There’s been a lot going on in our personal lives lately, and that unfortunately has led to a lapse in sharing what we’ve been up to. As some of you may already know, we made a huge decision in late 2023 to move across the country, quite literally leaving everything we knew and loved behind. It wasn’t an easy decision, but then again, when are they ever? The way we looked at it was that the opportunities that awaited us far outnumbered the risks involved. This move would ultimately allow us to grow in both the personal and professional aspects of our lives. So, in January 2024, we packed up our things, said our goodbyes, and headed west to the “Battle Born” State of Nevada. Of course we made an adventure out of it, and check off a couple of states we hadn’t been to yet along the way. So be on the look out for those in upcoming blog posts.
Liberty To SoHo NYC
Braving the masses, we took in the sights at Liberty Island and then made our way over to Castle Garden in the Financial district of NYC. Making our way through Wall Street, we stopped and explored the history at Trinity Church. This is by far one of my favorite destinations in NYC. The history of these hallowed grounds is unbelievable. Taking a stroll through the grounds, you’ll quickly understand why. Leaving Trinity, we made our way to Chinatown in search of Hello Kitty memorabilia for Bailey. Dinner was had in a tiny little alleyway next to a row of small restaurants and it was absolutely amazing! After dinner we made our way toward Hook & Ladder #8 and stumbled upon The Bean, which Bailey was ecstatic about as she still hasn’t stopped talking about the Bean we visited in Chicago on a previous trip. With the sun setting, we finally made it to Hook & Ladder #8 to see the home of, you guessed it, The Ghostbusters. While we were there we did get to meet some of the awesome people of FDNY too. With the sun fully set we made one final stop for the evening at the 9/11 Memorial Pools. I have visited these both in the day and at night and it hits in a completely different way at night. It truly is a spectacle to behold and a fitting memorial to all of those who lost their lives that day and in the years to come….
Creating Family Memories
That’s a trip for the memory books! We started our trip by exploring the abandoned town of Union Level, Va for Jennifer’s & my 20th wedding anniversary. Since we were in the area, we made a stop at Lovers Leap & Mabry Mill where we happened to run into some old friends & spent some time catching up. The next day we celebrated Bailey’s 13th birthday while dispersed camping & then visited Brights Zoo near Johnson City, Tn so she could see their newest addition, a rare spotless baby Giraffe. After that, we spent the rest of the week showing Papa & Nana (from South Dakota) some of our favorite places in Virginia. To top the week off, they treated all of us to a wonderful horseback ride at Skyline Stables just outside of Radford, Va. What a great week it has been and we’re definitely exhausted. But there’s no rest for the wicked. On to the next adventure!
The Ghost Town of Union Level
Union Level, Va “The Most Visited Ghost Town in Virginia”, or so the sign on the building across the street would have you believe. We’re not entirely sure how true that statement is as there were only a few passerby’s when we visited. Nevertheless, it was a very interesting place to visit and if you’re willing to make the journey we’d say that it’s worth it.
I grew up in a small town much like this one, in the Midwest, and I’ve always been fascinated and yet disheartened by what events led to the demise of these small communities. Researching, you’ll find that a lot of them were merely blips on the countryside where others were economic epicenters. Each one of them with their own unique story to tell. If you want to discover more about this one in particular, we highly recommend checking out the BLOG we found on the “Forgotten South” webpage.
Here’s a web link if you’d like to visit it.
https://theforgottensouth.com/union-level-virginia-ghost-town-history/
Is This Overlanding?
Overlanding…. What is it? There are varying opinions and definitions of this popular term. Some believe its four wheeling across rugged terrain, miles from civilization and some believe it’s purely car camping. While both of those scenarios certainly fall into the definition of Overlanding, there’s a lot more to it then just that. You see, “Overlanding” can really mean something different to everyone. One of the best definitions that we’ve happened across is “Overlanding sees the journey as the purpose. Overlanding is about exploration, rather than conquering obstacles.” This is the definition that personally resinates with us the most because it’s how we like to approach the majority of our travel.
So why are we talking about this? There are hundreds of articles and videos out there discussing this same thing. Well… Lately we’ve run into a lot of people who are interested in Overland Travel, but feel that they have to spend a small fortune to build a capable vehicle and have products X, Y & Z before they can even embark on their first trip. It really kills us to see how worked up everyone gets about having the right gear. So much, that they never even go on a trip. Listen, gear is great, but it’s also bad… Let me explain. Having the right gear can obviously make all of the difference between an alright trip and a fantastic trip. There’s nothing worse than waking up in a pool of water because your awning or tent leaked. Or shivering all night because you have the wrong temp sleeping bag. You won’t get any argument from us on that. However… Gear can also be a bad thing because you set in your mind that you have to have all of this “stuff” before you can do anything. The truth is, you probably won’t even use a third of all that gear on your first five trips. Ask us how we know. We, like many others before us, have fallen down the exact same rabbit hole a couple of times and had to claw our way back out of wonderland. It’s hard to do.
Okay, then how do we go Overlanding without gear? Well that depends on what type of Overlanding you want to do and how you define it. If your definition aligns with ours, then there is a lot that you can do without any gear. Remember, it’s all about the journey and exploration. Have you ever been to the next town, county or state over? What makes their area different than yours? What is their heritage/culture? What hidden gems rural and urban are hiding there? All you need for that type of exploration is a vehicle to get you there and a lot of curiosity. Overnighting it? No problem. Hit a hotel, bed and breakfast, or a cabin in a state park. Still not one bit of gear needed. And guess what… You’re still Overlanding!
Obviously when you mix car camping into the definition of Overlanding, things begin to change. Or do they? What does it take to car camp? For one to two people, not too much. Depending on the vehicle, you could just sleep inside with a pillow and a blanket. Need more room? Buy a small tent and ground pad and you’re golden. What about food? You’ve made ramen before right? How about Pop tarts? You laugh, but 9 times out of 10, we eat pop tarts for breakfast. It all comes down to how comfortable you want to be in relation to how much money you want to spend on the gear vs the travel. Believe it or not, you can be pretty darn comfortable for a reasonable amount of money.
I guess what we’re trying to get across here is not to fall into the paralysis by analysis trap. You want to go Overlanding? Then go, but go within your means. Try to add gear only as there becomes a need for it, not because everyone is buying it right now. We don’t even want to begin to think about the amount of times we bought something because it was going to be “life changing” only to sell it the following year because we only used it one time. That would be depressing. Honestly, some of our greatest memories and trips only required a vehicle and some clothes. If we can give you one piece of advice when looking at gear, it would be: “Think about if it is a need or a want… How much does it cost and how many trips could I go on instead if I were to just spend that money on the trips themselves?”
