The Hackneys Part One: An Overland Expedition |
| Angela White | Thursday, 13 August, 2009 | ||||||||||||||||||
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Doug and Steph Hackney have pushed the very definition of what a truck camper is and what it can do. For the Hackneys, off-road is where the adventure begins...
Sunrise. Laguna Amarga. Near Torres del Paine National Park, Chile. Photo by Douglas Hackney Doug and Steph Hackney sent us a travel resume that is almost hard to fathom. For starters, they've traveled in six continents and through forty-three countries via every mode of transportation imaginable. Their latest world-wide adventure has been overland with an extremely custom truck and camper they call the Basecamp Expedition Vehicle (BEV). The Hackneys, with their BEV, have pushed the very definition of what a truck camper is and what it can do. For part one of this two part series, we learn about the Hackney's incredible overland expedition with the BEV. For part two, we're going to take a close look at the amazing BEV.
Photo by Scott Brady, Middle Photo: Climbing the hill to Alajandro's surf beach. BEV alpha test. Baja California, Mexico, Photo by Kathy Stajic, Right Photo: Hit Wash water crossing, Santa Maria Mountains, Arizona,Photo by Stephanie Hackney TCM: Where do you think your desire to explore every inch of our planet came from? Steph: I am a military brat and my parents and I moved twenty-one times by the time I was sixteen! My mom is from Germany and we traveled back and forth between there and the United States, as well as to other European countries. I guess you could say that it's just part of who I am, as well as how I grew up - nature and nurture. That said, traveling to remote areas was not part of my upbringing. In fact, it was rather scary for me when we started. And now? Well, now it's my preference! Doug: I remain driven by an unquenchable thirst for learning, knowledge, growth, and discovery. I think I get it from my grandparents, Clarence and Frances Hackney. Their home was always full of National Geographic, Popular Mechanics, and other magazines. They supplied me with an endless stream of books by Jack London, Jules Verne, etc. And the farm shop was always open and available for anything I wanted to disassemble, invent, or create. Back in December of 2002, I passed the milestone of a million actual flight miles (that’s miles traveled in airplanes) on United Airlines. I wrote the crew of the plane I was on when I passed the one million mile mark a little note that I gave them along with a restaurant gift certificate. I think the note encapsulates the source of my wanderlust and thirst for adventure pretty well: “Fellow traveler - Forty years ago, on this day, at 5:12pm, I was standing next to the Rock Island Railroad tracks that ran behind my grandfather’s farm in Iowa. At exactly that time every day, the Rock Island Rocket passenger train would roar by. There I would be, waving at the engineers and peering into the windows of the cars, straining to catch sight of the passengers within. As their faces flashed by, I would wonder, “Where are they going? What adventures are they having?” As the train disappeared into the setting sun, I would turn and walk back to the farmhouse, my gaze moving skyward. There I would see the contrails of the new jetliners lacing the sky, stretching from horizon to horizon. Still awaiting my first train ride, I could scarcely imagine the glamour and excitement of air travel, especially on a jet. At night, long after my grandparents had gone to sleep, I would lie awake reading the stacks of National Geographic magazines and the ever present novels of adventure and discovery: Treasure Island, Huckleberry Finn, Tom Sawyer, the collections of Jack London, Tom Swift, and The Hardy Boys. As I filled my imagination with the wonder and allure of far away places, from miles away the rotating beacon of the Newton airport would sweep across the house and paint the walls with alternating pulses of white and green. That airport beacon became the heartbeat that powered my wanderlust, my imagination, and my endless thirst for discovery and adventure.”  TCM: Should there be a bumper sticker on the rear bumper of the BEV that says, “I’d rather be sailing?” Steph: Not as far as I'm concerned! It's a long story, but the short version is that I have a life-long fear of drowning (yes, even a beach baby such as myself can be afraid of the open water) and was terrified - yes, I said terrified - of being in the open water. I was especially freaked out at the prospect of sailing for days and weeks without seeing land. But, I wanted to overcome the fear and help my husband to fulfill his new dream of sailing around the world. So I took sailing lessons and accompanied him to the British Virgin Islands where we chartered a boat to "test" the concept. While I loved the British Virgin Islands, and was quite content when moored or anchored, I was petrified when we sailed out into the Atlantic and the land was not within a few hundred yards. I knew then I would never be able to do it. Having to tell my husband that I could not sail around the world was one of the toughest things I have ever had to do. The disappointment in his face tore my heart out. But, I knew, based on great advice from a lifelong sailor named Jimmy Cornell, that, "...at some point, you have to love sailing." And, I just didn't. Doug: Yes. Sailing across an ocean, standing solo night watch, alone but for the stars and the sea, is where my soul is at peace. But, I didn’t find anything in sailing that was worth losing Steph, so here I am.
Left Photo: Rig next to the welcome sign coming into town. Ushuaia, Argentina, the southernmost city in the world, Photo by Stephanie Hackney, Middle Photo: Riding near Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah, USA, Photo by Douglas Hackney, Right Photo: Campsite sunset, Argentina, Photo by Douglas Hackney TCM: Do you have any regrets about your expedition or is everything going the way you dreamed? Steph: I have none. I mean, how can one have any regrets about being able to take time off from work and everyday life, and see what we saw, and regret it? Would I change anything knowing what I know now? Sure, but I don't for one minute regret the experience. Doug: I would do the following things differently: First, “Failed Fast” with sailing. In other words, I would have gotten Steph out on the open ocean very early on in the process so we didn’t waste years and lots of financial resources on that concept. Second, I would have either built on a bigger truck or put less weight on the truck we built on. More radically, I would have either purchased a factory RV based on a two wheel-drive Mercedes Sprinter platform and shipped that overseas, or used the “fly and buy” methodology – fly into the continent, purchase a local market vehicle, use it to explore, sell it, and repeat. Both of those options would have saved us a lot of money and, more importantly, saved us a lot of time. Time is always the most precious commodity.  Photo by Stephanie Hackney TCM: Has the changing economy affected your plans? Steph: When we left we knew our continuing travel was predicated on four factors: One, the health of our parents (we will be helping to take care of our parents if and when they need care). Two, our health (so far, so good!). Three, having more grandkids (we have one who is still quite small and want to be part of our grandkids' lives as they grow up). And four, our financial situation. In the time we were gone, changes happened in three of the four categories: one parent was diagnosed with a degenerative condition; we are now expecting another grandchild; and well, the economic situation, worldwide, tanked! Like everyone else, we took a hit when things in the economy went south (pardon the pun). But, we feel fortunate that we did not suffer as bad as some. That said, we spent much more money on the "getting ready to leave," and much more on the vehicle than intended (has there ever been a vehicle built that came in under budget?). So finances are a concern for us. But, what we want people to understand is how inexpensively one can travel, especially in an overland vehicle where costs can be minimal. Living on the road in South America cost a fraction of what we spent to live in San Diego, our previous hometown. Doug: Yes, as Steph mentions, our finances were one of our gating factors that determined our window of opportunity to travel. As she points out, three of those four factors changed dramatically. The diagnosis of one of our parents with a chronic, fatal disease has had the greatest impact on our plans, followed by our finances. Due to those factors, we will probably be restricted to overseas travel in two to four month blocks for the current chapter of our lives.
Left Photo: Llamas in the campground. Cusco, Peru, Photo by Douglas Hackney, Middle Photo: During a Giving Pictures (www.givingpictures.org) charity project providing family photos for victims of a wildfire. Cerro la Cruz, Valparaiso, Chile, Photo by Jorge Valdes, Right Photo: Muddy stretch of Ruta 40 (Route 40), a legendary road in Patagonia, Argentina, Photo by Douglas Hackney TCM: This past June 3rd was the two-year anniversary of the completion of your Basecamp Expedition Vehicle (BEV). How has the BEV performed during its first two years of service? Steph: In my opinion, it performed beautifully! It is everything we hoped it would be, and more, and it enabled us to live our dream. But, I was not responsible for ongoing maintenance. I am sure Doug can speak to that. Doug: There have been no issues with the Fuso or the Bigfoot with any factory engineered system or characteristic. The only issues we’ve had are with things we’ve designed, engineered and installed or with our own choices, for example, weight. We made a mistake in how we designed and implemented the camper sub-frame and put too much weight on too small of a truck. Both of those things, along with winching a huge Mercedes expedition vehicle out of the mud, led to failure of the frame on the Fuso. In my opinion, that failure was not related to the engineering or manufacture of the truck. Otherwise, the vehicle has met all of our design goals and been a great platform for exploring the western United States and South America.
Left Photo: The sculpture is the Mano de Desierto (hand of the desert), Photo by Douglas Hackney, Middle Photo: Crossing the Straight of Magellan on the ferry between Punta Delgada and Bahia Azul, Tierra Del Fuego, Chile, Photo by Douglas Hackney, Right Photo: At the dinette. The remote control panel was custom built. Photo by Stephanie Hackney
For more information about the truck camper manufacturers and gear companies, please visit our Buyers Guide. For more information on Doug and Steph Hackney go to www.hackneys.com/travel. If you are interested in their truck camper rig, stay tuned to learn about it in our next artlcle. |
