Dave Bennett, I4WDTA certified trainer and Senior Enlisted Leader,1st Marine Division, founded American Adventurist in 2010 with the aim of hosting a community forum as well as many community events and trainings. American Adventurist organizes multiple events every year. Each one has a regional flavor and is geared toward the vehicle-supported adventure travel enthusiast, with an emphasis placed on friends, family and an active outdoor lifestyle. TAP has attended the Mountain Rendezvous in Big Bear, CA the past two years and thoroughly enjoyed the experience, cameraderie of like minded individuals and exposure to new gear and overlanding inspired companies. These are not commercial events, but are attended by small overlanding companies as well as outdoor, overlanding enthusiasts.
TAP wanted to know how American Adventurist came into being and how it has evolved. This is what Dave Bennett had to say:
What was your Motivation for starting American Adventurist? As a lifelong outdoorsman and enthusiast, I grew tired of the overtly mercantile and mercenary tendencies of the outdoor and off-road industry and the pay to play events. I saw an opportunity to create a community that was about something more than money and what we could squeeze from people. I’m also a proponent of traditional American cultural values and saw the wholesome outdoor activities that I’d enjoyed with my Grandfather being replaced by video games, closures, gates and regulations. I wanted a community that could be a positive force not only for my own family to be a part of but also to draw other like minded Americans together in order to pass on positive ethics, values, and interests to our children. Perhaps if we led by example through exemplifying responsible recreation, we could leverage positive outcomes within the off-road and outdoor segments so that our children could still hike and drive and hunt and fish in the same ways that I had done as a child.
What makes American Adventurist Unique? American Adventurist is an adventure travel enthusiast community dedicated to exploration, self-sufficiency, and preserving our American cultural values and heritage. We are also a proud Tread Lightly Alliance Member. As such, our focus is on the community of interest and in giving back to that community. One of the ways we do this is through our nationwide Rendezvous events. Each year since 2010, we’ve presented free regional events where we pick a charity or community service project. At the yearly SoCal Desert Rendezvous, we partner with the BLM and perform trail cleanup efforts in “at risk” areas – 2015 saw over 1.5 tons of trash removed from public lands by our members. At the yearly SoCal Mountain Rendezvous, we promote Scouting and raise money for the Boy Scouts of America. In North Carolina at our annual Appalachian Rendezvous, we partner with the local community to raise money for much needed renovations at community center in Uwharrie. Lastly, in 2014 our members helped collect over 1,100 toys for the Toys for Tots campaign. Over the last five years, the American Adventurist community has blossomed into something that we’re very proud of. Currently, American Adventurist is the official Forum Sponsor for Overland Expo and 2016 will include Rendezvous events on both coasts. There’s even rumors of adding a 4th Rendezvous event in 2016 with locations in Texas, Oregon and Alabama being discussed.
Check out American Adventurist.com for upcoming events and TAP into Adventure!
Social Media Information:
Facebook: facebook.com/AmericanAdventurist/
InstaGram: instagram.com/americanadventurist
Twitter: twitter.com/usaadventurist
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/usaadventurist/american-adventurist-home
Author: Dave Bennet
Editor: Lori Palmer
Photos obtained from American Adventurist’s social media sites and by TAP’s Publisher and Co-Founder, Andy Palmer
