CANCELED: Dirty Bacon's Great American Adventure

[Norcrosski]

Plz let us know how well it works when in use I have be seriously thinking of that tent and may when I get taxes back cause I could run it on the tb or s10

[DirtyBacon04]

I'll be sure to do that. I'm anxious to try it out, so I'll probably camp Monday night.
It got rained on pretty heavy in the driveway, and it seemed to do a good job at staying dry while open. It's a heavy rip stop material, so it handled the wind really well.

[Trail X]

Glad you like it so far. Looking forward to reading the review!

[DirtyBacon04]

I wanted to go camping last night, but the weather got in the way. So I took it out today just to set it up and get some good pictures to send to my potential sponsors. I'll write up a lengthy review tomorrow. Here's some of the pics. I took a bunch of video too, so I might splice up a video review. The more I mess around with this tent, the more I love it. I can't wait to get some camping in.

PS I really need to buy a better camera.





I timed my set up and breakdown times, too. Keep in mind this is only the 2nd time I've opened/closed it. With repetition I'm sure the times will get better
Set up - 7:25
Breakdown - 8:38

[Trail X]

Wow, the breakdown time is impressive. I think mines more than that. Takes me forever to seat the cover and get all the fabric tucked in properly.

[v7guy]

looks pretty alright! I can't wait to see you get out and use it more so we can hear your thoughts on it over the long term.

[tarsh]

I want to get one of these so darn bad!

[The Roadie]

Rear seat platform design looks familiar.

[DirtyBacon04]

well... I was your protege.

And I finally switched everything to my new computer and installed adobe premiere pro. found some good free music, so I won't get any more copyright violations on my youtube account. Which reminds me, I've stood up the official Dirty Bacon youtube account (DirtyBacon04) so please subscribe for future postings! Adobe is already such an awesome program! It's pretty easy to use for simple clips like this, but has all the capabilities of doing the complicated stuff that's way beyond my abilities. This was about 2 hours of real work for a 2 minute clip. I'm getting better at it though.

[Trail X]

Nice, you've gone further than I in premiere. Good choice of shots. I like my cameo too!

A few pointers. First, set your aspect ratio to wide screen Or 12:9 I think. That's industry standard now. Also, you gotta be sure you are exporting your video in 1080, you only uploaded 480, which is real low quality.

Lastly, while everyone loves car shots, you're going to need to get out from behind the camera and talk to your viewers if you want any hope of picking up subscribers and sponsors. People want you to narrate your emotions, your experiences, and your journey. It's a tough thing to get used to, and a tough thing to edit right too.

[DirtyBacon04]

Yea... I know. I've taken a bunch of videos of me talking to the camera, but it's just hard to get right and I haven't been comfortable with how it comes out. I guess I'm not too comfortable on camera, but I'm trying to get over it though...

I appreciate that advice though. That's the kind of pointers I'm looking for.

[Trail X]

The hardest thing for me is to look right at the lens. I always want to look at other stuff, then I tend to look autistic.

Not sure what camera you have, but if you can get a better mic (lavalier maybe if you're worried about getting only your own voice or someone else), it will help a lot with the audio of someone speaking and get rid of the surrounding noise. That makes a big difference in the perceived quality of a section of spoken audio.

[mikekey]

Yeah I've been experimenting with video and audio myself in prep for our journey. James is spot on, always record audio separately from the camera, you can mash them up/sync later in premier or any other tool.

Looking good so far. I keep coming back to check up on this.

[DirtyBacon04]

Well some more big steps.
Gave my notice to vacate my apartment. Be moving back in with the folks in 2 weeks. Saving the ~$700 per month will be handy. Also, notified my agency of my pending departure. They were very receptive of it. Sad to see me go, but said the only thing I'll be losing (should i choose to come back) is seniority. I'm already fully vested in my retirement, so that will carry over anywhere I go. I'll have 2.5 years in when I resign, which fulfills most requirements of other agencies for retraining.

Also working on a packet for sponsorship requests. This is where it pays to have my sister and brother in law highly experienced in strategic marketing.

[Jrgunn5150]

Have you considered checking out portions of the Trans American trail when you go? I think some guys in Range Rovers drove most of it last year.

[DirtyBacon04]

Sure haven't. I'll have to do some research on it. Thanks!

[DirtyBacon04]

Well, I've been absent for a while due to other situations occurring in life.
Don't worry, it's not as bad as it sounds.
I posted on FB a few weeks ago when I made the decision, but I'll post it here for the ORTB world to see.
Mission: Expedition has been effectively canceled. Several reasons factored into this very difficult decision.
A) I took a week off work, worked 2 days, then took another week off. Going that long without working drove me nuts and I realized how much I love this job and the guys I work with.
B) While the transmission failure on the way back from TECORE was a blow to my ego, confidence, funds, and motivation, it did not really play a major factor in this decision. What I wasn't expecting is how exhausted I was returning from TECORE. Setting up camp every day, packing it up every morning, hundred miles of trails, etc was rather taxing. I know that my plan was to remain in a site for several days, but still it got me thinking.
C) As much fun as I had on TECORE and how much I enjoy some of the difficulties I encounter, the main thing I was afraid of was getting burnt out on this hobby. It would be crippling to me if I made all the sacrifices to embark on this journey, only to get burnt out and resentful within a month or 2.
D) The loneliness. I love being alone, especially in wilderness. But the prospect of 24/7 isolation for weeks at a time seem like enough to drive a man insane.

Sure the original plan would have been quite the experience, but I'm very happy overall with this decision. By no means is this the end of my off-road career or the end of Dirty Bacon. I've rested/recuperated since TECORE/Xmsn failure and am ready to hit the trails again. One surprising thing is that at no point was I in fear of funding. I know it would've be tight at times, but MikeKey said something that resounded with me which was there's nothing more motivating/exciting/terrifying than not knowing where your next paycheck is coming from. That had me excited more than anything.

I've since modified the plans for Mission: Expedition to encompass 2-3 big trips (2 weeks) per year. I'll still be maintaining the YouTube channel, Facebook Page, and potential sponsors. And Alaska is still high on my To-Do list, but that will require special permission from my Sheriff to take off a month. Plus to be honest, I could use the smaller trips as practice because I know I don't possess the experience, skills, or modifications necessary for Alaska.

So why label this trip as Cancelled if the plans are only being modified? For ease of posting, mostly. Easier to list individual threads than add them all to this one. Perhaps I'll just name the trips as M:E Episode 1 - Ocala N.F. (Example). So now I'll be looking for suggestions on where to go next. Maybe I'll let the audience decide. So many possibilities.

I am very grateful for the support I've received from this community for M:E, and I hope it continues as we all pursue our love for exploration. Thank you, and happy trails.

[Anthony Hernandez]

That sucks to hear man, but sounds like you thought it through better than most would have. As far as Alaska, I have been wanting to go for a very long time. I've been tossing around ideas to myself about going sometime in the next 2 years. I figure if the planets align properly it'll happen.

[DirtyBacon04]

Well, we start planning out far enough ahead, we could make it a joint trip. I'd love to have at least one muddafudda crazy enough to go with me. Security in numbers, for sure.

[Anthony Hernandez]

Send me a pm