Ep.1: Intro to Blue Yonder Overland Crew and Why We Love Camping

Welcome to the Blue Yonder Overland Podcast! In this first episode, main host, Jen, walks through her reasons for starting an overlanding podcast and what you can expect out of this season. She introduces her husband Mat and they talk about how they started camping, got into overlanding, and why they love it so much. Message us at blueyonderjen@ Instagram or Threads to suggest topics, guests or ask questions!

Show Notes and Links:

• • Jen mentioned Mat works at Campworks, producing teardrop trailers.

  • Jen mentioned she did her first backpacking trip with Wild Society out of Kingston, WA- focused on equipping more people to get outdoors.

  • Jen worked for International Rescue Committee while in DC, Turkey, Uganda, and Seattle- they’re an amazing organization to check out if you want to stay up to date on current status of refugee admissions to US and how to help.

  • Jen referenced using the amazing resources provided by Washington Trails Association to find weekly hikes in WA.

  • Jen mentioned one of her favorite podcasts is the On Being podcast.

• Episode 1 Transcript - January 23, 2025

  Lightly edited for clarity

  Jen: Hey, everyone! And welcome to the very first episode of the Blue Yonder Overland podcast! I'm so excited to share this creative venture with you. I’ll be your main host, Jen, and my goal today is just to cover “What is overlanding?”, why I love it so much, why I’m starting a podcast about it and what sort of conversations and topics you can expect from this season of the podcast. I’ll eventually bring on my husband Mat, who will be an occasional co-host with me whenever I can tear him away from his day job which is actually making teardrop trailers that are awesome for overlanding, here in Colorado at Campworks. 

  For those of you brand new to the overlanding space, I have a pretty broad definition of it. I'm really talking about any time you're using your vehicle to get outside in camp and any time you're looking for a campsite beyond an established campground. So as I've gotten into overlanding with my husband, Mat, I found that it really involves this element of self-sufficiency. So bringing along the resources that we'll need for our adventures, whether that's shelter, food, thinking about how to have clean water, bathroom, carrying on our trash. But it also has this element of discovery and research. So it involves a little bit of a quest. You have to do some research ahead of time, either by reading maps, consulting guides or forums, checking us for a site and whether places are open. But there's this element of discovery in your own campsite, and that's one of the reasons we love it. 

  If you're intimidated by that idea, we're also going to be covering a lot of practical strategies and tips that I hope you get outside and camping in any fashion that fits your lifestyle and you or your family's needs, as well as just general tips to get outdoors more and how to have the right mindset for overlanding but also for finding adventure in your just everyday life, whether that's right outside your front door on your normal commute or venturing to your local state park or further afield. We'll cover everything and I hope to bring on guests that can speak to different experiences than I have had. So you'll get a very well-rounded idea of the types of adventures that you could have if you're looking to go beyond the campgrounds. 

  While I want to touch on those ideas about how we can cultivate curiosity in our everyday lives and think about how we can bring the adventures that we have on the weekends home with us in our day to day lives. I also want to provide some really practical guidance, so you might especially get a lot out of this podcast if you're interested in literally getting more nights camping under the stars, whether alone with friends or family, just more nights outside. If you're already into overlanding and are familiar with the idea of dispersed camping, but looking for a community, looking for more tips on where to go and find great sites, tips on how to pack better prep, better tips on cooking gear, rigs- we’ll delve into all of those topics over the course of our season as well. 

  I'll introduce Mat shortly and we'll discuss how we both individually got into overlanding and cover some of the top reasons why you should consider starting to overland. 

  I should also note that for a lot of these episodes, we're actually going to get the chance to record them while we're out overlanding this spring. So starting in mid-February, we are taking the leap to actually be full time in our teardrop trailer camping largely across the southwest of the United States. Given the springtime weather we'll be setting out from Denver, Colorado and heading to Texas first, actually where my college roommate lives, enjoying a wine weekend and some camping there. And then we have a couple different expos that we've got into this spring, including one in L.A. in mid-March and down in Phoenix, I believe that’s in the first half of April. And so we're building our itinerary now, trying to fit in as much camping as we can in New Mexico and Arizona and Utah and a little bit of California as well. All of those adventures will eventually lead us all the way back home to the Pacific Northwest, to Kingston, Washington, where we're currently renting out the house that we own, but expect to move back in around June of this year. So excited to see all of our Pacific Northwest friends at that point and get back to some of our favorite spots. In the meantime, lots of new spots to explore. 

  As I've been doing all of the prep work to launch this podcast and thinking about what the real purpose is, who the audience is, what types of guests I want to have on. I realized that it was important to define some of the values that I was going to try to shape the podcast around, and so I wanted to briefly share those as well. The first is simply curiosity. I want to always be curious about the backstory of people and places we're exploring. Adventure: I believe it's a mindset and it doesn't require leaving your hometown to find adventure can be found right outside your front door. Inclusivity: I believe we all have a story worth telling and I want to cultivate a safe space to tell it. Approachable: I don't think there's any stupid questions when it comes to overlanding. I will certainly be asking them. And with the mindset that we're all learning, right? And everybody's an expert in something, but not everything. And lastly, action: Start today. Start small baby steps, but start. 

  I believe there is such a magic in simply starting. And it actually goes back to a favorite quote of mine that I've had taped near my office computer wherever I've been working since about 2014. The quote, which was shared with me by one of my oldest and dearest friends, Candace Rose, who is currently living in Belgium, goes something like this and it's from William Hutchinson Murray: 

  “The moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves to. Whatever you can do or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now.” 

  And I love that quote because I've just seen it play out so many times in my own life, where if I can admit the dreams that I want to go after, the adventures that I want to have, and start speaking them aloud to friends, putting them out into the world, going after them in the smallest of ways, but really trying to pursue them. It's sometimes shocking the ways that the universe seems to open up and provide the opportunities to actually have those adventures, go to those places, do those things. And so I am embracing that quote as I start what seems to be a crazy idea for me, this podcast. And as we embrace a life without a permanent address for a few months this spring. 

  [musical interlude]

  Jen: Okay. So now I'm sitting down with my husband, Mat, across from me. Thank you for agreeing to be interviewed for our very first episode. This is exciting. 

  Mat: Yes, very exciting. And of course, I'll be interviewed any time- a member of any of your episodes. 

  Jen: Thank you. Okay. So I think where we need to start is at the very beginning. 

  Mat: It's a very good place to start. 

  Jen: So, Mat, tell me a little bit about you growing up? Did you grow up camping and spending a lot of time outdoors? Or what was that like? When did you get into it? 

  Mat: Yeah, we didn't do a lot or really any camping growing up. I think I had one year in the Cub Scouts when I was eight and didn't do any camping with them, but I would say I really started camping in college, going with friends, just starting with, you know, we would went to San Diego State and drive up to Joshua Tree and camp for a few days, that sort of thing. But as far as getting really into camping and overlanding, that didn't happen until I was sort of in the last legs of my time in the Navy and getting out of the Navy. 

  Jen: Okay. So. Joshua Tree, you said, was one of your initial camping experiences. Was that backpacking car camping? 

  Mat: Yeah, I did both. So it started with car camping that was the most approachable th