Show Notes for Podcast Episode #39
Interview with Justin and Kyra of Westx1000 on living remote, exploring Japan, and doing more with less
Summary:
We interview Justin Coffey and Kyra Sacdalan of Westx1000 about living remotely, exploring the lost villages of Japan, riding motorcycles, and the joys of adventuring with less. Justin and Kyra have spent years facilitating a life of adventure, including making their home in Ensenada, documenting the Dakar in Saudi Arabia, and the joys of having everything you need in a backpack.
This episode is supported in part by:
https://offthegridsurplus.com/
https://www.redoxx.com/
To Follow Justin and Kyra on Instagram:
@justinwcoffey
@kyra_sacdalan
@westx1000
WESTx1000 Interview
[00:00:00] Scott Brady: Hello and welcome to the Overland journal podcast. I am your host, Scott Brady. And I’m here with my co host, Matt Scott.
Matt Scott: What are we doing? I don’t know what we’re doing, somebody tell me… no, this is kind of cool. We’re here with our friends, Justin and Kira from WESTx1000. Contributors, long-time friends of Overland journal. These guys kind of go everywhere on two wheels. And I think one of the things that we liked so much about it as they actually kind of do it in an attainable way, which is really rad. They’re not on the fanciest bikes, they’re not in the biggest bikes. They kinda, you know, Just get after it. They’re always out exploring. So it’s a really great thing to have you guys on. Thanks for coming up.
Kyra: We really appreciate being invited.
Scott Brady: And from my perspective, the quality of the content that you guys produce is world-class, you guys have done several things for the magazine. Justin your photography is totally enviable. The [00:01:00] quality of work that you’re doing. Matt and I were just talking earlier today and. Some of your action sports stuff is truly exceptional. World-class right now. So you should be really proud of the work you’re doing and another thing that’s always been so aspiring to me is the fact that you guys have been able to kind of just take your own path. You’ve never just stuck yourself on like the influencer train or anything else. You’ve done what felt creatively inspiring to yourselves and allowed you guys to travel together and have all these amazing new experiences. So it seems like you’ve put those things first. So maybe talk about that a little bit. How do you guys make decisions about what you’re going to do next?
Matt Scott: Or is it just a complete madhouse and you’re going to give us some mumbo-jumbo.
Justin: I mean, a lot of it is sort of not saying no to things, when people come to us with an opportunity, unless there’s a [00:02:00] schedule conflict, we usually always say yes, as long as it sounds cool.
Kyra: Well, if it’s on that long list of things we’ve wanted to see or do sort of thing that’s like, okay. We have a free few months. This is the right weather or the right time to go to Italy or go to Mongolia or something.
Matt Scott: I mean, you guys are such nomads. You’re kind of everywhere. Always.
Justin: It’s been seven years. I think we’ve been pretty much on the road for like seven years. I mean…
Kyra: Homeless.
Justin: Yeah homeless. I mean, we have our things in one place now, finally. We had a garage. That was it.
Matt Scott: I remember the garage, there was a garage filled with moto gear. It was a really cool garage.
Kyra: We got rid of that garage and then we bought garage doors for his mom’s house and she lets us store our crap there now.
Justin: It was a pretty good trade.
Kyra: It’s much cheaper.
Justin: Yeah it was a pretty good trade instead of having a, like a storage garage full of junk.
Matt Scott: So you guys bounce between Phoenix and then spend most of your time kind of these days in [00:03:00] Ensenada which is cool. I mean what do you guys like so much about Ensenada? I mean, I love Baja. We all love Baja.
Justin: Yeah, yeah. I think everybody loves Baja.
Matt Scott: It’s not scary. You should go.
Justin: It’s definitely not scary. It’s…
Kyra: I mean culturally, it’s extremely developed and it’s diverse. And people, I mean, if you want to meet passionate entrepreneurs and artists, there’s a lot of them down there and obviously we have friends and we have kind of a homestead to go back to. So it’s really easy for us, but there’s just so much on a personal level, like with nature with the people the language barrier is not too hard.
Justin: Good food.
Matt Scott: Have you guys picked up a little bit of Spanish?
Justin: She speaks way more spanish than I do.
Matt Scott: I’m terrible at it.
Justin: I can understand it a lot better than I can speak it and she can speak it.
Kyra: Well, the problem is that everyone in Sonata speaks… well, not just Ensenada. Baja, they speak English and then they also, you know, don’t have time for you to fumble through your *bleep* spanish… can [00:04:00] I swear?
Scott Brady: We’ll take care of it. Don’t worry about it.
Justin: Most people down there, you know, most people in Baja want to practice their English as much as you want to practice your spanish and so you kind of bump into that a lot. Like they’re, I mean, they’re… you can get around fine.
Kyra: They find it funny when you actually do try. And so they’ll speak to you in Spanish, so you can practice understanding, and they encourage you to speak back to me in English. And we can have a little language trade.
Matt Scott: That’s something that’s super high on my list when I actually have time. Well, I need to just make the time, you know there’s so many wonderful Spanish speaking countries around the world that I really need to prioritize that. I mean, like you said, all of them, typically when you’re down there, they speak English. So maybe it’s the courtesy I need to do back.
Justin: We have good friends down there. That’s another, I mean… we have a number of very good friends down there and that draws us back down. When [00:05:00] COVID, she was talking about this earlier, when COVID hit we were in Sonora. Sonora rally had just wrapped up. And everybody was bailing and going back to the States and we just turned and went West and went down Ensenada. And we’re there all the way through the end of June.
Kyra: Yeah, I think actually we made one trek up and then back down.
Justin: I think we went up to grab some stuff and then turned around, went back to Ensenada and just stayed all the way through the end of June. The place that we stay is called Granada Cove. It’s a little Cove on the sea and we called it Granada COVID. And because everybody was kind of stuck there. Like we actually ran out of water Memorial day weekend. We ran out of water for like two weeks. The whole city of Ensenada, there was a fire at the water treatment plant North of town.
Matt Scott: Oh man.
Justin: So for two weeks we had no water and we had a Maricio that had this hot tub.
Kyra: Which luckily we had filled because for years it was just empty. And we were in it a lot.
Justin: Another friend of ours, Joel, was traveling in a solar powered van and he had made it as far as central [00:06:00] Baja and then, it’s a long story, broke down, came back to Ensenada. And we were using the solar powered van to heat the hot tub. And so during COVID, we were just hanging out in this hot tub.
Kyra: We had a projector and we’d usually run movies off the van. So we parked the van in front of the hot tub. It was a really tough time for everyone.
Justin: But when we run out of water, we use the hot tub water for the toilets and take bad showers.
Kyra: And the neighbors would also come and grab some cause our friends Maricio and Abby, they have a lot more than maybe some of the people around them. So they were pretty generous.
Scott Brady: That’s cool. It seems that culture is very much that way. The one of the few times I’ve hitchhiked in my life was in Mexico and I just remember being so nervous being in a different country. One of my first trips, I was in the middle of Copper Canyon and got totally lost on a hiking trail and just stuck my thumb out in the middle of Mexico. And of course the people were totally wonderful and some of them spoke English a little bit and they were like making sure [00:07:00] that I was okay and like went out of their way. Every experience just about that I’ve had in Mexico has just been so wonderful. It’s a great culture down there. And I think that for me, one of the questions that… a couple of the questions that I wanted to ask, but one comes to mind fairly early around the conversation that we just had with where you guys live and how you live your life. What has living that way taught you? How has that really changed your perspective as travelers, but also like as humans, since you have kind of stripped away a lot of the traditional ways of living. You don’t go to a nine to five. You don’t go to the same home, you don’t drive the least sedan. You guys have completely changed all of those things in your life, and how has that really changed you? How has that really affected you?
Justin: Well I think you really nailed it with the stripping away part. Especially for me, I’ve realized you don’t need very much [00:08:00] stuff. You need way less stuff then you have currently and a lot less than you think you need. I mean, I travel with a backpack full of camera gear and a duffel bag with clothes and that’s it. That’s all I need. If I’m riding a motorcycle, you can add, you know, a helmet and riding gear and some camping stuff. And then you’re pretty well set. I mean, I think stripping it away and realizing… I mean when we first started really traveling together like on a permanent basis we ended up living in Japan for awhile and…
Scott Brady: Which we want to talk about later.
Justin: Yeah, yeah. I mean traveling there and then just bouncing around to other places to work and do things. You have to keep it small and you can’t take all that stuff with you.
Kyra: I mean whatever you can carry sort of thing. And if you don’t want to carry a lot of weight, which I don’t, you just figure out how to wear the same pair of pants
Matt Scott: I think traveling keeps your mind busy and it makes you realize that living in the moment [00:09:00] is actually the most fulfilling thing you can do. I always, personally, kind of go between this thing when I’m traveling and I’m super happy and… I don’t know how else to say it, but I forget about Amazon. I Forget about that thing that I want. I forget about the upgrade that I want to do to my bike or my car or whatever. And I’m just living in the moment. And I think when you’re able to reach that point you realize. I don’t actually need that stuff.
Justin: And you appreciate quality more as well. Having good… I mean, if you’re only going to have a few things…
Matt Scott: If you’re gonna have one duffel bag.
Justin: Yeah. It better be one that you like, and you’re going to keep using it and it’s going to survive. Like that’s always been a big part of our lifestyle.
Kyra: That’s definitely been introduced to my lifestyle since I started traveling more. It’s just a quality over quantity. Not having to worry about the durability of my gear when we’re out in the middle of nowhere. And like, I don’t know, it’s nice on a mental [00:10:00] level to just kind of strip that stuff away and focus on the people that you meet and the landscapes that you experience and kind of the tasks at hand.
Matt Scott: Yeah. It’s just so much less stuff to worry about.
Scott Brady: And Kyra, how have you found that seven years of living like that has changed you as a person? How has that, how are you a different Kyra today than seven years ago?
Kyra: I’m definitely… I would say that minimalism… Obviously now that we have a little bit more of a kind of a homestead in Arizona and in Ensenada, I have more stuff than I had earlier on in the travels. I definitely am more thorough and thoughtful about my choices in everything and I care more about the relationships that I have. I don’t have time for a lot of them, so they have to be really, really worthwhile and, you know, just, and you guys as travelers also probably know [00:11:00] it’s not easy to just maintain a thousand Facebook friendships and be really quality, because I can hardly call my best friend from high school all the time.
Matt Scott: And then you’re constantly meeting new people. I think that’s one of the fun things of traveling and at least for me, and I think most travelers are those connections and those things that you meet on the road. And I feel you with the friends from high school, like I feel bad. I love a lot of those people dearly, but when you’re just constantly going and going and going, it almost just continues to separate your life from that of a normal one and it makes it harder to relate.
Kyra: Yeah we have very different lifestyles.
Scott Brady: Does that make it difficult to relate back to those older relationships? Cause now maybe they are doing more of the suburban path, which is not a bad thing. It can be a beautiful thing in many ways, too. So are you finding that your relationships are also changing because you need to relate more to the people that you’re with?
[00:12:00] Kyra: Yes. I mean when it comes to the very few people that I do keep in contact with, from past lives sort of thing. Yes there’s a huge divide. I think, in what we do, but as long as you’re genuinely interested in that person, it gives me my time to listen to them and get to know what their life is about and hear their trials and tribulations. And if they want to hear about mine, they can hear about it. We talk about it a lot because we’re obscure. So people ask about it a lot and you know, I kind of get tired of talking about what I’m doing. So it’s nice to actually hear what your friends are doing for like two hours.
Scott Brady: Yeah, totally. Yeah. The other side, right? The grass on the other side.
Matt Scott: The grass is not greener on the other side. We have really good lives.
Kyra: Yeah I know, I love it. I’m not going to complain.
Justin: Yeah. I don’t have a lot of old friendships that I maintain. My best friend is up in Seattle and he’s, he’s doing, he’s doing very well, [00:13:00] especially considering where we all came from and the lifestyle that he’s living is pretty normal. You know, he’s got a normal job. He’s got a, it’s got a lady. Bought a house, no kids yet, but…
Kyra: But it’s what he wanted. It was like he reached his goals. And so, you know, he’s happy with that.
Justin: He actually came down and saw us Memorial day weekend in Mexico. We had to sneak him in to Ensenada cause the military had closed off the highway and we went over the border, picked him up from San Diego. Coming back over the border and coming into Ensenada they wouldn’t let us in and all of our stuff was there, you know, our car, everything. So we had to take some back roads to the via to get him in, but, you know, he’s willing to do that and he’s willing to jump on a plane, fly down to San Diego and sneak into Mexico to hang out with me. And you know, we don’t have anything in common in the general sense anymore. I mean…
Scott Brady: Yeah you just care about each other.
Justin: Yeah, he likes fishing and barbecue and watching football on Sunday.
Matt Scott: But sometimes that’s really nice.
Justin: I talk about that all the time. I’d love to just sit at home and eat a pack of Oreos and do nothing.
Matt Scott: Well, I [00:14:00] think, I think one of the interesting things with COVID is so many travelers have been able to try out that normal nine to five life. Like I found myself like, Ooh, I want to watch football on Sunday, that sounds great. They have those that triumphant at horn music and it’s like an event, but man.
Scott Brady: So true.
Matt Scott: You guys have been able to kind of keep it going. Like, I feel like one of the things that I really respect about you is you found a way to kind of ethically and sustainably still explore and live a life of adventure during COVID. I mean you guys were just in Saudi Arabia for the Dakar rally. And then last year you guys were in Peru,
Justin: Peru for Dakar 2019, end of 2019.
Matt Scott: So two years ago. I always get Dakar confused because it starts like…
Justin: January 1st.
Matt Scott: January 1st. And it’ll be Dakar 2021. Cause it is 2021, but my mind hasn’t switched years yet.
Justin: Oh, I know
Kyra: Oh us too because we get [00:15:00] there before the new year, we start the new year wherever we’re at.
Justin: Yeah this year we flew out on Christmas.
Kyra: We flew that Christmas day to Saudi.
Justin: We got quarantined in Dubai for a day.
Kyra: It was an overnight quarantine.
Justin: And then ended up in Riyadh for… or Jetta.
Kyra: Jetta for forty eight hours.
Justin: Yeah quarantine for two days in Jetta.
Kyra: And like five… I think we took four COVID tests before we could even start the Dakar and then one on the way home.
Justin: Yeah. We took like three COVID tests before getting on the flight from LA.
Kyra: Cause we didn’t get the results back. So we went to one. Wouldn’t get the results back in time. So we went to another one. They wouldn’t get it back in time. So we went to another one, like a mile down the street from the LAX and then took a cab back and we had like 15 minutes before they wouldn’t let us board.
Justin: We got really lucky. I mean, everybody getting to the Dakar is it’s own…
Kyra: It was a nightmare.
Justin: I mean the ASO [00:16:00] makes… like I’m convinced that they set that up. Like they make everything difficult for you. Like the entire process of getting to Dakar is difficult.
Kyra: Well, the safer that they get as a whole, the more annoying they have to make it, because there has to be some challenge left. So they’re like, okay, well we have the safety regulations. So instead we’re going to make you walk two miles to go to the bathroom and then another two miles to find food, and then not tell you how to navigate through things.
Justin: Yeah this year, the bivouac was a little more condensed than like… in Peru it was like a jungle. I mean, you get lost. This year they set it up the same every day. So you knew exactly where things were. It was just smart. It was clever. I dunno why they did that. I don’t know why they haven’t done it before, I guess it is a better question.
Scott Brady: What did you think about that event since you’ve done the event in South America? The first time I went to the Dakar was in South America, because it’s different from when it was in Africa, in South [00:17:00] America, almost everyone has a car. So I thought I’m going to go check out the Dakar. So I get this defender 110, and I drive over from Santiago over the mountains and, and I’m trying to get to the Dakar. I could not even get close. Like there were so many people, so many locals. If you were on a motorcycle, you’d be set, but in a car, we couldn’t get close. So I turned around and I went to Mendoza and drank wine for two weeks. So it turned out just fine.
Matt Scott: Watched the deck car from the helicopter.
Justin: When it was in Peru in 19, when we went, there were like 300,000 people at the start.
Kyra: I think it was so packed that they were starting to have riots. Justin and I at separate occasions were almost getting caught into riots and like, It was so packed. People would hold their babies over their heads so they wouldn’t get crushed in the crowd.
Justin: It was completely… I actually escaped all of that courtesy of Max Edie and Robbie Gordon, Robbie Gordon came out of nowhere and everybody was like, moving out of the way to get a photo of him.
Kyra: And he caught eyes with Justin [00:18:00] and he was like you want…
Justin: He’s like, you want to come with us? I was like, yeah help get me out of here. And everybody just… it was like parting the red sea. Cause everybody was backing up to try and get a photo of him. And that allowed us.
Scott Brady: It’s like being in a Soccer match and everybody’s trying to crush each other.
Justin: Yeah. It was nuts. And then going from that to Saudi…
Kyra: It’s crickets.
Justin: Yeah. I mean, obviously COVID is going on, but yeah. There was hardly anybody there.
Matt Scott: Am I the only one that thinks that sounds lovely?
Justin: It was pretty nice. Although, we went to the silk way rally in July of last…
Matt Scott: And that’s in Mongolia.
Justin: Russia. It starts in Russia.
Kyra: It changes every year. So when we were there, it was Russia through Mongolia to China. Last year was supposed to be their 10th anniversary. So they were going to do something like france to Moscow, to China, to Mongolia… all this crazy route. Then maybe to a couple of the stands this year I’m not entirely sure what their route is.
Justin: We don’t know yet. They haven’t announced the route yet.
Matt Scott: You guys have done Dakar in South [00:19:00] America. You’ve done Dakar in Saudi, obviously this year you’ve done silk. When you were the photographer for the Baja rally for both of you for quite a while for the Sonora rally.
Justin: We went to this Sardinia rally.
Matt Scott: I remember that. I was jealous.
Justin: Any reason to go to Sardinia is a good reason.
Scott Brady: That was the last time you and I hung out.
Justin: Yeah. The last time I was there, it was with you. For the Gutsi?
Scott Brady: Yeah. We were there for that TT85 watch. And then while everybody else was doing whatever they were doing, we grabbed like this three cylinder rental car and drove around. It was perfect.
Justin: Oh yeah it was great. Yeah I went and found some ruins.
Kyra: That’s why like the small, more intimate races. I’m not going to lie, they’re way more fun than going to the Dakar. Dakar is just suffering, but if you want to experience a rally, like you go to the Sardinia rally, you go to Morocco, you do Greece. Go somewhere you want to experience the culture and take a vacation.
[00:20:00] Matt Scott: Dakar seems hard. Like Dakar seems hard to the media as you guys were there. Dakar seems hard on the crews. You know, I remember watching the vlog series that Linden Posca did where he was in, what was the name of the class? The Malle Moto and this dude has just ridden 12 or 14 hours on a motorcycle at race pace, and now he’s sleeping three feet from a generator. And I’m like, Nope we’re not cut out for this.
Justin: Malle Moto is definitely proper Dakar. That’s real Dakar.
Kyra: That’s what the original Dakar was kind of framed around is like, what you can fit in this box. You’re completely unsupported. You take care of yourself, but then it was in Africa. So in South America, I’m not going to say it was easier, but race friends of ours are like, it’s easier.
Scott Brady: Interesting.
Kyra: Back in Saudi it’s another new challenging terrain and it’s still very, very hard.
Matt Scott: I’m [00:21:00] amazed by the variety of terrain that Saudi Arabia offers. I mean I guess rather ignorantly I’ve always thought KSA was…
Justin: Desert.
Matt Scott: With sand dunes. I thought it was…
Kyra: It’s what you saw.
Justin: I mean, the empty quarter that the Southern half is just sand.
Matt Scott: We have a mutual friend, Lewai Shelly. And I know he’s probably listening to this. I’m sorry if I butchered your name, but the stuff he posts and the stuff that you guys are posting, it’s like, Oh, look, here’s Moab. But it’s twice the size and there’s no one there.
Justin: Yeah, absolutely.
Kyra: Yeah. I mean, I’ve always heard that the Middle East has some incredible untouched landscape and I’ve always been very curious and rightfully so, because Saudi had some of the most incredible diverse and just surprising landscapes that you’d ever see.
Matt Scott: And as a woman traveling there, I think it’s worthwhile prefacing that I personally feel Saudi has [00:22:00] made huge, huge steps in rights for women and modernization and things. I mean, you have to take into the context that they really are making a lot of progress. There’s probably things that still aren’t right by Western standards, but it’s a different culture.
Justin: Her and I have talked about this and numerous people. Like, you have to remember that this is a culture that’s thousands of years old and they’ve been closed off. So any step is a big step for them. And the fact that the crown Prince, he’s got his project 2030, and he’s trying to open the country up for tourism by 2030 and treat it like another Dubai and other Emirates effectively.
Kyra: And for whatever the government’s faults are, the people there are still open to new ideas and interested and like, they were extremely curious about us. Why we were there. They were very supportive, very giving. I mean their culture, they’re known for being great hosts. And so it’s something [00:23:00] that if you don’t go there and if you listen to what people tell you, you won’t get the chance to experience how good those people are and how cool the culture is. I mean, and as a woman, I’m sure we’ll get into it. I was stressing over what I’m supposed to wear, how I’m supposed to act, especially by myself because he and I will be separated. And at first I wore the Abyan. I covered my hair and no one thought anything of it. And then slowly, I just started to see where my limits were and I never was bothered. So no one seemed to care. They’d still… Maybe it’s because I was with a race team that they were maybe forgiving because they put, like for instance, their celebrities are in a different status. They might show up without their hair covered and more scantily cloud comparatively. But for me, I never felt like I was an outsider [00:24:00] necessarily. People still talk to me, they still ask questions. They never looked me up and down as if I wasn’t appropriate. I didn’t feel that way.
Justin: Yeah, we met some very interesting people. I was in the middle of the desert, first or second stage. Ran into a guy named Nasser, is a little bit younger than me, and he was wondering what I was doing in the middle of the desert. And I am equally so, I’m like wait how are you out here? And he’s like a computer… you know, he works in IT in Riyadh and we were on the opposite side of the country and he had taken his two week vacation from work to go chase the Dakar around all of Saudi and he’d never seen most of his own country just naturally. And so he…
Kyra: And he loves cars. So he’s like, this is perfect.
Justin: And he and I spent like two and a half, three hours in the desert together, just hanging out and talking. Me, trying to get a better understanding of what being a 30 something is like in Riyadh. And we start chatting on social media and [00:25:00] stuff throughout the race. He’s sending me photos. He ended up coming back to Jetta at the finish and he met us at our hotel and brought us like bags of dates and hung out and had coffee. He’s really into RC cars and stuff. Yeah, he’s a cool dude like out of nowhere and I mean, that’s just the kind of stuff that happens.
Matt Scott: I mean the whole GCC is car crazy. Right? So I think as car and motorcycle people, there’s just that instant connection. Like every time I’ve been there I remember, a man, was probably seven or eight years ago when I spoke at the Dubai travelers festival. I think you remember that. And the people I met there were just like, just truthfully wonderful people. I think like the crown Prince lent us a bus from his camel racing club.
Kyra: Camel racing, if it wasn’t for COVID, I would have been there for sure. Front row,
Matt Scott: They had those little old little RC car guys, and they’d hit their phones and it was like the little RC [00:26:00] man hits the camel gently.
Justin: It’s crazy stuff.
Scott Brady: Well, and for those that are listening, it’s just so important as travelers that we are very, very careful about information about a country that comes from mainstream news because they have an agenda of driving traffic and viewership and scary things sell great in that space. And then we need to be even more careful about getting advice about travel from someone who has not been there. In fact, it should be dismissed out of hand because all you’re doing is you’re getting all of that scary news stuff now filtered through their own cognitive biases. And then now they’re telling you all the reasons why you’re going to die because you go to Ensanada, which is of course completely false. So. If, if we’re looking to get information about traveling to a place, get ahold of someone who’s been there recently, and someone who’s a traveler, not a business [00:27:00] person that just happens to go to the cities. Go talk to somebody who’s a traveler that loves travel. That’s been there recently and you’re going to get all the great info. You’re going to find out where the great restaurants are, the taxi guy who totally hooked him up for the whole week and took him to see his family and those are the people you need to talk to, if we drive our decisions off of what we see from the media. We’ll be greatly misled.
Justin: It was our friend, Austin Vince, there’s a statement he had made that you never listen to anyone who hasn’t done exactly what you’re planning to do. Unless they’ve done exactly what you’re planning to set out to do…
Kyra: Perpetuated misinformation and it’s unfortunate because so many great places are overlooked for people who maybe want to as a novice begin, traveling, begin seeing the world and they start to trap themselves in these normal patterns of tourism because they don’t. They’re [00:28:00] too scared to venture off and they keep listening to people who’ve only gone to sands in Cancun.
Justin: I mean, Sonora, Mexico is a great example of that. It’s untouched and I hate to tell people to go there cause I want it to stay untouched, but it really is an incredible place. Equally Soda to Baja in its own way, and very different from the rest of Mexico. And it is a border state and that comes with its own issues.
Scott Brady: Just have to be careful. Just have to be mindful.
Justin: Don’t go looking for trouble.
Kyra: Don’t be a target. Don’t ask for drugs. That’s number one.
Matt Scott: Don’t buy drugs in Tijuana. Buy them in Ensenada.
Justin: I always tell people quit trying to buy weed. Just don’t, like quit doing that. That’s how you get yourself in trouble.
Kyra: Buy a bottle of Wine already.
Matt Scott: Or they have this great thing called tequila.
Scott Brady: You’re right, that one little stretch of coast between Rocky point Peñasco and El Golfo de Santa [00:29:00] Clara. Like no one, well they do now because we’re just telling you a couple of tens of thousands of people, but if you want to get away from the traffic of Baja coastline, that is a really neat spot and there’s an easy road to get back to either city, but you can also drive along the coast and there’s great camping.
Justin: El Golfo is very cool…
Matt Scott: It’s scary. Don’t go there. Don’t stay at my really beautiful pristine beach spots,
Kyra: Don’t go to Hermosillo which is a really progressive and cold town.
Scott Brady: Yeah, that’s another good spot.
Justin: Yeah Hermosillo is very cool.
Kyra: Yeah. I mean, they’re the Endsanada of Sonora, so they’ve got the good food. They’ve got the youth that brings the art and brings the new cultures and brings the new ideas.
Matt Scott: I’m really excited for where Mexico is going. I mean, I think the more you travel there, the more you start to see smaller houses turning into bigger houses, shacks turning into developments and maybe that wasn’t the right way to say that, but there’s progression, I guess.
Justin: And they’re making a lot of stuff. They make a lot of… I mean, the way the United States was in the [00:30:00] twenties and thirties, we were producing and Mexico is producing.
Kyra: Well the internet allows this accessibility as an entrepreneur, as an artist, putting yourself out there and our generations and gen X we’ve really grasped. The technology and made something out of it. And Mexico’s no different, you know, the rest of the world, as long as they have the internet, they can do something.
Scott Brady: Yeah. They can multiply themselves, extend their audience very quickly. I guess along that line, talk a little bit about what it is that you guys do. Like what is the Rolodex of things that you guys do to make money, to stay on the road?
Kyra: I mean, anything that someone will pay us for usually is a good start.
Matt Scott: Let’s let’s just stop there. This is going out on the internet.
Justin: Well, I think on paper, we own a multimedia company and we create content for the motorcycle [00:31:00] industry, the motorsports industry, and travel. We do photo editorial. We shoot video. PR.
Kyra: We’ll do your book layout. We’ll help you with your website. We’ll give you a consultation on PR social media marketing. I mean, anything that requires imagination, in a sense, for branding, we try to help with.
Matt Scott: I love your branding too. Like the WESTx1000 logo is just perfect. Photography is great. The writing’s great.
Justin: That’s our buddy Asher. He was adamant on the fact that it needed to say nothing like a good, a good logo shouldn’t say anything like the Nike swoosh, you know.You know exactly what it is.
Scott Brady: And you guys have done big social media management campaigns for recognizable brands. Like Turatech comes to mind. What are some of the other clients that you guys have worked with?
Justin: BackCountry Discovery Routes, Wolfman Luggage, Butler maps.
Kyra: Black dog.
Justin: Speaking of Baja. He’s somebody who’s [00:32:00] living down there. He’s down there half the time.
Kyra: We actually just started working with Camel Adventure, which they’re a really cool company. They’ve really broadened their horizons too. Since when we first met them and they were still Camel tanks and they’ve been really expanding a lot on the products that they make.
Scott Brady: Those tanks are great. Those are, that’s a great way to add some range. Very clever design. Very cool design. Actually. I really like it.
Justin: Yeah, we’ve done a lot within the adventure motorcycle space, in terms of social media management, and marketing and that sort of thing. That’s been a…
Kyra: They’ve been most welcoming to us so we just, we like to go smaller, like a few small projects at a time, our clients at a time at least. You know, don’t put all your eggs in one basket sort of thing, and they don’t ask too much of us. We don’t ask them too much. We all stay pretty fluid.
Justin: We’ve been doing a lot in the UTV space. It is what it is, blowing up.
[00:33:00] Matt Scott: It’s exploding our trails, but that’s a different discussion.
Justin: But yeah, I mean, to be honest, I came into it, you know, they were golf carts as far as I was concerned. Powered by vacuums and…
Matt Scott: They sound so terrible. They’re so depressing… *UTV sounds*.
Scott Brady: If they can just fix the sound, that’s all they got to do.
Kyra: If they just have a stereo that plays V8 noises while they’re driving.
Scott Brady: They just gotta fix… all they gotta do is fix the sound.
Justin: I was in the one that fixed it. I was just in the Yamaha 1000. I forget the alpha numeric designation, you know, Y, Z X, R, or whatever. We’re doing a story about it. A friend took the new Yamaha 1000. It’s basically an R1 motor out of the motorcycle with a big turbo.
This has Piqued my interest.
Makes a hundred with the turbo, makes between 165 and 235 horsepower, depending on how much boost you’re running through it. His iteration has got a bunch of suspension work and stuff done, but it sounds insane it has a sequential gearbox so it’s flappy paddles, [00:34:00] race car stuff.
Kyra: He put a skin on it that makes it look like a baby Raptor.
Matt Scott: I’ve seen it with the Volkswagens and they put like little…
Kyra: Wrapped up.
Justin: Sequential gearbox. He’s got 25 inches of travel at the rear 23 at the front. We rallied for that thing yesterday on Sunday. I mean it’s like a trophy truck, it literally acts and feels like a trophy truck. It’s nuts and it’s…
Kyra: I want one so bad.
Justin: It’s the first one that I’ve been fully convinced to like and need something like this.
Kyra: He has some noises of it on his stories on Instagram, just in case you need a little taste.
Matt Scott: And where can we find you on instagram.
Justin: Just my name, Justin W. Coffey.
Matt Scott: And that’s not coffee. It’s coffey with a ‘Y’ COFFEY.
Justin: That thing’s amazing. And I mean, I’ve been in all of them now. The new Can-Am turbo, the Polaris big turbo stuff and it’s pretty wild.
[00:35:00] Scott Brady: But I still think that it really is an issue with the noise. And if they don’t as an industry, they don’t take the 13 year old petulance out of it. They’re going to lose the opportunity that’s coming. Just make them quiet because like, it’s a big deal. Like people don’t want them around their homes.
Matt Scott: Moab, just cancelled Rally in the rocks because the town quite literally said we don’t want you.
Scott Brady: I think they just need to make them quiet. Like everything else needs to be quiet is supposed to be quiet because it’s not just about you. There’s like other people trying to live around you, stop being so selfish and make your thing quiet.
Kyra: Make it approachable. More beautiful.
Matt Scott: I’ll take a contrary point of view in this. Make them not sound terrible.
Justin: Less Vacuum Cleaner.
Matt Scott: I don’t really like hearing harleys go by. Cause they sound like, I don’t know, they sound like an internal [00:36:00] combustion potato. But there are good engines. Make it sound good.
Scott Brady: Make it [00:37:00] sound good.
Matt Scott: So earlier you guys mentioned you lived in Japan. Tell me about that.
Scott Brady: Yeah that’s wild.
Kyra: Yes. Well, we were lucky because again, it was one of those opportunities that just came and was placed on our labs. A friend of ours and his wife, she’s in the military or in the air force. And they moved to Japan recently at the time, this was like late 2014. [00:38:00] And they had a nice big house on the Yokota air force base and said, Hey, anytime you want to come out, hang out for however long you want. Mistake on their part. Cause we were there for like five, six months.
Matt Scott: I’ve made that mistake with travelers. Come for Thanksgiving and then you kick them out in new years.
Justin: He was a friend of mine who he was trying to be a filmmaker and he had met this group of motorcyclists… expat motorcyclists that were exploring abandoned towns, villages..
Kyra: They’re called Haikyoes
Scott Brady: Fascinating stuff.
Justin: Most of that you could only get on a motor… a lot of it you can, when we get on a motorcycle or it’s much easier either on foot or on a dual-sport of some kind. And so he wanted to film something about that and wanted us to come along. And so we did create some content for that. And we ended up there a lot longer. We were lucky that the security force commander for the Yokota air base was his neighbor and a good [00:39:00] friend. And so normally after 30 days you gotta take a hike. But he just would sign us in for another 30 days. And so he’s retired now, so I don’t think he can get in trouble for that.
Matt Scott: I think that’s a pretty, a pretty minor thing.
Justin: So, yeah, we ended up there a lot longer than we anticipated, did a lot of cool stuff. Traveled from there to the Philippines.
Kyra: When we went to Sardinia, we were coming from Japan.
Justin: Came back to the States. Once, I believe, at least once I went back to the States for the Touratech Rally actually. But yeah, I mean, we spent pretty much all of our time there riding motorcycles or surfing. We’d surf like three days a week. And then ride these dual sports around.
Kyra: They have some really great waves, especially because we like long boards. I’m still just… I paddle around and then I paddle after something. And then it misses me. And then he surfs though, and it’s a bigger culture than we expected and there’s this huge Americana motorcycle culture that we didn’t expect either.
[00:40:00] Justin: Mooneyes has a show there like a big vintage chopper show. It’s a big deal.
Matt Scott: You guys see those rad nineties or eighties scooters that were like super crazy?
Justin: Bōsōzoku!
Matt Scott: I love Japan. Japan actually scares me more than Saudi Arabia though, because nothing is sized appropriately for me at 6’3.
Scott Brady: I think it’s going to cause you some kind of physical harm.
Matt Scott: I once was at a Udon noodle restaurant and I stood up. And the chair went with me and, and then the chair fell over and I’m pretty sure I offended someone’s grandmother 14 times because the restaurant like
Kyra: Completely hushed. That is an interesting thing about their culture is that I actually felt more aware of myself in Japan because they have such strict cultural regulations for themselves, which is actually why we got [00:41:00] away with so much, because they think Gaijins are so dumb and don’t… we’re just animals so, you know, we would go exploring around the mountains. Let’s say, there’s like this closed down mine. They put a sheet that says, please don’t go in here. And no one from the country will go in there except for expats and they see it and they’re like, Oh, let me just lift the sheet and go through.
Justin: In the U S it’d be gated. There’d be an electric fence. Danger, you’re going to die and get sued and all that. And there’s literally just like a tarp, like, please don’t go in here. And they’re like, okay yeah we won’t go in there. We’re like, wait a minute…
Matt Scott: What’s behind the curtain?
Kyra: And they kind of forgave us for liking anything that we do, because they’re just like, well, you guys don’t know any better. It’s okay.
Matt Scott: A wonderful person. I think it’s one of the few places I’ve traveled. Where people will actively come up to you and ask if you need help. Like, I don’t know how many times I’ve been on like, you know, a subway at [00:42:00] Kyoto or Osaka or something. And I’m just like… help.
Kyra: Which by the way is the most confusing thing to navigate.
Matt Scott: I’ve kinda figured out Tokyo but then I haven’t liked it, I don’t know how it works. I don’t.
Kyra: Being in Tokyo is hard because you have to catch so many networks of trains.
Scott Brady: Yes. And they’re happening…, it’s not like it’s the one train that’s coming in 15 minutes. It’s the one train that’s coming in 15 seconds and you’d have to be right on top of it. And they are super helpful. And I remember the first time I got on a train. I came on with an elderly man and three or four young people stood up immediately to offer him…
Matt Scott: It’s what you’re supposed to do. I still have my mom in my background, like I’m afraid she’s going to come out somewhere and smack me because if I don’t get up.
Scott Brady: Yeah and you should, but it’s beautiful that that is still part of their culture that they have such respect for the elderly. And because of that, the elderly live much [00:43:00] longer. They have much healthier lives for that longer period of time. They’re much more engaged with the family, they’re revered. They’re still intellectually challenged because their family comes to them with questions and engagement. And I think that that’s a really beautiful thing.
Kyra: I agree with that. My family’s Filipino. They have a similar value, maybe not as strict as Japan, but it’s that like, You take care of your own for as long as possible and you come together and, and it’s just, it’s not necessarily that it’s an obligation. Yes. Maybe on paper, it’s an obligation, but it’s like, it’s an honor to be able to get to know those people as long as possible.
Scott Brady: And they have so much wisdom. They’ve they’ve like made all of the stupid mistakes. If we would talk to our elders a little more, we’d probably have less suffering in the world. If we just asked them a couple of questions, they’d be like, Oh, I remember in 1965, I did that thing. And yeah, that was not such a good thing. You know, program. So yeah, I think that’s really a [00:44:00] beautiful part of Japan and how clean everything is.
Kyra: I love that. Clean Bathroom’s my favorite
Scott Brady: Clean bathrooms and the food is actually super, super great. It’s expensive, but…
Justin: Yes, although you can eat at 711 and you can eat really well at 711.
Kyra: We survived off of 711 for the most part. Truck stops. Fantastic.
Scott Brady: Is that how you guys did that? I found that Tokyo in Nagoya was like Oslo level prices? What were your tricks around that?
Justin: A 711, literally 711 has like insane food.
Kyra: It’s not like a seven 11 you’d see anywhere else, you know? Especially in the countryside. You’ve got a lot of trucks, ups. You’ve got a lot of… Because their weekends are like, it’s weekend, let’s go out to the country. And jam packed freeways. So the truck stops in 711 type places. They have high quality food. Like I literally got octopus and soybean salad at [00:45:00] 711. They changed their kind of bows, things like that. In October it’s like a squid month, so everything is dyed black and oh rice pucks.
Justin: We can live on rice pucks. I mean we were traveling on bikes a lot.
Matt Scott: The Triangle things? You told me about those things. And I went to a 711 and I ate them and they were bad even when I was drunk.
Kyra: You may have gotten the wrong… you have to find the one with the right picture. He’s allergic to most fish so he had to find the one that said chicken or like plum or whatever.
Matt Scott: I had the one with tuna and it was like eating cat food with bad rice mixed with seaweed.
Justin: They have one that has baby eels in the center. And that’s a fun surprise when you’re not trying to buy the one with baby eels and you bite into it and you’re like whooaaaaaaa.
Matt Scott: My experience in Japan has been that the food really wasn’t that expensive. Well, maybe we were… Like I’ve had very expensive meals there like, if you try and go for proper sushi it is. It was expensive, really, really expensive, but [00:46:00] you can have any meal you want for $7 American, roughly. I mean, if you’re eating where kinda maybe where people do for lunch or whatnot.
Justin: They like soft serve and Kyra loves soft serve.,
Matt Scott: What’s that soft serve that’s at inner Narita airport. That’s basically butter.
Kyra: Yeah like, even their vanilla is not vanilla. It’s like it’s milk. That’s the flavor they call it. That’s like really rich and thick. And that was like my main goal at any truck stop was to get ice cream as much as possible. I still look for it everywhere I go.
Scott Brady: Oh, that’s amazing. So how long were you in Japan total?
Justin: Well, it was over the course of nine months but we were gone… we were in the Philippines, I think for like a month during that. And then we were in Italy for a few weeks in Sardinia. And then I went back to the States for a few weeks.
Matt Scott: And didn’t you guys have Ducati’s in the Philippines?
Justin: We had KTM Duke [00:47:00] 390 in this weird 200 CC Kawasaki that I’ve never seen.
Kyra: The front end was not so good. But I rode it anyway.
Matt Scott: Where in the Philippines where you guys?
Justin: That particular time we were in Palauan we ended up on Palauan and then we were also in Mindanao.
Kyra: I have family, like in Luzon and in Mindanao and,a little bit of Subu. So we just kind of hung around them. And then we went to Palauan cause that’s like, that’s like the local’s vacation retreat. There’s Baraka, which is like a traveler’s retreat, but Palauans don’t go there. It’s terrible. never go.
Justin: El Nino’s on the North end of Palauan and that’s kind of touristy gringo stuff, but the rest of that Island is pretty undeveloped and amazing. Like mangrove forest.
Kyra: Literally what could be defined as paradise is actually a boat ride outside of El Nino. [00:48:00] And thankfully, I don’t remember the names, so I won’t tell anybody.
Scott Brady: Well, describe what paradise was. Like what about it made it paradise?
Kyra: I mean, well one, there’s no way in, so it’s on a peninsula, but the peninsula is so thick with jungle. There’s no roadways. So you have to boat and you know, the typical, like. Semi shallow to a shelf in the water. Everything’s crystal blue. So you can scuba, they have kayak rentals. The place that we went is like a five cottage resort run by a family. So you can’t have a lot of people there. So the beach is really secluded and it’s built into a mangrove. So it’s essentially like a giant tree that kind of blocks this. Boardwalk in the trees that you can walk through. It’s not expensive. All things considered.
Justin: The family feeds you every day.
Matt Scott: We’ll be sure to not put that in the show notes and selfishly go there ourselves.
Kyra: Absolutely. You don’t totally share it.
Justin: This bar [00:49:00] Shack, that’s like right on the ocean and the guy… like the son who runs the joint, basically he comes down there and just like makes you rum and Cokes
Kyra: Yeah you just tell him in an email what you want to drink when you’re there. And he’s like, cool. I’ll just run to the store. You know, when we go and do a trip down to El Nino, grab the groceries and come back.
Scott Brady: Amazing and how long did you guys stay there?
Kyra: Like a week. Yeah.
Scott Brady: Oh, wow. That sounds so perfect.
Justin: We were there with her mom and her sister and her nephew and we just, it was basically us and then like an English couple and we just hung out.
Kyra: And then they switched out for another couple that didn’t really care to be around us too. So it worked out great.
Scott Brady: That sounds so perfect.
Justin: Yeah, we were just in the Philippines. That was this…
Kyra: We found that place the last time we were in the Philippines, but had we known we’d always go there.
Scott Brady: Where else in your travels have you had that same sense of it being paradise? Is there anything else that comes to mind?
Justin: There’s a little hotel right in the center center of the Baja peninsula. That has a little [00:50:00] bar in the middle of it. And the bar has like a really, really terrible old pool table.
Scott Brady: Baja folks will know, it’s Cataviña.
Justin: Cataviña and it’s an Oasis. I mean you come in there and it looks like something out of flintstones, it’s incredible.
Matt Scott: And that area actually kind of looks like Prescott with all the decomposing granite boulders and that kind of stuff.
Justin: Or like East of San Diego, like el cajon. That area where just all that stuff, and there’s nothing there. There’s not even a gas… I think they’d been…
Matt Scott: Is that new Pemex station finished?
Justin: Allegedly.
Kyra: It was the last time we were there.
Scott Brady: Last I was there it was working.
Justin: So prior to that, it was, it made it even better that there was no gas station. It was just an old lady with gas cans but that bar… We always talk about that bar being like the Cantina on mos eisley in star Wars. Like the only people there are travelers. No one lives in the town, even like Danny who runs the bar there, he lives 45 minutes away. And so there’s hardly anyone that lives there. And it’s all travelers, and any given [00:51:00] day that you’re there. You’ll meet, like, you never know what you’re going to run into.
You know
Matt Scott: what kind of place it is by the stickers that are around.
Justin: And you end up, you know, like blotto off of a giant margarita shooting pool with truck drivers. And it’s just this. It has a very different sort of appeal than like a pristine beach.
Scott Brady: But it sounds perfect
Kyra: Desert people like that stuff.
Justin: Yeah. I mean, it’s like when you’re on a dirt bike trip and you just want to go sit by the pool.
Matt Scott: And I love the courtyards in that hotel too, like where the room’s kind of face is.
Scott Brady: Yeah. It’s great.
Justin: I love that..
Scott Brady: Have you guys done the mission Santa Maria? Just out of Catamina. And you did that on dirt bikes?
Kyra: Last time we were there.It was just december. And we went with our friend Jaffe. We had done like a little off-road trip from Ensenada down and always to close off the day in San Canteen if we just. Go do a sunset ride on the beach and just go 15 miles, one way, [00:52:00] 15 miles the other way and then just like laugh and smile the whole time. Take Instagram videos.
Justin: Just like beach rips in Baja on our dual sports,the tide had just run out so the beach looked like glass like you’re just running across glass. It Was super good. Can’t go wrong with that. That’s pretty good stuff too.
Scott Brady: Any other spots that come across your mind are those moments of paradise?
Kyra: It depends on your definition of paradise, right?
Scott Brady: I’m interested in yours because so far it’s pretty amazing.
Matt Scott: Yeah. So far I’m good with it.
Kyra: Like, I’d say if, if you’re more of a city dweller, Verona’s one of my favorite places to go. Like I base it off of where would we live? You know, where would we be willing to stay for a long period of time, even if they’re not really conducive to that. But Verona is an ancient town. It was where the, what do you call it?
Justin: The Coliseum in Verona was built before the [00:53:00] Colosseum in Rome.
Kyra: And was the inspiration for the one in Rome.
Justin: So it looks, it’s just a smaller version.
Kyra: Yeah. Just the old town is closed off by a river and it’s really beautiful. The town’s very livable. It’s very quiet, but it has a lot of history. And of course Italian things. Food. Culture.
Matt Scott: I heard the food’s bad there. They have bad wine. The cars are really ugly.
Kyra: Never go, Super expensive.
Justin: It’s also 20 minutes from the dopest go-kart track on earth. It’s an indoor outdoor two level gas powered go-kart track.
Kyra: It has, one, it’s a two minute lap. Two, it’s got a Mario kart style, like spiral.
Justin: Corkscrew coming down from the top level. And you’re just sideways the whole way down the thing.
Kyra: That’s amazing. Actually, there’s a few Italian, not MotoGP, why am I… it’s a formula one racer so you go. And they just like…
Justin: Hang out. There’s a bar that faces the track. So [00:54:00] when you’re done, you can just knock out some cold beers.
Kyra: Or if you’re Italian, when you’re not done.
Justin: Yeah. Our friend, Manny Lucchese took us there a number of years ago for the first time. And every time we’re in Verona to hang out with him, we have to go there and no one can beat him. He’s the fastest dude.
Kyra: He’s the slowest Man, on the road.
Matt Scott: And he’s run Dakcar a few times too.
Kyra: Malle Moto. Yeah and his goal was to just like crush Malle Moto all the time and then become a water boy for one of the teams. And he’s extremely talented and like a very interesting person. I mean, he’s the only person you should ever interview. Really.
Justin: He is also the slowest person on the road. Like he drives … last time we saw me in a big van and he’s, you know, 10 miles below the speed limit at any given time. And he’s like, I don’t want tickets, you know, come on. Then you get them on a go-kart track on a dirt bike. And he’s, he’s nuts.
Kyra: Any other opportunity. I mean, he’s the fastest guy in most circumstances.
Scott Brady: Wow. [00:55:00] That’s very cool.
Justin: Yeah. Verona is a good town.
Kyra: There’s plenty of places. Right. That’s the problem.
Matt Scott: It’s a big world.
Kyra: Yeah. When we were talking earlier about, like, what did you learn about your travels? You know, now as a consistent traveler, it’s that one, there are too many wonderful places. So you just gotta figure out what it is you need and find the place that suits that cause every place is fantastic.
Justin: But we’ve also learned that toilets are amazing, incredible inventions. Like when you spend a bunch of time in a country that doesn’t have them…
Matt Scott: Squat toilets?
Justin: Or just has nothing.
Kyra: I thought squat toilets were the worst until I went to Northern China and Mongolia. And then apparently the cement hole in the ground is worse. I just rather go outside
Justin: I really appreciate a flushing toilet now.
Matt Scott: And On that bombshell.
[00:56:00] Scott Brady: Well, what do you guys have coming up next now that things are starting to open up? What are your big plans for the next year or so?
Matt Scott: Are you doing that new build?
Justin: Yeah, we got a Royal Enfield IMT, 650. We’re going to build a scrambler out of that thing.
Kyra: Yeah. That one’s coming along.
Scott Brady: It was probably the bike that we had. Cause they were going to take it down to Phoenix to give it to somebody.
Kyra: Yeah that might be us.
Justin: Yeah. I mean, it’s only got…
Scott Brady: Does it, every once in a while not start?
Justin: It’s a Royal Einfeild.
Scott Brady: Like every once in a while the starter button doesn’t work, yeah it’s probably the same one.
Kyra: That’s it, and sometimes the gas gauge is like you’re full and then it’s like, well…
Justin: Maybe not. But hey for it for the price tag. It’s such a great bike.
Scott Brady: It’s such a great bike
Justin: We have the Sonora rally in May. That they moved the dates. It would have been in April. Now it’s in May. It would have been March. Sorry. And they moved that to May.
Kyra: We’re going to Baja in a week. We’ll be there for, until we don’t feel like being there. And then we’re like trying to develop [00:57:00] some top secret routes, which probably everyone knows about with our friend who has a tour company out there and drives and does some AEV stuff, do some whatever. He’s gonna walk across Baja. So he asked if we wanted to do that. So we’ll see.
Justin: So early May and then at the end of June, we go to Russia for the Silkway. So what I do know is that they’re starting in Southern Russia. Well, South Western Russia this year.
Scott Brady: Which side of the Urals were they going to start?
Justin: I can’t remember the name of the town. Last year we were in Irkutsk Southern Siberia and we went from Irkutsk straight down. Like we went around like by Khal and then we came down.
Scott Brady: By Kahl’s great.
Justin: Yeah it’s amazing.
Kyra: Yeah, it’s a fantastic place. They actually, Silk Way, does a really good job about showing their media the culture and a good time. Yeah, because we got all a big taste of that. And I guess after that, we’re still not like 100% confirmed, but there’s an event called the Mongolia monkey run. [00:58:00] It’s one of many things that are put on by the Adventurists.
Scott Brady: That’s a pretty fun group.
Justin: Yeha they want us to come and ride these 50 CC monkeys across Mongolia.
Scott Brady: I saw it. I saw the advertisement.
Matt Scott: That is the last thing. That I would like to do.
Justin: I would kill to see you on a 50CC. Like, I don’t
Matt Scott: know if my arms would go down far enough to like, even touch the handlebars,
Kyra: I think you would just walk with it. Like just throttle and then it moves and you move kind of the same speed.
Matt Scott: The problem is that my spine would be the suspension.
Scott Brady: That’s that’s the deal.
Kyra: Well, and then when it floods in Mongolia, it pretty much your bike disappears.
Matt Scott: Can I just put it on a small backpack.
Kyra: Yeah. I mean, you’d be better off.
Matt Scott: I know some people did one of their monkey bikes. Adventures in it was in Morocco. They said it was lovely. I would not think it was lovely.
Scott Brady: You know, I think it’s, it’s the fact that they do something so ridiculous that it gives you permission to do something so [00:59:00] ridiculous.
Matt Scott: And I totally understand that
Scott Brady: And that part of it, part of it, I like,
Matt Scott: I just want to do the ridiculous thing…
Kyra: On a bigger bike?
Matt Scott: Yeah.
Kyra: They had a rickshaw one. I think it was like… I don’t know if it was Hong Kong or a part of China and they had a race on rickshaws. I was like, that sounds dope. Except sucks for the guy who’s pulling you in a rickshaw
Matt Scott: The rickshaw run they did. Yeah, it was in India.
Kyra: Oh yeah. That’s right.
Matt Scott: Yeah. So I would do that because I listened and I’m sitting down and again, my spine isn’t…
Kyra: Well and then someone else is doing all the running.
Matt Scott: Well, no, they don’t. They have the little motors .
Justin: That’s got the little… It’s like the treks.
Scott Brady: They kind of bolt a cabin on the back of a 125 CC motorcycle.
Kyra: I was thinking full traditional… like carried by… man powered rickshaw.
Scott Brady: That would be cool for about a hundred meters.
Justin: I think the monkey thing is in August and then we…
Scott Brady: Mongolia is great. That Northern [01:00:00] route was one of the most memorable special routes that I’ve ever done coming in from Russia in the Northwestern part of Mongolia and then running across the whole Northern steppes. Yeah. It’s unbelievable.
Kyra: Talking about going from Saudi Arabia where things seem really untouched. They’re also a nomadic country. So it’s like if you go to Mongolia, the landscape you see is Virgin territory. You know, nobody is built on it. And it looks like what it did, thousands and thousands of years ago.
Scott Brady: And when they move with their livestock they pick up their Ger. And within a few months, it’s all green grass under the Ger and they’ve not laid concrete or dug some giant hole. It literally just goes away. Really beautiful. It’s beautiful actually,
Justin: 10 years ago, if you’d have told me that I’ve been to Mongolia three times, I never would have… you know, it’s like never would have thought that would happen in my life. Not that I didn’t [01:01:00] want to go. I just didn’t know. It’s, you know, those sorts of things just when they…
Kyra: Well, there’s so many countries in the world to see, especially when you don’t know anyone who’s been to some of these, it was kind of like the conversation earlier. How do you know what to expect or be willing to want to go to?
Scott Brady: If I was to ask you guys, and maybe you can both answer in your own way, but for those that are listening, that are hearing your story and your life. Genuinely sounds fantastical, not only to me. And it’s because you guys have made decisions to live your life a different way. What kind of advice would you give to someone who maybe wanted to start from the place that you did at point a? What kind of advice would you give them to get started? Or just to give them some encouragement, whatever that might be.
Kyra: I’m like I’m so…
Justin: I’m a bit of a fatalist. So I usually, you know… you’re not going to live as long as you think you are. You’re probably going to live a lot… you’re probably going to die a lot sooner than you think and should get [01:02:00] to it because it’s just… there’s too many opportunities for bad things to happen. Being stagnant and sitting around and doing nothing. I just, you know, my father’s nightmare is to die on the toilet. So he imparted that on me and I just, you know, it’s like, you gotta go do it. Say yes. You know, get after it and be willing to give up a lot.
Kyra: Yeah. That was part of it. If you wait until you have all the gear and the right things to be able to go, you’ll never go. So just get the thing you can afford, pick a place and go for it because. It’s not going to be the last place you go, especially once you decide to do that. So pick one place, that’s approachable. Something that you can afford, go to it and then build your way up to the next place.
Justin: I think having, like having your sights set on stuff really helps motivate, you know, if you just buy the plane ticket, don’t worry about the hotel or how you’re going to get there. What you’re [01:03:00] going to do when you’re there. Just buy a plane ticket. Get that moving and then…
Kyra: Marry rich or just prepare to be poor. Like we don’t, you know, we have a lot of rich experiences, but we definitely have our money when we’re traveling a lot. It just, we dedicate what money goes into there and we expect to spend it and we don’t cry if we spend it or overspend because it’s part of what happens.
Matt Scott: I think that you guys have done a really good job. You haven’t emphasized the vehicle too much.
Scott Brady: We haven’t even talked about it really.
Matt Scott: I mean like, you guys are about to travel and I think, you know, I know like a while ago for me, like I just went. Like, okay, go to Vietnam and rent a scooter. Like you don’t have to like saving up to buy the GS to buy the $2,000 jacket to buy the, you know, panniers and this and this and this. I think what’s inspirational [01:04:00] to me about you guys is you just went and you just did it. And you found adventures that you could do at the time with what you had with what fit into your schedule and like you said, you just didn’t say no. And I think some… I think Overland travelers… how do you say it? Like they get a little bit too tied up with the vehicle sometimes.
Kyra: And maybe that’s because it’s part of the passion.
Scott Brady: It is exciting for sure.
Matt Scott: Not everybody… but it’s expensive, I guess, is what I’m trying to get at. Right? It’s expensive to get tied up with the vehicle and, you know, if you just think more as a traveler and less as an enthusiast of a particular motorcycle.
Justin: We know a lot of folks who, you know, they’re building out vans and four by four. My father is a great example, you know he’s got this. You know, this bitchin four wheel drive, quickly van on 35s. But he’s always, he’s always wanting to do more to it instead of just use it. The vans [01:05:00] fine. It’s got a bed built into the back. It’s got a fresh motor, like off you go.
Kyra: Inside our van… it’s funny because we, for a little while we were known for this like van life sort of thing because…
Matt Scott: before it was cool and then it became mainstream for Westx1000.
Justin: And then I wrote a piece for an expedition portal about the realities of it, the idea that once you quit moving, you’re just homeless, living in a van.
Kyra: The thing is if you open ours up, it’s like, it was never visually stimulating for people who like gear and building things. Cause it’s literally just got…
Matt Scott: It’s a cargo van.
Kyra: Yeah, it’s a cargo van
Justin: Looked like the inside of a baked potato.
Kyra: We didn’t get foam for the… what do you call that? The plywood bed platform thing that we have for like four years, we just slept on deflating mattresses. For a while.
Scott Brady: And you guys into paradise because of that. And that’s the difference is that you guys have made a decision for those [01:06:00] experiences to be a priority. It’s interesting thinking about what you said, Justin, around life being short. I think also one thing that I’ve recognized is that the world is nowhere near as dangerous as we’re programmed to think that it is, I mean, 2000 years ago, the world was extremely dangerous and we still have that genetic makeup where we’re constantly pessimistic about our prospects of surviving to tomorrow. The reality is that the world now is very safe and you have to work really hard to actually make it unsafe. You have to really go looking for the trouble. So if we can, just for a moment, recalibrate our mind to realize that to your point, Kyra, like if it doesn’t work out, you just pivot a little bit. You change your plan. Maybe you go someplace else. Maybe you come back and work for a while to make some more money. The consequences of starvation really aren’t a thing anymore. Yeah you’ll eat or you’ll be able to find medical care or [01:07:00] something will work out because the world is a much safer place now. That’s really interesting that you say that and it’s certainly been on my mind too, so yeah. Well, we can’t thank you two enough for being on the podcast and sharing your experiences. Do you have any more questions for them Matt?
Matt Scott: When are we going to go drink beer?
Scott Brady: You’re I think already… you’re not already drinking.
Matt Scott: Oh no, I’m drinking fizzy water. I’m drinking fizzy water. Although I think the last time I saw you, we were. Very drunk at dirty dicks in Paris, drinking Tiki drinks.
Kyra: I don’t know if this story is appropriate for it, but we went back there and Justin had a wild time.
Matt Scott: I just remember walking in and you like handing me this drink. That was on fire. It was on fire.
Kyra: For those who don’t know what we’re talking about, Dirty Dicks is like this Epic whole in the wall Tiki bar in Paris. [01:08:00] And it’s across the street from like a divey scary Russian dance bar where Justin accidentally almost maybe got drugged and then turned into a Russian prostitute.
Matt Scott: I remember that!
Justin: Yeah, I was still inebriated at 4:00 PM the following day.
Kyra: Oh yeah, he had to have me sing him to sleep. That is not a thing we do.
Justin: I was… that was not good. My stepfather had to rescue me.
Kyra: Yeah. And then they were still like show me stuff for beer.
Justin: And then we grabbed beers on the way back.
Matt Scott: What was that little cafe that we went to that was owned by your friends?
Justin: Oh, they closed that place. It was right by the garden ward, right by the train station.
Kyra: That was perfect. I wish that was a sustainable thing because he was just not. The walking traffic didn’t work out, but yeah, it’s a great place.
Scott Brady: Well, that’s a great story. And another segue into paradise found in remote places. And Russian bars in downtown [01:09:00] Paris.
Matt Scott: Don’t do it.
Scott Brady: Well, thank you all for listening. And we will talk to you next time.
