Overlanding: One of my favorite hobbies outside of work. It's like backcountry backpacking but with a vehicle. Our family couldn't afford the big, amazing, fancy rigs or to quit our jobs and go overland full-time like some of our friends, whom I greatly admire. So instead, 9 years ago, we bought a very used, very loved truck we now call Torvi (the adventure truck). We retrofitted her with what we needed as a family with two young kids (2 and 3) at the time: different backseats, a large CVS rooftop tent, a packrat converted into our kitchen that held our stove, a discounted bar sink we found on Amazon, and our chairs, and we hit the road!
Over the years, we have grown out of the rooftop tent and continued to remodel and adjust Torvi to include a Jumping Jack Tent Trailer, bedside toolboxes, a 40-gallon water tank, a welded roof rack, a water heater, a three-burner stove with the bar sink in the pack rat, Maxtracks, a batwing for shade and shelter, and a Gazelle Tent for shade and shelter away from the rig.
While Torvi is far from fancy, new, shiny, or expensive, she has become a part of our family. We have been able to get back into spots and experience beautiful areas hidden behind heavily overgrown trails that we wouldn't have experienced had we had an expensive rig or new paint job. She has her dents, scars, and some wear and tear for sure. But she has gotten us to remote, beautiful places and has been essential to our family experiences and adventures over the last eight years. In the photo below, you can see that I tried to take a picture of the scratches endured from a gnarly trail. No matter what angle I took the photo, she refused to show anything but her pride in reflecting the beautiful forest we all got to experience as a result of her hard work and perseverance.
Our longest trip has been 12 days, and our longest driving day is 12 hours. We have been to Idaho, Canada, Montana, Utah, Texas, Arkansas, Kansas, Wyoming, Colorado and Missouri. We are working up to a 5-week trip to drive up to Alaska. I don't know if Torvi will make it on that one, but she is and always will be a staple in our family memories, adventures, and experiences.
Fun 2025 Update: Last year, Torvi started showing some faded flames that were on her hood (see photo below). We didn't see or notice these for years, and years! We have not gotten rid of them though. They are still a part of her and we love her for who she was and who she is, tattoos and all!
Lessons learned and shared from Torvi:
Your scars, wrinkles, past, and experience are a part of who you are. We can try to hide the ones we are ashamed of or embrace them and recognize they are valuable parts of what makes us who we are. They remind us of failure, success, persistence, adventure, and that we have LIVED. Some may serve as valuable lessons; embrace them. But all of them are memories, reflecting and reminding us of the amazing experiences or adventures we have been on.
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