A Vision So Vivid

By Brianne Jackson, President & Co-Founder Idaho Overland Adventures ● Garden City

Haveyouevertakenacompleteleapoffaith?Or,believeinsomethingsostronglythat you could see it clear as day?This is how my husband, Joe, and I felt when we started toying with the idea of starting our own business. And not just any business, a “unicorn” business so different from any other we had seen or heard of. ‘Idaho Overland Adventures’ is the creation of an outdoor adventure-loving couple. We wanted to make it easy for folks to get out into nature, travel around and explore, or simplyfindaquietcampsiteoutofthewaywithaconvenientset-upavailabletothem.

How did we come up with the concept? I believe the time we spent together as a coupleandthecareersweheldthroughoutourlivespreparedusforthistransition.We had similar interests as couples tend to do, and our time spent together revolved aroundoutdoorandoff-roadactivities.

Our “Adventure” started in our early 20’s. We began our young adult lives together in pursuit of adventure through Joe’s Professional Watercraft Racing travels and community. We would travel to the different race stops and camp in our van by the lakes during race weekends. We traveled to Lake Havasu Arizona for World Finals twice.Itwasalwaysthetwoofus.Heraced,andIwashis“pitcrew”.

Experiences like these throughout our lives have made Joe and I realize that we make a great team. During our years together we have lived in six different cities and two states.

We have always loved the outdoors as individuals and together as a couple. Joe had grown up in a family where camping, overlanding, flying, off-roading, and Baja racing were regular occurrences. I grew up camping in a tent, car, or back of a pick-up truck everychanceIgot.

We treasure these memories as some of our happiest growing up. Most of us find some peace when experiencing nature. One can feel a welcoming disconnect in the great outdoors accompanied by a sense of self-reliance. Whenever we would leave homeforarace,orroadtrip,Iwouldalwayscomment,“it'sanAdventure”.

Early in our relationship, we found a story about the Wescotts and their adventures following the turtle migration. The Wescott’s Turtle Expedition vehicles were beyond inspirational.

Joe and I wanted to build an expedition vehicle and travel as far as we could for as long as we could. We had a dream, but nothing solid. We were not rich, and we were not journalists or scientists. We had no idea where to start, or how wewouldmakemoneytotravel.

As we grew up, we still had dreams, but our priorities changed, and we decided to start a new kind of adventure. We were ready to expand on the family we had become to each other over the past decade. We were married in 2010, had our first child at the beginning of 2012, andoursecondattheendof2015.

We vowed that our children would grow up knowing outdoor activities and would not be sitting indoors in front of the TV or on video games and devices allday.Wewantedtogivethema sense ofadventure.

By this point, our lives and careers had evolved. I was a credit manager at a jewelry store and had worked there full-time for several years. The holidays were always difficult working retail because I was away from the family more, which was especially hard during the Christmas season with young children.

Joe had become a pilot and started flying for an airline just a month after our second child was born. Our new life had come with its share of challenges. We lived in California, but Joe was based in Chicago. He lived there and wouldvisithomeonceeveryotherweek if he could. This was hard on all of us. I was like a single parent most of the week, and he was missing out on watchinghiskidsgrowup.

Flash forward a couple of years, and we had the opportunity to move to Idaho. The airline opened a base in Boise, so we packed up our family and moved in 2017. I was now a stay-at-home mom, and we had no other family in Idaho. Our entire support system was back in California, but we knew we had made therightmove.

Although we were alone in a new state, we fell in love with Idaho immediately and began exploring every chance we got. Our outings consisted of long exploratory drives, camping trips, fishing, and tubing. We were limited only by our gear and Joe’s work schedule, which had him away four daysaweek.

During 2020 and the pandemic, our family’s life was disrupted, like many others. Joe was home from the airline for several months. I was home with kids as usual, but now school was remote learning, and had become a home-school teacher, along with all my otherduties.

We were spending more time together and learning how to be this new version of our family. We started spending more time outdoors, camping and fishing. Our family trips were becoming more adventurous but also somewhat cumbersome with our growing collection ofgearandequipment.

My husband and I continuously tried to create a solution to our camping calamity.Withthekidsgettingbigger,we kept acquiring more equipment; a larger tent, cots, a field kitchen, and a toilet! We would spend what would seem like a whole day planning and packing the truck.

Then, we would get to the campsite where we were looking at a couple of hoursofset-up,enjoyonefullcampday, and finally spend the last day packing everything up again. Not to mention coming home to unpack all the gear and cleaneverything.

We wanted an easier way to get into the Great Outdoors with less stress and less set-up, so we designed an Overland Vehicle with everything needed for a successful overland excursion. But then we thought, “I bet people would rent these!” Why not outfit an entire fleet of Overlanders and share the user-friendly, “plug and play” mentality, for more familieslikeus?Sowedid!

We sat at the kitchen table and began making phone calls and writing up a businessplan.Wegathered information, suppliers, and assembled documents, and built a fleet of overland rental vehicles.

All of our energy and life savings went into this project. Our vision was so vivid. We knew we could make a fantasticproductthatenablespeopleto get back outdoors with ease and reconnect with loved ones in the peacefulsettingofthewilderness.

As Idaho Overland Adventures started picking up steam, we started witnessing that renters were able to leave their gear behind and make memories sooner! Having all the camping gear mounted and packed on a modern vehicle gave our clients something we as a family had always wanted, an adventure instead of a labor-intensivecampingtrip.

Our first season was spectacular and the feedback we received from clients was positive. Local clients that rent from us find our product convenient because they don’t need to break out and pack up their own equipment or discover they needed to repair or upgradetheirgear.

Some plan to build an overland rig for themselves and want to experience what’s on board our Rigs first. Others pick our brains on what we consider important components for adventure vehicles.

Most of our clients fly in from other states and find our product perfect for light travel because we provide everything they need including access to one of the best adventure states in thenation,Idaho.

We have repeat clients, both local and out-of-state, from our first and second seasons in business. “The TN Guys”, from Tennessee obviously, have visited us multiple times in the past two years. They have probably traveled the longest distance in the shortest amount of time! On each trip, they traveled for roughly 5 days through Idaho, Oregon, Montana, Wyoming,andUtah.

Recently, a couple that rented from us are from Africa and traveled through Northern Idaho on mainly dirt roads while camping at dispersed campsites forover11days.

Both sets of clients, and many others, have been kind enough to share their pictures and videos of their adventures with us as a family member would after a vacation. Some have been posted on our website and some have been made into videos to share on our YouTube Channel.

In 2022, we acquired permitting to offer Overland Tours on the Boise National Forest. Now we enjoy taking couples and groups on a 4-Day/3-Night, All-Inclusive, Guided Overland Tours through some of the most majestic landscapesIdahohastooffer.On these tours, we educate guests on proper overland vehicle operation, back-country driving, radio communications, camping etiquette, and much more as we traverse through Idaho'sbeautifulwilderness.

The tours are also getting tremendous feedback, as our clients are thrilled to be part of an adventure while driving one of our overland vehicles. Impressed with the remarkable scenery, and grateful for the opportunity to reconnect on these extraordinary trips they tend to keep comingbackformore.

We built this small family business from our passion for travel and spending quality time with our loved ones. Our mission has always been to provide our clients with a safeandunforgettabletrip. Wearegenuinelyexcitedfortheclientsthatrentfromus toGo-Overland.

It warms our hearts every time people come back with smiles and stories. It is a sense of achievement and overwhelming reward to know that we provided such a unique adventure and the “vehicle” for creating lifelong memories. It’s never too late toGo-Overland!

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