast, the About page, and a place to purchase car decals to show your love for the podcast by adding a decal, which we know adds 5 HP to your Subaru!!
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Sponsors of the Podcast:
Subaru Gear
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Instagram:
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Website:
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Mele Design Firm
Use code Subie+You on select Rally Spec products and Subaru products to get 5% off your purchase!
Website:
New Crosstrek Battery Mount:
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Too Afraid to Ask
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Subaru WRX
"... same thing. Like I had, I'd always seen like the WRX hatch, which I, and the STI hatch, which I was li..."
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Jeep Commander
"...much hate for this, but it's definitely the pedal commander. Oh, why would you hate for that, man?"
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BMW M3
"... it a beginner trail, because I've seen a slammed M3 go up it, which I was just like, that's not appro..."
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Subaru Crosstrek
"one small thing with the Subaru Crosstrek for example can change so many people's lives"
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Hey, Subi family, this is Carter, and you can find me on Instagram at Xtrek underscore Alice.
You are listening to episode 210 of the Subi and you podcast.
Hello everybody, welcome back to another episode of the Subi and you podcast.
As you just heard, I have Carter on this episode to talk about his Subaru, which is what we're
all here for to talk about our Subaru's and among other things.
So I hope everybody has had a good weekend and if you're off today, that's awesome.
I'm off today.
Thankfully, I'm glad that I can have the day off and not have to go to work.
That's a little blessing there.
If this is your first time listening to this podcast because you're here to listen to Carter's
episode, thank you so much for stopping by.
And if you really liked this episode, please consider listening to all the others.
There's 209 other episodes and there are a bunch of bonus episodes sprinkled in.
So give it a listen.
You might find that there's somebody else that you follow on Instagram on this podcast.
If this is your 210th time being here listening to this podcast, thank you so much.
I really, really appreciate the OGs that have stuck around and gone through this journey
with me.
I really, really appreciate it.
And speaking of OGs, I have a sponsor for the podcast.
It's Accentric Designs and she was my very, very first guest and the one that helped
kick all of this off.
So let's hear a little bit from her.
The Subi and You podcast is brought to you by Accentric Designs.
For those of you who don't know, Accentric Designs is a small, community-driven business
that offers custom fit vinyl overlays for most Subaru models.
This includes various designs for the rear reflectors, tail lights, and side tail lights.
I also offer fun, decal designs like the popular fender stripes and stickers.
To find designs for your Subi, head on over to AccentricDesigns.com.
There's always more projects in the works, so be sure to follow at Accentric.designs
on Instagram.
As always, I'm very grateful and thankful for Accentric Designs for sponsoring the Subi
and You podcast.
If you are listening to this and you were a previous guest and you want an episode-specific
Subi and You podcast decal, she makes those for me.
You can go to her website, just type in episode decal and it'll come up with the spot
where you can go and get those decals.
And she has a few different colors and then you put in your episode number and
then she will make the decal for you and ship it out.
So thank you so much Accentric Designs for doing that and then also thank you for sponsoring
the podcast.
Before we go any further with anything else, I have to give a huge shout out to my buddy
Ben, who is the host of the Dirt Subis podcast.
His other Instagram account is LiftedSubarus.
So go check that out.
He's had quite a few guests on and some of the guests that I've had on my podcast.
So it's cool to see that he is out there making some content with episodes as well
and talking to some of the same people, but he's also had some people that I haven't
had on.
So it's just another great space to get some more Subaru content and another Subaru-themed
podcast.
So go check it out, Dirt Subis.
Alright, so this Friday, stay tuned because it's going to be another, it's going
to be a podcast week because I'm releasing the episode from Overland Expo in Loveland,
Colorado and I am really excited to put that episode out because I had a lot of fun out
there, made some great contacts, had some great conversations and it was just such
a fun event and I'm really excited to be going to Virginia as well.
But then I'm going to be sad because then the Overland Expo tour is over, but
if you're going to be in Virginia at Overland Expo and you're listening to this, please
come by and say hi.
I would love to either see you again if I've met you before.
If I haven't met you, that's my favorite part.
I love meeting people out there in the community as you know and that's just, that's like
such a huge part of all of this is we connect with all these people and then
when we get a chance to meet them in person, it just brings it all together.
So I'm really looking forward to that because I already know that I'm going to meet
some people for the first time out there and that is really, really exciting.
Also happy first day of September.
We're getting closer to the end of 2025, which is crazy.
The time is going by so quick, but what's really great about September is we have
Boxer Fest.
So for all of you that are going to be able to go to Boxer Fest, have a great
time.
I really, that was such a great event.
That was my first Subifest Boxer Fest experience and I, it was, that was also
where I met Bucky for the first time.
I met some people from SOA, met some people that I follow on Instagram that
were listening to the podcast way back in the early days because that was in
2021.
That was the year I started the podcast.
So it was so new back then and I was so shy going to the event.
I didn't really go to many people and talk to anyone and of course it would
be different now, but also what's going to be cool about Subifest is
there's a brand out there called Subimods.
I think you may have heard of them, but Subimods is going to be at
Boxer Fest and the remainder of the Subifest events.
They're also a sponsor of the podcast.
I really appreciate their sponsorship.
They also just did something with Adventure One and they did, looks
like they did a little photo shoot.
So be on the look for that.
Look out, be on the lookout for that because Subimods, it looks
like they're trying to position themselves to get more into the
off-road overland scene.
And I think that is huge.
I think that's super, super great for Subimods to be getting into that
platform and to be getting into that scene as well.
So thank you so much Subimods for sponsoring the Subi New Podcast.
Go check out their website because they do have products for all of
the off-road vehicles.
They also have memberships that you can sign up for where you can
get discounts on products.
So go check that out as well.
You can look on their website and it tells you a lot more information
about it, more than I can tell you.
But you can also go and listen to Ryan's episode or Nick's episode
where I had both of them on from Subimods.
And they talk about everything that Subimods is doing.
It's such a great company, great people.
And I feel very blessed, thankful to have had them on.
And of course I have to mention my other sponsor, which is Subaru
Gear. If you have not gone to the Subaru Gear website, go
check it out.
They have a lot of really great Subaru branded products.
They have also Subaru Motorsports USA.
They have Bucky Elastic.
Those are in that's in their collections.
They have stuff for kids.
They have stuff for your pets, for your home, for your car.
They have all sorts of things and they're always rotating items out.
So if you see something you really like, go get it now because it
may not be around forever.
I have a really, I have a green hat that I wear all the time.
That's my favorite hat ever and they don't sell it anymore.
So I'm glad I got it when I did.
So if you see something, go put it in your cart.
Use the code SUBIENU25 to get 20% off.
Heck, fill up your cart.
And if your total is over $50 after the 20% discount, you
automatically get free shipping, which is super great.
So thank you so much, Subaru Gear for sponsoring the
SUBIENU podcast.
And thank you for this great offer to the listeners.
And now that all of that is done, let's get into
this episode with Carter and hear all about his Subaru and his
Subaru journey.
Hey, welcome to the podcast.
We know we've been talking for a while, so it's good to have you on, man.
I'm so excited to be here.
Thank you for having me.
You're welcome.
You're welcome.
As you probably know, I'm sure you've been listening to the episodes, but
you know, the most important question I have to start off with, and that is
whether you prefer waffles or pancakes.
I, you know, I'm a big pancake person.
I think waffles, I think waffles and I like waffles, but there's a time
and a place I have a feeling because they're just a little too dry.
They have little pockets though for syrup, but it's still, I think
it's a little too dry.
I, I'm a pancake guy.
Yeah, I get that.
I, I like the, the fluffiness and how pancakes can be moist and soak up all
the syrup and everything.
And, and I mean, I mean, I do like the crunch of a waffle, but pancakes
just does it for me.
Yes, I get that.
So I guess one of the really important things to start off with, because
I think this is going to have a lot of meaning behind it.
And it'll be really good for you to share.
But on your profile, it says dedicated to Frida Alice Kess, is it cast on?
Uh, cast in, cast in.
Okay.
So what is the story behind that?
And what is, what does that mean to you?
So the story behind that is, um, uh, Frida Alice Kasten is my great-grandmother.
Um, she passed in early 2021, not because of COVID.
Um, and I had the pleasure of knowing her for 21 years, which is a lot for
yeah, having a great, you know, grandparent.
And we were super close.
Um, she always bragged to the family that I was her favorite.
And we were really close friends.
That's great.
And, um, when she passed it, it really, really hurt.
I was in a bad place for a really long time.
Um, and so to cope with that, when I bought my car, um,
I did, I wanted to dedicate the build to her so that way I could always have her
with me wherever I go and take her to see new places that she can't because
she's no longer here.
That's awesome.
When, so when did you buy your car?
I bought Alice in 20, late 2021, I want to say.
Okay, brand new.
Yeah.
Um, pre-owned.
Okay.
So what year is it?
It's a 2018 Cross-Trick premium.
Okay.
Yeah.
So you got the first year of the second gen.
Nice.
I did.
Yes.
I loved the body style.
I saw it and I was like that.
Something about it.
Now, did you like, was the new or the, sorry, the first gen Cross-Trick,
was it ever on your radar?
Like, did you see the first gen Cross-Trick and think like, oh man,
that car is super cool.
Or did you only take notice when the second gen came out?
I only really noticed like Subaru Cross-Trick in general when the second gen came out.
And I know, I, I remember the commercial and the exact day when I saw the car for
the first time, it was the, um, that one Subaru Cross-Trick commercial where
they're all in the dog park, playing around and driving.
Yeah.
I was like, that is a hot car.
And then I started seeing them everywhere.
And that's what I noticed the second gen.
I didn't really notice the first gen.
Okay.
Um, the second gen, I was just like tunnel vision.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I like it.
Now, did you know much about Subaru before that?
I actually did not.
Um, the most I knew was STIs and WRX.
That is, that is the car to have if it's a Subaru.
Yeah.
Um, I didn't know much about the rest of the line because I was young at the time.
Okay.
So yeah, cause like for me, I saw the first gen of Cross-Trick and I knew about
Subaru, but same thing.
Like I had, I'd always seen like the WRX hatch, which I, and the STI hatch,
which I was like, man, I didn't really know anything about them.
I just saw them and thought, man, those are like really, really, really nice.
And I remember like watching a few YouTube videos and seeing how you can
change to like the gear ratios and stuff when you were shifting.
And I'm like, man, that's awesome.
You could do that.
But yeah, same thing.
I just, I really knew about the WRX and the STI and that was about it.
But, uh, yeah, the, the first gen came out and then the second gen came out
and I was kind of disappointed cause it changed the body style, but now I
absolutely love the second gen.
Yeah.
So that was definitely the biggest thing for me was the body style.
I, I kind of am okay with the body style of the first gen, but it's
something about the front end that I'm just like, mm, it doesn't, I
think it's the headlights really.
Yeah, I get that.
I, and like for me, the, on the first gen, it was the tail lights.
So I was like, I don't know, something about it just looks super cool.
The way that the hatch was rounded and just the way that it looked from
the back, like all different angles.
And then like I said, when they came out with the second gen, I was
kind of disappointed, but the thing that I really, really like, and I've
said this before is that the first gen, the second gen and the third
gen, they, they all still look like a cross-track and that's really important.
So Subaru, don't go crazy and change the body styling of the cross-track.
When you come out with the fourth gen, please.
Please do not change it.
Keep it looking like a cross-track because I think the cross-track is,
it just has such a unique body style overall for Subaru and just
of any other car out there.
For sure.
Also on your profile, it says SCCA Rallycar number 35 and then fellow
member of the San Diego, Subi squad.
So what's the deal behind both of those?
So the SCCA Rallycar 935, I don't remember exactly what it stands for all
of a sudden, but when I did that first, my first Rallycross event up in Ridgecrest,
I had to register my car number through the SCCA and I chose 935 because
that was the address number of my great grandmother's house.
And I was like, I was like, oh, I love it.
That's, that is it.
So that's why it says on there.
And then the San Diego Subi squad, I just joined recently because I was a part
of North County Subis, but I feel like the club has mostly dissolved
because we don't really do a whole lot.
Okay.
So I wanted to join the club that meets up a little bit often and we could go on
cruises and stuff like that.
Okay.
SCCA is at Sports Car Club of America.
That is it.
Thank you.
I looked it up.
I'm glad you looked it up.
Yeah.
So what have you done so far with the San Diego Subi squad?
Do y'all have meetups?
Do y'all have trail runs?
What do y'all do with that group?
We definitely do a little bit of everything.
The most recent thing that I participated with was a barbecue
down in San Diego.
That was a lot of fun.
Just on the beach, just having a barbecue with all these beautiful
cars and wonderful people.
Nice.
Yeah.
And San Diego is such a nice place too.
I miss it.
You know, the high was 75 that day and it was sunny.
I was like, all right, I'm not going to complain.
Yeah.
Sounds horrible, man.
It's so bad.
Yeah.
When my brother lived there, I used to go out there a couple of
times a year at least and go visit him and it was so nice.
So I also saw something that says Rodknock Racing.
Is that like a part of the SCCA or is that separate from that?
What's the deal with that?
So Rodknock Racing is actually a rally school that was hosting
that Ridgecrest event.
And I not only did the event, but I did this like they had a
whole class the day before.
And then we, so Saturday was the class and they would, you
know, teach you how to drive and what to do and what not to do,
what cones you shouldn't hit, which is all of them.
You shouldn't hit any cones, but like teaching all these things
and they're all like professional rally drivers that
we're teaching you.
So it was a really cool experience.
So they, they are affiliated with the SCCA, but they're
not like a part of it, if that makes sense.
Yeah.
Okay.
That's cool.
So like how many, I guess how many events have you
participated in?
Was it just that one for the rally cross or have you done multiples?
Um, so far, it's just the one.
Um, it is every rally event that I've discovered so far is far away.
And it's hard to get time off work and, um, drive out there.
And so I definitely more to come.
Definitely not the last one, but I definitely want to do more in
2026 for sure.
And did you end up meeting a lot of people when you were out
there for that one event?
Oh yeah.
There was so many people, there were so many cars that I was
like not expecting to be there and they, they kicked some
serious, but that was just like, whoa.
Yeah.
Wow.
So what was your driving experience like doing that?
Cause obviously you said you went to the class, so I'm
sure that helped.
But then once you got out on the track for your own actual
like race, what was that experience like?
It was at first, I was like, I don't know if I can do this or
if I'm just going to embarrass myself really badly.
But when I did the first lap, I was like, oh, that's not so bad.
This is actually really, really fun.
And I had a lot of faith in my car and I had a lot of
faith in my driving and to go on a side story, I apologize.
Um, in all the videos that I have on my Instagram page of
that day, you'll see that I'm wearing a splint on my pointer
finger and that's because I cut the top off of my knuckle,
installing a catback exhaust on my best friend Golf R a couple
of days prior and I'm like, man, I have this race coming up.
This is going to be, so you'll see me, that was the scariest
part.
I was just like, I'm going to make this worse and I'm just
staring with one finger pointed in the air.
It was so good.
Yeah.
So I guess you were kind of worried about your grip while
driving then, right?
Oh, for sure.
Yeah.
It sounds like you did pretty good.
So that's awesome.
I, yeah, I was, I didn't, I wasn't looking at the scores and she
came up to me and she's like, you started with like the high 80s,
like 80 seconds.
And she's like, and you finished like at 62 seconds.
Like that was your best lap.
I was like, whoa, I was, I didn't realize.
And how many laps did you do?
Um, six total.
Oh, nice.
That's really good.
Yeah.
That's nice that you can go out there and do that many laps.
Yeah.
It was the whole day event.
Um, beautiful weather.
Um, the crew was very like, you know, if you haven't done this
before, so okay.
I, I was really proud in the end because I didn't hit a
single cone and I was just like, I was avoiding those cones.
That was your, that was your mission, huh?
Yeah.
I was like, ooh.
So, so going back to your cross trick, did you have, when
you started looking at it, did you have a specific color in
mind or a specific trim level, or were you just kind of seeing
what was available when you were going to get one?
Um, it was definitely a little bit of both.
I really fell in love with the khaki gray, which is
like that light blue.
Um, and I wanted a limited trim because of course it has
all the, the fancy features and the leather, but the, the
problem with that was when I was buying my car, it was at
like the, the peak of used car sales.
So everything was twice as much.
And the car, it was a, um, a 2019 cross trick limited in the
khaki blue and it was for $35,000 and it was in Florida and
they wanted five grand to ship it over.
And it was the only one I could find in the States at the
time.
And I was just like, you know, I'll look local and just
kind of settle.
And I settled on Alice, um, just a lit, a premium with just
the dark gray metallic.
And I, I like the dark gray metallic.
It gets commonly mistaken for black.
So yeah, I, I mean, it, it kind of looks black.
And I mean, I, I call it black, but I, I, I didn't want the
dark color because I like the contrast of the black, uh, man,
I can't talk tonight.
I can't think.
I like the contrast of the cladding against, you know, a
lighter color, but every one that I ever see of that color, it
looks so good.
So it's, uh, I, I just, I'm, and I'm not saying that like, if
I had one, I would be unhappy with it because like, they all
look good, but I just, and I like, for me, I didn't really
have a specific color in mind.
It's just white was available because I was looking for a
manual and I'm glad I ended up with white because it
does, I really like the black and white contrast.
And that's like the theme that I've gone for is like every,
every accessory and decal and everything on my car is either
white or black.
Yeah, I love that.
They make a super makes a really good white.
It's like sparkly and yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So when you first bought your cross-track, were you
thinking of doing mods?
Like was that on the radar?
Did you know much about it or were you just like, I love
this cross-track.
This is going to, this is going to be my next card.
Cool.
This is it.
At first it was like, my brain was set to, this is just
a commuter car.
It's going to get you from work to home, work from
home.
And, um, and then I did a quick Google search of like
lifted cross-tricks because I saw one and I was
like, that's actually pretty cool.
And I have never told them this and I probably
should, but OC turbo Joe on Instagram, that was the
car that has influenced my build because I saw it
and I was like, oh, that is sick.
Like you can do that.
Yeah.
I was like, oh my, oh, love it.
Um, so, and then it became like, okay, how do I
modify it?
And then the first, the first mod was actually
the rally armor mud flaps.
Okay.
That was the, that's a pretty common, yeah,
that's a pretty common first mod.
Yeah, it was easy too.
I just did it in the driveway with my dad.
So it was like, okay.
Yep.
And then so after that, obviously you, you saw the
lifted cross-track, you saw his and you saw what
you can do with it.
Did you start formulating like a list in your head
of things that you wanted to do?
Or were you like looking around at what you can
do and like finding like all these different
ones and be like, okay, I want to do that
from that one, that from that one, that from
that one, like how did that formulate in your
head over time?
It was, it was definitely kind of sporadic.
And looking back on it, I would rebuild the
car differently than how I did.
Um, I, I was like, okay, the first thing is
going to be the suspension, like it, you, you
have to lift it to make it look like that.
And I did a spacer lift and I had the
fill stains on it.
And I just went through, I think like three sets
of bill stains before I was like, okay, I'm
going to have to do like an actual, like real
lift.
So then I did the lift and then I focused on
the lighting instead of the skid plates.
And it was just, it was like, it was definitely
a piecemeal project, but there was definitely
no set course.
Yeah.
So with all the mods that you have on there,
have you done most of them yourself?
The majority, yes.
Um, a lot of the suspension work I've done,
maybe a quarter of it.
Um, I take it to my local shop or used to be
a local shop, I've now moved in Fawbrook
called Scrappy's Tyranotto and they never
did a lift kit on a cross track before.
So they were like, okay, challenge accepted.
And they helped me dial it all in and it's
been, it's been amazing.
It's so a lot of the suspension work scares me.
I'm just like, oh, that's for the professionals.
Yeah, that's, I think it would, it would
intimidate me too.
I had gotten some spacer lifts and I never
ended up putting them on because I wasn't
really sure how to do it.
I know it's not that hard, but also know that
it's because I think it was like, I think
it was like whatever, like two inches in the
back or front, or whichever direction it is.
It was like two inches and then one and a
half.
But also know that it's best to get like a
subframe kit to, you know, drop your subframe.
And I didn't even, I didn't know what that meant.
And I knew that that was going to be like added
costs.
And I'm like, I just, I didn't really feel
like spending the money and I didn't want to do it.
So I just, I never ended up doing it.
So sometimes it's, you know, sometimes
that's okay.
Yeah.
And to this day, I still don't have a lift,
but I also don't really need one out here.
There's not really, there's not really
any places where I have the need for a lift.
So if I were to ever do one, it would be just
for pure aesthetics because it looks
so good when they're lifted.
They do.
When I first saw one, I was like, that kind of
looks silly.
And then I saw the big chunky mud tires.
I'm like, okay, okay.
Yeah, you have to get the right sized
tires for it or it looks silly.
But yeah, they, man, they look so good
when you do it right.
I agree.
So what other like, I guess, bigger mods
have you done to your car?
You talked about lighting, lift, and then
I'm guessing now you have skid plates.
I still do not have skid plates.
What?
You know, it is one of those, it's one of those
things that I keep telling myself I probably
should do.
And the most recent trail run I did
a couple of months ago, where were we?
The San Bernardino Mountains.
And we were coming up with a couple of
skid plates.
Where were we?
The San Bernardino Mountains.
And we were coming up and I slammed
the car just straight into a rock and
dented right underneath the driver door
and it broke the plastic cladding.
I was like, eh.
Oops.
Oops, that could have been your oil pan.
Yeah.
You know, lesson learned.
Yeah, it's, I know, I've had mine
drop a few times on certain things
and hit the skid plate.
I was just like, oh man, that sounded bad,
but I'm glad I have a skid plate.
For sure.
I think it will probably be a someday thing.
I built the car with the intention of
off-roading it and overlanding.
And then I realized that the suspension
I currently have is just too stiff for that.
So I give it a shot rally driving.
And I think I enjoy rally driving a lot
more than I do overlanding.
Hey.
Purely for my back.
Yeah, I mean, you got to find what you enjoy
doing with your car too, you know.
Yeah.
So that's good.
What would you say has been,
which mod has been like the most transformative
in the way that your car looks?
Ooh.
Probably the latest mod that I did.
I put in, I did the swap,
the cross-track limited headlight swap
with the LEDs and the blowering.
Nice.
And that just makes my car look more angry.
Yeah, those headlights are so nice.
I would love to get those one of these days,
but it's too high price of an item right now
and it's not a necessity,
but yeah, those definitely look super cool.
I love those.
Yeah, I would definitely recommend
stocking Facebook Marketplace.
I found this listing for just one
and it was the driver's side
and it didn't have a price and I'm like,
hey, you wouldn't happen to have the passenger side.
And he's like, oh no, sorry.
I was like, okay.
And he texted me like 15 minutes later,
he's like, actually I have them both.
And I'm like, no way.
How much do you want from him?
He's like 500 bucks.
I'm like freaking out because 500 for both
is insane because they start at 500 a piece.
So I was like, okay, where can I meet you?
When can I meet you?
He's like, oh, I'm actually up in your area tomorrow.
We have some time while you're at work
and I'm like, I'll make all the time you want.
Yeah, let's make it happen.
So that was, I don't care if they're used.
I was just like, that's a score.
Yeah.
And they worked.
So I was even better.
Absolutely, yeah.
No, that's a great deal.
Which mod would you say is your favorite?
Oh, that's hands down is the billet works shifter that I have.
Oh, there's a picture on my Instagram,
but it has my grandmother's name,
birth year and death year engraved in it on the top.
Oh, that's nice.
That's a nice tribute.
Yeah, I loved it.
It was hard trying to find someone that could engrave it
like so beautifully.
They did a really fantastic job.
Yeah.
And especially in addition to the fact that you have dedicated
this car, that's like a really great thing,
like a great addition to it.
Good job.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
Which mod would you say has proved to be the most useful?
Most useful.
Lou, that's a good question.
I feel like I'm going to get so much hate for this,
but it's definitely the pedal commander.
Oh, why would you hate for that, man?
That's cool.
A lot of people really poo poo on the pedal commander,
but I dig it.
I think it's, I mean, basically all it does is it just
changes the throttle response that you give it
and tells the car, you know, like, hey,
he's actually giving it this, which I, you know,
it's not going to make the car faster,
but it makes it feel quicker and I have more throttle control
when I'm going over an obstacle.
I feel like like a little bit more gas than what the car
was giving me before.
I have to say that one's probably the most like useful.
Yeah.
I have, well, I know a guy that has one on a manual
and he said he loves it.
And I've thought about getting one.
It's just one of those things where I just,
I forget about it and I just haven't done it,
but that's definitely, it's been on my mental list.
Like I don't have a written list anywhere,
but that's something that I still want to consider.
But so as far as, you know, mods go,
a lot of times people aren't done, you know,
they still want to do more mods.
But if money was like no issue,
what would be like the mod you would want to get the most?
I would definitely swap out the drivetrain for the 3.6
drivetrain with a manual swap.
That would make that car way too funny.
I know.
That's like, I would love to do that so much with mine.
That would be so fun.
It would be, I would just laugh out loud.
It'd just be like, oh my gosh.
Yeah.
My son has a 2010 Outback 3.6R and that thing is,
yeah, it'll move.
It's very nice.
So one of these days, maybe when I've been off,
yeah, I mean, there's a guy that,
I can't remember his Instagram page,
but he has a first-gen cross-track
and he did a full STI swap on it.
And man, that would be nice.
Oh, I know, you're talking about,
I think it's silver with the STI hood.
I think his is the khaki, like the sand khaki color.
And it's like, his account is like mama something,
like it's M-A-U-M something.
I can't remember exactly.
I always forget what it is.
But yeah, that thing looks,
I'm sure it took him some time
and I'm sure that cost quite a bit,
but it was definitely worth it.
Oh yeah.
So like, what sort of trails and places do you have
to go off road near you?
Or do you have any near you?
There's a couple.
Near me, there's the Nate Harrison Graved,
which I call it a beginner trail,
because I've seen a slammed M3 go up it,
which I was just like, that's not appropriate.
But you do you.
There's the San Bernardino Trail,
which is a little bit farther.
It's a couple hours from where I'm at.
I'm in near San Diego.
So it's a little bit of a drive, but worth it.
There's the Black Truck Trail.
And there's another one.
There's a couple around here.
There's a couple dozen, for sure.
Okay.
Yeah.
I mean, it sounds like it's definitely worth it
and good to be able to get out to.
It's nice when you have trails
that are convenient and close by.
Yeah, especially like if you are coming off of work
and you want to go blows and steam
and you just go hit a trail and then come back.
Yeah.
Actually, I think it rained out here today.
So after this, I might go behind the high school
where my daughter went to school.
And it's like nothing super exciting.
There's like some ruts out there that get muddy.
But just to go bounce around a little bit
and throw a little bit of mud,
that's really all I have out here.
But it's still fun.
Yeah.
It's pretty slow going.
But I rather crawl through stuff than like,
especially if there's like a big mud puddle,
I'd rather drive through it slowly
and feel the car really working
and just going through the mud with all-wheel drive
rather than drive through it really fast.
Yeah.
There's a lot less potential to break things too
if you're going a little bit slower.
Very much.
Yeah.
So do you take any road trips
or have you taken any road trips?
And if so, what's the longest distance
you've taken for a mileage and time-wise?
I am a big road tripper.
Since I bought the car in 2021,
I bought it with 34,000 miles on it.
And we just crossed 102,000 miles.
Oh, nice.
The longest road trip would have to be up to Solvang.
And I think that was like a four or five-hour drive there.
Where is that?
It's, oh, I'm going to, you know what?
I'm going to have to look it up on the map.
I apologize.
I haven't heard of it, so that's why I was asking.
It's the cutest little town.
It is right, it's like right up above Santa Barbara.
Okay.
And it is the, it's like a little Danish town.
I want to say it's a Danish town.
Yeah, the Danish capital of America.
Very nice.
And it is, it's the cutest little place.
Gorgeous waterfalls, the buildings are gorgeous.
It's just like, it's just a little slice of just cute.
Yeah.
I love small towns and like me and my son and my daughter
and her husband too, like we'll go and, you know,
when we're going on a little road trip,
go through small towns.
And it's always fun to just see what they have, you know.
One stoplight or a few stoplights.
What kind of shops they have, what their kind of little town
center looks like, what their like city hall looks like.
You know, sometimes they have really cool building
in a small little town.
See that every once in a while.
Yeah.
What would you say is your favorite small town experience?
Oh, that's tough.
I really, so I really like Denton up here in Texas.
Denton is north of, it's like northwest of Dallas.
Okay.
And it just like, it kind of has like an Austin vibe to it
a little bit.
And there's like a pretty good vegan presence there,
which I really like.
And there's also, it's a college town.
So there's a lot, I've seen a lot of Subaru's there.
And I love it.
Yeah.
The little like town square is really cool.
There's a lot of shops and restaurants and bars and stuff.
I don't know.
It just, it looks really, really cool.
Okay.
Check that out.
Now, however, I do really like Manitou Springs.
Manitou Springs is a really cool town.
It's near Pikes Peak and I think it's, I don't know,
like maybe, I don't know which direction.
So I'm not even going to try, but it's not too,
it's pretty close to where Colorado Springs is.
And there was this really cool cafe called Adams Mountain
Cafe there.
And just like the vibe there, the ambiance in it
is really cool.
And then there's like a little stream that runs
like right behind it that's obviously,
I'm sure coming off the mountain somewhere.
And then it has mountain views all around.
And it's just, so Manitou Springs is a really cool
little town too.
I'm actually going to Colorado in December.
So I'm going to have to make it a point
to go check that out.
Yeah.
So whenever you go, if you forget,
send me a message.
I'll let you know.
I will.
Thank you.
Super cool.
You're welcome.
I'm going to go grab my water bottle real quick.
I meant to get it before we started recording.
So I'll be right back.
No worries.
Yes.
Welcome to my podcast studio,
AKA my closet.
I love it.
Yeah.
It's got a good vibe to it.
Yeah.
When I moved into this apartment,
I looked at this closet and I was like,
this is really nice.
It's a pretty big closet for a one bedroom apartment.
And as it turns out,
it's perfect for putting together a little podcast studio.
It works.
They should have sold it as this is a podcast studio.
That's right.
Exactly.
That's why I've made it.
I love it.
Yeah.
So you went to this little town,
the little Danish town,
which was really cool obviously.
Do you have a bucket list spot
that you would like to get out to and explore,
whether it's like a town or off-roading or anything?
Not off the top of my head.
If there's one place that I've always wanted to take my
Cross Trek to is probably Noam, Alaska.
Oh, nice.
I think that would be a gorgeous road trip.
I mean a long road trip,
a gorgeous road trip.
Yeah.
There's a woman that her name is Asha Slaw.
And she, I had her,
I don't remember which episode she was on.
She's actually from Europe and somewhere.
I can't remember that either.
But her one of her lifelong dreams was to come over here
and drive across the U.S.
from the East Coast to Alaska.
And she's done that twice.
And now she liked it so much,
she actually moved to Alaska.
That is so cool.
I love that.
And she has a very rare Subaru,
what is it?
Forester.
And her forester,
I think she said there was like maybe
only like 220 of them made.
And she just, yeah,
she just happened to come across it
and found a guy that was selling it
and bought it and fitted it out
so that she could sleep in it
and travel in it.
Yeah.
She traveled by herself with it across the U.S.
like two or three times.
That's cool.
That is a goal.
That is a good goal.
Yeah.
And whatever it is she does for a living,
she obviously has the means to work on the road.
And that's really cool too.
Like that's a huge blessing
to be able to do something like that.
Oh, for sure.
Yeah.
So out there where you are,
when you're hitting trails
meeting up with people,
whatever it may be,
who are some of the people you get out with the most?
I try to invite family and friends.
I would definitely say that I'm probably the biggest
off-road influence in the family.
Not a lot of people wake up and are like,
man, I think I could go and hit some dirt
in my car and have some fun.
So I try to encourage my family and friends
to come with,
mostly just other big,
small, medium-sized groups
of just other super enthusiasts.
Okay.
And do you get together,
do y'all have any other people that go out with you
from other car brands?
Sometimes.
The last run we did,
we had Tacomas, Wranglers,
everything.
Okay.
That's cool.
Yeah, it's nice when you can get together
with other people
and actually all get along well together.
That's important.
Yeah, for sure.
Have you had any really challenging off-road experiences
or places that you went to?
The San Bernardino trip that I did
was probably the most challenging.
Only in that one spot, though,
where I slammed the car down.
Yeah.
But I wish I could remember his account name right now.
But I had a couple local other cross-track owners.
KT Trek was there.
And they were just like,
oh, you could do it.
Your cross-track could totally do it.
It's going to crawl this thing.
And I'm like, I don't know.
I was pretty nervous.
And I went up it and I just slammed down.
And I was like,
well, I give it a valiant effort.
Now I'm going to back down
and go the long way.
Yeah.
Sometimes, you know,
you've got to take the loss
and go the best route.
But yeah, I remember,
because, see, when I was in Colorado,
I had Java Wagon previously,
known as Java Wagon,
and Shadow Roo, Chris.
So it was Juan and Chris.
And we had been,
we were at,
oh, what is it?
I'm trying to remember the name of the park,
Garden of the Gods.
And they took us on a trail that goes like up above
and behind Garden of the Gods.
And it goes like way up
and beautiful views and everything.
And we got to this spot that was very uneven
and it was just like small little hills
that you had to navigate
to get to this other spot.
And they were trying to help me get through it.
And I went over this one little hump
and my front bumper was like hitting the other side,
not like the bottom of it,
but pretty much straight on.
And I'm like, there's just no way I'm getting over this.
And of course, they both had lifted outbacks
and Juan had a steel bumper.
So when he went over it,
he just hit and kept going.
Chris went over it and hit his bumper
and it flexed and he just doesn't care.
He kept going too.
But like, I,
but I mean, that was my very,
very first off-road experience ever,
especially in my car.
So looking back now,
I'm like, I can almost maybe not guarantee,
but I'm pretty sure I could have found a way through that
because I know a lot more now.
I know my car more.
And, you know, it's like something that I would,
it'd be kind of fun to go back there
and try to tackle it again,
although the terrain's probably changed
in the past three years.
But yeah, that was probably the most challenging thing
that I've ever hit
because I couldn't even get through.
But it's fun, you know,
it's fun trying to challenge yourself
and find out what your car is capable of.
And as many people know,
these cars are way more capable
than they get credit for sometimes,
especially from other brands.
For sure.
I feel like,
I feel like Subaru is definitely slept on
in a certain degree.
It's definitely more capable than a lot of people think.
Yeah.
Other than your car slamming down,
do you have any other like stories,
funny stories with other people
that, you know, something has happened?
Oh, there have been,
there's so many good stories
I could tell you about that car.
I'm trying to think of a,
oh yes, the same San Bernardino trail.
This was actually the first time
that my boyfriend blew out to California
and I took him on that trail.
I was like, oh, that'd be kind of a fun date idea.
And we were coming back down the hill.
We got separated.
We ended up taking a route
that took us just down the mountain.
So we weren't upset because we were kind of tired.
Yeah.
And I was like, you know,
I think it'd be really, really fun
if we hit this dirt road going like 50
and he's like, okay, sure.
And so, you know, I'm gunning it
and we start creeping up to like the 60 range.
And all of a sudden,
it's like way too late.
It's probably like less than 100 feet in front of me.
It's this giant,
like just, you know, kind of like ramp looking.
Oh yeah.
And I hit, I'm like brace yourself.
And I hit it and we must have jumped
at least like two to three feet in the air
and just slammed the car down.
And I just kept going
and he just looked over at me and he's like,
you really are crazy.
I like it.
Oh, that's awesome.
I, the closest I've ever come
to actually jumping a car
with Milton Silver Bullet XV.
Yes.
And it was actually out there
before Subifest, California
and we were going down this trail
and he was doing like 60 miles an hour
and it was pretty smooth for the most part
but there was this one little spot where
he slowed down before he got to it
but I think we got a little bit of air.
But that was fun.
I love that.
It's definitely an experience.
Like when you're, there's the feeling
of I'm going to die
and then when you land it's like,
I want to do that again.
Yeah, like, okay, that wasn't so bad.
That was a lot of fun.
Yeah, where can I go do that again?
Yes.
Have you ever gotten stuck?
I have.
I have a couple of times.
One of my favorite times
and I probably shouldn't admit this
so if the property owner is listening,
I apologize.
It was, we went up to Julian,
me and my best friend
and it was snowing
and I was like, okay, you know,
I have a lift.
I have off-road tires.
The suspension is pretty well dialed in.
I bet you anything.
I could just go out there and come back
and she's like, I don't know about that one.
I'm like, okay, we'll see.
So it's just like a big field of snow?
Yeah, it was just like this big field
and there's like a couple of fence posts
but I didn't see any fencing.
Gotcha.
So I just drove between the fence posts
and I just drove out there
and all of a sudden we just weren't moving
and I was like, okay, well,
I'm going to put a reverse.
So I put a reverse.
We're still not moving
and I'm like, well,
and she looks at me and she goes,
ah.
I told you.
I'm like, I know.
And I don't think the property owner ever knew
because we ended up just pushing out.
It was totally fine.
But I was like, yeah, sorry.
I hope there's nothing underneath this now.
You can build me.
It's okay.
Yeah, yeah.
So and I'm guessing you've driven through mud too.
Oh, yes.
So much mud.
The first, the first thing I did when I bought that car was actually
I took it off-roading
and I drove through this
and I think it's on my Instagram too.
I drove through this gigantic
because it just had like rained buckets
and I drove through this gigantic puddle
and it was just,
it was so, so much fun.
And then at the rally race too,
we got a lot of mud because they wet the track.
Oh, nice.
Nice.
So it was definitely a muddy day.
Do you prefer mud over snow?
Yeah.
Yeah.
I, I, yeah.
I do.
Yeah.
I mean, I,
I love driving through mud
but I haven't driven through snow that much.
So I can't really say that like,
I love one more than the other.
I have driven through snow
but I haven't
driven through snow like,
I haven't driven through proper snow in my car
and,
but I've done it in others cars
and it's, it's so much fun.
But I also haven't
experienced driving through snow
to the extent that other people
talk about on the podcast
of places that they've been,
although I have gone through some pretty legit snow
because when we, when me and my son
went to Lake Tahoe and we met up with
Colby who goes by a subi runner,
he had,
he still had his first gen cross track
and he let me and my son drive
and this was during my son's spring break
so it was in March.
So there's still, and they had had a pretty decent snow storm
before we went out there.
So there was a, there was a decent amount
of snow around places that we went
and that was, it was so much fun
and I wanted to do that again so bad.
I would,
that would be a lot of fun.
The snow, snow is definitely a hidden miss
for me at least.
I've had more near death experiences
in snow than mud.
Yeah, no, mud is definitely fun.
It's just not, I mean the nice thing
about snow is if it gets packed up
in your wheel wells it can melt out.
The mud sticks there forever
and it's so hard to get out.
And you have to break out the power washer
and it's, yeah.
The best way to get it out
is if it gets rained and there's like puddles
on the road, that works wonders for it.
Puddle splashing is definitely
one of my favorite things.
Yeah, it's definitely a,
by the way I saw the picture
that you sent me with the engraved
shifter knob. That was really nice.
They did a great job with that.
Thank you. You're welcome.
Yeah, that's my favorite mod.
By far.
Yeah.
So I know that you've been to
how many times have you been
and like what has your
experience been like at each one?
I've been to three now.
I went to my first
Subifest in 2022.
That's when I was there.
I think you are right.
I think it was 2022, not 2023.
And I really enjoyed it.
The culture was just like,
it was like, oh there's other
people that are just like me.
Like we're going to have so much fun.
This is going to be great.
And I loved it every moment of it.
So I went back in 2023
and I actually put my car in the show.
Oh, cool.
And I have pictures on my Instagram too.
I have so many pictures.
It's like such an experience.
It's like, oh, I'm going to go back in 2024.
I did not go back in
2024.
My dad had passed away on Martin Luther King day.
Oh, I'm sorry.
It was too much for me.
And I was just like, I'd rather
spend time with the family
than drive to Arcadia
and go to Subifest.
Which, you know,
it was an experience.
And then we went back this year
and I was in the show again.
And it's
also a fun experience. The nighttime
aspect of it, I think was
definitely better.
Except the mosquitoes.
Yeah.
Yeah, I don't think I've talked to anybody
since they did that in the evening.
I'm guessing
that it was probably cooler
though for that.
It was
still hot.
Yeah, it was still hot.
But when the sun went down around like 7.30,
it got pretty cold. It was pretty nice.
Okay, that's good.
So what was your experience like
being in the show, having your car
go versus just being a spectator?
I feel like being a spectator,
you have more
freedom to kind of like roam around
and like leave when you want.
When you're in the show, you are
like stuck there because you can't move your car
out of the show.
So I
we came up with
me, my boyfriend and my best friend
that I would go by
annually to participate in the car show
and then we could go annually
to actually just go.
Yeah.
Definitely two different experiences
because when you're in the show,
it's kind of hard to roam around
when people come up and want to talk
to you about your car.
So it's like, yeah, there's definitely
I mean, I like it either way,
regardless, but there's definitely
two very different sides to it.
Yeah, when I was out there
at the show, it was
I don't think
I very rarely went out of my
booth because
I went out early, I tried to get everything
set up and then I went and walked around
and talked to people, met people that I
hadn't met in person yet
and I did a lot of that before the show
started, but once it started
I was in my booth for pretty much the whole day
and it was hard to
get out, but it was
a great experience for me too.
Yeah.
That's where I met you.
Yeah, and although now,
with the not having to take
all of my equipment, being at events
is just such a game changer
having the road wireless pro because
I'm not stuck in one spot
and I wish I would have had
something like that there, but
at the same time, it is
kind of nice to be in one spot
where people can come to you
but
there's pros and cons to it
but it was nice.
I enjoyed it.
Yeah, for sure.
So what would you
or how would you say that your cross-track
best matches your personality?
I definitely say
our attitudes match quite
swimmingly.
Because when I'm in a mood
I can tell about the cars in a mood
because when I want
to go fast, it knows I want to go fast.
And when I'm
I think definitely our attitude
is in sync
which is funny to say about a car
because it's inanimate object
but it's more than a car.
It definitely is more than a car.
Yeah, I mean
for people that are like
that I don't know
we just we get connected to our cars
and
it becomes more than
just a car becomes more than just
something on wheels
you know you've got people that
buy a car because it's like
they like the car.
They want this to be their next car
and not to say that other people
don't connect with their cars the way that we do
but I think there's just
a little more to it
and it's a lot more
kind of a lot more
meaningful relationship
if you want to call it that.
Yeah, for sure.
There's definitely a little bit more
to the
relationship of the car when you are
like this is my car
and I'm gonna you name it too
what you name it that's game over.
Well and then you know
adding mods and doing
stuff to the car
I've never done anything to a car
except for change out like the radio
and the speakers but I've never done
anything to kind of
change it's personality
other than this car
and it's fun.
Yeah, it is
it's like it's limited list to how
you design it
and how you create it.
Yeah and then you can change it too
you can completely do something different
and start all over again
and do different colors
and whatever you know you can just
there's so many different ways that you can take it
and you know I mean there's people that
cars specifically for Halloween
and then they do something specifically for Christmas
so you know you have different
themes that you can do with it
and that's fun as well.
Yeah.
So if you could describe your cross trick
in one word what would it be?
Ooh.
It's a tough question.
That is a tough question
in one word
I have two I'm trying to decide which one
I should pick. Use them both.
I would have to say
courageous
and limitless
and
the reason I have to pick those
is because no matter the situation
that I've been in in that car
whether I was stuck
whether I got pulled over
whether I was taken a friend home
like I felt
the best form of who I am
in that moment
like getting in that car
I just feel like
just
calm
I don't know how to explain it.
You get connected with it too.
Yeah.
And then just limitless
I've done some really stupid things
and I've done some really scary things in that car
and it's never let me down
it's never broken down
knock on wood
it's
one of the quick side story
we're spinning off
in
2024 there was this fire
I used to live in Faubric and Faubric is famous for fires
and there was this fire that came
right up to our property line
and there was two ways out
there's only two ways out because I lived on the top of a mountain
one way was blocked off for over a year
because there was a sinkhole and the road flooded out
so they blocked it off
and the other way out was
literally through a wall of fire
I'm not even kidding when I say just a wall of fire
and you know the officers are telling us
like hey you need to evacuate
I'm like sir
this way is blocked this way is fire
he's like oh I don't know what to tell you
I'm like okay we'll give it a whirl
so I got in my car
and I had all my
like personal effects that I want to save
and I just gunned it through
my neighbor's field
just through this wall of flames
and I had my eyes closed for at least two seconds
and I opened it and there's just like
you know flames come over the windshield
and just straight on through
and I just went on the road and drove off
and there was not a single scar on the car
and I was just like wow
wow
yeah that's pretty crazy
yeah
and I was just you know I got my mom out of there too
so it was just
it was great I
limitless and courageous
definitely the two words I would describe
that was a very good
thank you
you're welcome
if you were able to drive somebody else's Subaru
for a day who's would it be and why
oh
also a good question
I would definitely have to say
OC Turbo Joe's
because that is a beautiful car
and I mad respect
how he's built it
and I would love to
take a spin in it
because I modeled my car after his
yeah
that would be
yeah I think it would be fun to
drive it through
crazy terrain just to see how capable
that thing is and what it can do
and how it handles it
I think that would be a lot of fun
oh yeah good answer
thank you
you're welcome
how has owning your Subaru changed your life
oh it's
because I hear this so often
I would say
pretty drastically
when I bought the car
I knew I was going to buy something reliable
and I was going to buy something safe
because Subaru has been rated
very reliable very safe over the last couple years
and
when I bought it I didn't think I would meet
all these people
beyond podcasts
like I have kids
be like oh that's such a cool car
I want to do that to my car someday
it's opened up this whole new view
of
just how
one small thing
with the Subaru Crosstrek for example
can change so many people's lives
and really just open you up to a bunch of new friendships
and family pretty much
yeah because if you think about
if you hadn't
bought that car
so many of the people that you've met
have never met
that have like
enhanced your life
it's kind of
scary to think
what if you didn't buy this car
what would you be doing
but we're thankful we're here
I am very thankful
Subaru is actually how I met my
boyfriend
we met on Facebook dating
and I had a picture of my Crosstrek on their
Alice and he said I drive a Subaru
I love your car
and that was the first thing we said to each other
and
now he's moving in next year
so Subaru is definitely
good it's
always going to be a family
it's always going to be in the family
and that was my last question
is do you think you'll always own a Subaru
and it sounds like yes
yep
so now we can get into this last segment
to get to know you a little bit more
who is Carter as in describe yourself
how would I describe myself
well I'm tall I'm 6 foot 5
oh wow
yes
I'm short
only 5 foot 7
so I would look very very short
next to you
it's okay you know
it happens
I get called
tall all the time and all these nicknames
so it happens
for a second being that tall
you fit in the Crosstrek very well
headroom
not at first
now I bought the
Desert does it
billet seat jackers
that raised the front of the seat up
and I took the two bolts out of the rear seat
and I moved them back a couple inches
on the tracks
and it's very very comfortable
oh nice
yeah
I was just when you said
6 foot 5 I'm like oh wait a minute
the Crosstrek isn't a big car
but it sounds like you figured it out that's good
yeah a little modification
you know
of course
okay sorry continue
very good
I don't really know how to describe myself
yeah just tall
I am very friendly
way too outgoing
yeah
I don't really know how to describe myself
with that one
what is the favorite memory from your childhood
I have so many
my favorite childhood
memory
probably when I was a very little kid
now I don't remember the exact age but
my first
and
this is
the first key moments in my life where I got into cars
was my parents
I think it was a birthday gift gave me one of those pullback
yellow Volkswagen Beetles
nice
and it was at that moment I knew I was like
oh man cars there's something about them
oh yeah
and if you ask my mom
she will say that my first word was truck
okay
and you know my name is Carter
so something
something went somewhere
definitely one of my favorite childhood memories
I still have that car
I would love to own
like an older
Beetle they're so cool
they're like one of the coolest cars ever
they look so good
oh yeah
when I was in high school there was a guy that lived in my neighborhood
and I didn't have a car
and so I rode with him
to high school
for a while
I don't remember like why I stopped but
I think it was like a baby blue Beetle
and
it was just beautiful color
yeah it was just so cool like
hearing the engine you know and the shifting
and everything like that's one of the other reasons
like that car
seeing like knowing that you have to shift gears
in that car and just
I don't know because I've always had a fascination
with manual cars
and that's part of it
was from that car and it just I
just really thought about that
yeah that was my first car
was a 74 Super Beetle
really
yeah very nice
it was two tone it was purple and cream
that is super cool
man
where is it at now
I don't know
what happened
well so
it was a gift from my mom
and then she took it back when I moved out
so I don't know if she still has it
but it was a pretty rough shape when I last
okay gotcha
yeah all right
what is it that you do for a living
so I actually
work in the live events industry
and I manage and set up
all the lighting sound
and video for like concerts such as like
Post Malone
what's another one
at Montana under the big sky
so we do all the rigging
all the lighting all the staging
and for big concerts and corporate
events that's really cool how'd you get
into that
I was actually a theater kid
yeah and I did all
the lighting for all our productions
in high school and middle school
and I was like this is pretty nifty
I wonder if I could do this in real life
and I ended up
figuring out that you can in live events
so I got back into it out of high school
very nice that's really cool
would you say that
is your dream job
or do you have a dream
job beyond that
I would definitely say it's not my dream
job I've been doing it
for almost 13
14 years now
so it's kind of like
I'm like ready to move on
my absolute dream job
when I was growing up was to be a mechanic
and I
went to school for it and I got my degree in
automotive engineering and technology
and I was like
this is gonna be so fun and after the 15th
oil change and like 30th tire rotation
I was like you know I'm gonna get burnt out
working on my own cars
so definitely
what I would like to do next is
work in Hollywood and do
lighting on like film sets
for like television that would be cool
I mean you have experience
so
I guess it's one of those things
where you just do everything you can to find a way
to make it happen
this is true I just got moved to LA
but that is
future problems
yeah work on today
for now
what is something that
really scares you
something that really scares me
has a good question
newspaper
as far as
headlines
the feeling of newspaper
and just
I'm getting chills just thinking about it
something about it
it makes
it's like a sensory thing I think
it just absolutely
I'm getting chills just thinking about it
I knew somebody
that was the same way with just
like paper like paper that you
put into a printer
okay yeah so
I get that
what is something that really excites you
also a good question
something that really excites me
tomorrow
because tomorrow is always a new day
and there's always something new that I want to try
and something that I want to do
very good
I always give every day 110%
which is kind of bad
and kind of good because I wake up at
5 30 and I go to sleep around
10 30 to 11
how much can I fit in one day
yeah I get that
I have trouble
going to sleep
it's hard for me to get to sleep sometimes
because there's always so much on my mind
it's definitely hard
for me to stay asleep which really sucks
but also a lot of times
I don't want to go to sleep because
I want to keep doing stuff
like I know I need sleep
but I don't want to sleep
I like being awake I like doing things
you know there's so much more to do
yeah there's not enough time in the day
no
okay what is something that makes
you want to get out of bed every day
that was a good question
I have a few of them
I would say driving
I love driving
yeah that's a very good answer
I do too that's why I have 132,000 miles
on the car that I haven't even had
for four years
four and a half years
I'm catching up to you pretty quickly
yeah I
absolutely love driving
but what is something that makes you want
to stay in bed
work
yeah
100% I get that
it's a necessity but yeah
work
what would be your best bit of device
to give to someone about anything
about anything
never say no
but also don't
jump to saying yes
it's because a lot of the times
if you say no to something
you'll miss out on a much
bigger
thing that you might be really good at
and enjoy but if you say yes
and you suck at it then you know like hey
I won't do it again because there's been
several instances where I've said no
and I'm like man that could have been
so much more
and there's been several instances where I've said yes
and it's been like
just delightful
yeah that's good
I like that
was there anything else you welcome
is there anything else you want to share before we
get out of here
no I think we covered it
good about okay I can't think of anything that
would
yeah no I think we covered
a good amount okay yeah well thank you
so much for your time and
hope you had a good time and
looking forward to putting this episode
out and for people to hear
I'm so excited thank you so much
for having me I really appreciate it
you're welcome and
we'll keep in touch and
get some pictures and stuff from you to
put on your episode real
but I hope you have a good night
you as well alright thank you
thank you you're welcome
and there you have it
another episode down episode 210
that seems kind of crazy
that we're in the 200s now
and I still have I have guests
lined up I have guests lined up
through I think
through 14 maybe
and those are just ones that I've actually
communicated with and said hey let's
put something together but
I still have a list of guests that I need
to get to so if you're
listening to this and you know that we've
talked that you talked about you being
on the podcast I haven't forgotten about
you I'm just working my way through
my list and I'm very thankful to have
a list so
please please stick around
to be patient and thank you all so
much for continuing to listen to the podcast
I really really appreciate it
it really means a lot
also don't forget to go check out
Dirt Subbi's podcast with my buddy Ben
he's also his account his other
account is Lifted Imports
well that's his website but his
Instagram account is Lifted Subarus
so he's out there
interviewing people too and doing a great
job so be sure to go check it out
and again thank you so much
for listening have a great week
be sure to tune into the episode on Friday
from Overland Expo Mountain
West Much Subbi Love
Raf
to support the podcast
please head over to Patreon.com
slash Subbi and you podcast
once you join you will have access to the
discord channel and discord chats with
other patrons if you'd like to get in
contact with the show you can find them
on Instagram at Subbi and you podcast
online at Subbi and you
podcast.com or by email
Subbi and you podcast at gmail.com
that's all for this week
we'll see you next week
bye
you
you
you
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