0:00
/
0:00
S&YE214 - Ghost Subie Adventures
S&YE214 - Ghost Subie Adventures
0:00
0:00
0:00
0:00
About this episode
Roman from Go Subi Adventures shares his journey transforming a 2022 Subaru Forester into a versatile overlanding and preparedness rig. From his military background inspiring the 'Ghost' name to building a community-focused Instagram and upcoming podcast, he emphasizes making preparedness practical and fun. The episode dives into mods like rooftop tent levelers and a Power Queen battery, the inclusive Subaru community, and challenges of overlanding in Texas. Roman also reflects on family, life lessons, and the joy of sharing adventures with his son, highlighting the deep connection between Subaru ownership and lifestyle.
Topics:
subaru forester build
overlanding mods
preparedness lifestyle
subaru community
subifest experience
rooftop tent leveling
power queen battery
texas overlanding
family adventures
military background influence
Cars:
Dodge Dakota
Ford Explorer
Jeep Wrangler
Subaru Ascent
Subaru Brat
Subaru Forester
Subaru WRX
Toyota Land Cruiser
Toyota Tundra
Roman joins us today to talk about his Subaru Forester, where the name Ghost Subie Adventures came from, and his passion which is preparedness for any occasion.
Links from the show, links to sponsors and discount partners, and ways to support the podcast:
Ghost Subie Adventures
https://www.instagram.com/ghostsubieadventures/
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Subie & YOU! Podcast Website!!
https://subieandyoupodcast.com/
Go check out the newly designed website!!
Subie & YOU! YouTube Channel
https://www.youtube.com/@subieyou
Finally started this thing up!! Please check it out and subscribe.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Sponsors of the Podcast:
Subaru Gear
Use code subieandyou25 to get 20% off your purchase!
Get FREE shipping for orders over $50 after 20% discount!
Website:
Accentrek Designs
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/accentrek.designs/
Website:
https://www.accentrekdesigns.com/
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:
https://meledesignfirm.com/products/subaru-crosstrek-group-35-mount
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Other Brands Offering Discounts
REIKA Wheels
Use code SubieYou10 for 10% off purchases!
Website:
Orbis Overlanding
10% discount off Orbis Overlanding and partnering car products
(excludes apparel)
Discount code: subieandyou
Website:
Filter:
|
Technical
Too Afraid to Ask
Car
Subaru Ascent
"... in the first place? And then obviously he had an ascent, but also like why choose the Forester? So I chos..."
Car
Subaru Brat
"...Kia. I mean, I've always been fascinated with the Brats. Yeah. Just because I love, like I grew up on a f..."
Car
Toyota Land
"...eployed in the military, we would always use like Toyota Land Cruisers. And I've always liked them. They're sup..."
Car
Toyota Tundra
"...ldn't drive it a lot because we also had a Toyota Tundra. So we kept the miles low knowing that I was goin..."
Car
Dodge Dakota
"...ll the way up to pretty much Canada, right? South Dakota, all that. It's been all the way up and down. And..."
Car
Subaru WRX
"...d someone who does everything. You want to find a WRX that has a rooftop 10 on it? You're going to find..."
Car
Forester Forster Hybrid
"... Expo in Mountain West in Colorado and seeing the Forster hybrid that Mountain Subi is going to be. She's been kid..."
Car
Ford Explorer
"... they thought it looked like too much like a Fore Explorer. But it's really growing on me. Like seeing it in..."
Car
Wrangler Rubicon
"...t was gassing up right beside me. Bare-bone stock Rubicon, like nothing done to it. And mine's fully raked ..."
Select text to request an explanation
All right, you are listening to episode 214 of the Subia New Podcast, and I'm Roman with
Go Subi Adventures, and we're about to get spooky.
Hey, everybody, welcome to another episode of the Subia New Podcast.
You may notice a little change in the music, or the intro music rather.
I've had some people request that I not use the intro music with the Siren anymore, so
I don't know, maybe people are just driving really fast and they're afraid that they're
getting pulled over while they're listening to the podcast.
No, but I get it, so I decided to go back to a song that I had used before.
For those of you that asked to please change it or remove it, I listened and I made the change.
But I did want to go back to something that I used before so that it was at least a little
familiar and not just something completely new, and some of the other tracks that Luke
had put together were, I don't know, they just didn't seem to fit right with the
vibe with me, but I wanted to use this one again.
For this episode, of course, you heard that I have Ghost Subi Adventures Roman on, and we
recorded in a hotel in a very empty room, so you will hear an echo, well that's why
you hear an echo in the recording.
No sound treatment for a space that large, and it was just the two of us in this
big giant room, and you gotta listen towards the end because it's very funny what we
said about the space, or maybe we say it early on, I can't remember, but I know that
as I was editing, we talk about the room specifically towards the very end.
So there's something new going on now with Subi and You, not necessarily Subi and You
podcast, but I've had a YouTube channel since 2022 and I've been wanting to do
something with it for a long time, and so now that I have extra time, I finally
decided to do something with it, so I recorded a welcome video, so you can find
that there, I also recorded a couple of, well, I recorded a short just for fun, just
to go, just to do something with it, and that's me riding a roller coaster in
Kima, and then the second short is a smaller compilation I put together from
Overland Expo East, and I wanted to be able to add music to it, so I shortened
it down to 60 seconds because YouTube shorts only allows you to add music to
videos that are 60 seconds or less, but you can find the link in my link tree on
Instagram, so please, please go check that out, subscribe, watch the welcome video,
and look for more videos to come. I already have some other ideas and
mind of things that I want to put together, and I know that posting
consistently is one of the keys, but also subscribers is very important as well, so
please subscribe to the YouTube channel, and then pass the word around, and tell
others to subscribe as well. Before I go any further, I want to give a huge
shout out to my buddy Ben, who runs the Dirt Subis podcast. He's got some great
episodes that he's recorded, and his is a little more technical, so he has
some really great information in there, and I've been learning a lot from his podcast,
and I listened to one episode and learned a lot, so that was really, really great.
So I think mine seems to be more storytelling, and not that he doesn't
have storytelling on his, but his gets into a little deeper dive of the
technicality of mods and repairs and things like that, because he's more
knowledgeable on that, so he can have great conversations with his guests,
and it's really great. So huge shout out to Ben. Go check out Dirt Subis podcast as well.
And now a word from one of our sponsors.
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.
Go give Accentric Designs a follow on Instagram if you're not already doing so,
and check out her website, AccentricDesigns.com, and get some decals for your Subaru.
I also want to give a huge shout out to my patrons. Thank you so much for supporting the podcast,
and that'll also help with supporting the YouTube channel now as well. So really,
really appreciate it. If you would like to help support the podcast and everything that I'm
doing with this and the YouTube channel, you can go to the link tree, and I believe it's the
fourth link down, and it says support the podcast, and that is through Patreon. So
Patreon is a place to go help support creators and the work that they're doing
for content that you're consuming. So I appreciate everybody. Thank you so much.
Before we get started with this episode, I want to give another shout out to my other two sponsors,
which is Subimods. Subimods has been at all of the Subi events this year. I saw them at
Subifest, Texas, and got to meet one of the guys there and a couple of the other fellows
as well. But they're a really great team. I really, really, really appreciate their
support with the podcast, and I've mentioned it before, but it looks like they might be getting
into the off-road and overland scene with some of the stuff they're doing with Adventure One.
So go check out Subimods.com. They also have a membership where you can earn points to save
money on your purchases, which is always great. You can also follow them on Instagram
at Subimods if you're not already doing so. And of course, I got to give a huge shout out
to Subaru Gear for sponsoring the podcast. Go check out Subaru Gear.com. Go browse the site.
They're always adding new items, and they have a lot of really great things for you,
for your pets, for your kids, for your home. They cover just about everything. They've got
some special collections like Bucky Lassic, Motorsports. So go check out Subaru Gear.com,
fill up your card, and at checkout, use the code SUBIENU25 for 20% off your purchase.
And if your purchase price is over $50 after the 20% discount, you automatically get free shipping.
So thank you so much, Subaru Gear, for bringing the listeners this great offer.
And now, let's get into this episode with Roman and Go Subi Adventures.
Hey, how's it going, man? It's good. It's good. How are you?
Good. Nice to see you again. I know. I know. It's been a minute.
Yeah. I mean, first off, the coolest thing is that we get to do this in person
because it just seemed to work out because I had to travel for work up to McKinney,
and I'm like, is there a good spot to meet? Because I thought you were in the Dallas area.
I didn't. I forgot that you were in San Antonio. Yeah. Well, I spent a lot of time in Dallas.
Yeah. And that's probably what I was thinking. But when I was like, hey, I can come down,
like, is there a spot to meet up? I was like, we can meet in Waco. Is that close for you?
Perfect. We go to Waco all the time. So this worked. And my wife,
there's an Amish place. I don't know. So they do like raw milk, butter, like all kinds of stuff,
like just everything. And so that's on the agenda for tomorrow after we finish this.
Yeah. Well, before we get into anything else, you know, I got to ask the most important question,
which is whether you prefer waffles or pancakes. So this one's funny because
I originally was a pancake guy, hardcore. My son has become more of a waffle person.
And so I've become more of a waffle, especially because you can just pack so much flavor in those
little squares. So yeah. All right. I get that. I get that. Yeah. No, that's cool. I'll forgive you
on that one. Oh, you're a pancake guy? Yeah. I will say, I had a really good pancake the other
day. It was different. It was a cornmeal with blueberries. Oh, nice. So it was like a
totally interesting spin on it. And it tasted, I don't know, like a sweet cornbread,
like it was really good. Oh, that's cool. Yeah, sounds good. So obviously, we're here to talk about
your Subaru and your Subaru journey and about you. But so like, tell us what Subaru you have,
what year it is, what trim level and all that. So I have a 2022 base model Subaru Forester.
But I would like to say that it's more than a base model because I basically put tons of work
into it. But it started life as a daily driver for my wife and son. And then when they moved to the
ascent, I moved into the Forester full-time. And I mean, I had the stuff setting in my garage,
so it immediately started getting tore up. Yeah, I know. I just saw it for the first time because
I saw it on Instagram, obviously, but always looks different in person and always looks
like better in person. Yeah, they paired up really well. I mean, the two white ones
next to each other, it was a good look. Yeah, I liked it. So what got you interested in Subaru in the
first place? And then obviously he had an ascent, but also like why choose the Forester? So I chose
the Forester because I personally love the look. For my wife, it was the very first Subaru that
she owned. Okay. She had a like a forest green one, sunroof, all decked out, everything like
that. But it just wasn't big enough for our family and road trips. So she moved to the ascent.
And I've always just loved like the body style. I like the height over the length. And so that's
always been my biggest push. And I don't know, is there just something about the 2022,
like that front end? It just looks mean. I think they've changed it a lot since then. But
even now when I go places, people are like, oh, the front of yours looks so much different
than and I'm like, I don't even have a bumper or anything on it. And they're just like,
that base looks so good. Yeah, it does. So where did your interest in Subaru come from?
So it's funny because and my brother-in-law always gives me shit because he, he's a big
Subaru guy. And he is in Austin. He was the first person in the family quote unquote to buy
a Subaru. And then we immediately took it and ran with it. And we're like, man,
this is amazing. It handles great. Does everything I want to do. When was that?
That was probably 2019. Oh, it was a pretty recent.
Yeah. So prior to that, he'd had a Kia. I mean, I've always been fascinated with the Brats.
Yeah. Just because I love, like I grew up on a farm. I've always been like,
trucks are the way to go, but I just love the truck car concept. And so the Brats were
always a big one for me. And then I don't know, I just started really digging into the engine
and what it could do and the capabilities on the road as a daily driver and off road.
And it just kind of checked all the boxes in one little compact vehicle.
Yeah. It's nice because it's, you've got the ability to go off road and, you know,
you've got the all wheel drive, which of course is great, but then they're good on gas,
you know, they're relatively affordable. So you put a rooftop 10 on top.
I'm sure. Yeah. Yeah. There's, you can, you can definitely make that a gas mileage
decline by stuff that you do with it, but, but they're still fun. You know, I mean, that's,
they're very versatile. There's a lot of options for mods. And then you start doing that and then
you just go crazy and start having fun with it. And I think that was the biggest thing for me.
And I'm sure we'll get into it in a little bit, but like I'm really big on preparedness and,
you know, being able from to operate an urban environment as well as kind of rule. And
when I was deployed in the military, we would always use like Toyota Land Cruisers.
And I've always liked them. They're super expensive. The mods are through the roof.
And then when you go down like that kind of preparedness slash overland slash do it all
vehicle, people gravitate towards forerunners, land cruisers, jeeps. And I'm like,
there's this untapped market of Subaru and what it can do because of the suspensions,
because of the CVT, like a lot of it is really set up to be just as capable, if not more.
And so that really piqued my interest. And then some research of me, you can do a lot with them.
And so I pulled the trigger. It's kind of like, let's see what we can do with this thing.
And I think that's the most fun. Like for me, turning it from a daily driver to this kind of
overlanding preparedness rig, it it's pushing the envelope. Like what can it do? Yeah. When
it was base, I was taking it up trails that people were like, Hey, you probably shouldn't.
And I'm like, it'll be fine. You know, and now that it's lifted, I'm like, well,
if I did it when it was stock, I can do it now. Absolutely. Yeah.
So where did the name ghost come from? And is I'm guessing ghost is the name of your
Subaru. And then also it's a ghost. Subi adventures is the name of your account.
So give us kind of the history of that. Yeah. So ghost came. So background for me,
I was an interrogator in the army. And then I did a stint contracting,
worked with special operations teams, did a lot of crazy stuff. And my call sign.
So backtrack a little bit. The CIA, like they call their interrogators and their intel guys Spooks.
So they would call me spooky and ghost. Those were my call signs. Got you.
And so ghost always kind of stuck with me. I've lost a lot of friends over the years.
And this is kind of in a sense a tribute to them, but also to like my family,
like I'm able to take their kids out. I'm able to take my kid out.
We get to do kind of both things. We get to remember people I've lost,
but also keep them alive through adventures, stories around a campfire.
And the adventure part came because that's what I'm about. Like I'm about going to places,
trying new things. And so ghost Subi adventures was born in a sense of ghost being the call
sign. I've always been drawn to white cars. It's always been. And so it just all kind
of blended together. Like ghost was just too simple. So I was like, you know what? Let's go full
fledged like adventures because podcast, all those different things were coming down the pipe.
So kind of preemptively bought. Yeah. I mean, Subi adventures is,
you know, self-explanatory, but then that's the cool story behind ghost.
Yeah. Yeah. I love it.
So when did you like come up with the account name for it for your car?
Like how long did you have it before you came up with that?
So obviously we got the car in 2022 and I had always said, hey, I'm going to turn this into a rig.
I had actually never really thought about building an account behind it. It was always just kind of
I'm going to do my own thing with it. I went to Subifest met a bunch of great people and
then I was like, you know what? Like there's an account for it. Like there's kind of an
account that I can build around this because I noticed like a weird intersection after COVID,
the world got crazy in general. Yeah. And I would like watch these preparedness people and like,
you know, these, these moms talking about preparedness and these old dudes and bunkers
talking about it. And I was like, God, this is so like boring and end of the world-ish.
And I'm like, why can't it be more fun? Like preparedness doesn't have to be an
all or nothing. Like you're not just preparing for the zombie apocalypse. Like I would,
I would go to these car shows and they're planning out, you know, how they're going to do routes,
how they're going to do communications. Like very similar to the way we would build
op-ords in the military. They're checking their gear. They're doing all these things.
I'm like, that's preparedness. And so I saw this intersection. I said, what if,
what if like I took this account and made preparedness fun, but also showed the
journey of building an actual preparedness. Yeah. So you said you went to Subifest, Texas.
Was that, was last year your first time or talking about the year before?
No, last year was my first time. So between, so since last year and because it's been,
we haven't even gotten it has even been a year, like that's when the journey started.
Yeah. Like I said, the stuff was kind of setting in my garage,
like waiting to do it. And I was always just going to build it and adventure and fish
and hunt and do stuff and, you know, be ready in the background. If I ever had to leave the
city, so to speak. But I saw an opportunity to talk about it. And I said, you know what,
let's make this fun and not like, if you don't have the best gear, you can't be
prepared for stuff. And it's like, you can go to the Dollar Tree and grab flashlights and water
and bungee cords and do just as well as you can. Yeah. So there are ways to be prepared.
Yeah. So I also was looking in, because you said that you have a website,
which talks a lot about that. And so did you start up the website at the same time?
Or had you already done that before? So I guess a little more backstory. I had done,
so I do business consulting and then moved out of consulting and started working for a bank.
And when I was doing business consulting, I built kind of a podcast that talked about
everything. It was real talk with Roman. I guess we want to check it out, listen to the
old stuff. But it was just random things. And everything that I talked about really gravitated
towards preparedness, adventure, fun. And one day as I was building the rig, my wife was like,
why don't you talk about what you enjoy? This is what you enjoy. You can spend hours talking
about your car and talking about preparedness and why don't you do that? And so I was like,
you know what? I should. And so I built the website mainly because you can't do newsletters
very well if you don't have a website with an email. That sounds official. Like Gmail doesn't
really go over very well. So that was a big driver to the website. So as I started building, it kind
of became more necessary in the sense of to take GoSuby Adventures where I wanted to go,
I needed a website. And the blog was also a good way to get information to people.
And it just all kind of flowed together. Okay. Yeah. So you said you had all this stuff ready to
go. You knew you wanted to build it out. What was the first thing that you put on it? Like,
what was your first mod? So I thought about this one a lot and I had to go back and look.
So the very first thing that I put on my car, you know where the fuse panel is? That little
fuse box? And you can pull it out and you can put the little coin catcher thing?
Yeah, yeah. That was the very first thing I put on my car. That and a sticker was the
very first thing I put on my car. So not super cool, but for me, useful. That was useful because
my fire starter, you know, spare cash, like, I mean, it's really a catch all like it does a
great job of doing that. And once I got under there, it became like, it sounds so menial,
but like doing that, I was like, dude, all of this is just adult Legos. And so then I just,
I had the rack setting. I had a Nash fab rack setting in the garage. So that was the very next
thing. So I started putting that on. And so what did you already have? So I had the coin catcher,
obviously, the Nash fab rack, the lights, and the gas tanks, got you to put on the side.
So you knew that you were like you're saying earlier, you knew you were going to build
this out. So you were just like collecting stuff, getting ready for it. Yeah. I mean,
if my wife would have pulled the trigger on her car sooner, I probably would have had more stuff.
But yeah, I had I had a lot of it setting and waiting. That's good though, man, you know,
like ready to go. Well, it also because another like people don't talk about this enough when
they talk about preparedness to its financial too. Like you have to like when you listen to
these channels and you listen to these people talk about preparedness, they like always end
it with buy this by that, right? And it's always usually usually expensive shit. Right.
And so it's like, no, plan out like what are you practically going to do? Well, I knew that we
were going to do a lot of camping, we're going to do a lot of long traveling, like we were going
to do a lot of things that involved light bars, like being out at night, like I knew the things
I needed. So visibility, exactly. So to be ready to do those adventures, I had to get those
things. So I had them ready and I knew like, Hey, this is phase one to do the bare bones of what
I want to do. I need these things. And I was able to plan out the cost. Hey, I know it's going to
be this long before my wife transfers over. So now I can like plan out schedule my bill,
get my finances in order. Yeah, no, it's good. That's a good point to plan those things out
and just kind of think ahead about what you want to do. I mean, it's expensive. Like
Overlanding is expensive. So it's definitely something that's worth taking a real look at what
you need. And don't just look at my rig or your rig or anyone else's and be like, Oh,
that looks cool. I want that because there's no point in having a thousand dollar tent you never
use. Yeah, because I mean, the first time I ever saw any car with a rooftop tent was PNW
Cross Trick. And it's cool because I finally got to meet, I finally got to meet the owners of
PNW Cross Trick when I was in Oregon for Overland Expo. And I remember like
thinking that I'd never seen a rooftop tent like on a car before. I was like, I didn't even know
you could do that. And I was thinking like, that is so cool. It'd be so awesome to have one of
those. And then I got to thinking about it more. I'm like, but I never go regular camping.
So why would I have a rooftop tent? You know, I think that like, not that I was actually
really considering getting one, but I was just thinking like the idea of one is cool because then
because I never liked ground tent camping. You know, if you have like a cot or a good mattress,
sure. But it just, it seemed like a lot more, I don't know, if I were to be going camping more
often, a rooftop tent seemed like it would be more my style. Yeah. But again, if you don't use
it, why get it? Exactly. And for me and, you know, my wife and my son. So, you know,
my wife is not the biggest fan of rooftop tent camping. But I also have a really nice pop-up tent
that she loves and she can put a cot, do all those things. My son loves being able to climb up there.
And it's just nice for us because I can get to spots that most people can't, right? Like,
I'm not confined to this or that. Now flip side of it, I have a lot more weight when I'm going
on trails. I have a lot more weight when I'm driving down the highway. So you have to take
those things into account for sure. So I was looking at your rooftop tent and it looks like
what's supporting it is some kind of like suspension. Oh man, I love talking about this. This is
awesome. It almost looks like little scissors or you can raise it up or lower it, but maybe it's
that is a hundred percent what it is. So they are flat peak tent levelers and they're a company
based out of Tennessee, veteran owned. And this is going to sound really bad.
When I bought the Nash Fab, I knew I wanted to put a tent and I just thought, oh, it'll be an
easy bolt on, all rooftop tents just bolt on. Nash Fab is not the easiest to get inside
and manipulate once you put it on. Great rack, amazing aerodynamics. Very tricky for
me to get the tent on. So I was looking at options and I was like, man, I don't want to
pull it off and then rebuild it and put it on. And I saw these guys in Tennessee and they have
these levelers that make it where no matter what surface you're on, you can level your tent.
So I can park my car, you know, pick a steep grade 45, 45 all the way up and I can go
and put my tent there or put my car there and then level out my tent and I will sleep
perfectly flat, perfectly awesome. And if you've ever slept in a rooftop tent, you will know
they are never perfectly level. So getting that was a game changer.
And how do you adjust it? So it's just like you said, it's a suspension system. So you pull out
the locking mechanism and then it's got a little handle and you just pull up and you can adjust
all four sides are independently adjustable. Nice. So you can basically pick, depending on the
surface you're on, maybe I only need to level the backside or the front side and you can just
do that and go, it's got like seven notches, I believe. So you can, I mean, you can go from
flat against your rack to up in the sky. So if you're like left front is lower and right rear
is higher and you're at a weird angle, that's, man, that's really cool. Yeah. And that's
awesome. I mean, nature, nothing in nature perfectly flat. So you will always end up,
we always end up adjusting one side at least. That is really cool. I love it. It's my favorite
thing. They were actually my very first sponsor to you. Oh, nice. Hey, I mean, anytime I could
talk about it. That's the first time I've ever seen it. Yeah, it's actually, that was one of my
big things. Like when I saw it, I started reaching out to them. And I was like, Hey, like this is
a game changer, especially with how many people use Nash fab racks in the Subaru community. Yeah.
I'm like, this is a game changer. Like it makes putting your tent on so much easier.
And then I can go anywhere and adjust to any height. Well, game on. And it's a very
transformative mod to, you know, as far as like transforming the usability of what you have,
you know, on your car. But what are some of the other like biggest mods that would like
kind of transformed your rig into what you needed it to be? So I think, and it's also
probably my favorite mod. I have installed a power queen battery in the back of my
tire well. Okay. So where the where the spare tire was, I pulled it out, gutted everything back there.
And I put a hundred amp hour battery. That battery runs off of my main battery in the
alternator. So it keeps it charged. So actually right now, I have a rooftop or I have a fridge.
And it's got cold drinks and snacks inside of it for road trips. Great for camping. So I
can take cold things. It's got fridge freezer. So we can even take ice cream and camping, right?
So it's that's been the most transformative and I'm not limited to dry freeze meal or, you know,
simple ice chest things. Like I have a car that continuously keeps a fridge running that I can
put anything in. So when you're driving, it's charging that battery. And then let's say you
go and park and camp for like however long, like how long will that battery keep? So I can keep it for
about a day and a half without turning my car on. That's really good. But if my car is on,
it'll recharge. If I'm at like half battery, it'll recharge that back battery in about 30 minutes.
Oh, that's not bad. So the drive here kept it at continuous. And then power queen has an app.
So I can actually go on my phone and see like what my battery is. It runs on Bluetooth. So I don't
know if I can pick it up. But yeah, so I can see what my temperature is of the battery. So how hot
it is back there. And then I can see how much juice I have left in it. And then I can make
adjustments. So I can run my fridge on high compressor, low compressor, I can adjust the
temperature. So like, let's say I'm not, you know, I don't need anything super cold. I just
need like fridge cold. Yeah, you don't need frozen stuff. Yeah, I can run the temperature up a little
bit like high 30s, low 40s. It'll still keep everything cold. But it'll give me way more
time out of my battery. That's nice. Do you have it and or does it have the capability of
do like hooking up a solar panel to it? That's actually my next mod. Okay. So it has the
ability to run solar. I'm just debating how I want to run it. So I can run solar on my hood
and run the wires to it and connect to it. Or I can like currently I can just run a solar. So I
have a jackery. I had one before. So I can take the jackery panels and I can hook it up to the
solar outlet and I can basically I can't keep the battery topped off and never turn on the car.
Nice. Yeah, that's cool. It's definitely it's definitely useful if you can't pull out.
Yeah. So do you have, I mean, like where are you with your build? I mean,
especially when you're talking about preparedness, is is it like mostly complete or you still have
a lot of stuff you want to do to it or like anything super major that you're wanting to do
with it? Are you pretty comfortable for now? Man, that's a hard one because I feel like
you can always find stuff to do in a car. But I think for me, it definitely does everything
I need it to do right now. There's things I could do to shave weight like I could get a
lighter tent and that would drop weight. I could run a lighter battery so they came out with a
smaller like a like a Power Queen smaller battery that still is 100 amp hours but weighs 30 pounds
less. So that drops a lot of weight out of your car immediately, especially on the back end
when that's normally the area that's going to feel impact. How heavy is that battery? The
one you have now. So it is if the other one's 30 pounds lighter. Yeah. So it's like 50 pounds I
think. Okay. So I mean, it's not super bad, but to drop down to 20. Yeah, that's considerable.
I mean, that's phenomenal when you talk about batteries and they're only getting smaller
and smaller and still pumping out more juice. So I think that'll be a constantly evolving part.
But as far as like preparedness and everything, I would be confident like if
everything went sideways today, that vehicle could handle 99% of the stuff.
So as far as again preparedness, speaking of that, is your Subaru setup like right now
where it's ready to go or are there things that you have to pack into it before you
would take off? Yeah. So I mean, it's pretty set up. Obviously, like if I had the time I
would stock the fridge up with stuff. If like, let's let's play a scenario like grid down,
got to leave the city, right? I would definitely I have most of the stuff I have all my recovery gear.
I have the spot for my guns. I have all that kind of stuff. I have a bag that stays with me
and it actually go it can go with me in any car I call it my boo bag. And it has a jet
boil, dry freeze food, water bottles. Nice. I have a battery like a battery jump start kit,
the little Nyko, the little power. And then I have the tire setup so I can air up, air down,
silk lock key, duct tape, obviously you need that electrical tape, bungee cords, all that.
And basic tools that can repair everything on my vehicle. So I have Allen wrenches.
That's all in that bag. It's all in that one bag. So I always say like, if for whatever
reason I had to leave my vehicle, I could take that one bag and pretty much get the most things,
right? That's good. But I would probably if I had time, you know, I'd obviously load up like
go bags, other gear, stuff like that. But for the most part, if call came tomorrow,
I'd be confident to take my vehicle. So like, even when you're getting out
overlanding or you want to go stay out somewhere for a weekend or something,
you're pretty much just ready to go aside from grabbing some food.
Yeah, pretty much. I like to say that if somebody told me Friday at work,
they wanted to go fishing. I could pretty much just stop at the gas station on my way out,
grab all my food and meet them at the river. Nice. And that's what I wanted my bill to be.
I wanted my kid to get out of school, me to get out of work and be like, hey,
let's go camping, right? And it can do that perfectly fine. And so I think
to your earlier question, yes, it's good. But I can always make it better, right?
Yeah. Oh yeah, of course. So here's a question for you, because you talk about like
overlanding and going off road and stuff like that. You live in San Antonio, which is in Texas,
and there's so much private land in Texas. Like, where do you go?
Yeah. So that's a hard one, right? Because it's definitely not for anyone who is in Texas,
you know this. For anyone outside of Texas, you're so lucky. Colorado, PNW.
You're so lucky you can go wherever you want to go. You're blessed. Never take that for granted.
We do a lot of stuff in Lano, obviously, because there's some spots in the Lano River
that are dispersed camping that you need up. A lot of the private land is actually
fairly reasonable. You pay like 30 bucks a night, 20 bucks a night. You can go into some really great
spots that look really, really nice, especially getting along the Lano. So really mainly around
the Austin area and outside of there. There's a lot of great places.
Now, are you just speaking of like camping? Yeah, for camping. And I mean, I know there's
domo that you can do overlanding at, like the trail ride kind of stuff.
Where is that? It's Georgetown, Austin, Georgetown, that kind of area.
See, I need some of these things. Yeah. And there's a couple, there's Hidden Falls.
Yeah. I mean, hit or miss, right? Yeah, Hidden Falls is like, I've heard that it's
gotten pretty rotted out. And that was like two or three years ago.
Yeah, they definitely, I mean, I'm not calling out Hidden Falls by any stretch of means,
but it's definitely not the most forgiving course anymore. It used to be a lot more friendly.
And then I have the Onyx app. So I'll go hit a lot of those Onyx trails.
Big Bend has a lot of really great, like you can travel through.
Yeah, I would love to go down to Big Bend, but it's like nine and a half hours.
It's an hour drive. You definitely gotta be ready for it.
Yeah. And it's not one of those things where it's like, oh, let's just leave.
Because I want, like for example, like Bastrop, we're going this weekend,
which is going to be way, the when we go is like way before this gets released.
But because of the time frame that we're talking about this or recording,
you know, we can go to Bastrop, which it's like an hour and a half or so for me,
which is great. And I need to go out there more often. But, you know, it's like,
you don't want to just keep going to the same spot over and over and over again.
Yeah, it's kind of old. I definitely, my son loves Bastrop.
Um, he likes it because we can get the trails, then we can, you know, go out there and kind
of explore the nature areas and stuff like that. But it definitely gets old quick from
a trail perspective for sure. Yeah, I mean, again, like, and I think it's probably better
that we don't go out there that often because then we can appreciate it more.
Like if it was a lot closer and we were going, we had the ability to go more often,
and then probably be like, okay, we've been here like 20 times, you know, let's, but like,
I'm thinking, you know, like you said, Austin, San Antonio and some of these other areas,
something that I can get to and, you know, leave early in the morning, go adventure,
you know, not because I'm not really looking to camp, but just go explore stuff
and then be able to come back or like, you know, get an Airbnb or hotel for the night or
something. Yeah, there's a, there's actually a really great place. It's called Cactus,
what's it called? Cactus Canyon or something like that. It's over near clean in that area.
And that place is really nice. They have a river that runs through it so you can fish and tube
a little bit of light overlanding, like very light, you know, any crazy trails,
but they'll let you kind of go into some of the back 40, so to speak.
But yeah, it's really hard. I mean, I think people look at Texas and go, oh, it's so big.
It's got so many state parks, so many national parks, but really, unless you're in like the
East Texas area, you can hit like Sam Houston and some of those, but those get muddied out
like crazy. So it's all hit or miss. Well, and a lot of it too is just like gravel roads,
you know, we don't have like epic views and terrain and mountains that we can,
you know, mountain passes and mountain trails that we can get up into. So it makes a little more,
I know we have the Texas Overland Trail, which I've been on some of that, which is really nice.
It's actually nice out there because it's at least hilly and it's not flat. But it's,
that's still kind of far for me too. Yeah. And I think that's the biggest problem, right?
Texas is so big. So big bend is perfect. Like it's got the views. It's got the wide open
spaces. You can go to Devil's River, right? And you can hit that before you go in or
after and you can get a lot of water time and stuff like that. But I mean, it's a nine hour drive.
Like you've got to prep yourself to go on that one. So it's, it's definitely, it's hard. Like
there's so much beauty in Texas, but it's hard to really enjoy it because like you said, I mean,
it's majority private and you're paying to do that. So then you're like, okay,
let me maximize my time on this. But then to your point, you know,
most everything, same as you, it's an hour, hour and a half drive for me to get to it.
So I'm already losing a chunk of the day by the time I get there to do it. And then, you know,
let's say we just do it on a weekend. Time goes really fast when you're hitting the trail.
I know. It's tough. It's tough. So as far as like camping and getting out and exploring and stuff
like that, how often do you do that? You said, you know, like if you want to
after work, your son's out of school, you want to go, hey, let's go camping.
Like how often do you get out? Yeah. So I mean, we try to go at least two to three
times a month. Nice. That's good. We're really big on it. My son, so a little more,
my son is homeschooled. So when I say go to school, he has two days a week that are hard days
that he has to be like in a building. The rest of the time, my wife schools him from home.
So we have a little flexibility there. But during the summer, I mean, we pretty much never
are in our house. Yeah. This summer was a fluke because my car was in the shop a lot,
but yeah. But we tried to make up for it. But yeah. So we usually try to do that. And then
for us, so one of my goals is to now hit every state park in Texas. Nice. So me and my son,
we have like, we went to the state park and we bought the little scratch off
poster or whatever. So as we get home, we go home, like take a picture in front of the sign,
do the whole thing. Yeah, that's awesome. So yours is a 2022. When did you buy it?
But I mean, like what month? Like early 2022? Early. Yeah. Okay. How many miles do you have on it?
So 56. Man, that's it? Yeah. Well, it was in the shop for a while. Yeah. So this year was going
to get a lot more. But the shop kind of killed me. I mean, it was a four month time frame
where it was in the shop. So that's a lot of it. But it's, I mean, it's made a lot of
travels in that time. And then when we first got it, so while my wife used it a little bit as a
local daily driver around town, she wouldn't drive it a lot because we also had a Toyota Tundra.
So we kept the miles low knowing that I was going to run that when I got it.
Okay. Okay. That's cool. As far as like exploring and going out and stuff,
what's the furthest distance you've driven it? So it's been to Mexico.
Oh, nice. Yeah. So it's been to Mexico. It's been New Orleans.
So like Louisiana, Arkansas, Georgia, like that whole area. Sweet. It was supposed to go on
Trail of the Dragon. But, you know, things happen. So that's on the books for it. But
the only side I really haven't taken it on is the west side. So like I haven't gone out to
like Arizona and things like that, which I want to. But yeah, it's done a lot of all through Texas,
all the way up. It's going to Oklahoma this weekend. Nice. And then mainly on the eastern side.
So we're at in Oklahoma. So we're going to go up to the Pioneer Woman's Mercantile,
Paw, Pahusky, Pahusky. Do you know where that is exactly? It's like at the very tip.
Like I might as well be out of Oklahoma on the very edge. Because I've been to Oklahoma
city and I've been to Choctaw, Oklahoma. Because we had a project in Choctaw. And I flew there once
because I was only going there. And then I drove to Oklahoma one time because I was going to
where it was like Crossroads, Texas, which is north of Dallas area. And then from there
to Oklahoma, it's like where I was going, it was only like three hours, three and a half hours.
I'm like, I'm just going to drive the whole, like just drive the whole way. And I loved Oklahoma.
Like and going to Oklahoma city was like pretty cool. So drove up there and drove back and
I'm not going to lie. So the Toyota Tundra, like that was my truck that I bought when I got out
of the military out of contracting. And that that has been way more places. So it's been
got you all the way up to pretty much Canada, right? South Dakota, all that. It's been
all the way up and down. And that was originally going to be the Overland rig that I was going to
build. And it was just, it just didn't make sense in the sense of I wanted something that was more
compact. And so I jokingly tell my wife, like I have to take it to at least all the places
that I took the Tundra or it's not even a true rig. So where are some spots like that?
You said you want to go like Arizona, but do you have like an ultimate bucket list spot or
like this is a spot that I definitely want to get out to? Yeah. So this is, this is a case of FOMO
from Instagram, but the big redwoods in California. Like I want to go get a picture of my subi
under that tree that's like a tunnel. Like I want that so bad. Yeah. I know it's tough too
because like living, it's like living in Texas is yeah, it's a beautiful state. It's really
big. There are some, I mean, we've got, oh, we've got Palo Duro Canyon, which is like on the way to
New Mexico, you know, and then of course Big Bend. And but again, those are spots that it takes a
really long time to get to. But I just, I feel like we're like in the middle of everything in
nature that's like, I would love to see. We're like right in the middle and everything
east and west is super far. 100%. So it's funny because I would, I'm talking with like Wicca and
Moth Trek and all of them about going to Cape Lookout. I did the math on that drive. It's like
a 24 hour drive. Like when I factor in like, okay, I have to stop at some point. So I'd have to
stop at my sister who lives in Georgia. I'm like, okay, that's fine. But that's a like,
that's a whole day drive when you like run the math. And so then that's a whole day back.
And I think that's the part that frustrates me the most is like half the drive is just to get out
of Texas. Like once you're out of Texas, it's smooth sailing. But I'm like, I got to drive
like nine hours to get out of Texas to then drive the rest of the way.
Yeah. Cause whenever we went to Colorado, we stayed in Abilene. Is it Abilene?
Yeah. And it was like a nine hour drive. I mean, it's like you're still,
you're driving forever and you're still in Texas. And then you get out and it's like,
all right. And that same timeframe I crossed through, you know, five states or something.
Yeah. I give my wife grief because we took her ascent. So we go to New Mexico to Angel Fire.
Okay. We go out there to like ski in the winter. And we always take her car.
Hey, it's bigger. It can hold more stuff. Right. Like it's perfect for it.
But it's so frustrating because I'm like, man, these are such beautiful views and such great
photo opportunities. Like I told her, like I'm just going to follow y'all in my car.
Because you want to take photos of your car in those spots.
Because I need to take pictures of my car in these places.
Yeah. I know.
Just do some more stuff with the ascent, you know?
Oh, you're right. I try to convince her to, because I've seen a lot of really cool rigs
that are like lifted ascent and stuff. And they have what the turbo and everything.
I mean, they can pretty much make it up anything. So I'm like, let's do it.
And she's like, let's not.
Yeah. Ventures, Texas lady Karla, she's got a really nice ascent.
Yes. Yes. Yeah. I like hers.
So we mentioned Subifest earlier. You went last year and you said that was,
because we were talking a little bit before we started recording, but you said last year,
when you went, you didn't really know what Subifest was. And so you're like,
didn't know what to expect. So what was your, one, what was your experience like
going last year and like kind of what did you learn and what did you take away from it?
So I actually loved Subifest. The moment we left, I said,
we're coming back next year. The people were so cool.
So the tire hitch on the back of my car, that is built by a guy I met at Subifest.
So STI Omar. So he's a welder. He lives in Houston. So he had built one for his wife's
car. She has a Forester, but it's a different year model. Okay. And I was like, Hey,
could you do that to mine? And he was like, Yeah. You know, and we talked price and everything
and all that. And it's really cool because it runs, he has a camera that hooks up to my main
camera system. Nice. So it just, you flip a switch, I can go back to my main camera or
I can stay on his camera. And it gives me a backup camera. It's an open hitch. It drops
down and there's a table. So I have a table to cook on. It's one of those bison gear tables.
And then it's my propane tank is right there. So literally, I hook it right up to my stove.
It's just a game changer in the rig in the sense of
not a lot of weight, but something that serves a lot of purposes. Carries a tire,
gives me a place to cook on, holds my fuel, holds my recovery boards on the other side.
And I'm mounting my fishing poles. So I'm building a, basically just screwing in a fishing wreck
on there. And then on the back end, I'll have my fishing poles. So a lot of purposes. And literally,
I just met him walking into the, like he wasn't even in the show. Like we were just walking in,
he had his car on the outside, him and his wife were sitting there talking. My wife started
talking to his wife. I started looking at his rig. And one thing led to another. And then
we're at his house spending the whole day building a setup on my car. So I think
that was the big game changer for me. Like a lot of places talk about community, you know,
like a lot of car clubs are, oh, you know, we're all about community. We're all about this. And
then you get into the club and they're like, you can't do this. You can't do that. But like,
you go to these subi events and just everybody just wants to have a good time. And everybody
is like, Hey, this is where I got this. This could help your rig or Hey, what are you
trying to do? Like my vehicle does it? Like you can find someone who does everything.
You want to find a WRX that has a rooftop 10 on it? You're going to find it at Superfest.
So like if somebody thought of it, you're probably going to see it at Superfest.
I think that's the coolest part. And then everybody's always so willing to share
information too. That's what's really nice is there's no, you know, you've rarely come across
somebody who's like says that they don't want to help you out or like, no, I don't want to
tell you what I do with mine. And you know, we get ideas and inspiration from other builds,
but, and we might have a lot of the same products that other people have, but we still
find a way to make it our own and make it unique and different because we all have our
own style, you know, we all have our own like personality that we kind of help bring out
with our Subaru's, you know, it's like, because like with mine, it's an all white and black
theme, you know, and I have certain decals on it that somebody else may not want,
you know, but I like them and for, you know, for whatever reason, but it's just,
it's fun to personalize it and start to see it grow into something new and different,
you know, and it's just, it's, I don't know, it's just a lot of fun.
Well, I think that's actually, you raise a really good point. So when we went,
we obviously toured like the show area and as we were going through there, you know,
like I saw Space City, Subis, I saw all these different Subi clubs and I was like, you know,
Texas Roo and I was like, man, where's the San Antonio Club? And my son, he, he saw the Bluey
Subi that Nat owns. And he was like, this is so cool. And, you know, my wife and son,
they're over there taking pictures with it and this and that. And they weren't there at the time,
but the person beside them, he was like, hey, they're in San Antonio because we were, you know,
we were just talking. Yeah, we're in San Antonio. They're like, they're in San Antonio,
you should find them. So I found her on Instagram a couple of days later.
And then, you know, she got me into the car scene and to the car club and into like
Lone Star Subis. And so it was like, the community was just welcoming.
Like you go to these Jeep events, you go to Toyota and I'm not, I'm not knocking them
like people like those cars, great. But those communities almost seem more exclusive,
so to speak. Like, yeah. Oh, well, you have a base model. Like, well,
when you grow up, you can be in our car. And they're like, no, bring your car as is.
Like, we'll help you build it. Like, when I pulled out my struts to put my rail tech lift kit in,
I gave them to a guy who wanted to turn his and his WRX into like a rally car.
So he took my stock ones and use that. And it's one of those things where
like, he was like, Hey, what can I help you with? Like, it was just, it was a true community
and I think, and like she does some of my decals and like different things like that.
So it's one of those things where it's just, I don't know, the community is just different.
It's the closest I can equate it to is like the military in the sense of
it's a strong community and everyone can have their own personality. Like,
you go around a group of military people, you're going to find, you know, the jock,
the cowboy, the whatever. And like, you go to a super group, you're going to see the
same thing. Like you see a cowboy around a tattooed person that you would be like,
you'd never see those two people together in a crowd, but
Are you saying cowboys don't have tattoos? I know, right? I'm proof that we do, but
but it's just very, it's funny, right? Like you, the community is just so much more
inclusive is probably the best word. Yeah. And what I think is really cool too is like
what I've experienced is you have people of so many various ages too. Because like, you'll
have somebody that's because I'm 52, you'll have somebody that's like 65, you know, close to 70 or
whatever that builds out their Subaru and is having fun with it. And they're talking to somebody that's
like 19 that is built out their Subaru. And because they have a Subaru, these two people of
like a vast age difference are coming together and talking about something that they both enjoy
where normally those two people, if they were at some other kind of event, probably would
have never talked in their life. And I think that's so cool that you just have all these different
people of different backgrounds of different ages all coming together and just for the love of
Subaru. Thank you. Yeah, I know, right? And I think that's what, I think that's what
Subifest does really well. Like when you walk through the show area, like you'll see an overland
rig and then right beside it, you'll see like a totally decked out WRX, right? Yeah. Or you'll
see like an old school, you know, fuzzy, just totally kitted out, lowered and all that. And you're
like, you wouldn't see those together on a normal scene, but you go to Subifest and it's like,
they're right beside each other and they're sitting there laughing and hanging out. And then,
you know, they're both giving you inspiration for your build, like you said. And so it's just,
it's wild. Like I don't think I've ever seen a community that does it well, or as well as
Subifest and Subaru does, probably outside of the military. Yeah. And like, I don't have any experience
with any other car clubs at all. But I've heard from countless other people that have been in
other car clubs that say the way the Subaru community is is unlike anything they've ever
experienced. So it's good to know that that comes from a lot of different people. And I think
Subifest- Coming from other brands. Yeah. And I think Subifest makes it that way, right?
Like you go to this event and it almost encourages you to learn all that stuff, right? Because you've
got Bucky doing donuts out there. And then an hour later, you've got an overland course happening.
And it's like, what? You know, like you wouldn't go to a Honda show and see that. You wouldn't
even go to a Toyota show and see that. Yeah. So knowing now what you know about Subifest going
last year and everything, one, you said that your car is going to be in the show,
which is super cool. Vote for me. Everybody help me win it.
Yeah. So, so like, aside from, you know, your car being in the show,
like what are you most looking forward to? I'll be honest, I'm excited for the community.
Like the fact that, you know, I met Omar there, I'm excited to see him again,
see if he's done anything new to him and his wife's build. I'm excited to actually go this
time with the car club. So I'll be going with Lone Star Subis, right? So it's cool to
be able to go from being an outside participant, so to speak, to now like
a year ago, I was on the outside. Now I'm in the show with the car club going in, right?
Like, so I think I'm really excited for that. And I'll be, I'll be 100% honest. I'm really
excited for the pens. I want to see what pens they come out with. So I immediately bought
them. I'm a big, I don't know, like little trinket shit. Like I love that stuff. Yeah.
So I'm excited for the pens. Hopefully, you know, maybe they'll have a forester,
but I think just, just the community is the biggest part that I'm excited for.
Yeah. No, it's, it's fun. It's definitely something to look forward to.
If you could drive somebody else's Subaru for a day, who's would it be?
Man, I know you prepped me for this one and I spent forever like thinking like,
who's where I drive? Who's where I drive? And there's just so many cool ones out there.
Oh, I really, so backstory. So Nat was the first person to get me in a car club,
like kind of, you know, take me from outside persistent to inside. Yeah.
The very first follower I got on Instagram was Wicca. Okay. So I think I would want to drive
hers more for like the nostalgia of, you know, this is the very first person. Yeah. And I
feel like those, our builds are kind of similar, you know, like Wicca goes, they kind of go
together like the black and orange, the white and black. Like I think it would just be really cool
to swap cars with her for the day. And it's kind of the same as mine. So it wouldn't be that big
of a leap. No, that's cool. And that's a good answer. I liked it. So what are, like,
what are your thoughts on like some of the newer model Subaru's, you know, lineup that
they've come out with? You just opened a can of worms. I try to be nice. Yeah. I'm like,
okay, do you want to keep your Subaru sponsorship at the end of this podcast?
I actually, I don't like the Forster 100% the new Forster. I don't like it. I'm not going to
hide that because I think Forster is a very signature car for Subaru. And I think it's one,
like, like we were talking about earlier, like it can do everything. You can go down the street
and see somebody on a lowered one. You can see somebody on a lifted one. You can see a stock
one that looks great just seeing it pass by, right? Like, there's just something about the Forster build
that I think just looks great. I think this new model, they kind of missed the mark. It looks
just like every other Toyota or Land Cruiser you see on the street, in my opinion. I don't
like the body style. I don't like how it shifted. I'm not a big fan of the whole electric push.
I was never a big fan of it. I think I think it has potential. I think there's a lot of
work that needs to be done. And I don't think Subaru is quite there yet. So I'm curious to see
how this electric performs, especially being marketed as like an off-road capable electric.
So I'm very curious as to what that looks like. But I don't have my hopes up. So
I'm hesitant. Like old Subaru 2023 and below loved it. Now kind of drifting into looks like
everybody else's car. Yeah, there's definitely some animosity and stuff with the new Forster.
However, I'm going to Overland Expo in Mountain West in Colorado and seeing the Forster hybrid
that Mountain Subi is going to be. She's been kidding it out and stuff with Subaru and Silver
Bullet XV. So that's Carey and Milton. That Subaru, the color that is looking like I didn't really,
I didn't care for it too much either when I first saw it. And a lot of people didn't just because
it, they thought it looked like too much like a Fore Explorer. But it's really growing on me.
Like seeing it in person more and more. The interior styling, I think it's amazing.
I really like it. I think it looks great. But you talked about you can do stuff with,
yeah, the older Forsters lifted, dropped. There's something about the body style,
especially like the older, older ones that were really boxy. And yeah, you did kind of lose that
with the newer one. But it's not to say that people can't do those things. So I'm curious
to see what people will be doing with the new one. Because I think depending on what you do
with it can bring back some of that, check out that Subaru look. So even though the body style
maybe may have changed, there's still, I think there's still something about the way that people
build Subaru's that definitely stands out from everybody else. Yeah, I think you really touched
on it earlier, right? Like it's about the person who owns the car. Like as much as I don't
like this Forster new model, I'm excited to see what people do with it. And I hope they
change my opinion, right? Like, because I'll value the opinion of the people I meet at Subaru Fest,
the people I see in the car clubs, like I'll value what they say. But I mean, as of now,
I haven't tested driven one. I even asked when they gave me a loaner, if I could drive one,
they just didn't have any on the lot at the time. So I'm curious and I still might go in
and be like, Hey, can I test drive one? But it's, I think the community has a chance to
do it. And if there's one thing the Subaru community can do is they can fix it, right?
Like they can make it come back to life. So well, and it'll be interesting to see because
no doubt there's probably going to be some people that have done stuff with
the new Forsters at Subaru Fest. If you're going to see it somewhere, that's where you're going
to see it because it's hard sometimes to like captures that out just driving around, like
especially in Texas and in Houston. Yeah. Well, Houston probably more in the city,
you're going to see more of the tuner scene. But as far as like off-road and overlanding,
you're not going to see it as much in Texas, especially not like in Houston, maybe not
in San Antonio or Austin. But if we're going to see it anywhere, we're going to see it at
Subaru Fest. But you touched on another thing too, as far as like the, you know,
how we, I guess, think about other people's builds and respecting them. And, you know,
because like I feel like Subaru owners amongst each other, like while you may not, like you may not
like the Forster body style, let's say, but you can see what somebody did and respect what they
did and be like, okay, I don't really care so much for the body style. But what you did with it
is, that's amazing. Like that looks incredible. 100%. And then, but then so that's amongst,
you know, Subaru owners. We also can respect other people's builds. Like if somebody built out a Jeep
or a Toyota or a Honda or anything else, I feel like it goes more from Subaru owners out to
everybody else than everybody else coming into Subaru owners and having respect. So it's so
fun to see that a lot. You know, I've not, again, not necessarily experiencing that myself,
but just from stuff that I've heard from other people. So I literally just experienced it on
the drive up here. So we stopped to get gas at a QT. And we were, we barely had left San Antonio.
And there was a Jeep that was gassing up right beside me. Bare-bone stock Rubicon,
like nothing done to it. And mine's fully raked out. And his friend was at the other
gas pump and was like, Hey, and was like, and I could see him look at my car. And he was like,
Hey, he gave me the thumbs up from far away. Like he liked it. And then he pointed to his friend and
told him like, Hey, like basically, like, this is what your car could be. And he was like,
nah, that's, that's, that's weak. Like, and I could hear him kind of like insult my car,
but he didn't say anything to me. You know, and it's kind of one of those things where
it's like, dude, like you have a stock car, like yours has no personality. I can find 100
Rubicons on the road, you know? And so it's like, I didn't take it personal, but it definitely goes
to your point. Like outside of the Subaru community, I feel like a lot of people are a lot, they're
like, well, you're just trying to be an overlander. Go get a real car. And you're trying to be like
a Jeep. You're trying to be, it's like, no, I just, yeah, it just, it doesn't, it doesn't
go both ways, unfortunately. And not, not with every case, of course, because we know people
in other car communities that respect our builds, like, because a lot of them go trailing together,
you know, and because they have that respect. And that, that just comes down to the person,
like this person just, they don't have respect for somebody else, you know?
Yeah. And I think, and I think that's the coolest thing about Subaru. Like we keep
touching on the community, but I really feel like that's the crux of it. Like the Subaru
community is a very like inclusive community. And you can take whatever stance you want
to take and say, oh, they lean more liberal, or you can like, you can make it political,
you can make it however you want to make it. But at the end of the day, I've never had a Subaru
person be mean to me, to my family, or my car. Yeah. I can't say the same thing about other cars.
Yeah. Yeah. Unfortunately. So like, as far as not just your build, but like go subi adventures
and kind of what it stands for talking about preparedness and all that kind of stuff,
like what is your long-term goal with it, with what you're building as far as what it means to you?
Yeah. So it's twofold for me. One, I want to become the name and preparedness, you know?
A couple of years back, you had fieldcraft survival. And then prior to that, you had like,
you know, the preppers guild. And you've had like all these different people have come up,
you've had, you know, the graybeard green beret and you've had, you know,
mother prepper, and there's like a hundred different names. But when you really boil down all of them,
it's almost like a fear based. And I get it fear sales, right? Yeah. But for me, like, I want
preparedness to be fun because I watched these like communities that I'm in, you know, the guy
in the WRX with a fully kitted out recovery system. And he doesn't even have an overland
rate, but he wants to be able to help, you know, his friends on the trails, right? And he can come
in and be a recovery car. And like, that's cool, you know, like that's preparedness. And I think
everyone should have some level of preparedness, you know, and it's different for everyone.
I'm not telling everyone to go out and buy guns and gas masks and get a bunker.
But it's definitely like everyone should have some level of preparedness. And I think
the biggest turnoff is one money and two fear. And those are the two biggest selling
points in the preparedness space right now. And so for me, I was like, well, what if we just
made it fun? Like take my advice, don't take my advice. Like I don't care. But I want it,
I want to put it out there because maybe there's someone who doesn't know how to create a proper
communication plan. Perfect example, there were, you know, protests happening throughout
the US a while back. And I posted this little thing about, you know, how to do a simple
communication of, you know, what do I see in front of me? What are they doing? Kind of,
you know, the same thing that a million different people do. You know, who's mobilizing? What do
they have? What are they doing? Where are they going? Kind of the basic who, what, when, where's
house? And I put it on my page as a post and kind of like walked out like the military
doctrine behind it and basically said, you know, like, if you get everyone on the
same page, you know, if you're going to a rally and you all use this same information,
it's going to work so much better because everyone's saying the same thing and everyone knows
what information is being relayed. And the outpouring of information I got for like people
like, I never thought about that. I never knew about that. Like, and it's something so small
as, you know, a local protest, right? Whether it's No Kings Day, whether it's an LGBTQ
parade, whether it's even a, you know, MAGA parade, whoever it is, right? Being able to
effectively communicate as a core pillar of that very adventure doing and just talking about it.
Like there were so many people who were like, I've never thought about that. I never thought
how important it was that everybody be on the same page. And one of the people leading
the protest in San Antonio said, Hey, I'm going to use this for my people. Like, how do I
teach it to all the core people who are going to be on the radio? So I kind of like talked
them through it and this and that. And it's one of those things where then we got into, well,
you know, are you prepared for pepper spray? Do you know, like what counters it? Do you have
like bandanas? Did you give people a list of what they should bring beforehand? They're like,
well, we just kind of grabbed things from other people. I'm like, well,
what if you built that out beforehand? So it's, it's things like that that I think
we make it sound so gate keep door. Oh, you only need this information if you're
preparing for the zombie apocalypse. Well, no, you need this information. If you're going to go
to a protest with your wife and kids, you need this information. If you're going to go camping
out in the middle of, you know, even a state park, like, yes, it's a controlled environment,
but you're out there in the wild, right? Yeah, you're going to need this if the power goes
out. We were all in tech. Like if you're in Texas, you're here when snow again happened,
right? And everyone didn't have everything. So it's one of those things where everyone
can benefit by knowing some things. But if you make it so fear based by base,
then nobody learns anything. So it's just like, take my military, take my ranching experience,
put it out there and help people learn that information and have fun while doing it.
So where can people follow you to like start learning more about it?
Yeah, so the easiest and fastest ways Instagram goes to be adventures.
That's where everything goes to first. I have a preparedness newsletter that I send out.
I call it past the trailhead. And we talk about all things preparedness, you know,
kind of a weekly recap of, you know, things I've seen in my week, things that might help people.
I shout out some other people who are doing great things. And then
with that, you'll be the first to know when my podcast launches goes to be adventures where
So you haven't launched that yet? It has not launched yet. Probably by the time this
episode airs, it will be out because it's slated for the next couple of weeks.
So speaking of the podcast, do you have like a release schedule as far as like how often
you're going to release it? Yeah. Yeah. So we're going to do, for now, I'm going to do once a week
and then I'm going to pepper in random episodes based on things that are happening in the world,
just kind of awareness things, and then also guest spots. So you'll hear from me talking
about preparedness, different things, kind of seasonal, like everything from recovery gear to
my boo bag, like, Hey, how do you put a bag like that in your vehicle? So mine was a Bass Pro bag
and the whole kit thing comes out to like 300 bucks when you add everything up. So it's one of those
things where there's that level, but then, Hey, what's a cheaper build for it? How can I be
effective? And so just giving people those resources on a week to week basis, guest spots
where I talk to other people about their builds and their vehicles that they're rolling with,
because I think a big part of preparedness is your vehicle. You spend a lot of time in
your vehicle. Like think of how much time you spend day in and day out driving.
And imagine like most people will tell you like, Oh, I saw an accident on the road today. Oh,
I saw this like, Oh man, this person was stranded and I couldn't help them, right?
But if you had the stuff, could you would you would you even be able to, right? Like,
it's great to have a med kit, but what if you don't know how to use it? Like,
it's great to have tourniquets, but predominantly, if you're out camping with kids or whatever,
you're not going to see somebody in a need of a tourniquet, they're going to need
a bandage or bug spray or, you know, something for a bug bite. Do you carry that stuff? Or do you
think, well, I have this, you know, high level gauze that's going to stop the bleed in 2.2
seconds. Well, that's great, but that's not what you're going to encounter in most of the
time. So you don't need that man. Yeah. So it's what you practically need. And again,
back to that, get away from fear based and more what's practical for me in my life.
Yeah. So how would you say that owning your Subaru has changed your life?
Oh man. Yeah, it's been a game changer. Definitely. So community, obviously great community.
It's just a fun bonding thing for me and my son. So the other day we were,
we were driving and my son was like, Hey dad, what happens to this car, you know,
when you get too old to drive it, I'm like, well, it's going to be your car. Like,
he was like, I'm going to take good care of it. I'm excited for that. And it's like
unintentionally. Are you going to get too old before he's
able to drive? First of all, let's talk about this aging thing. But yeah. And I think like,
that's really cool because now my son is interested in this same thing that I am, right? He's made
friends in the community, same as me. Whether it's kids and then even older people who've helped
him skateboarding, like all these different things. So it's like, he's had people teach
him things that I can't. I'm not a skateboarder. I'm never going to be a skateboarder.
And so that's been great. That's been life-changing. The community I've met,
the preparedness, like pulling me off of the ledge to actually move forward with it, like,
to take something from an idea and kind of something I toyed with to now like,
Hey, I can do it. Like I can chalk that up to my Subaru being the reason behind that.
And then obviously, like the safety factor of it. I mean, yeah, just such a safe car,
such a reliable car, notwithstanding the things that happened in my car.
We're going to pretend that those didn't happen. Subaru customer service was great
at the Subaru level. And so it was a, it's just great to have a car that touches every facet
of my life. Like traveling, living the lifestyle I want to live, affordable price,
like all the things, like it hits everything. And I think finding something in today's age
that checks all the blocks is almost impossible. So it's such everything.
That's awesome. So do you think that you will always own a Subaru?
Oh, till I die. And then my kid will take it after I die.
That's when you're going to be too old to drive.
Yeah. And then he better drive me around. So yeah.
All right. Was there anything else that you wanted to share before we get into this last
segment, anything that we didn't talk about that you think people might want to know about
your rig or adventures or anything? No, I mean, I think we, I think we covered a
lot of stuff. This was, this was a very exciting conversation. So I loved it.
All right. So, so this last segment is get to know you a little bit better,
but who is Roman as in describe yourself? Oh man, I don't, I don't know that you're
going to have any listeners after I describe myself. So I guess I'll give the high level
background of me. So I grew up in foster care, bounced around homes throughout Texas,
got adopted into a farming and ranching family in East Texas, grew up with a grandma who
survived the Great Depression. And that was kind of where the start of prepare,
I call her my grandma. She was actually my great grandma.
That's where my start in preparedness and kind of all that even happened is,
you know, she would tell me stories about the Great Depression while like I'm shelling peas
or picking berries with her. It was a really interesting time and really formative.
Home life wasn't great, moved out of it quickly, joined the military,
loved my time in the military, did multiple deployments as an interrogator, worked with
special operations, got to work with tons of militaries all over the world, like probably,
my wife will say it, it was my first love. And probably to this day, I still love it.
And that was that then got out, tried to figure out the whole assimilate back into society,
had a rough row of it for a while, got it together, and then had a son. And since then,
it's been having adventures and preparing him for the world the way it is, right? Like,
we talked about it a little bit, but the world has changed a lot since COVID.
Yeah. And being able to say like, hey, I have a son who knows how to start a fire, knows how to hunt,
knows how to fish. I feel like they're kind of dying skills. And it's sad to say that because
I think some of the most fun times I've had is going fishing in the middle of nowhere, right?
Traveling down a trail, you know, seeing the stars at night. So that's really me in a nutshell.
It's like adventuring, it's being out, it's, it's having fun and taking the sunshine and the rain
and pushing through all of it. You mentioned stars at night. So we got to do something real quick
together. Oh, geez. Stars at night are big and bright, deep in the heart of Texas.
I love it. I love it. That's awesome. Okay. You can only do that with Texas people. Yeah.
But for everyone else, you should learn that. So you said something when we came into this room
and knowing your background now and what you, part of what you did in the military,
it makes a lot of sense. So for context for everybody, we're at a hotel where he and his
wife are staying. And we asked the guy at the front desk if we could use a meeting space
so that we could record the episode and, you know, so just be quiet and not bothered or
anything. And so the guy was like, there's no tables or chairs or anything in there.
And I said, all I need is two chairs. So we were outside taking some photos of our cars.
And then we, he's like, I'll leave the door open for you. So we're like, oh,
here's a meeting room. We walk in. And the first thing you said was this looks like an
interrogation room because almost, almost in the middle of the room, it's like a little
off center. But in the middle of the room, there's this very narrow,
somewhat long table, maybe like four feet long table. It's like four feet long,
like maybe not even two feet deep. It could be a bench. Yeah. And then a chair on either side.
And then, you know, of course light. So there's this big open room. And it does kind of look
like we're in here for an interrogation, an interview. So it's been a good interrogation.
It's been a good one. What is a favorite memory from your childhood?
Well, I mean, we kind of touched on it. I love the time I spent with my grandma.
She taught me a lot of stuff to this day. I still talk about her and about the stuff she did.
And even with everything that happened with my family, she was always right there
for me until she passed away. And she was just a really great example of resiliency.
And I think that kind of carried on with me. But I would, to be honest,
my favorite memories were sitting there, shelling peas with her at the time. I thought
it was the worst thing in the world with now being older. I think I'd trade a lot of things
to be able to do that one more time. Absolutely. Yeah. You look as an adult,
you look back at some of the things that you were like, oh, are we doing this?
And then those, yeah, become some of your most fond memories.
100%. So we're in East Texas because a lot of my family on my mom's side and her
parent's side were in Alto. Okay, very cool. So I grew up in between Mahea and Tig and Clay Hill.
Okay. So it's like right there. So Fairfield is, you know, like 10 minutes one way.
And Tig is like 10 minutes the other way. So it's like smack dab in the middle.
It's a little, I mean, Clay Hill is technically part of Tig. Okay.
It's not in the sense that it's its own, it's got its own electric, its own power.
And I mean, I guess it's kind of changed since then, you know, everything has happened.
But yeah, it was a really small middle of nowhere, nothing.
Where is that in relation to like where Alto is and Palestine?
So it's a little south, south, Palestine is to the east.
So okay, gotcha. Okay, cool, cool. But I mean, I played baseball throughout Palestine.
Pretty much, I mean, all of that area, right? It pick any little small,
so nothing town. And honestly, like that's land that I wish this is back to a tangent,
but I wish that some of that was public land because there's so much beautiful land,
so many trails and honestly, there are county roads up there, which is nice.
And then like pretty much everyone you go down,
you'll see somebody selling like a little farmer's market out of their house.
You'll see little old cemeteries. You'll see, you know, run down old chapels,
dilapidated ranches. And I think it's a lot of history that gets lost in the hustle and
bustle of the cities around it. Yeah, absolutely. What did you do for a living?
So I work in banking. I won't call out the bank, but I do business and control management.
So I look at all of their risk portfolios and make sure that they don't end up in the news for bad
things. All right. Do you have a dream job? You know, honestly, I've done my dream job,
so I got to jump out of helicopters, deploy all over the world. That was what I wanted to do
from a very young age. And I got to do it. So I mean, yeah, I lived my dream job and
that's cool. My body at some point said, you've had enough of your dream job,
go forth and do other things. But yeah, I think I did it. I mean, now I think I would say,
can you get paid to overland? I mean, I mean, I think if you do it right and get connected
with the right brands and stuff, you probably I think maybe I guess that would be my dream job.
Yeah. Maybe be out in the middle of nowhere for a while and just live in my car.
Have your own preparedness channel. There you go. I like this. I like discovery channel.
If you're listening, pick me up. Yeah. There you go. So what is something that really scares you?
Rats. Rats. 100% rats. I actually have a story about this. So rats and mice have scared
me since I was a little kid. Always scared me. My third or fourth deployment,
we were in a talk probably about the size of this room we're in right now. And a talk is
like an operation center. So a bunch of people sit in there. You've got computers and usually a
big screen where you're like watching your operations. So it's called it's tech
cooperation center. So you're basically planning out your ops, you're overseeing
like the visual feeds of people that are in operations and things like that.
And when you're on the base, you're not supposed to discharge your weapon.
So that's not a thing. Yeah, I'm hearing a story. Yeah, you're hearing a story.
So there's a giant rat that, I mean, it wasn't a rat. It was more like a dog that was a rat.
And yeah, like it came running across the wall. And I pulled my gun and I shot the rat
and I killed the rat. And nobody was there. It was up high. Like I knew I wasn't going
to hurt anybody. I shot it into the roof. So like it would have been like kind of on the beam,
the raft of the roof shot it, killed it, it dropped down. Everyone got super mad at me,
but it was a really good shot. So I didn't get in trouble. But yeah, like I'm terrified of rats.
I will break rules for it. Apparently so. What were you thinking? By the way, that was a
great shot. Yeah, yeah, basically. And I mean, I had told them that I was scared of rats.
And I like I worked really hard to keep rats away from my area of the bay. I mean,
it's hard. Like you're in the middle of that. But yeah, that's that's one of the best ones I've
ever heard. What is Kay, then what is something that really excites you? Oh man. Right now,
my son, my son really excites me. Like just we were talking about on the drive up here.
Like he's growing up so fast. Like he's eight years old. And you know, I remember you
so fast. I think people undersell that when they tell you like, Hey,
you're going to be a parent and your kid's going to grow so fast. They don't really sell it to you
as well as they should. I think they should sell it a lot better. Yeah, so it excites me because,
you know, the other day he wasn't into, he was into bluey, you know, and now he doesn't watch
bluey. He watches, you know, a different show. And I'm sure in like three weeks, it'll be
another show. And you know, it's just the amount of things they absorb, the amount of like
growth, the sense of adventure, the wonder. Like he still sees the world as like this
explorable place. And I'm like, all the good stuff's been explored already. But he's like,
no, it hasn't seen it. And so, and I'm like, man, I wish I could go back to that. And so
seeing that and kind of vicariously living that is nice. Yeah. It's, I noticed too with my kids
that like they would go through this phase and you're like, Oh my gosh, I love this phase.
Like I don't want them to grow out of this. Like I want them to stay like this forever.
And then it just gets better. And then it gets better. And then it gets better,
because like each new phase that they get to is not that it negates the one before,
but they just start doing new things and talking more and their personality starts
developing more. And then they start like, you know, maybe having a sense of humor.
And so it's like, you just see all these progressions and all these phases that are
like continuous, like this one was amazing. But then this gets even better. And this
gets better. And this gets better. And then they get older and they go driving with you on trails.
Exactly. My son just turned 19 and he's got 2010 out back. And so we get to do that together.
And that's, and I think that's, that's the other part, right? Like people don't sell
how fast they grow up, but they also don't sell how amazing the journey is. And I think
if you're not a parent, you can't really see it, right? It's hard to, and it's hard to
describe it to someone who is who has a little baby in their hand and all they do is cry and
poop, right? And then all of a sudden, like everything changes. And it's like, wow. And then
you get used to that. And then it changes again. I tell you what though, it is really cool having
adult children because you, your conversations are different. You can share more stuff like
I really like metal. And my son like didn't use to like metal. And then all of a sudden
he was listening to deaf tones. And then you listen to other stuff. And I'm like,
where did this come from? Because he didn't use to like this. And now we've been to concerts
together. Yeah, that's awesome. Yeah, we've been to, we've seen Gojira twice. One of them was at the
corn's 30th anniversary tour. So we saw corn and Gojira at the Woodlands. And then we saw
corn, we saw Gojira. And, and I think like they were, I don't remember if they were,
I think, maybe something different. But anyway, we were seeing Gojira. We saw,
we've seen Seven Dust. We've seen Static X, which we were like, he didn't really know who they were.
And I kind of knew a little bit, you know, listened to him a long time ago. We were watching him
like, this is so good. So it's just been fun. And like, he went to the deaf tones concert
recently with his best friend. They're going to go see, they've got tickets to go see Mudbane
like in December. Yeah. So being able to like share music together, like a love of that music
that I've like been listening to for so long. And now he listens to it. We're always sharing stuff.
Dude, have you listened to this? Have you heard this? Have you heard this? That's a lot of fun.
So it's funny. I'm a, I'm an old school country fan. Like I grew up on country. I love country.
My son listens to a lot of country through me. He's a big Jelly Roll fan. So we took him to
see Jelly Roll on Post Malone. But we didn't tell him that we were going on. So it was a
total surprise. And like, this is the wonder of kids that people need to tell you about.
So like, we go to this concert. We've, you know, it's in the Spurs Stadium. So he's like,
seeing the Spurs play before. So we're like, oh, you know, this is just a little pre-show
before the Spurs come out to play. And he's buying it, right? I mean, I don't know how
you're buying this, but you're buying this. And then, and then Jelly Roll comes out. And he
loves Jelly Roll, like huge Jelly Roll thing. And like, for the entire concert, he's just crying
and quiet, like just absorbing it. And then he starts like flaring at the top of his lungs,
the songs, right? And I'm not a huge musical fan in the sense, like, can sing well or sing. Like,
I'm like, okay, you know, I like the music. I love to listen to it. You know, I'll sing in
a shower, but outside of that, you know. And he, like, he just like awoken that kind of like
thing in me. And like, we got to share that. And he still talks about that to this day.
And then he's like, Hey, when I'm 21, we're going to go to Nashville and we're going to go to Jelly
Roll's bar. And I'm like, all right, I don't know that you should be talking about this right now,
but I like where your head's at. And I'm rooting for that. You know, so I'm kind of looking forward
to those, but I try not to get so excited for the future that I lose sight of the moment.
Oh, of course. Yeah, it's definitely got to stay with the moment too. And they go so fast.
Yeah. Yeah, definitely. So what is something that makes you want to get out of bed every day?
I mean, easy to write my son. We can talk about it. But
also, I mean, just kind of this life like I so I've had bouts with suicide. I've had,
you know, rough rows in the past. But I think that ultimately, man, life is worth all the ups
and downs. So it's kind of one of those things where get out of bed because you don't know
what's going to happen. Like the day, like, yes, it could be a total crap day. And we've all
had them. But also on the flip side, like you have days like the Jell-O-Roll concert with my kid,
like you're going to have those days of your own. So like that for me, like I get out of the bed
because what's the adventure going to be good or bad? I'm going to learn from it. It's going to
make me better. And I'm stoked for it. And I like, I tried to end it and cut my adventure
short. So now like, man, I'm jumping out of bed to seize them. I want everyone.
That's awesome, man. That's awesome. Well, glad that you're here to be talking to you.
Appreciate it. Yeah. What is something that makes you want to stay in bed?
Oh, man. My son, no. Honestly, I know, right? Honestly, just we've kind of touched on it,
COVID. But life is just so fast paced now. Like sometimes I just want to stay in bed to just
like slow down. I feel like constantly going like, and you know this creating content,
right? Like that's a constant battle in and of itself. So you have that along with work,
along with life. Like sometimes I just stay in bed because like there's nothing happening. Like
it's very, I don't want to deal with it. I don't want to deal with anything. One hand,
I'm excited to see what the adventure is. It's the dichotomy of life, right? And so I think
we do it because it's just sometimes it's just good to chill. And like that's this trip
right now. Like part of it is for us to just kind of chill and reset. And I think
more people need to stay in bed a little longer and reset. So like slow down. Yeah.
What would be your best bit of advice to give to somebody about anything?
Oh, man, best piece of advice. That's a hard one. Because you get a lot of good advice
over time. And I'm sure you have way more than me even. But and then with this podcast
and everyone having to answer this question. I think you're using this for your own
personal gain. It's true. My best piece of advice. You know,
I had a team chief tell me and I'm going to make a blog about this in the future. But
it's been on my mind a lot lately. And so when you're in the army, you ruck mark a lot. So you
carry packs with weight. Yeah. And when you're backpacking, hiking, like all you outdoors
people will get this as well. ounces make pounds and pounds make pain. And he used to say that to
us all the time. And then he would say, and I'm not talking about your rucks. And and then at the
end of the ruck mark, he would always explain to us, like, there's things in life that you're
holding on to. And they're weighing you down. And they're causing you pain,
just like that ruck, like you put too much weight in it, it's going to buckle you at
the knees. So like so drop some of that weight. And I think that was probably the best piece of
advice because we all carry so many things. And sometimes we talk about it. Sometimes we don't.
But sometimes you just got to drop that stuff and dropping it can be talking about it with
somebody dropping it can be dealing with it and saying like, Hey, like I've dealt with this,
I'm not going to deal with it anymore. And I think ultimately like I find myself coming back
to that advice and a lot more now that I get older. Yeah, that's, yeah. I'm, I'm there with
certain things. It's good advice. It happens. And I think it's a constant one, right? Like
for me at 19, that advice was a lot different than for me, right? So, but I think it still applies
and it transcends every stage of life. Yeah. And it's amazing, like how much
you mature as you get older, you know, as far as certain things, but then you can still
act like an idiot, you know, when you're older because it's fun and like, why not?
And you have the money to do it. Yeah. But I mean, just, just being silly, you know,
not even having money to do certain things, but just your attitude and just having fun and
joking around with somebody, you know, it's like, you always have to hold on to that
kidlike mentality of just being weird and silly and goofy and, you know.
Yeah. And I think we talk about it a lot, like, but the Subaru community is a perfect
example of that. Like, it's a community that encourages like silliness and self-expression.
Yeah. 100%. Be yourself. That's beautiful. Yeah. Cool. Well, thank you for,
thank you for meeting me here first of all, because it's not, it's, you know, it's,
in a way, it's out of your way. And for me, it's not too much out of my way,
but I was coming home anyway. And I, the last time I did this trip for work,
I came through Waco and actually stopped in Waco, where I've only driven past it before.
And so I thought this would, this might be a good halfway stop, but it worked out well.
Minus the interrogation room. No, we gotta just give a huge thanks to that guy first.
Yeah. This was great. This worked out really well. And I appreciate you doing this, like this.
Of course. Yeah.
It's been fun to get to talk about my car and my life for an hour.
And I don't get to do this too often where I get to record with somebody in person.
You know, it's a very small percentage of my episodes where I get to actually record
with somebody in person. So any time you want me to come to Waco, I'll go and record.
Like I can always find a reason to come to Waco.
Sweet. All right, man. Well, thank you so much.
Thank you. All right.
Hello, everybody. Thank you for tuning into another episode of the Subin U podcast.
Thank you so much, Roman, for meeting up with me and recording your episode.
Again, it was so great to do it in person. It's always more fun when I can do that.
So I always will take the opportunity to record with somebody in person.
And this one was great and fun and interesting to do it in such a large room in an interrogation
style setting. But yeah, if you're not doing so already, go give Roman a follow.
It's GhostSubyAdventures all together on Instagram.
And thanks again for listening. Please go check out the YouTube channel.
You can find the link in my link tree on my Instagram page.
Go subscribe to the channel and look for some videos and more and different content from
your Subin U podcast host. I hope you all have a wonderful week.
And thanks again for tuning in. Much Subi love. Raph.
In another room in Houston, you can find the Subin U podcast wherever you listen to podcasts,
including Apple podcast, Spotify, and many more. To support the podcast,
please head over to patreon.com slash Subin U 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 Subin U podcast,
online at subinupodcast.com or by email subinupodcast at gmail.com. That's all for this week.
Request an explanation for:
9 cars
Scroll for more
9 cars featured
Request an Explanation
Heard something you'd like explained? We'll add it to this episode.
Sign in to request explanations for terms you heard.
Want to learn more?
Browse our glossary for plain-English explanations of automotive terms, jargon, and concepts.
Help improve this episode
See something that's not quite right? Our annotations are AI-generated and can sometimes miss the mark. Click the flag icon on any annotation to suggest a correction.
Report incorrect info
Suggest better explanations
Flag missing cars