Aaron Walton: Publisher of Wander the West |
| Gordon White | Monday, 16 February, 2009 | ||||||||||||||||||
Aaron Walton started Wander the West as a way to share things he was experiencing as he explored the American West. What was once a blog, is now a thriving forum community...
We keep an eye on our web traffic to see where people are coming from when they visit Truck Camper Magazine. One website that we see often is Wander the West, an active forum that doubles as a back country exploration group and a Four Wheel Camper usergroup. Nosey as we are, we thought it would be fun to contact Aaron Walton, Wander the West's Publisher, to learn more about his website and forum community. TCM: When did you become interested in truck campers? Aaron: My background is in mining and I became interested in mining history years ago. Ever since I’ve been photographing old mining towns throughout the West. I had some challenging trips visiting these old towns with just a truck and tent. I ran into all kinds of bad weather. Then I started looking into truck campers for longer trips in more comfort. TCM: Why are you interested in old mines? Aaron: Mining is a fascinating industry. It’s tough enough today with modern mining equipment, but people used to use steam-powered machines and their bare hands. The mining towns are often 100 to 150 year old communities with amazing Victorian buildings. These towns had a lot of concentrated wealth because of the mines and were little metropolis’s in the middle of nowhere. Mining created a lot of interesting dynamics in the West. Now I like to visit old mines and mining towns and post what I find on my website, www.westernmininghistory.com. TCM: What was is about a light-weight pop-up camper that made you want one? Aaron: When I was looking for a camper, I wanted the lightest and smallest camper I could find. The truck and camper would be my daily driver so the rig had to be reasonable to drive around town. I also wanted a rig that was not too detrimental to fuel economy. Basically, I wanted something that wouldn’t affect the performance of the truck. That’s why I like pop-up ultra-light campers like the Four Wheel Campers. I’m also getting more and more interested in back country stuff. During our recent Death Valley rally we were really pushing the limits of where these rigs can go. TCM: Tell us about your truck and camper. Aaron: I started with a Ford F-150 and a Four Wheel Hawk about four years ago. That was a pretty good set-up. The Four Wheel went well with the half-ton, but when we added three guys, mountain bikes, and camping stuff for a week’s adventure, we were pushing the limit. Fully loaded, that combination would sag hard as we drove 1,000 miles to Moab. So I sold that truck and camper and moved up to a 2008 Ford F-250 and a 2008 Four Wheel Hawk. Now I can load my truck with people and bikes and gear and not worry about it. The truck doesn’t even notice the weight. TCM: What’s different about your new Four Wheel Hawk compared to your older one? Aaron: There’s not much that’s different. Four Wheel made some minor improvements. I did get a custom interior. It’s a one-off. My camper has grey and black cabinetry and textured black cushions with black nylon accents.
TCM: Any modifications to your truck or camper? Aaron: I’ll be getting better wheels and tires for the truck. And I will probably pull my icebox out and replace it with a five-day cooler. The icebox space could then be more storage. There are a lot of debates on Wander the West about the merits of iceboxes and refrigerators in Four Wheel Campers. In my mind, anything that runs on propane is a headache. I think I’ll just go with a five-day cooler and gain the storage. More than anything, what makes these trips better is being organized. When you have a really small space, the more organized you are, the better trip you’ll have. Our forum is full of ideas on how to be more organized. TCM: Can you give us some examples? Aaron: One guy created a mini-dinette with folding seats and everything. That post has been viewed at least 50,000 times. As of 2009, Four Wheel is integrating a mini-dinette as an option. They really pay attention to our forum and the ideas that our members share. Another guy has a compressor that runs off his engine to run a pneumatic device that lifts his roof. When you see it in person you say, “that’s unbelievable”. There’s another mod where a guy installed a solar panel under the overcab nose of his camper that rolls out and locks into place when he arrives at a campsite. TCM: That sounds brilliant. What do you like to do when you go truck camping other than visit old mines? Aaron: When I’m not camping, I’m working seven days a week. To get into my camper and go somewhere is a huge release. I sleep better in the camper than anywhere else. It’s an escape, a real escape. TCM: Do you take a laptop with you? Aaron: Yes. I have a laptop that comes with me. I can stop at a Starbucks and use it if I need to. There was no internet in Death Valley. That was the first time in years that I’ve been without internet access for an extended period of time and it was really refreshing, and a little disconcerting. TCM: How do you keep the peace on your Wander the West forum? Aaron: My background is in forums. I know everything about moderator problems. I’ve had death threats and I’ve heard the worst. My policy is no spam and everyone is going to be courteous, or they’re out. I’ve seen forums get into negative cycles and I wanted to avoid that before it began with Wander the West. To accomplish this, I personally approve every new membership. That’s all it takes. People get along and we have a great group that moderates themselves. TCM: It’s not always that way with forums. Aaron: You have to set the tone in the beginning and not waiver. Now I get lots of complements about not having spam and running a smooth forum. TCM: How did you come to start Wander the West? Aaron: When I was going on road trips around the West photographing mining towns and seeing so many amazing things, I wanted a place to post things that were not related to mining. So I started Wander the West as a blog. Shortly after that, I added a forum solely for the purpose of being a Four Wheel Camper user group. It took a couple of years to get off the ground. We picked up a few members, and then a few more. Now we have a group with a nice nucleus that continues to grow. TCM: Is this your full time gig? Aaron: No. This is one of many things that I do. Basically, I’m a publisher. I sold my big mountain bike forum and have worked for the company that bought it ever since. I run various sites including Wander the West and Western Mining History. I also consult for people who are starting to get their online business off the ground. I recently purchased one of the oldest camping websites on the web with another partner. It’s been around forever so it gets great traffic. We are completely rebuilding the website and will launch it in the next months or so. TCM: How many people participate in the Wander the West forum? Aaron: Well, we’ve had 170 active members post in the last thirty days. We have about 8,000 unique visitors per month. The newer members are looking for advice on what options to order with their new Four Wheel campers. Established members like to post their trip reports with photos and all that. TCM: Is Wander the West only for people who own Four Wheel Campers? Aaron: I don’t restrict members at all, as long as they’re not trying to post about Viagra. We have members that don’t own a Four Wheel Camper. It was never my intention to have Wander the West be camper centric. I want it to be more about traveling the west backcountry. TCM: Tell us about the Wander the West community events. Aaron: We really haven’t had a Wander the West rally until the Death Valley rally in January. I didn’t do anything except create the interest, set the date, and show up. The forum members set the itinerary. It was a huge success and we had ten trucks at our peak. Everyone got along well and members have since commented that they feel like a community of friends more than they did before. We know each other now.
TCM: Sounds like fun. Aaron: When working on websites, it’s okay to be the guy in a room somewhere. But getting out and meeting people and being a face to face really makes a difference. The rally in January makes me want to do more. We had a lot of great days. TCM: Any stories to share? Aaron: Near the end, when people started to split off, a small group went to the Racetrack in Death Valley. To see it in person is really overwhelming. To get there was twenty-five miles of the worst washboard I’ve ever experienced. It was horrendous and tempers started getting short. We were also unsure if there was any other way to get out once we got there. No one wanted to drive back out on this nightmare. Eventually we arrived and camped out there that night. On the way out we took a challenging trail. One guy had a long truck with a long wheelbase. He hung a wheel up at one point. We all came out successfully and have some great stories to share. Surviving made everyone more excited to do it again.
For more information about the truck camper manufacturers and gear companies, please visit our Buyers Guide. To learn more about Wander the West, visit the website at www.wanderthewest.com. |
