Overland Expo West is a big event for people who like traveling with their cars in more rugged areas. In Flagstaff, there are lots of vendors and you can see gear and setups that work for adventure driving.
Overlanding is like road-tripping, but more focused on going farther and being ready for rougher roads. People usually bring gear so they can camp or handle problems away from normal services.
Ascentric Designs is a small company that sells custom vinyl stickers/overlays for Subaru cars. They make pieces that fit specific light areas and also fun decals like fender stripes.
Vinyl overlays are aftermarket films applied over exterior surfaces—here, specifically light-related areas on Subaru cars. They’re often used to change appearance (color/finish) without replacing the entire lens assembly.
Tail lights are the lights on the back of the car. They turn on when you brake or when your lights are on, and people sometimes customize their look with overlays.
Fender stripes are decorative graphics applied along the fender area, often used to add a sporty or retro look. In the context of this sponsor, they’re offered as decal designs alongside the vinyl overlays.
The hosts mention another podcast called Dirt Subis, hosted by Ben, as a related show for Subaru enthusiasts. This is a structural pointer to where listeners can find more content, not a technical automotive concept.
SUBINU2026 is a promo/discount code used at checkout to reduce the price on SubaruGear.com orders. The segment also ties the code to a threshold for free shipping, so it’s part of the buying decision.
Engine bay caps are decorative covers you put on parts of the engine area. They mainly make the engine compartment look nicer, and sometimes they help keep things cleaner.
MeleeDesignFirm.com is a website the host recommends for Subaru parts. They’re selling accessories that can improve how your engine bay looks and help with off-road setup.
A front strut tower brace links the two sides of the suspension at the front. It helps the car feel tighter and more stable when you turn, because the body flexes less.
A battery box is a sturdy cover that holds your battery in place. When you drive off-road and the car bounces around, it helps keep the battery from shifting and getting damaged.
Off-roading is rough on a car because bumps and vibration are constant. People add extra mounting and support parts so things don’t rattle loose or get damaged.
They talk about whether to do the drive in one stretch or stop overnight, and how they’ve changed their approach over time. This is essentially fatigue management: planning stops to reduce driver fatigue and maintain safe concentration.
The hosts discuss the difference between driving a long distance non-stop versus breaking the trip up with overnight stops. This matters for fatigue management, safety, and overall trip enjoyment—especially on multi-state drives.
Mileage is how many miles the car has been driven. Lower mileage usually means less wear and often fewer issues, which is why they wanted something newer.
“Trade it in” means you give your old car to the dealer and they credit you money toward the next car. It can make the new-car deal easier, but the trade-in price matters.
The center diff is the part that decides how much power goes to the front wheels versus the rear wheels. If it’s not working right, the AWD system won’t be able to balance traction as well.
A viscous coupling is like a “slip helper” inside some all-wheel-drive systems. When one axle starts spinning faster than the other, it uses thick fluid to help move power to where traction is better.
The clutch is what you press to shift gears in a manual transmission. If it’s worn out, the car may feel like it’s not accelerating smoothly or it could eventually stop working.
“Sunblaze Pearl” is the name of the car’s exterior paint color. If you ever need touch-up paint, you want the exact color name so the repair matches the factory finish.
They mean putting the kayaks on the roof and securing them with straps. You usually need a roof rack and good tie-downs so the kayak can’t shift while driving.
“Stock” means the car was mostly the way it came from the factory. They’re saying they didn’t do big mechanical changes—more like looks and small add-ons.
Decals are stickers or graphics you put on the car for looks. They’re talking about changing the appearance, not making the car faster or better off-road.
They’re saying they found inspiration and other people to connect with on Instagram. It’s basically where car owners share their builds and you can copy ideas for your own setup.
“Building it as you needed it” describes an incremental modification approach: you start with a baseline setup and add parts over time based on real-world use. This often leads to more practical, purpose-driven builds rather than buying everything at once.
Ditch lights are extra lights you mount low near the front of the car. They help light up the sides of the road, and they can also make the car look more rugged.
SMK brackets are parts that let you mount extra lights in a neat spot on your car. Instead of hanging lights randomly, the brackets place them where they look clean and fit well.
Diode SS3 pods are a type of small aftermarket light you can mount as extra lighting. People pick them because they’re compact and can throw light where you want it.
Adding extra lights to your car usually means mounting them and wiring them up correctly. If you’ve never done it before, it can feel scary, so people often rely on guides (like YouTube) to do it safely.
Fog lights are extra lights on the front of the car, usually mounted low. They help you see better when the weather is bad, and they usually need a switch and wiring to work.
OEM means the part is made to match the car’s original equipment. If you buy an OEM switch, it usually fits right into the factory panel and looks like it belongs there.
Wheels are the rims, and tires are the rubber that touches the road. Swapping them can change how the car handles and how it rides, not just the appearance.
Mercari is an online marketplace where people sell items to each other. It can be a way to find car parts like wheels for less money, but you still want to make sure they’re in good shape.
“Lifted” means the car sits higher off the ground. People do it for clearance and style, but it can also affect how the car drives and how the tires fit.
The Subaru Outback is a practical Subaru wagon/crossover that many people modify. Here, they’re talking about a 2008 model that was raised and customized for a more rugged look.
Aftermarket wheels are wheels you buy that aren’t the factory ones. People swap them for looks or performance, but the fit matters—some can rub or change how the car feels. It’s worth checking that they’re the right size for your car.
A full-size spare is a spare tire and wheel that matches the size and overall rolling diameter of the regular tires. This matters because many modern drivetrains—especially AWD systems—can behave differently if the spare is a different size. Using a full-size spare helps reduce the risk of drivetrain stress.
The “fifth wheel” idea is about having an extra wheel/tire ready to keep all tires matched—especially important for AWD vehicles that rely on consistent tire size and rolling circumference. If you run a full-size spare that’s the same as the other wheels, you can rotate or replace without compromising driveline behavior. It’s a practical enthusiast move for off-road or trail use where tire damage is more likely.
Primitive Off-Road makes aftermarket protection parts for off-road driving. Their “Triple Armor” is a skid-plate kit meant to protect more of the underside than a basic set.
A tire carrier is a bracket/mount that holds your spare tire, usually on the back of the car. It’s helpful for road trips and off-roading so you can reach the spare easily.
Backlight wiring is the set of wires that powers the lights/illumination. If you change a light, you may need to connect the wires correctly so it works the way it should.
The differential is part of the drivetrain that helps the wheels turn at different speeds when you go around corners. It’s important and it’s also low to the ground, so people protect it with skid plates.
They mean an impact wrench—an extra-power tool that helps loosen tight or stuck bolts. It makes tough jobs easier when regular tools won’t budge the hardware.
This segment highlights the “learning curve” of DIY car work—starting with basic confidence-building tasks and gradually taking on more complex jobs. It also emphasizes the satisfaction of doing the work yourself, which can encourage continued maintenance and modding.
The transmission is what helps the engine’s power get to the wheels in the right gear. If it’s having issues, the car might shift weirdly or feel like it’s not accelerating smoothly.
Rock sliders are reinforced side steps/undercar protection designed to take impacts from rocks during off-road driving. They help protect the rocker panels and floor from damage when trails get rough.
A roof basket is a rack on top of the car for carrying stuff. It’s great for road trips and outdoor gear, but it doesn’t protect items as well as a sealed cargo box.
The exhaust is the system that carries gases out of the engine. Changing it can make the car sound different—often louder or deeper—because of the muffler and piping.
A manual is a car where you shift gears yourself using a clutch and a gear stick. People often like it because it feels more connected to how the car is driving.
Term
resonation
Resonance is when sound “rings” at certain frequencies and feels louder or deeper. An exhaust change can change how that ringing happens.
The grille is the front part with the openings where air can get to the engine’s cooling system. People also customize it because it strongly affects how the car looks.
Sag is when the vehicle’s suspension settles lower than intended, often due to worn springs or added weight. Here, the hosts connect sag to the added rear load from a spare tire carrier and explain why the overload springs/lift helped restore ride height.
Subframe spacers are small parts that shift the suspension mounting points. They’re sometimes needed on bigger lifts so everything still lines up correctly.
A “lift” means raising the car higher off the ground. On a Crosstrek, it can help you clear bumps and ruts on dirt roads, and it also changes the look. Most people do it for style and a little extra clearance, not for hardcore racing.
A “subframe drop” is a suspension modification where the subframe is lowered to allow more suspension travel and fitment when lifting the vehicle. It’s often discussed with higher lifts because it can help prevent binding or stress on components, but it adds complexity and can introduce new alignment/fitment considerations.
Suspension is the system that controls ride height, wheel movement, and how the tires stay in contact with the road. When you lift a vehicle, suspension geometry and travel can change, which can affect handling, ride quality, and component wear.
Axles are the parts that send power from the transmission to the wheels. If they’re worn out, you might hear clicking or feel vibration when driving. Sometimes the noise people blame on axles is actually something else.
Recovery boards are like small traction ramps you put under your tires when you’re stuck. They give the tires something grippy to push against so you can get moving again.
Recovery points are strong spots on the car designed for towing or pulling it out. If you don’t use them, you can accidentally damage the car when you try to get unstuck.
Topic
Moth Trek
They’re talking about their off-road adventures—driving on sand and mud—and what it feels like when the surface is loose. It’s basically a “let’s go explore” segment.
Sand doesn’t grip like asphalt. Your tires can start to ride on top of it, which can feel smooth and floaty—but if it gets deep, the tires can sink and you’ll get stuck.
On sand with no real road markings, the tires don’t have a firm, predictable surface. Other cars’ tracks can act like a guide, so the car may feel like it’s following a path.
Other cars can leave grooves in sand or mud. Your tires can drop into those grooves, which makes the car feel like it’s following a path—until the groove changes or gets deeper.
Mud is basically a grip problem. If the tires spin too much, they can dig in and make it harder to get out—so it’s fun, but it’s also easy to get stuck.
Car camping means you sleep near your car at a campground instead of setting up a big backpacking setup. You can bring comfortable stuff since you’re not carrying everything by hand.
A rooftop tent is a tent that sits on top of your car. It’s great because you sleep off the ground, but it’s not as quick as just pulling into a campground and setting up a normal tent. It’s usually worth it if you go camping more than just once in a while.
“Airing up” means pumping air into an inflatable mattress. If you only inflate part of it, you can still sleep, but you leave more room in the car for your stuff.
They’re praising hatchback-style cargo space. With the rear hatch and fold-down seats, it’s easier to fit bigger stuff than you’d usually be able to in a normal trunk-only sedan.
Salt flats are huge, flat areas made of salt. They’re popular for car trips and photos because the ground is very smooth and open, so you can see the car really clearly.
A 1,000-mile drive is a long road trip, so you have to think about things like fuel stops, tire wear, and how tired you’ll get. It’s the kind of trip that really tests whether a car is comfortable and reliable for hours at a time.
This is a small device that counts your steps and uses GPS to track where you go. People use it to log trips and activities—especially on vacations or road trips.
“Gnarly trails” just means the trail looks really tough—like it has bumps, rocks, or rough ground. It’s a clue that the vehicle is meant for real off-road driving.
The Chevrolet Equinox is a small SUV/crossover. It’s popular because it’s practical for everyday driving and you can usually get it with all-wheel drive depending on the trim.
This sounds like a Subaru-owner meet where people get together. The host is saying they usually try to go, but timing and personal plans have made it hard.
“Mods” means upgrades you add to your car after you buy it. In this conversation, they’re saying some people worry they’ll feel out of place if their car isn’t upgraded like everyone else’s.
The hosts discuss using driving—especially on back roads—as a way to relax, process emotions, and take a mental break. For many car enthusiasts, the ritual of driving becomes part of the ownership experience, not just transportation.
Exterior modifications are changes you make to the outside of your car. When someone’s doing this for the first time, it usually means they’re really getting into the hobby and making the car feel like theirs.
The Nissan Altima is a common everyday car. Here, it’s mentioned because the owner is thinking about switching to a Subaru that better fits his camping plans.
The Subaru Forester is a family-friendly SUV that’s often chosen for road trips and outdoor stuff. Here it comes up because someone is thinking about using it for camping and asking about gear like roof racks.
Solo camping means going camping by yourself. It usually requires bringing the right gear, so vehicle storage like roof racks and cargo boxes becomes really helpful.
A roof rack is a set of bars on top of your car for carrying extra stuff. It’s commonly used for camping gear when you need more space than the trunk can hold.
A roof top box is a hard, lockable storage container that sits on your roof rack. It’s great for trips because it gives you extra space for luggage or camping gear.
They mean the group of other owners and fans who share the same car brand. In this story, buying the Subaru led to meeting people and going on trips they wouldn’t have done otherwise.
Topic
playing shows
They’re talking about what it’s like to play music live. It can feel scary at first, but it gets easier and more fun once you’ve done it a few times.
“Subi Scoop” sounds like a recurring part of the show where they share updates. The host is telling listeners to come back next Monday for that segment.
LIVE
What's up guys, this is Annie, aka Moss Trek, and you are listening to episode 227 of the
Subian New Podcast.
Hello, welcome back to another episode of the Subian New Podcast.
As you just heard, I have Annie on this episode.
It was great to talk to her and hear about her Subaru journey, her Cross Trek, and the
people that she hangs out with, and the places that she has gone.
So we will get into that in just a bit.
Hopefully you had a great weekend and you were able to get out and either go to an event
or just drive your Subaru, hang out with some friends, whatever it may have been.
I hope that you had a good time.
I definitely had a good weekend.
It was nice to just get some relaxing done and not do too much, which that's always
nice.
Sometimes you just got to take a break and kind of kick back a little bit and just take
it easy.
I wanted to throw a reminder out there and let you know that or just remind you that
Overland Expo West in Flagstaff is coming up in less than a month, just a few weeks away.
So if you are going to be there or if you are planning to be there, come by and say
hello.
If you are not sure if you want to go or not and you've never been to an Overland Expo,
highly recommend it.
It is such a cool event, especially the one in Flagstaff because it is the largest Overland
Expo and there are so many vendors.
So if there's a product that you've had on the horizon that you've wanted to get for
your Subaru, it might be there.
Then you can actually meet people from the brand, which that's such a cool event that
they put on so that whenever you have something on your car, some kind of product, you can
actually meet the people behind the brand or at least the people that are representing
the brand.
And I think that is like invaluable to be able to go out there and talk to these people.
So if you've never been, check it out, just go do it, just go do it.
And then come by and say hello to everybody at the Subaru booth, of course.
There's some other stuff I want to talk about too, but before that, we will hear from one
of our sponsors.
The Subi and You podcast is brought to you by Ascentric Designs.
For those of you who don't know, Ascentric 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 eccentricdesigns.com.
There's always more projects in the works, so be sure to follow at eccentric.designs
on Instagram.
Thank you so much, eccentricdesigns, for sponsoring the Subi and You podcast.
Be sure to go check out her website, check her out on Etsy, her website, and her Instagram
page.
And if you don't know, she's Ghost Xtrek, that's her actual car account, so go check
that out as well.
The other thing you can check out is the Dirt Subis podcast with my buddy Ben, who is the
host.
He's got a lot of great guests on there.
He has been killing it with that podcast.
And then also the Wave podcast, you can go check that out as well.
I've been a guest on both of those podcasts.
And now Ben has been a guest on the Wave podcast.
So we're all just kind of getting around to each other's podcasts.
And at some point, we may have to have all three of us together on an episode.
And I don't know who's going to share it, but that would be really cool.
So if you guys are listening, let's make it happen.
Let's all have a podcast together and do some kind of episode.
I think that would be a lot of fun.
And I know something else that's fun, and that's saving money.
You can save 20% at SubaruGear.com by using the code SUBINU2026.
Go browse the site, check out the news section where they have a lot of the new spring lineup
there, and then just browse the whole thing.
They've got a lot of different collections.
So fill up your cart, use the code SUBINU2026 at checkout to save 20%.
And if your total is over $50 after the 20% discount, you'll automatically get free shipping,
which is also great.
So thank you so much Subaru Gear for sponsoring the SUBINU podcast.
And be sure to look out for a new product drop that I will do in a video on Tuesday.
Again, a reminder, every Tuesday, I will be putting out a video for products that you
can find at SubaruGear.com.
I'm very thankful for Subaru Gear to send me products that I can actually physically
have and show to everybody.
And I'm having fun making those videos, so I hope you enjoy them because I enjoy making
them.
Share them too.
Let everybody know about Subaru Gear, where the place to go is to get your Subaru branded
merchandise.
I also have to mention that if you are looking for some products to help with your engine
compartment, one way to really enhance the look of your engine compartment is by getting
some engine bay caps from MeleeDesignFirm.com.
And you can save money there too by using the code SUBINU to get 10% off your purchase
on pretty much anything site-wide.
But they have a lot more than just the engine bay caps.
They have front strut tower braces.
They have pitch stops.
They have the battery boxes to keep your battery secure, which is really important when you're
going off-roading and everything's bouncing around.
So go check out MeleeDesignFirm.com, browse the Subaru section, and place your order
and save 10% with the code SUBINU.
Thank you so much, MeleeDesignFirm, for sponsoring the SUBINU podcast.
And with all that being said, we will go ahead and get into this episode and listen to this
conversation with Annie, a.k.a. Moth Trick.
So let's get into it.
Welcome, Annie.
How's it going?
Good.
Good.
It's great to have you on the podcast.
And I know I've been following you for a while, and I've seen a lot of people posting about
you and sharing you on their reels and stories and stuff.
And so I've known about you for a while.
We've been chatting for a while.
And I've even had a couple of people say, you've got to get her on a long time ago.
So we're finally here.
We're making it happen.
Well, thanks for having me.
You're welcome.
So what's been going on lately?
Not a whole lot.
I just got back from a trip.
I went to Cape Lookout last week with some of the community.
So we had about 10, 10 people, 10, 11 people go out to the beach and camp in their Subaru's.
Nice.
It was really fun.
Is that a spot that you get out too often?
Yeah.
So we try to make it a twice a year thing.
So we started going in 2024.
And all of us are from different states for the most part.
Oh, nice.
We all met through Instagram and just became really good friends and we chat every week
and we have all sorts of group chats and things and gotten really close with each other.
And so, yeah, we go, we try to do like an April and then like a October slash November
time frame just because the summer there is summer, the summer's great, but the bugs are
really bad.
It just gets kind of hot.
Oh yeah, that sucks.
Yeah.
So we like to go spring and fall typically.
So yeah, just got back from that.
We did three days on the beach, which was really nice because normally I feel like, you know,
you get there, you set up, you explore for a little bit and then you have to go home.
So we had a little extra time, which was nice.
That's good.
So what are the different states that people are coming from and who had to drive the furthest?
So this last trip, we had a few folks from North Carolina.
We had South Carolina, Tennessee, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and then Kathleen, Yagi, from
Utah.
Oh, that's right.
Yeah.
Because when I had her on with the bonus episodes, she was talking about her trip that she was
going to take out East.
That's so cool.
Yeah.
She drove, I think, like 30 hours or something crazy.
She is crazy, but she's so cool.
She really is.
I want to be her.
Hey, you can someday.
You never know.
So also, where does Cape look out?
It is in the Outer Banks, North Carolina.
So it's its own little island.
It's actually a national park.
Nice.
So you have to take a ferry to get over there, but it's absolutely beautiful.
Just being out in the ocean, and it's so open.
Even when there's a lot of people that are at the ferry station and lots of people go
and fish and stuff, it's so wide open.
You can look for miles and not see people.
That's really cool.
It's great.
The stars are so beautiful because you're further out there, there's less light pollution.
But yeah, it's kind of around, I'm trying to think, not too far from Beaufort, Moorhead
City area, kind of on the inner coastal there, but Emerald Isle area.
Yeah.
Now, are you from North Carolina?
I am not.
I am born and raised in Missouri and lived here my whole life.
Okay.
So that's a pretty decent drive for you then, isn't it?
How far is that time-wise and then distance?
It's about, from where I live now, like 17 hours.
Oh yeah.
That's a good drive.
Yeah, it's about, I was looking it up earlier, it's like 1,000 miles per take.
Do you do that all in one stretch or do you stop overnight?
I did once, and I don't think I'll ever do that again, but...
Yeah, that's so long.
I usually break it up.
When I first started going, I would stop in Gatlinburg because that was kind of a good
halfway point, but now that I've gotten closer with Molly, never ending Sube, she lives in
South Carolina.
I go to her house and then that's about, yeah, it's about 10 hours from here to there
and then the rest of the time, I, it was like six and a half to my grandparents' house.
I have family that live out there, which is really nice.
Yeah, that's really nice.
Yeah.
You can stop off and see people.
It really is.
Yeah, because when I drove from here to Madison, Wisconsin for Subaru Flatfest, it was about
1,100 miles and I think non-stop, it was like 18 hours and so I stopped in Arkansas on
the way there and on the way back, I stopped in Arkansas again and then what was cool about
coming back through is when I was going through Arkansas on the way home, my daughter was
still going to school in Arkansas, so I was able to meet up with her and have lunch and
hang out for a while, so that was really nice, but yeah, it's always good when you can...
I know there are people that like, oh, it was like 20 hours and we just drove straight
through and I'm like, you're crazy.
Yeah, never again.
I tried it one time and yeah, it was definitely kind of scary because you start getting so
tired and...
Yeah, yeah.
That can be dangerous.
Yeah.
Well, I do have another question, which is really important and that's whether you prefer
waffles or pancakes.
Pancakes.
All right, there we go.
I like that quick answer.
Yep.
Pancakes it is.
So where did the name Moth Trek come from?
It really doesn't have a whole lot of meaning behind it, if I'm being honest.
When I got my current Cross Trek, I really wanted to be able to design a logo and just
have a general theme around it and I just kept seeing artwork of different moths and
stuff on Instagram and I'm like, man, those are kind of cool.
You can do like a cool color scheme with those and so I was like, oh, Moth Trek kind of sounds
like Cross Trek.
Yeah, it does.
Yeah, it's similar.
So yeah, there's really no meaning behind it and I was like, that kind of suits me like
I'm more of a night owl and I like, you know, more of a like a darker moodier aesthetic
sometimes.
So I was like, I can like theme the car around that.
So yeah.
That's good.
So you said your current Cross Trek, does that mean that you had one before?
I did.
I had a 2015 before I got this one.
Okay.
Now was the 2015, was that your first Subaru?
It was, yes.
Okay.
So did you just trade it in because it was getting up there in mileage?
Kind of, yeah.
I did have a few issues with it, ended up getting repaired, but ultimately ended up trading
it in and getting something a little bit newer that had way less miles on it.
Okay.
So what year is yours?
The one did you have now?
It is a 2021.
Okay.
Oh yeah, that's what I have.
And how many miles did it have when you got it?
When I got it, it had about 28,000 on it.
Oh, that's good.
Yeah.
Not bad.
How many does it have now?
Little over 100,000.
I actually just hit 100 on my trip.
Oh, that's cool.
Did you get it on video or take a picture of it?
I did.
Oh yeah, that's cool.
Yep.
Yeah.
I got mine when it hit 100 and then I got mine when it hit 123456 because I'm at, I think,
143 now.
Oh, nice.
Yeah.
So I want to see how many miles I can get with it because I mean, the only thing that
I've had wrong with it is my viscous coupling, which is like in the center diff and that
was my doing from driving through mud too hard.
It kind of tore it up.
But other than that, like it drives really good for a car that's over five years old
and has 120 or 143,000 miles.
Yeah, absolutely.
If that's the only issue, that's awesome.
Yeah.
But what kind of scares me is I'm still on my original clutch since it's a manual and
I feel like it could go out at any time and I don't have another one on hand just to
replace it.
Yeah.
So we're, you know, we're getting there.
Fingers crossed.
Yeah.
But I mean, I'm kind of impressed that it's gone 143,000 miles on the original clutch.
Yeah.
But so what trim level is yours?
It's a limited.
Oh, okay.
Nice.
So does it have the 2.5?
Yeah.
Very nice.
Yeah, I love it.
It's like night and day compared to my other cross track.
Yeah.
So my daughter has a 2024 limited, but she has the one with a 2.0 and we drove the 2.5
and like for her, the 2.0 is fine.
But the main reason she got the 2.0 is because it was as far as like financing and everything
that was like more affordable for her and she's totally fine with the premium that she
has.
And she got the Sunblaze Pearl and like all the amenities that it has, you know, was totally
fine for her being the 2.0 and the lower trim of the premium.
But yeah, she loves it.
I love it.
I mean, it's been great.
They're such good cars.
They are.
They really are.
So you've had two Subaru's now, but like where did your interest in Subaru come from in the
past?
When I got my first one, I didn't necessarily have Subaru in mind.
I kind of just wanted something a little bit more capable.
You know, we have a decent amount of snow and ice here in Missouri.
And I wanted something that was, you know, preferably like all wheel drive and something
with a little bit more cargo space and that I could like strap my kayaks on top of.
Um, and the cross track just stood out and that's kind of how it, it all started.
But yeah, I know for people that live in environments where they have snow and ice and stuff like
having the all wheel drive is like super key.
And I know a lot of times that's a driving factor for people to get into a Subaru, whether
like, like you said, it's maybe not necessarily Subaru that you have in mind, but the all
wheel drive is definitely great to have because I've heard so many people talk about how well
they do in snow and like driving after a big storm and other people are like have slid
off the road and they just drive down the road just fine.
And people saying like, Oh yeah, my boss told me that I can't call in for work because I've
got a Subaru and I like to make it.
So that's kind of funny.
Yeah, I have no excuse anymore.
Yeah, whenever you had your first cross track, did you do any mods on that one or was it
stock the whole time?
It was pretty much stock.
I didn't do anything crazy with it.
More just like aesthetic stuff like decals and things like that.
I did, I think all I really had done on it was I had a hitch installed at one point
and was planning on starting to kind of build it a little bit and then ended up just
trading it in.
But yeah, nothing crazy.
Luckily, I hadn't spent a ton of money on it before trading it in.
Yeah.
So I guess then whenever you traded in and got the newer one, you were like probably already
planning on doing stuff to it since you were kind of wanting to do it with this the first one
or did you not really have a whole lot in mind for it?
So I had already started camping.
So like my first gen, I had done a few car camping trips in it and I kind of wanted to
build the second one around that.
I didn't really have any intention on going off-roading or anything like that with it.
I didn't really know what there was out there as far as like what you could do with the
Subaru's at that point.
I had just seen a lot of like camping videos and stuff.
I'm like, that's pretty neat.
So I didn't really have a lot of intention to start modding it as much as I have.
I kind of just got it up to speed with where my old one was and then it kind of just snowballed
from there.
Yeah.
So like where did the, you know, because you said that you saw camping stuff, which you know,
these are great for camping, but like where did the inspiration come from to start building
it out the way that you have?
Um, really just seeing different builds on Instagram and I didn't know like how many
options we had for what you could do to these cars at the time.
And then you just start following all these accounts and then it's like, well, that's
really cool.
I want to do that.
Now I want to do this.
And then I kind of just, I've built it as I've needed it.
Yeah.
So just purpose.
Which has been nice.
Yeah.
So like, yeah, like when, like when you had your first car, did you, were you connected
with people like through Instagram?
Cause you said, you know, the trips, the trip that you just went on, everybody is like
pretty much met through Instagram, but did that all of that start when you got your second
cross trek?
Yeah.
I didn't really know anybody in the community with my first one.
Um, I didn't realize there was such a big community.
I think a lot of people don't.
Yeah, it was, it was really cool to find that.
I didn't have a page for that car at all.
And so when I got my new one, I made one and just started hitting the follow button.
And yeah.
Yeah.
So when you like, what was the first mod that you ended up doing?
Um, the first mod I did on that car or on this car was, um, my, my ditch lights.
So I did the SMK brackets, the ones that go in front of your mirrors.
I did those.
Those are nice.
Yeah.
I like them.
They're very stealthy.
And, uh, the diode SS3 pods, that was probably my first, my first big mod on the car.
I, I like the ditch lights in that location too.
I had mine because I had some, uh, nigh lights that somebody had given to me.
And I had them on the hood for a while, but I never really liked that.
I know a lot of people ended up putting them on the hood.
But once I was able to get some on the sides, on the brackets like that, I don't know.
It just, it seems like more aesthetically pleasing and it's like not as out there.
And not that like the ones on the hood look terrible.
They're just not for me.
Well, I get that.
Yeah, I like, I like the placement of them a lot.
So yeah, that was, that was the first one I did.
I installed those by myself and that was my first time ever installing like
lighting on a vehicle in general.
So that was kind of scary because I didn't know what I was doing, but YouTube helped.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Especially like I had to get somebody to help me with the wiring because I'm like,
I have no idea what I would do with the wiring and everything.
But got it done.
So they're, they're there.
So my car is the base model.
So I didn't have any, any fog lights.
I had to buy a new piece right there where the fog light goes,
because mine just had like a piece of plastic.
So I had to buy the piece with the hole.
And then that was easy because it was easy to like mount the fog lights in there.
And then there's like a plug that you just plug them in.
So it's ready to go.
Oh, that's nice.
So just plug and play.
Yeah.
And then I, and then I had to get, I bought an OEM switch for the fog lights because there was
just, you know, down on the panel, there's blanks.
And so I got an OEM switch for that.
And then like for my ditch lights, I have like a separate little like push button switch.
It's like aftermarket, but I kind of wanted the fog light ones to be OEM.
So it blends in more, but yeah, it looks good.
Which lights did you get?
I did the Morimoto.
What are like, what are some of the other mods that you started to do?
Because I mean, if you look at your car, it's obviously, you know, you've got some pretty
good stuff on there.
So like, can you like run through a list of your mods?
Yeah.
So I think my next mods that I did after the lights were my wheels and my tires.
Those are such nice wheels too.
They are so cool.
They're probably one of my favorite things on the car.
I actually bought them second hand on Mercari.
Oh, yeah.
Somebody was selling like five of them and they were brand spanking new in the box and it was
like free shipping and I was like, oh my gosh, why not?
Yeah.
Do you remember Java wagon?
Uh-uh.
So Java wagon, he doesn't have a Subaru anymore.
And but he had the same wheels, but like more of a bronzes color and he had a 2008 Outback
that he like lifted, did all kinds of crazy stuff too.
And it looked, it looked really good.
But yeah, that was the first time I saw those wheels.
So ever since I saw them, anytime I see them again, I'm like, oh, those are nice wheels.
They really are.
I think they're discontinued now.
Yeah, I think so.
I don't think F44 is doing those anymore.
All right.
Is F44 still in business?
Okay.
Okay.
Just probably not doing those wheels.
No, just not the wheels because I looked recently.
I was curious because I remember looking at all the different color or like different finishes
and I was curious to see if they were still making them recently.
And I looked it up and I was like, oh, they're discontinued.
So I'm glad I have five.
I know.
Yeah, that's so important too.
And you can get a set of five because like when Raiko was sponsoring the podcast,
they were originally going to send me a set of four wheels and I was,
I already had a set of aftermarket wheels and I had like a full size spare.
And I was like, is it possible to give me five because I already have five and they're like,
yeah, we can do that.
So that was nice.
Wait, that's awesome.
That fifth wheel, man.
It's important.
It is.
But yeah, that was the second thing I did.
And then took it off roading for the first time right after that.
And then I was like, okay, time for skid plates.
So yeah, so how long was it before you went off road that time?
Like how long had you had it?
I had the car for about, I'm going to say like six months or so.
That's a long time to have it and not take it off road.
I had taken it on a couple of camping trips.
I had driven it out to Colorado and didn't do anything too crazy with it.
But yeah, on that trail run, there were definitely some scary encounters with rocks.
And I was like, okay, time for skid plates.
Yeah, where did you end up going in Colorado?
I had gone out to Red Rocks to see a show.
Oh, nice.
It was really awesome.
Yeah, we drove out to Red Rocks the last time we were there,
but we didn't go to a show and it was closed.
So we couldn't like go inside.
We were just able to go up to it.
I know we were trying to find a way to get in there and like they had it all
blocked off and there were people there like not letting people in.
So we were able to kind of see some of it, but Colorado is beautiful.
I love it out there.
It really is.
So what were some of the, so you got the skid plates, and did you get a full set?
Yeah, I have the primitive, the triple armor.
Yeah, so I did that and then didn't do anything too crazy for a bit after that.
I think the next mod after that was, I'm going to say my fog lights.
So I got some more pods from Diode, those and then I think I had my,
I got my tire carrier after that.
So they're like the big ones.
You already had fog lights, right?
You just replaced them?
Yeah.
Okay.
Yep, I replaced those and then learned how to do like the backlight wiring and stuff,
which was kind of cool.
But yeah.
Did you put your skid plates on yourself?
Partially.
So the differential one I had no problems with, I,
ended up having to go out and buy like a, an impact because I could not get the stock bolts
off for like the transmission part to save my life.
Yeah, those, when I was doing mine, I was like this, I mean, I did it myself and I did it,
like in my apartment complex, I pulled my half of my car up on a curb so that it was up a little
bit higher and I didn't have a very long like socket wrench, but yeah, those are not easy to
get off. Those are, gosh, they suck. I feel you there.
That was, that was definitely all learning experience.
This is my first time ever like working on my own car or doing anything like that.
Yeah, but that's really cool that when you do that kind of stuff, because one, it gives you
the confidence to continue to do more. Two, you have the satisfaction of knowing they're like,
hey, I did that myself. And then, you know, it just, it can be fun and it's just like
a good learning experience. And then if you do something and somebody else comes into
the community and they have questions, it's like, oh, I did that, I can help you out.
Let me tell you what I did. So it's definitely good when you can do stuff yourself.
It really is. Yeah, I did the, I attempted to install them and then had help from
Grant, who goes by Grant, is that you on Instagram. He helped me with the engine one
and the transmission one because I was having issues.
Yeah, it's always good to get help too. You know, I mean, as long as you're, you know,
as long as it's you and maybe somebody else doing it yourself, you know, that's,
it's you're still going to keep learning. Yeah, it really is. It's everybody in the
community is just so cool and knowledgeable and we're really lucky. Yeah. So you've got,
you've got some rock sliders too and your roof basket and your awning.
What are some other stuff that you've done? I also did my exhaust last year.
So I have a, a nameless, um, so I had a friend help me with that one. Same thing. Getting
those bolts off was a huge pain in the butt. Yeah. But, but I love it. It sounds so nice.
Yeah, I, I want to get one eventually, but I, uh, I don't really need one. You know,
I mean, nobody needs one, but it's just like the look and the sound is, is really cool.
But one of these days, I think it would sound cool too, with it being a manual,
I might get a little more resonation out of there. Oh, absolutely. So that could be fun,
could also be dangerous. Nah. Yeah. But, uh, yeah. So then like, I want to ask you,
where did you get your grill? Because that grill is super cool. I love it.
Thank you. Um, I actually made it. Oh, very nice. So I took the factory one on a part.
It was like two different pieces and then bought like a mesh to put on there, glued that on. And
then the emblem on the front of it, I bought on eBay. It was from like, the letters were from
like the hatch of an old impresa. So I, yeah, I, yeah, you can find all sorts of cool stuff on
there. Um, so I bought those, I spray painted them and just glued them on there and then put the
little grill lights in there too. But yeah, I was wondering because I know that some people
make grills. That's, so that's what I was curious about, but that's even better that you made it
yourself. Yeah, I definitely need to touch it up here soon. It's taken a beating over the last
couple years. Yeah. Cause I can see like that now that you say that you took the factory grill off,
I can see like the little corners of it that are remaining from that, but yeah, good job.
Thank you. You're welcome. I like it. Uh, let's see, what else have you got on there? Oh, you've
got some, some, well, you've got the fender stripes and then you've got some other decals and stuff.
Anything, have you done anything to the interior?
Um, just more like cosmetic stuff, nothing crazy. Okay.
Different little accents and patches and things like that. Um, I do have a lift,
I forgot to mention that. Yeah, no, I was just scrolling through. I saw that,
I was going to ask about that next. So which lift do you have?
It's the, so I bought it from Rallytech. So it's the Bilstein, the B6s with the one inch springs
and then the overload springs in the rear. Very nice. So how much of like a total lift is it?
Yeah, it's about an inch, maybe closer to inch and a half in the rear. It was definitely nice
to have that put on after the, the spare tire carrier. There was a lot of, a lot of sag.
So with it being only like an inch or an inch and a half, did you have to do any subframe
drop or anything or were you able to just put those in there as they are?
No, um, I had emailed Rallytech about it and they were like, no, you should be fine.
It's really when you kind of get into like the two plus inches, um,
area where you need to do the subframe spacers apparently.
And how long have you had that on?
Um, since September of 24.
Okay, no issues with it. No issues with suspension parts or anything.
I love it. No, it's been great.
That's good. Yeah, I, uh, I would love to get a lift just for the
look of it because like a lifted cross-trek looks really, really good.
But like I don't have a need for a lift and I don't need to spend the money on the lift
for something that I don't need. So one of these days, if I have like expendable money and I'm
like, yeah, I can, I can buy a lift now just because and I want to do it. But I think I'd
probably do just like an inch to an inch and a half. So I don't have to do the subframe drop
because I think when you start going higher and higher, that's when you,
that's when you can have potential issues with the suspension and everything, even if you do the
subframe drop because just from what I've heard from other people.
So I wouldn't need to do anything super crazy, but it would be cool just to have like the look
of it being a little bit higher and then having a little bit more clearance for when I do go off
road. But yeah, it looks good. Thank you. Yeah, it's been, it's been really nice. It's very smooth.
Like I had gone on some trails before it and, you know, got to a point where I'm like, okay,
it wouldn't hurt to have an extra inch. I think eventually I want to maybe put some spacers in
there and just take it up another inch. But I don't have any need for it just yet. This is
definitely something down the road. I would also like to have like some spare axles on hand for
when I decided to do that, just in case. Yeah, that's the other thing that I replaced on my car
was the axles, but I didn't need to because the clicking that I was hearing was my viscous coupling
and I didn't know it at the time. I thought it was my axles because the way I was describing it,
people were like, oh, that's your axles. And it wasn't. So I bought two new axles, OEM,
spend a decent amount of money, but it was a good experience.
Oh, now you got some new ones. Yeah, exactly. And I still have the old ones. So they're at
my cousin's house. So if like anything ever happened, at least I've got my original
axle that I could replace it with because they were apparently fine. It's just I just didn't
know anything about it. I didn't know better. But now I got spares. Yeah. So I've seen that you
have driven through all sorts of different terrain. You've been sand, mud, snow, and then just like
on trail terrain. But like, what would you say is your favorite? Probably snow. Have you ever gotten
stuck? In snow? No, but I actually just got stuck for my first time at the beach recently.
I was like, yeah, it finally happened. Try it. I've never seen the sand like that there. So I've
been there five times and it's just been so dry. The sand was just taken all sorts of cars.
So was it like just too soft? Yeah, it was very, very soft and deep in some spots.
We had a few people in our group get stuck. There were people in other groups getting stuck like
in like four by fours. So it was, it was all across the board, but
who got you out? So I had, I had help from Marquis, who is Evonox on Instagram. He helped me kind of
dig my front wheels out and I had my recovery boards and then put those down and then Molly and
then Ron likes to wander, help kind of push me, give me a little, little start. Yeah, but it was,
it was a fun experience. I was definitely kind of like buried in sand up to like my, my rock
sliders. Really deep. Yeah. I've only driven on the sand a few times. The first time I actually
took my car off road, it was funny because I went to this off road park that's designed more for
like trucks and side by sides and ATVs and stuff. And I pull up to the booth and the guy's kind of
looking at my car and I'm like, do you think I'll be okay to come in here? And he's like, I've been
told not to turn anybody away. He said there was like a, I think he said like a Mercedes or something
that was an all wheel drive that had come in there before and he said they did just fine.
And my car was 100% stock. I don't even think I had any decals on it yet. And I went in there,
no airing down the tires, no altering tires. And I drove through some parts of the sand that
felt sketchy. And I was getting to a point where I was like going, I was like, I should probably
turn around and not go too much further in case, because I also didn't have any like recovery
points. I didn't even have like the little, I guess maybe the hook is in the back of the car,
where the, where like the jack is and stuff. But other than that, and I wasn't with anybody,
so I would have had to like ask somebody to help. But driving on sand is very interesting. I actually
like the way that it feels, the way that your car just kind of, it's almost like it's floating
when you're on this soft sand. And it's, it's such a cool feeling. I've only been able to
experience that like two or three times. So, and I've been wanting to go back to that same park.
And I've never been, I've been meaning to like set it up with other people and say, hey, let's go,
but you need to make it happen at some point. But yeah, sand is fun. It really is. It is like
you're floating, like when we go to Cape Lookout. So there's no actual roads there. It's all sand
beach. And then there's like a little service road that's all sand. And it's just like, it's
crazy because you can kind of like take your hand off the wheel. It's like a little like
track and essentially in between like your wheels that other cars have made in front.
And so like, you can kind of just, it kind of just drives itself sometimes. I mean,
like last time was crazy because it was just super duper deep in some spots. And we just kept
getting stuck. But um, but yeah, it's definitely kind of fun.
Have you gotten stuck in mud before?
Almost, but no. Okay. Definitely been a few close calls.
Yeah, mud's actually my favorite mainly because it's the only thing I have in like, you know,
plenty of supply because we get a lot of rain out here and there are little like secret spots
that we've found where we can go hit some mud. But you know, we're like, we're limited to anything
that's really close by. So we have cheap cheeseburger loop, which is like maybe it's like a maybe an
hour and 10 or 15 minutes, just to get to it. And then once you get into it, then there's like
some really cool spots. But as far as like anything that's within like 20 minutes, you know, there's
a few little spots that we can get to that are fun. That's good at least. Yeah. Because sometimes
I'm just like, you know, I love it when my car is really clean because it looks so good, especially
the white and black contrast. But then we'll get like a really good rain and I'm just like,
my car will be clean. And I'm like, I really want to go drive through some mud just because it's fun.
I just, it's so fun. And then, and then I'll keep it dirty for a while. And I'm like, okay,
I got to clean it again. Yep. But yeah, it's fun. So is there like a group of people or like a
person that you get out with the most either to hit trails or just hang out? So I haven't really
been on a trail in like, I'm gonna say over a year, it's been a hot minute. I've gone on some trails
with, with Grant that I had mentioned. And then I mean, mainly when I, when I get out,
it's when I'm out at the beach with everybody. Okay. So I don't, yeah, not a whole, we don't
have a lot of places around here. And like the St. Louis area, everything's like a couple hours
south at least there's, there are a few off road parks in Missouri, I believe, but I think they're
more like Jeep oriented and like, I don't know if they'd necessarily be Subaru friendly.
Yeah. But we have a few little decent trails here and there. And it's been a while since
I've gone out. I don't like going by myself. Yeah, it's better to go with people anyway. It's
more fun for one. It is. And two, if you get into some kind of trouble, you've got somebody there.
Exactly. Yeah. I think it's just, I've gone on a couple of little random trails in North Carolina
and a forest. When I go and stay with my grandparents, there's like a forest right by
them and some little trails that shoot off the main road. So I've taken it, I guess, on those,
but it's, yeah, it's still been about a year. I need to get back out there.
Yeah. It's the same here. I mean, we don't have much, like I said, other than cheese burger loop,
which isn't too far away, but it's hard when you have an off-road capable Subaru and you live
in the city and there's not a lot around. Yeah. It's, it gets lonely and your car starts getting
sad. It does. I mean, good. Yeah. So are you still doing camping? Yeah. I haven't,
aside from the Cape Lookout trips, haven't camped a whole lot. I definitely want to
do some more this year though. We have quite a few little parks around the area where you can
go camp and I love car camping. What kind of setup do you have in your car? I just have
one of the, the Luno mattresses and then those are so nice. It really is. Oh my gosh. I slept so
good at Cape Lookout. I had my whole mattress set up in the back. It was like a full bed. It was great.
But yeah, I just, I have one of those. I have like my, my little awning and shower tent and just
it gets the job done. I like rooftop tents. I think they're really cool. I don't personally
think I have need for one, but definitely in the future, I might consider getting one. I
think they're pretty neat. Yeah. I mean, if your setup is working for you now, then you know,
that's good. And then also I think with a rooftop tent, there's like two really key important things
is you have to be okay, not being able to just pick up and go. Like if you want to go drive around
and explore somewhere, you have to, not that it takes forever to put it up. It's, you know, so at
least, at least it's pretty easy to put away. But then it's one of those things where if you make
the investment for a rooftop tent, it's probably best that you use it fairly often. You know,
I don't think you'd want to have a rooftop tent if you're only going camping like once a year,
you know, but I mean, money is worse. Yeah. Cause I know some people go like,
you know, maybe once a month or even like once every other month, you know, that would still
be worth it as long as you're using it. But yeah, they're definitely cool. So, so like with your
Luno mattress and everything, everything you said that you had it set up all the way,
like the full mattress. So like, where do you have all your gear? Because the whole back of
your car is being taken up. So basically on this last trip, I just bring this giant tote with me
and I'll just put all the little smaller pieces of equipment and things like that in there
and just keep it outside with the lid on. And yeah, I was able to, I think I'd finally like
dialed in my setup. Yeah, that's true. It's really hard to stay organized sometimes. But
yeah, that's kind of what I did. I feel like there it's a little bit different because
you're with a group of people and, you know, you're not necessarily going to be in a situation
where you might need to just kind of like peel off and go. So it really depends. But
I've made it work before where I have like my big cooler and everything in my car too. So
yeah, because I know some people end up just airing up half of the mattress, which is really
nice that you can do that first of all, and then they'll have like all their gear on the other
side of their car and do that because that's, you know, that works out well too. But I remember
like when I had mine, it hairs up so fast and I was like so impressed with that.
Oh my gosh, yes. It really, it takes like two minutes stops.
Yeah, like I was super surprised and super cool. And I've had people say like, oh yeah,
my Luno mattress is more comfortable than my bed at home.
It is very comfy.
They are, yeah. What would you say like, you mentioned earlier your wheels, but like what would
you say, I guess your cross-track in general, not really like considering the mods, but like
what would you say is like one of your favorite features or aspects of the second gen cross-track
on the outside and then on the inside?
Definitely one of my favorite things is the 2.5 engine.
Yeah, that definitely makes a difference.
I just, I don't know, I like, I think they just look really cool. Like they're a really
good looking car and I agree.
Yeah, I think that and my wheels and I've done some like more cosmetic things on it,
like as far as like vinyl wrapping and things like that go. I really like how that looks and then
interior wise, I just really like how spacious these cars are and
I mean, I've moved quite a bit over the last couple of years with both cross-tracks
and like the amount of stuff that you can put in them and move and it's just like being able
to put the seats down is really nice and like they're just very, very versatile.
I think that's one of my favorite things about the interior is just how functional they are and
Yeah, and from not being an overly big car, they are very roomy inside and just,
like you said, with the versatility of being able to put the seats down and have all that space,
like I don't know that I could ever not have a hatchback again unless, like, I don't think I
could have a sedan where you just have a trunk unless I had one as like a second car because
having the hatchback, I've used it so many times, like just like so many different ways
and it's just, it's nice to have that flexibility. It really is.
So like, because like for me, I really like the way the back of it looks with the tail lights
and they look kind of wide from the back and I really like that about them.
Yeah, they're very sleek.
Yeah. Let's see, where else? What else are we doing? What else are we talking about?
Oh yeah, so I saw that you took a trip back in October to Texas where I'm at.
So where did you go and like, who were you visiting? What were you doing in Texas?
So one of my good friends from grade school got married till she lives a little bit outside
Dallas. So I was her maid of honor and drove down and spent the weekend there for the wedding
because a lot of us were coming from out of state. So we kind of condensed everything into
the weekend as far as like a shower and bachelorette stuff and things like that. So we were
right outside. I think our, the venue was in Weatherford.
Okay. Yeah. So it was, it was about a 10 hour drive for me, give or take.
Definitely wish I could have spent more time there like exploring and stuff. It was really cool.
That was like a little trip. Yeah, I like Dallas and Fort Worth's a little bit better.
I mean, there's some good spots in Dallas, but my girlfriend lives in Coppell, which is like,
if you look at, because you've got Dallas and Fort Worth, and then if you like go right in
between them and then go north, that's where she lives. Coppell is like directly north,
like in the center of both Dallas and Fort Worth. But yeah, 10, 10 hour drive from there
isn't too bad. No, it really wasn't. I really want to go back to St. Louis and I want to take my son
because whenever I drove back from Subaru Flatfest in Madison, when I was coming back down,
I was just like, I just wanted to get home and because I had to go to work the next day
because I was driving back on a Monday. I had to go to work on Tuesday and I'm like,
I really just want to get home, but I'm driving by the arch and I'm like, I have to stop. I can't
pass by here and not at least go check it out. And so I found a parking spot, went over to the
arch. I didn't go up inside, but I did like the little area down below where you can like, it's
kind of like a little, I don't know what it is. It's like where you get the tickets.
Yeah, like the little museum area. Yeah. So, because I think they had already closed it down
for getting, you know, going up to the top and getting the lift tickets, which was fine. Like,
I just wanted to see it in person. And then I found this parking lot where I was able to get a
shot of my car with the arch behind it. And that was, that came out pretty nice. But I want to go
explore St. Louis. Like I want to go back up there with my son and my daughter and her husband and
you know, their daughter when she gets a little bit older. I think that would be a fun trip.
It's a really cool city. We have a lot of awesome things to do here and
we have really good restaurants and just museums and stuff like that. It's really awesome. We're
pretty lucky. Yeah, it is. It is nice. Was that your first time coming to Texas?
I've been to Texas a few times over the years. That was my first time ever like driving there
by myself. Oh, okay. Yeah. So, do you have like a bucket list spot that you want to get out to?
Like anything you've seen online, you know? Yeah, I think I really want to get out to Utah.
That's what everybody says. It looks, I don't know, it just looks beautiful. I want to go to the salt flats.
Yeah. Yeah, Utah is like, I think that's been on a lot of people's bucket list
and to get out to Moab and other spots. What is the furthest distance you've driven so far?
About 1,000 miles. So, the Cape Lookout trip. Cape Lookout trip. Yeah, I think that's the furthest.
How far is it to Utah for you? Do you know? Have you ever like mapped it out?
I actually haven't. That's a good question. Yeah, you should figure that out. I'm going to
know. So, I was looking through your account and I was like, I stopped on this one picture
and I thought it was really cool because I have one too, but I see that you have the Gameboy
GPS pedometer from Lifted Subarus from our buddy Ben. So, where did you see that?
I originally found out about it through Molly. So, we were actually sitting at the beach one day. I
about a year ago when we were at Cape Lookout, we were just sitting there and
she told me about it and we ended up buying both of ours at the same time. Nice. It's so cool.
Like, I just have so much appreciation for like the craftsmanship behind them and like
reusing something like that. Yeah. I just I really think it's awesome. It is. Do you have people
asking you about it? Yeah, every now and then people will be in my car and they're like,
is that a Gameboy? Yeah, like there's been times I've gone somewhere and I'll open my door and
they're like, wait, what is this? Is that a Gameboy? What is that? And then I tell them, I'm like,
yeah, it's you know, it's really cool. This guy Ben makes them. Yeah, he seems like such a cool guy.
Yeah, he is. We've actually talked, we talk quite a bit, especially since he started up a podcast too
and we met very briefly at Overland Expo in Oregon last year, but he's going to be or he's
planning to be there again this year. So this time we're going to be more intentional about
spending more time together. So I'm looking forward to that. Good. Yeah, but I ended up buying one
for my daughter and one for my son since they both have, you know, Subarus and I got them for
birthdays and I got them to kind of color match their cars because my brother, my son, my brother,
my son's car is green, so I got him a green one. And then my daughter's car is the Sunblaze Pearl.
Hers is kind of like a reddish pink, but she, she named it Moltres Trek, which is,
you know, a Pokemon character. And so he put Moltres, like a little sticker of Moltres on hers,
which is really cool. Yeah. That's so cool. Yeah. So it's just cool that he will customize them
like that. And yeah, so if anybody is listening and they're curious about them, you can go to
liftedimports.com and get those there. They're really cool. So if you could like, I guess either
people that you've seen on Instagram or even people that you may have met, if you could drive
somebody else's Subaru for a day, who's would it be? So John, who runs the page Subaru Off-Road
Adventures, I think his, his older Forrester build, I think it's called Possum. I think that's
such a cool build. And he takes it on some pretty gnarly looking trails. And I think that would be
a fun one to drive him and him and Don, his wife are like the sweetest people ever. We've gone
camping with them at Cape a few times and they've done a bunch of really cool things to like Molly's
Cross Trek and Marquises, Equinox, like they've done a bunch of really cool custom things for
people and just super knowledgeable. But yeah, his build is really awesome. And I think that would
be a fun one to drive. Yeah. Those are good people to know too, for like helping with stuff.
And it's just good to know good people. It really is. Are there who are some people that
like you've connected with on Instagram that you would really like to meet that you haven't been
able to meet? I really want to meet, I want to meet Gail, Norwegian girl. Yeah, she's all right.
She's all right. No, she's cool. She's cool. She seems so cool. Yeah, she is. It was really cool to
meet Kathleen at Cape Lookout. I've been wanting to meet her for a while.
But there are so many people I want to meet. I really want to go to like Overland Expo
at some point or at any of the Sooby Fests, really. Do you know like how far is Overland Expo
East? Because it's in Virginia, but that's kind of far too. But it seems like Flagstaff would be
the closest one to you, maybe? I haven't really looked. I've driven to Virginia before and it
wasn't too terrible of a drive. So I think maybe that would be probably the best spot.
There is a Sooby Fest Midwest up in Illinois. I just never have a chance to go, but...
Go this year, make it happen. Oh, I really, I really want to meet Jen.
Yeah. Ghost. Yeah. She's cool. I felt like I met her when I went up to
Subaru Flatfest in Madison and then I got to see her again when I was in, when I went out,
when we went to Indiana and visited the plant when we were doing 48 hours of tri-state. She was
able to meet up with me and Jeff. He goes by Slow Sooby, so that was cool. Yeah, that's awesome.
You could drive up to Madison, Wisconsin, probably.
Yeah, that wouldn't be too bad. No, I don't think so. So you're in St. Louis or near St. Louis?
Yep, I'm about half an hour south of St. Louis City.
Okay, that's not too bad. No, it's not. Okay, never mind. So I mean, you could do it, I guess,
but Flagstaff is 19 hours and 41 minutes. I didn't realize it was that far. I guess I was
thinking you were more north of me. I didn't realize you were northeast so much. Yeah.
But yeah, Virginia probably shouldn't be too far, I wouldn't think. For Overland Expo East,
it looks a lot closer than Flagstaff. It's in October, I think. You've got some time to plan
that out. Yeah, I think. It's right above North Carolina. You've been to North Carolina. I'm just
trying to help you plan some stuff out. You said you wanted to go. I appreciate that. No, there's
definitely a lot on my list. I want to go to Boxer Fest. PYP Dadwagon has been asking when I'm going
to go to Boxer Fest. I think everything is happening on weekends already where I have weddings and
stuff. I'm like, man, next year, I keep saying that. Yeah, I get that because I've had people
asking me almost every year if I'm going to come up to Wicked Big Meet. For the first three years,
my girlfriend's birthday was that weekend, and I was planning to go see her on her birthday,
and I'm like, I'm not going to go to Wicked Big Meet and not go see her for her birthday. That
would not be cool. Right. I just haven't been able to make it up. I'd like to go at some point,
but it's been a matter of not having enough PTO because it's like I'm trying to plan out all
these trips throughout the year and then not really having the money to go either because it's not
like I can just drive up there easily because then that would require more PTO because of the
drive time. Exactly. But it's still fun when you can make it out. So is there anything else like
about your Subaru journey or your Subaru or your friends or the community that you want to like
mention or let people know about that I didn't ask? I really just wanted to say thank you to
everybody that I've been lucky enough to meet throughout this journey. All the people I've
camping with and traveled with, especially with the Cape Lookout crew, you know, Rue, Wicca Wanderers,
Nina, another green outback, Matt off-roading the outback, Marquise, Ron, Kat and Bill who
Kat's Instagram is extrecy. Of course, Molly, I love the girl to death, and all the other people
that we've camped with and met along the way. I'm just so thankful for everybody and very,
very blessed that this little car could help make lifelong friends. And yeah,
I just wanted to say thank you to everybody. Yeah. So when you like first met up with other
people with this car, were you like nervous about meeting up with other people? Because I know
sometimes people like if they don't really have any mods and they get invited out to something,
they're like, oh, I don't have any mods and everybody's going to have mods and I'm going to
go out of place. Like, was it something you were nervous about or just excited?
A little bit of both, but everybody's always been so welcoming and just knowledgeable and
helpful and it's always, you know, I feel like every time I go out and I travel or I go on
trails, I'm always a little bit nervous, but it's always like an exciting nervous.
Yeah. Oh yeah, I get that. I get that way too. Like, I'm also, I'm also like very shy. So if I go
to an event that has a lot of people, I end up like just kind of hanging around the people
that I know. And but if it's like, like, let's say it was like six to 10 people, that's a little
bit easier, but it's harder when there's like a lot of people somewhere. And I just like,
it's like I want to meet people, but then I'm like, but then also people are kind of like in
their own little pockets, you know, usually talking. So I usually just stick around the people that I
know well, but it's different when it's like an event like Overland Expo, because I'm kind of
there purposefully to meet new people. So last year, I was able to like come out of my show a
little bit and just actually go up to people and talk to people, which is like, you know,
hasn't been like me most of my life, but I'm getting better about that.
No, that's, that's another good thing to mention too is like, I've always, I'm
indefinitely more introverted. And never would have imagined myself like
meeting all these people in person that I've met on the internet. And like,
I feel like I've come out of my shell a lot more because of it. And I have
a lot less social anxiety now because of it. So that's another thing I'm really thankful for.
Yeah. So do you, because like if you go to an event where there's people that have
Subaru, other Subaru's, it's kind of easy to start talking to people because you all have
something in common. But so have you found that that's helped you in other social situations?
Yeah, absolutely. Like you said, just having those,
those common talking points with people and just learning about everybody's builds and
just figuring out, you know, where everybody's from and where they're at on their journey is just,
it's really awesome. And it just makes it so much easier to interact with people. And I feel like,
yeah, it has translated into other aspects of my life as well. I feel like a lot more, you know,
just, I feel like getting out more and exploring more and I'm not as, you know,
scared to meet new people. It's been really nice.
Yeah, I totally get that. So with your cross track, how would you say it best matches your
personality? I would say, I guess it's very, it's, it's kind of darker, but it's also artsy at the
same time. Yeah, that's good. So I guess you're a darker and artsy person or you like things that
are kind of dark. Dark and moody. If you could describe your cross track in one word, what would
it be? I was thinking a lot about this one. I'd say it's like, it's like home. It's just very
comforting and I just feel very safe in it and I associate it with so many good memories and
yeah. That's good work. Do you, do you ever like just get out and go for a drive in your car even
if you have nowhere that you need to go just to drive it? All the time. I feel like that's
one of my favorite things to do is to just, I mean, even with the gas prices right now.
Yeah. It's, it's very soothing. It's always, even before I had Subaru's, it's been one of my
favorite ways to kind of just process emotions and, you know, just whether I was happy, sad, upset,
you know, I feel like driving around always just, you know, just on some back roads with some music
always, you know, is good for the soul. Yeah. Drive, it's like kind of like an escape and like for
me, I'm in my apartment a lot and so sometimes I'm like, I just, I got to get out of here.
Even if I'm not going anywhere, I just want to get in my car and drive. Even if I just go
drive it like, you know, a few streets over and then come back home, it's just like there's
something about that. And it's just like, and like you said too, it's not, it hasn't just been
with this car, it's been with other cars, but of course this car just has so much more meaning
to it. It's the first car I've ever done any kind of modifications to, especially the exterior.
And they're just, they're such a great way that you can express yourself and kind of like,
you do all these things that bring attention to it, but then you may not necessarily want
attention for yourself, like outside of your car, but it's like when you're driving around in the
car, it's like you want people to look at it. Yeah, there are definitely times where I'm not in the
most social mood, but like people will come up to me in like a parking lot and just be like talking
to me about my car and I'm like, you know what, that's really cool. Like I, like the fact that you
can just, I've met different people that I'm now, you know, follow on Instagram just from like running
into them in like a Walmart parking lot or something. Like it's just really cool. Yeah,
there's a guy that lives in my apartment complex. It's an older guy and he has like a Nissan Altima
and he came up to me one day and said that he was thinking about buying a Forester because he wants
to go do some like solo camping and everything. And I was like, Oh, that's really cool. And then
he came up to me the other day and he pointed to his new car or newer car. It was used, but
it was a Nissan Rogue. And I'm just sitting there thinking, I didn't say anything, but I'm like,
dude, I happened to the Forester man because he started asking me about, because I have like my
roof rack and he was asking me about like a roof rack and roof top box and all these things. And
of course I was nice to him and, you know, helping him out and giving him information.
But in the back of my mind, I'm like, what happened to the Forester? Right?
You chose the wrong car. Come on.
So, I mean, you kind of like gone over this throughout the, you know, throughout us talking
and everything. But like, how would you say that owning your Subaru has changed your life?
It's definitely taught me a lot of things. I've never, like I said, I've never been
super knowledgeable about cars. I've never worked on my own cars before. And
that's been really rewarding and just meeting people and learning how to do everything. It's
just been really, really awesome. And I think that's one of my favorite things about it,
aside from everybody that I've met, but just there's so much to learn. And it's really, you know,
brought to my attention like all these things that I like, I'm interested in now, you know,
that I never was before. And it's just, it's always really eye-opening. And it's, you know,
you just never know where it's going to take you. And I think that's something that's been really
awesome to experience. Yeah, I think that's pretty common for most people, especially like,
because we, and when it comes to like the community, if we wouldn't have bought this car,
there's so many people we would have never met, so many trips we would have never taken.
So it's like, you know, that kind of sinks in every once in a while. It's like,
I wouldn't be here if I hadn't bought this car. Right. So it's pretty cool.
It's surreal. Yeah. So since this is your second Subaru and you really enjoy it,
do you think that you will always own a Subaru? Yeah. Yeah, this has been such a good car.
I just really like the cross-treks in general. Yeah, me too. It's my favorite.
It really is. I feel like if, you know, something were to happen, I would get another cross-trek,
you know. Yeah. Yeah, same here. So this is the last segment of this. It's where we get to know
you a little bit better, but like, who is Annie as in describe yourself?
So I, like I said earlier, born and raised in Missouri, I've lived here my whole life.
I really, I'm really into a lot of art and music, a lot of fun hobbies like that. I play in a couple
different bands. Oh, that's cool. Yeah, I play, I play guitar and I play bass. I've been playing
music for, yeah, like 15, 16 years or so now. Bass is really cool. Bass is fun. I'm still learning
it. I joined a band recently where I've been asked to be their bass player and we have a show on
Friday. So I'm kind of nervous, but I'm excited. But yeah, I do a lot of artwork around the St.
Louis area and I do a lot of like commissions for people and that's been a really, really awesome
experience. I've been doing that professionally for about 10 years now. And then you have an
Instagram account for that, right? What's the, what is the account? It's rainstone visuals.
Okay. Yeah. And it's linked in your, in your bio, but I was looking through that. It's pretty cool.
Yeah. It's, yes, about 10 years now I've been doing, I do all sorts like chalkboards, murals,
digital work, labels, things like that. And then yeah, recently got into doing like custom work
for people for their cars, like decals and digital art and stuff like that, which has been really
awesome. But yeah. Yeah, that's cool. What is a favorite memory from your childhood?
Probably just, I got to travel a lot as a little kid. I have a lot of family
and like currently in North Carolina, but I have a lot of fun memories of going out there as a kid
and going to the beach in Florida and stuff like that, which I think is where my love for going
to the beach comes from, but just a lot of traveling. Yeah. So, let's think about this as
you were talking about being born and living in Missouri your whole life. Is there anyone
else that you would want to live if you could just like pack up and move and be like, I would love
to move here? I mean, I'm sure you like where you're at now, but like, is there anywhere else where
you think I could live here? This could be fun. I feel like that every time I drive through Tennessee,
just like the mountains in Tennessee, I'm like, man, this is really pretty out here. I don't know.
I haven't really thought about it a whole lot. Probably Tennessee or North Carolina, but I,
you know, there's a lot of places I haven't gone to yet and like, you know, maybe when I go out
west, I'll be like, I want to live here, you know? Yeah, if you haven't been to Oregon,
Oregon, Washington, even to Colorado, Colorado is beautiful. That's where I would love to live.
I would love to live in Colorado Springs. That's one of my favorite spots.
That's where my brother is now. Yeah. Yeah, it's cool. So you said what you do for a living,
but do you have a dream job? I think really my dream job would just be to
travel and do more art for people. I really want to do more murals. I think that would be really
cool to make a career out of and just kind of embrace the art full time. It's kind of
tricky. You know, you don't want to get too burnt out on it and you don't want to make it
to where you don't enjoy it anymore. But I think if I could get to a point where I could do something
like that, I think that would be really awesome. So you think like doing murals for people in
other places where you have to travel out there and go do it. Yeah, that'd be really cool. I think
it's fun to see other cities too because like two jobs ago, the work that we did,
our clients were always in other cities. So I traveled quite a bit for work and it was always,
you know, it wasn't always fun having to go to work and travel, but it was always cool seeing
other cities and other states. That I very much appreciated. So any chance you get to travel is
fun. You know, it can be fun. Absolutely. So what is something that makes you want to get out of
bed every day? Just getting outside and getting to listen to music and discover new artists and
stuff like that. Very music oriented. And just getting to talk to family and friends, I think
are my favorite things. Those are definitely good things to get up for. What is something that
makes you want to stay in bed? Just depression in general. I feel like, you know, when you reach
that stage of like, of burnout, occasionally, that can definitely just make you really tired and
you do not want to get up and do things, but
it's a lot more rewarding when you can, you know, force yourself to get up and just do something
or try something new. I feel like that definitely kind of helps you get out of that funk, but
yeah, sometimes you have to think about something that you really enjoy doing and just
force yourself to do that. And then that can definitely help. Not that it works every time,
but it can help because it is tough. It's when you get in that state of mind, you're just feeling
down and you're just feeling kind of defeated. It's not, you know, people like, some people
should be like, oh, just snap out of it. It's like, you can't just snap out of it. It would be, I mean,
if I could just snap out of it, then I wouldn't be telling you about it right now. Exactly.
But yeah, I get that. What is something that really scares you?
I think something that scares me is just not
seeing more places and doing it. I feel like it's really important to do things that scare you
and staying stagnant is something that really scares me. I'm always looking to grow and heal
emotionally and just, I feel like just staying in one spot, I feel like kind of freaks me out a bit.
Yeah, I get that. It's important to try to do new things and do something that might be a little
scary because that's where the growth comes from. I mean, that's what I've been doing. I've been
getting on camera a lot more lately. And I always like, that's one of the reasons I don't have a
YouTube channel for the podcast is because I always, I didn't want to be on camera. And I'm
still not going to do a YouTube for the podcast. I want to keep it audio only forever. But just
getting on camera and doing more stuff like for Subaru Gear and this other journey that I'm going
on, it's helped me to get to the point where it's like, I actually enjoy being on camera now and
I'm not as afraid of it. And I'm starting to actually like it and be like, oh yeah, I want to
do more stuff with it. So yeah, that was definitely scary. But I mean, it's like the more you do it,
the more the easier it gets and the less scary it gets. I agree. Besides your Subaru and your
friends, what is something that really excites you? I think playing music is one of the big ones for
me. Playing shows. You've got one coming up. I do. Yeah. Scared, but excited.
Yeah, I feel like that's something that's always resonated with me. And it's something that I
use to process things. And I don't know, there's always, there's always something to learn. Yeah,
I think that's really awesome. So you've played shows before, but not really with playing bass?
Correct. Yeah. So I've played guitar for a long time. I hopped in on another band
last year. I've played a few shows with them playing electric guitar. So this is my first time
really like learning how to play bass and regularly playing it. And it's been really fun.
That's good. Yeah, I'm sure too. I mean, I don't have any experience like with being up on stage
like that. But I'm guessing that like once you get up there and you actually start playing,
then it'll kind of like get to you and you'll be like, okay, now I'm really excited to be here
and I'm less scared. And now I'm like, let's just have fun. It really is. Like I, a lot of
a lot of our audience at these shows is all friends, you know, so playing for your friends
is like the coolest thing ever. I just feel like you have so much, so much fun and
cool. Yeah. And there's, and there's people that have different takes on that because like some
people don't want anybody they know there because then they'll be like picking them apart and then
other people it's like, if you have friends to play there, then it just, it makes it easier and
that makes it fun. So there's like, because like, so when I was at Subifest, California in 2022,
I went up and you know how like they have the DJ up? Well, you haven't been one, but they have,
so like they have like this trailer and then on top of the trailers where the DJ booth is,
and that's where he's making all the announcements. And they got me up there for him to interview me
in front of everybody. And I was like, that's like been my, like the biggest fright for me is to like
public speak in front of people. But he sat me down. He asked me all these questions. And then
he was like, okay, now let's do that again, but on the mic. And so I was just like, oh crap,
like I have to be on right now. I can't just sit up there and be like, uh, uh, you know,
so, so thankfully he had already asked me the questions before. So we were just doing it again
on the mic, but in front of people. And so where we were, I had a booth set up with all my podcast
equipment. And I had friends that were hanging out right at my booth. And I had like a clear line
of sight to them. So I was just mainly looking at them and then looking back to the, uh, DJ
and going back and forth. And I'm like, that's what helped save me was being able to look at
my friends. Cause I just kind of pretended like I was talking to them. So that was like, I totally
get that. Like doing something like that with friends present makes it so much easier and way
less scary. Way less scary. Like, and if you mess up, you know, it's like, it's fine, you know,
they're not going to, yeah, they're going to tell you did a good job, you know, no matter what.
Exactly. What would be your best bit of advice to give to someone about anything?
Um, kind of going back to what I said earlier, um, just do things that, that scare you. Um,
you know, tomorrow's not promised, you know, plan the trip, send the text, you know. Yeah.
Yeah. I agree. It's good stuff. Anything else you want to share before we close this out?
Um, not really. I think that that covers pretty much everything.
Okay. Well, thank you for taking the time to record with me and be another guest.
Thanks for having me. This is really fun.
You're welcome. Good. I'm glad you enjoyed it. Well, I hope you have a good rest of your day
and you have a good show on Friday. That's exciting. Thank you.
Are you going to post any of that on Instagram?
Yeah, I probably will. Okay.
Once I get the nerves out.
Yeah. Yeah. That's cool.
Well, all right. We'll enjoy the rest of your day and the rest of your week.
I mean, we're just getting started with it.
Thank you. You as well.
You're welcome. All right. We'll have a good one.
You too.
All right. Bye.
Thank you so much for tuning into another episode of the Subin New Podcast.
Again, if you are not doing so already, go give Annie a follow.
Her account is just simply moth trek. So go check it out. Check out her page.
Give her a follow and say hello.
Thank you again so much, Annie, for taking the time to record with me and getting to share
your story with all of the listeners and with your crew too. So I appreciate you taking that time.
And that's it for another episode of the Subin New Podcast.
Be sure to tune in again on Tuesday.
Just watch out on Instagram for another product drop from Subaru Gear.
And then we will see you next Monday for another edition of the Subi Scoop.
Hope you all have a wonderful week and get out there and enjoy your Subarus.
Much Subi love. Wrap.
The Subin New Podcast is hosted by Rafael in a closet in Houston.
Produced by Rafael in a room next to the closet in Houston.
And edited by Rafael on a computer in the room next to the closet in Houston.
With music by Luc Ruiz in another room in Houston.
You can find the Subin New 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 New 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 New Podcast,
online at SubinNewPodcast.com, or by email, SubinNewPodcast at gmail.com.
That's all for this week.
About this episode
Annie (“Moth Trek”) shares her Subaru journey with a focus on community, car camping, and building her 2021 CrossTrek Limited into a capable overland-style rig. The chat covers her Cape Lookout beach trip with a tight-knit Instagram crew, long drives to meet friends, and the mods that followed—ditch lights, wheels/tires, skid plates, fog lights, lift, and her custom front grill. Along the way, she talks reliability (viscous coupling, original clutch), favorite terrains (snow, sand, occasional mud), and how Subaru helped her become more social. The episode also plugs upcoming Overland Expo West and SubaruGear merch deals.
Annie joins us today to talk about her Crosstrek, trips she has taken, the friends she has made and travels with, her artwork business, and play in a couple of bands!
Links from the show, links to sponsors and discount partners, and ways to support the podcast:
