Mary Ashley Krough and Owen Chikazawa were awarded top honors in last week’s 2019 Overland Expo West “Cool Ride” Photo Contest. The winning photo, taken by Owen, features a 2018 Four Wheel Camper Flatbed Hawk and is the first Overland Expo “Cool Ride” winner to feature a slide-in truck camper. “We like the picture because the camper looks like a Mars Rover,” Mary said.
Built by Main Line Overland, the winning rig is clearly worthy of top honors. The rig consists of a 2019 Toyota Tundra powered by a 5.7L iForce V8, a 6.5-foot custom aluminum Norweld service tray, and a fully-equipped 2019 Four Wheel Camper Flatbed Hawk. The truck was extensively modified with a Dobinsons 2-inch suspension lift kit with a Dobinsons rear leaf pack, an ARB rear locker, Firestone air bags, a Stealth Fighter Winch Bumper with a Comeup Winch, a Baja Designs lightbar, and a Safari snorkel. Fully self-sufficient, the charcoal metallic Four Wheel Camper is equipped with a 65L Isotherm compressor refrigerator and is powered by an Overland Solar 320 watt solar power system and a BattleBorn 200 amp hour lithium battery bank. The painted tray includes several upgrades including extra storage compartments, an extra 11-gallon gray water holding tank, and an ARB air compressor.
As for the winning photo, the picture was taken in California near the Salton Sea and Anza Borrego. “We had just got there. The sun was just going down and it was super windy, which is why the camper’s top was down,” Mary explained. The photograph was taken by Owen using a prime Nikon lens on a Sony A7R. The ISO setting was set for 100 and the focal length was 85.
The couple lives full-time in their Four Wheel Camper rig. It serves as their vehicle/office/living room/surfboard carrier/and cat palace for their 10-year-old adventure cat, Luna. Living on the road certainly has its perks—like saving money and seeing the world—but getting into a reliable rig hasn’t been easy for the active couple.
The couple posing with their rig in Sedona, Arizona. Photo by Thomas Henwood.“We’ve been on the road for three years now and this is our fourth vehicle,” Mary explained. “We started out in a 1985 Volkswagon Vanegon and as much as we loved it, it required three engines from us in a year and a half, as so it started to suck us dry financially, but it was the one symbol of freedom and was the one thing that was really holding us back, so we really felt that we needed to find something a bit more reliable, a bit more stable, just because we are full-time and we work full-time on the road.”
The couple’s first vehicle, a 1985 Volkswagon Vanagon“Our second vehicle was a 1985 Toyota Sunrader 4×4, it was super rare, the first domestic 4×4 RV ever made, and we spent nine months building it out only to realize that it wasn’t as capable off-road as we were wanting it to be. So then we switched over to a base model, four-banger Toyota Tacoma and just lived out of the bed of the truck for nine months, while we were kind of figuring out what was going to be next and so this is what was next. It’s the perfect combination of all of our different vehicles all rolled into one,” she said.
Mary and Owen’s second vehicle, a 1985 Toyota Sunrader 4×4
Vehicle #3, a Toyota Tacoma with a camper shell.The couple are both free-lance designers and got married six months before hitting the road. Each is a graduate of Savannah College of Art and Design and met while competing on the college’s swim team. The couple is happy to report that they had just paid off their student loans, a huge accomplishment made possible by their low-cost, nomadic lifestyle.
“We have the theory that happy people make good work,” Mary said. “Even though it can be scary to trust a free-lancer who can’t sit down in front of you to do the work for you, we found that our clients really like working with us because I think we are happy and do good work and our travels inspire what we do.”
“Living full-time on the road was the best decision that we’ve ever made. We’re so happy and I wish that we could give a little slice of our happiness to everyone because it feels really good to be living the way you want to live,” she said.
Readers can follow the couple on Instagram @boundfornowhere.
Mike, there are several reasons why I visit your web site nearly every day. The word Adventure is a big part of your site. The last two articles about young couples embracing there dreams with no fear of failure is a source of motivation for me.
From my first camping trip with my dad back when I was barely 15 I was hooked. We started in the back of mini truck sleeping with only a sleeping bag, a few pots and pans and a Coleman stove. Denny Moore beef stew and the trout I caught provided what we needed for one week every year. Times were lean and luxuries were absent but good times were abundant. The memories created back then have never left me.
I have worked hard and prospered through the years. The houses have gotten bigger, the trailers have gotten longer, the motor homes have become coaches and the toys have gotten faster, bigger and way more expensive. I sit here now thinking about my upcoming retirement and my strong desire to get back too the basics. There is no doubt that part of my future will include some bling but I will never wonder too far from the basics. The thought of living off grid with a truck camper is every bit as appealing as traveling the interstates with a high end coach.
Some people seem to know that living by the KISS acronym will provide the greatest joy and some people, like myself need to experience both sides of life before they realize sometimes, less is more. I look forward to experiencing both sides during my retirement and providing you with plenty of submissions for your wonderful web site. Who knows, maybe some of my shared experiences will inspire tomorrows youth to embrace a more simple life free of debt, stress and health issue’s.