Overlanding the Beautiful Mindo Valley of Ecuador 

bone, wow. Thank you so much for the encouragement, this may be one of the nicest comments regarding our videos I've ever received. As I'm sure you are aware, they are a lot of work. Adding to that the often unreliable connectivity during our travels and the time it takes away from family, this comment is really appreciated and timely. Glad you are enjoying them! I'll pass along your compliment to Caspian. ~ Eric

Glad you enjoyed it Christopher! The ice cream was fantastic. I even had a nibble and I'm on keto for type 2 diabetes. So you know it's good! ~ Eric

So glad you enjoyed it jobean! ~ Eric

Lol. If I told every overlander everything they missed that we did the list would be insanely long. As you well know, you can’t hit everything on the journey. Just got to make it your own. Brittany and Caspian really enjoyed the waterfall hike there though! ~ Eric

Thank you mikael! ~ Eric

Thanks billy ~ Eric

I saw the photos! So glad you got to make that trip. Olivia is so precious. Please tell her Mr. Eric says hi! ~ Eric

It was super fun! Brittany told me to tell you that she DID get that papaya and it took her 4 days per half to eat it. Also that it was mushy by the end haha. ~ Eric

Hello woolen, and a very warm welcome to our channel! First off, let me say that overlanding families are our passion. So happy to be a resource for you all as you begin to examine what this looks like for you. There is SO much to say on this topic. To be clear, I'm happy to answer any and all of your upcoming questions here for free. Having said, that our connectivity is limited here in Peru where we currently are. I'm not always very fast to respond, but do so as I'm able. We do have a Patreon account where for as little as a starbucks coffee per month you can go behind the scenes with us, and more importantly, it is the first place we check and respond when we have connectivity. If you are interested, you can search for Hourless Life Patreon and you'll find us easily. Ok, now let me get to answering your questions that you have here. 1. Take your time exploring the USA! We explored it full-time for nearly 8 years before starting off on this global journey. International overlanders who we've met have stated that they love traveling through our country. I think sometimes we just take it for granted since we live there, and really it is incredibly overlander friendly and vast. Plus it will help you and your family get into a rhythm as an overlanding family. For a family of 5 you have a myriad of options! However, it all depends on where you want to go and what you want to do as a family. This is your journey, your adventure, not that of anyone else. So you have to do what works for you. There are some major considerations. Inside living space vs outdoor living space. Height and width for shipping if you go international someday and don't want to change platforms. Diesel vs Gasoline which is an incredibly important conversation that needs to be had. Manual vs Automatic transmission. Payload capacity which is arguably one of the most important considerations. See it isn't just about moving and transporting a family of 5. There are many considerations that you will want to take into account before spending your hard earned money on a platform. Especially if you have aspirations of going south of the border someday and heading off into the horizon internationally. I can tell you that for certain I would not recommend a trailer for international travel for SO many reasons. But for domestic travel, it may be an ideal solution for your family. A Gladiator for 5? Not a good idea in my opinion. As you know we love our Gladiator, but it isn't just about seating capacity. You'll have clothing for 5, coats for 5, equipment, water, tools, and so much more. You'll have to store that. So you may think, we'll just store it in the back. But then each night at camp when you are setting up and breaking down you are moving everything out of the back into the cab. Then you have to move it out of the cab and into the back to move. For long term overlanding this will not be ideal for your family. Also if you are seating 5, that means that your refrigerator or cooler will live in the back and take up precious living space. Like I said, I have so much to share with you on this topic. But I don't want you to be discouraged at all. It is just a lot to digest and consider and can't really be done in the scope of a response in a comment thread. The main point is that this life is amazing and I encourage you and your family to pursue it. But building out a vehicle for this type of long term travel can be a major investment in time, sweat equity, and of course funds. I don't want you to make any unnecessary mistakes that could have been avoided with a little bit of counsel. So I encourage you to keep asking questions either here or on Patreon and I'm happy to answer in either location. ~ Eric