“The Overland Adventurer Series,” TAP’s monthly feature on individuals who genuinely embody the Overland Life. Today we sit down with Delia and Enoch also known as @MoleisureXventures.
Let’s dive right in.
Thanks for sitting down with us Guys. Tell us a about yourself and what was the inspiration behind creating your MoLeisureXventures YouTube channel.
Delia: I’m originally from Brooklyn, NY. As a city girl, I’ve always liked to travel and explore the outdoors but never really had the chance to do so long term. I moved to California to take advantage of the more temperate weather and so I can do more. I met Enoch in a hiking group, and we visited a couple of National Parks and talked about wanting to go to all of them. Thus, our adventure was born.
Enoch: I grew up as an army brat and always enjoyed the outdoors. My first introduction to the outdoors was Cubs Scouts and ever since then I loved it. So, when Delia told me she wanted to go to all of the National Parks, I was down.
Delia: Mo is my last name, Leisure is Enoch’s last name, Xventure is for the Xterra and all the adventures it has taken us on. We created the YouTube channel to show others you don’t need a lot to get out and explore.
I personally spend a lot of time camping, so I know it’s a big deal to go full time on the road, so instead of the social media “Unicorns and Rainbows”, give us the real skinny. The Good, the Bad and maybe the Ugly?
Delia: Being a female on the road and having minimal access to a real bathroom can get frustrating. Also being in the elements all of the time can get tiring as well. Which is why the Xterra is the way it is now ha-ha. (With an interior cooking space)
Enoch: Waking up with new views all the time is one of the most rewarding parts of full-time overlanding. The bad, you have to be self-reliant for the most part in these situations. And a real bathroom is always nice to have.
“Overlanding” is the catch all description these days, so that said, do you consider yourself Overlanders or is there simply a better description that makes more sense to you? Maybe just Adventurers?
Enoch: I agree with what you’re saying. The phrase that would fit our lifestyle best is a nomadic lifestyle as we work in different parts of the country while we travel and primarily stay in temperate weather. Winter camping is not our cup of tea.
Any advice to people perhaps wanting to start their own YouTube channel?
Delia: Just do it! You never know what will happen until you try.
Enoch: If you’re consistent in your storytelling, you’ll find your audience.
So, let’s talk about your rig as it’s not the usual platform. Why did you choose it, rather than one of the usual suspects?
Enoch: I chose the Nissan Xterra platform because it was the most capable platform for the dollar. Nissans have always been reliable in my experience. It has an excellent wheelbase to be able to achieve all of the overlanding and off-roading that we have put in front of it and costs half as much as any other platform.
Have you finished building out your rig and what’s been the craziest thing you’ve encountered in the process?
Enoch: After 4 years of iterations, I believe I have come to the best version for our use case. There may be a few tweaks here and there in the future but otherwise we are ready for the longest road – the PanAm Highway.
The craziest thing that I have done to the Xterra would be cutting a hole in the roof. It was nerve wrecking from the start but now that it’s done, I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Your build has obviously been a lot of work, so if you had to do it all over again, would you and if so, is there anything you’d do differently?
Enoch: I would modify the Xterra exactly the same way that I have done it. The only thing I would change would be to figure out a way to incorporate hard sided walls to the tent. There may be something in the works.
What does the next 12 months look like? Any major trips planned?
Delia: We will be taking the Xterra up to Alaska this summer 2024 from end of May – August to try to finish up the National Parks. We have visited 52/63. We have 7 in Alaska that need to be visited, 2 in Hawaii, 1 in American Samoa and a pesky 1 in Michigan that we don’t have to talk about.
Enoch: While in Alaska, we will be starting the first section of the Pan American Highway – from Prudhoe Bay to the US/Canadian border.
There’s so many rig platforms and gear to choose from, so any sage advice for folks who are looking at taking up the lifestyle?
Delia: Start with whatever makes you feel most comfortable. Everyone has different necessities. If it were up to me, we’d have a van with a full bathroom/shower. But compromises were made. I can cook inside which works for me.
Enoch: Whatever vehicle gets you outside to enjoy nature is the best rig. Gear wise, as you continue to live the lifestyle, you will find the products that work best for you.
Finally, any fun trail stories to share?
Delia: We were not prepared for our first real 4×4 offroad trail. It was Mengel Pass in Death Valley. We were exploring the National Park and decided to drive down Warm Springs Canyon Road towards Ballarat ghost town. We did not read the map properly and missed the part that said, “Road conditions require experienced four-wheel drivers.” Or we read it, and Enoch was super confident that everything would be alright. So were going down the road, the sun it starting to set, we stop at Geologist Cabin along the way and meet 2 other explorers. We tell them we are going to Ballarat ghost town tonight and they tried to convince us to stay at another cabin down the road and to do the pass with them tomorrow. We brushed off their concerns and continued on our way. We encountered our first obstacle and immediately realized we had made the wrong choice but there was no way to turn around so all we could do was continue forward.
The Xterra was nowhere near as modified as it is now. We still had highway tires, that we didn’t air down. We still had our stock side steps, we were carrying a cargo hitch with boxes because we had just hit the road about a month prior, so we had way too much stuff. We were just not prepared.
It was nighttime at this point too and everything looks sketchier at night. So, we were at a climb with rocks everywhere. Enoch threw the vehicle into 4 low, and we climbed our way up. There were a few boulders along the way that knocked our side steps off and hit our cargo hitch sending items flying off onto the road, but we couldn’t stop until we made it to a flat area at the top because of course the Xterra is also a manual. But we did it. Enoch went back down the road to gather everything that flew off. All we had left of our side steps were the brackets which screwed us at the next obstacle. We caught our breath at the top, checked out Carl Mengel’s grave and continued on.
We approached our next obstacle which was boulders on each side of the vehicle. We were able to get over a couple, but the sidestep brackets got stuck in between. With no recovery gear, no service and no one around Enoch had me go outside and stand on top of one boulder as to not hit it. He revved it up to 3000rpm and popped the clutch in low range and JUMPED the vehicle over the last 2 boulders. (Not recommended unless necessary). We were finally in the clear. We finished the road and made it to Ballarat ghost town. When we rolled into town a guy appeared from his camp to chat. We told him we had just come from Mengel Pass. He looked at us, looked at the vehicle and exclaimed to Enoch “You have balls of steel.” He said him and his crew took 8 hours to do that pass that we had completed in about 4 hours. This of course made Enoch feel very good. We made our way to our campsite and slept VERY WELL that night.
Moral of the story, make sure you read the map thoroughly and always carry recovery gear. After that trip, we immediately ordered skid plates, rock sliders and recovery gear.
Thanks for your time today, Delia and Enoch. Stay healthy and safe and see you in the backcountry!
