13 Hours to Meet a Truck Camping Legend

Howdy folks! My son and I drove all the way to a custom rod-and-tackle shop in Minnesota — and you'd be right to wonder why on earth anyone would drive 13 hours to go to a tackle shop. The answer: Mav. If you don't know him, he's one of the biggest creators in the truck camping world, with a channel pushing toward two million subscribers — and he's a big part of what got me interested in this whole lifestyle in the first place. So when he announced his very first fan meetup at Thorne Brothers Custom Rod & Tackle, the wheels started turning.

"I Think You Should Go"

I floated the idea to my wife half-joking, telling her how cool it'd be to thank Mav in person for taking all of us along on his journeys. She looked at me and said, "I think you should do it." Now, I learned a long time ago that when your wife says I think you should go instead of just go if you want to, you don't look a gift horse in the mouth. I asked my son if he was up for an adventure, he surprised me with a yes, and by mid-Friday afternoon we were on the road.

A Father, a Son, and a Lot of Windshield

In our haste to leave we forgot a few things — sanitizing the fresh water tank, my son's bed cushions, and without the solar panels along, the Bluetti would've tapped out within a couple hours of running the heater. So I'll be honest: this wasn't a roughing-it trip. We couldn't find a campground open for the season yet, so night one was a hotel. The next morning I made oatmeal and a banana with a green tea right on the tailgate, while the city folks driving by tried to figure out the country bumpkin cooking breakfast in a parking lot. God bless America.

Meeting Mav

The place was jumping — we may have driven the farthest, but we were far from the only ones who made the trip. Mav's trusty white F-150, the one so many of us have followed across so many adventures, sat right out front wearing its honest layer of road dirt and salt. Up on the second floor we waited in line, and when we finally shook hands I awkwardly thanked him for being an inspiration. I'm a better writer than I am a talker, but I think the point landed. Then he floored me — he'd watched my full Tramper tour: "That set, like, blew my mind. I was in the middle of building, I had to shut it off — I can't even watch this, it's so good." We talked builds, bought some merch, and he generously gifted me a beanie I'll wear proudly.

The Journey Is the Point

So there it is — nearly 26 hours of driving across four days for a one-hour meetup. Fortune favors the bold, they say, but so does personal growth. Destinations are great, but the journey is where the good stuff actually happens in you. And if you somehow found my channel without knowing Mav — go give him some love.

Gear From This Trip

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New here? Meet the rig that made the trip: the full Tramper tour, and the gear list we travel with.

Disclaimer: The information provided in this article and its video is for entertainment/educational purposes only. By following any advice from this article, video, or any provided links, you do so at your own risk.