Overland Expo 2014 was almost a year ago.
Many have written about it, and even my favorite photos of cool rigs and trick gear seems very outdated. A few things still stick out, though.
We attended our first OvEx long ago, when we were trying to decide if we wanted a trailer or a camper or a van or....what? We drove to Arizona and visited the Fairgrounds in Prescott. It was windy as heck, a feature that seems constant for Arizona in the Spring.
We didn't know a soul, and felt a bit like outsiders. We timidly peered within big rigs and small tents. Paul May of Equipt 1 graciously spent a lot of time with us as we pondered roof top tents, and Martyn showed us the ins and outs of the various trailer models A/T was making. We left knowing the names of two or three people and the desire to buy a Horizon to pull behind the FJ.
By the next year, we were still searching for a used Horizon. At the OvEx, though, Martyn treated us like long-list friends and we avidly soaked up all we could in various classes.
We attended a couple of OvEx's with our Horizon, and felt a lot more at home there.
By 2014, we'd migrated to the Big Truck and had sold our Horizon (with some reluctance).
The highlight of OvEx14 had nothing to do with "stuff", and everything to do with relationships. We actually met people whose travels we'd followed for years, and found them to be even more awesome than we expected.
We spent time with people who we largely only "see" on Twitter and Facebook, but who share so many of the same goals and outlook on life, we feel like we've known them forever.
We laughed, drank beer, told stories, and three days went by in a heartbeat.
We've determined that OvEx15 will be a bit different. We'll take no classes, bring more beer and more comfy chairs.
We'll try to spend as much time hanging out with these kindred spirits, with whom we share so much, and see so infrequently.
And hopefully convince a few to venture into the wilds afterwards.
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