A captain, his van, 3 months, 25 stops, over 9 750 miles

We are already at the halfway point of our Captain’s adventure. Our friends at Roameo provided Ross with a mobile suite that got him from the East coast all the way to the West coast . Ross Robinson, a snowmobile athlete by nature, has ridden on every terrain Uncharted Society offers except snow! From the crowded beaches of Wilmington, NC to the most uncharted dirt roads in Arizona, our Captain of Adventure has been living the ultimate adventure and is here to share some stories, advice and overall thoughts on his experience so far.

Q&A from our Captain of Adventure - 3 months update

One word to describe the first part of your adventure?

I think ADVENTUROUS is the best word to describe it. Not many people set off on a cross-country trip visiting 25 epic locations. Not only did I go Coast to Coast, it feels like I went everywhere in between and now back up in the rocky mountains! It's 100 percent an adventure when you experience that much of the U.S. that fast.

How is your van life experience in your Roameo Van and how is life on the road?

I've been lucky enough to spend a lot of time traveling and working. But this is the first experience working out of a van for a prolonged period of time. The Roameo van is properly equipped (toilet, hot and cold water, shower, fridge and freezer, good storage space and temperature control) to cater my lifestyle during this adventure. Of course, it offers a comfy place to sleep but it also is a great mobile office and gear up for adventures ahead.

Some days you had to drive over 8hrs on the open road. Can you share your favorite podcast to listen to OR your ultimate driving playlist?

One of my favorite things is music discovery. And I like it all. My most popular playlist among my audience is one called “Yee Yeee”. The name stems from an inside joke but my people seem to enjoy the music also. When music isn't doing it for me, I usually gravitate towards a number of comedic podcasts or fitness and wellness ones. I've become slightly obsessed with the “Nero” function in humans.

All of the experiences affiliated with Uncharted are perfect for someone who is new to powersports. Whether you want to get into the space and are just looking for a taste or you just want to experience something different and new. These adventures are great. It can be 2 hours or all day whatever you're looking for is out there. 

During the day you were ripping through sand dunes, canyons and waves but what would you do in your time off while traveling across the country?

 Although I didn't have much downtime I did manage to track down some unique coffee shops to work out of.  “Craft” coffee is a big thing where I'm from (Oregon) so I enjoy tracking down shops that make me feel like home. I also enjoy really good coffee. So finding the spot became a regular mission of mine. I also tried to keep my miles up running. It's challenging keeping your fitness up on the road but I was lucky enough to have a lot of beaches to take advantage of. 

Where is the coolest place you found to sleep overnight with the Roameo van? How would you go about choosing your camp stops?

I had quite a few cool ones. My best was outside Sedona, Arizona (image below). Views were 10 out of 10. One reason I love the west so much and the desert is the ease of off the grid camping. I use an app called “The DYRT” to look for spots. I also used Maps with land designations to find spots. The beautiful thing about public land such as national forest is you can camp on it for free for up to 14 days. So as long as you find an area that is legal and public you know you're good to go. Roameo’s van is equipped so that you don’t need hook-ups and can stay in these off-grid locations.

Being gone on the road for so long, what made you feel at home?

Coffee.. But seriously having the Roameo Van to operate out of was huge. Not living out of suitcases and going from hotel to hotel makes things a lot less stressful that's what the van turned into. It was home.

Having experienced a pretty exceptional adventure over these past 3 months, what would you say is your biggest key learning ? Things you do differently?

I'm not sure I can explain everything one learns on the road solo for 3 months. Millions of small lessons that I will take with me on future adventures. Like always having an extra battery pack to charge up the laptop and phone. Things to never run out of. Snacks, coffee, batteries, water and many more. The lessons learned on trips like this don't often show themselves until they need to on the next adventure. Sparing moments like “ oh this happened to me one time before in the middle of nowhere Texas, this is how I fixed it ”. Current problem solved from past lessons learned. I know this statement to be true because I used things I've learned on my past adventures to solve problems on this trip. Just as this trip's lessons will help me solve future problems.  You keep learning lessons like that and pretty soon there aren't many situations you can't overcome.

What do you look the most forward to in the second part of your adventure?

I'm really excited to be back in my mountains. I've spent the majority of the last three months on the coast and in the desert. Loved it but I'm a mountain man at heart and a lover of all things snow. So I'm looking forward to cooler climates and mountain views.