AN HOURLESS LIFE
WHAT THIS FAMILY OF THREE HAS LEARNED FROM SEVEN YEARS OF FULL-TIME TRAVEL
“Community is something one chooses for oneself, through a process of self-discovery.”
—Megan Garber, The Atlantic
In 2019, Eric and Brittany Highland and their 2-year-old son, Caspian, found themselves deep in the Sierra Gorda mountain range of mainland Mexico, descending sharp switchbacks in the dark with a group of total strangers. Well, nearly total strangers. Eric met Chepo from Mexico City and A.P. from Querétaro on the online platform, “Overland Bound,” while planning the couple’s first international overland trip to mainland Mexico.
The group of 10 spent the next three days together—camping, fixing a torn-up radiator, sharing delicious meals of grilled carne from the back of a group member’s Tacoma and touring an abandoned mission and cathedral in Bucareli. For Eric and Brittany, this weekend adventure brought back fond memories of their 2,000-mile trip through the interior of Mexico. It also marked an international extension of the overlander community, which they were a part of back home in the United States.
Behind every vehicle-based traveler, whether it’s a rock crawler, off-roader, RVer or international overlander, there’s a network of people. A string of questions asked and answered. Facebook group posts. Meet-ups in person or online. E-mails sent, advice given and a feeling of reassurance, knowing
that others have driven the road before. Nearly every adventurer can clearly recall the person who inspired them to pursue their dreams or make a change and the moment they, themselves, realized it was possible. Often, it’s through the experiences and stories of others that we see our future dreams take shape. For the Highlands, it was an episode of “The Overlanding” podcast that changed their lives forever.
“NEARLY EVERY ADVENTURER CAN CLEARLY RECALL THE PERSON WHO INSPIRED THEM TO PURSUE THEIR DREAMS OR MAKE A CHANGE AND THE MOMENT THEY, THEMSELVES, REALIZED IT WAS POSSIBLE.”
Embracing RV Life
Whether in an RV or rooftop tent atop their 2014 Jeep Rubicon (also known as “Hourless Life”), this family of three has been traveling full-time throughout the United States and Mexico for the past seven years. Their journey into the overland world began in Austin, Texas, back in 2014, when the couple transitioned to full-time RV life via a 40-foot diesel motor home. By that time, they’d been self-employed for several years (after founding both a boutique online marketing agency called Knektion, LLC, and the Austinot, a popular blog about the city of Austin, in 2011).
As newbie RVers, the two surrounded themselves with members of their new community, soon making long-lasting friends.
“These relationships were key,” Eric explains. “We knew that if we ran into problems or had questions, we had someone to ask.”
Eric and Brittany also penned a blog, “RV Wanderlust,” which documented their travels throughout the States and created a space for like-minded people to gather online.
Friends in the RV community soon had an impact on the couple—especially Eric, who yearned to improve his rock-crawling skills and tackle more-technical trails in the process.
“We were at our campsite with people who owned off-road vehicles, and they would
go out and do all this really cool stuff and show us pictures around the campfire,” Eric explains. “Brittany and I thought, ‘We’re doing something wrong here that we’re not a part of this!’”
Friends also influenced the couple’s decision to shift their travel style from parking at full-hookup campgrounds to wild camping in the bush. They bought a 100-watt solar suitcase and, by the end of that year, had 105 days of dry-camping under their belts.
The Podcast Episode That Changed Everything
2016 brought the Highland family a new 2014 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon and the creation of Eric’s blog, “Jeepsies,” along with a new addition to the family: a new baby boy named Caspian.
“He’s grown up on the road,” Brittany says. “He literally doesn’t know anything else. He went straight from the birthing room to the Jeep!”
The following year, Eric founded the Coast Guard Jeep Club and, over time, built the Jeep Wrangler (called “Guardian”) into a capable rock-crawler, adding 35-inch Toyo Tire Open Country M/Ts, a Rock Krawler 2.5-inch lift, TeraFlex Falcon 3.3 adjustable shocks, Outback coil springs and a custom-built Heritage
Driven transmission skid plate.
Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Eric, Brittany stumbled upon the term, “overlanding.”
“Driving through other countries … that sounded so cool,” she remembers. “But it had to be singles and couples. There’s no way people overland internationally with kids, right?”
A Google search led Brittany to an episode of “The Overlanding” podcast with Steve and Gilly Snaith of Overlanding Family. This couple had traveled through 58 countries in four years ... with their two young daughters.
“I thought, ‘They drove all the way around the
world with two little girls,’” explains Brittany. “We could de nitely do that with one little boy!”
An overland-style box truck parked in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, sparked a conversation between Eric and Brittany about international travel—albeit somewhat unexpectedly.
Eric recalls, “We were driving in town, and all of a sudden, Brittany shouted, ‘Pull over! Pull over!’ I had no idea what was happening. I pulled over into a parking lot, where this box truck was parked. She ran over to it and said, ‘ This is what I want to do!’ I didn’t have a clue what she was talking about. That was the first time I’d heard about overlanding, and I was like, ‘Let’s do it!’”
Mexico or Bust
Eric and Brittany were sold on the idea of traveling through other countries as a family ... but, in reality, would they enjoy it? They decided to embark on a “shakedown” trip through the interior of Mexico. In fact, Eric’s mother was born in Mexico, and Spanish was his first language. In addition, many of his family members still lived in Puebla, making it the perfect southernmost destination for their road trip. Brittany discovered a YouTube video about San Luis Potosí and quickly added that city to their itinerary. The couple’s route came together when Eric connected with the Overland Bound group in Mexico.
Planning their trip wasn’t without concern, however.
“We’d been in Mexico before, but we’d never driven into Mexico,” Eric explains. “We’d heard about border crossings and the federales [Mexico’s federal police] and bribery and extortion. Our friends and family wanted the best for us but were concerned about our safety—while people in the overlanding community had done this multiple times and told us not to worry.”
Utilizing skills gained from his 20 years in federal law enforcement with the United States Coast Guard, Eric discovered one toll road used by the State Department to transit government employees from Texas to Monterrey, Mexico, back in 2019.
“We were so green at the time,” Brittany notes. “We created a color-coordinated map of Mexico that indicated how dangerous each state was at the time.”
Brittany also organized all the family’s important paperwork in folders, holding them on her lap as they crossed into Mexico and beyond.
“I was so sure that the first police officer who saw us was going to pull us over. Two months later, when we came back across the border, I didn’t know where the folder was. We never used it!”
The Highlands made several additions to the Jeep Wrangler before crossing into mainland
Mexico, transforming Guardian into a hybrid rock-crawler/overland rig. An iKamper SkyCamp rooftop tent and vinyl canopy, ARB 50-quart refrigerator/freezer, custom-made sliding-drawer cabinet, Rhino-Rack Batwing awning and additional camping paraphernalia helped improve the platform’s day-to-day liveability for the family of three.
After two months and 2,000 miles of driving throughout Mexico’s interior, the Highland family deemed their trip a “smashing success.” From the culture to the landscapes, they loved the country and the overland travel lifestyle.
“By the time we returned from our southernmost terminus in Puebla, we knew this type of travel was our next full-time adventure,” Eric recalls.
Itching for more, Eric, Brittany and Caspian tackled the Baja Peninsula the following year, clocking another 2,000 miles and settling into road life with the experience of mainland Mexico behind them.
Learning From the Overlander Community
The Highland’s family mission statement, “Love. Explore. Study. Share,” is found on the home page of their newest website, “Hourless Life.” Sharing is something both Brittany and Eric take very seriously, feeling a responsibility to be upfront about the mistakes they’ve made and the lessons they’ve learned along the way.
“The more we become part of the [overland community] ourselves, we see that the people who’ve done this are more than willing to share their experiences and the lessons they’ve learned. On every forum or media platform, the people who talk the most are usually people who haven’t done it, so we go to the people who have actually made these global trips. That’s the key. We’ve sought out their podcasts and websites and devoured their YouTube content,” Eric says. “When we first started, gear was the focus. But those who’ve done it really talk about the people they’ve met, the places they’ve been and the experiences they’ve had. That’s what ‘fuels their fire’; the passion is what’s important.”
“WE AREN’T WILDERNESS WARRIORS, MECHANICS, NAVIGATIONAL GENIUSES, LINGUISTIC EXPERTS OR FINANCIALLY WEALTHY,” BRITTANY SAYS. “WE’RE JUST A REGULAR FAMILY THAT’S MADE SOME INTENTIONAL DECISIONS.”
As Eric and Brittany learned more from folks such as Dan Grec of The Road Chose Me, Scott Brady of Overland International and Marc Terrien of Heritage Driven, they realized that Guardian wasn’t necessarily an ideal platform for an extended international overland trip.
“We thought we could have the best of both worlds with the hybrid overland/rock crawling build. But eventually, the Jeep was just so over payload because we never scaled back on a lot of the rock-crawling stuff,” Eric says. “The biggest lesson I’d share with people is that if you’re looking to build-out a vehicle for international overlanding, start with a payload capacity spreadsheet and figure out what your vehicle’s payload is. Enter everything you’re carrying into that spreadsheet. Either you’re at payload ... or you’re in the wrong vehicle.”
A Plan to Overland the World
The Highland family is gearing up for its next adventure: an around-the-world overland adventure. Brittany, Eric and Caspian will travel in a Jeep Gladiator Sport S with Max Tow Package and outfitted with an Alu-Cab Canopy Camper from Mexico through Central and South America to Africa and Central
Asia. Their future plans involve meeting local overlanders, educating Caspian on the road and sharing every step of the way on their “Hourless Life” site.
“I’m really sold on the idea of letting our travels dictate Caspian’s education. He’s going to learn so much from the people we meet,” Brittany says.
Eric and Brittany want people to know that, similar to those who inspired them, they’re just normal people.
“We aren’t wilderness warriors, mechanics, navigational geniuses, linguistic experts or financially wealthy,” Brittany says. “We’re just a regular family that’s made some intentional decisions. The reality is that there are a lot of people overlanding internationally around the world. We just want to let people know it’s possible.”
“WHETHER IN AN RV OR ROOFTOP TENT ATOP THEIR 2014 JEEP RUBICON (ALSO KNOWN AS ‘HOURLESS LIFE’), THIS FAMILY OF THREE HAS BEEN TRAVELING FULL-TIME THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES AND MEXICO FOR THE PAST SEVEN YEARS.”