We recently connected with Emily Cummings and have shared our conversation below.
Emily, appreciate you joining us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?
Growing up, my dad had an old 1972 Datsun 720 single cab truck. It had big tires, a grill guard, light rack– that he used to haul feed around on the ranch. There was something about that truck that I thought was just “soooo cool”. It seemed to put a smile on my face for whatever reason. It was always a solid day, when he scooped me up from school in that thing– looking back I honestly couldn’t have been more than 7 or 8, waiting for the day that I could drive that thing. It was a stick shift, which had me fascinated since our normal family car was automatic.
Fast forward a few years, my parents bought a 1993 Jeep Cherokee– nothing fancy, but they sure did tow that thing behind their motorhome for family vacations. It wasn’t lifted, didn’t have any mods on it besides some BFG All-terrains. As a family of five, we all got in that Cherokee and the first trail I ever experienced was the Alpine Loop in Southwestern Colorado. After that trail, even my nine year old self was enamored with the beauty of public land.
The love for the outdoors continued, once I turned sixteen I started driving; my first car being a 1999 TJ. During this stage of my life we lived in South Texas, where I learned how to drive on the sand. I was fortunate enough to have an older brother, who taught me everything I know about off-roading and what a lot of the lingo meant.
I truly think the most important thing is knowing your rig. In this industry there are so many different modifications and potentials for things to break or go wrong. The more hours you have behind your steering wheel, knowing not only your limits, but your vehicles limits will keep both of you going. I also know the importance of finding what type of terrain you find the most enjoyable. For me, I love trails and getting deep into the back country to camp and spend as much time under the stars as I can. I steer clear of rock crawling and mud, and have built my rig to perform for what I enjoy doing.
The biggest obstacle, now living in central Texas, is the lack of public land. It is a solid 6+ hours from where I’m at to any type of trail system that allows dispersed camping. So needless to say, I don’t get out as much as I’d like.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I have always loved being outside and growing up my parents fostered that love. They had a motorhome so we were roughing it smoothly (if you will). Fast forward a few decades and I met my (now) ex-husband. We enjoyed so many of the same things, majority of them being enjoying the outdoors in some type of capacity. He grew up tent camping and that’s when our worlds collided. Although I had more experience off road / back country driving– he shined in other aspects. Throughout the 14 years we were together, I dabbled and had the opportunities to figure out how and what to channel my energy into. We played around with mountain biking, hiking, wake boarding, wake surfing, traversing, and kayaking–but it seemed as though my soul felt truly alive on the trail, figuring out where to camp and learning how to navigate off the grid.
My journey in the overlanding community began in 2015 when I traded in my 2017 Camaro for the 2010 JKU that would eventually take me to some of the wildest places.
Think back a decade ago, 2015 the internet was around, but not in the same realm that it is today. Offroading navigation was inexistent or at least not in my tax bracket at the time. However, my nightly reading material switched to the Wells & Peterson back road guides. I loved seeing and reading about all the trails that people before me worked so hard to create and preserve. That this public land is just out there, waiting to be seen and enjoyed. I have every single copy of their Colorado & Utah books. I truly believe this is where my obsession started. I began reading more maps than books. Studying topography and the way trails intersected around mountain towns .
We set out to take our first true “Overlanding” trip in June 2016 and during that time we were just calling it a camping road trip, the term Overlanding was never on the radar. We found a used Tepui Autauna roof top tent, which. meant we could splurge on the Gobi Stealth rack that would be a necessity for the tent. Was a roof top tent necessary for a trip like this? No. However, after spending years on the ground, making and breaking camp daily– this seemed like such a luxury and honestly a dream! I was working as an elementary school teacher at the time so needless to say I was pinching pennies when and where I could. I would say this hobby of mine quickly became an obsession, in the best way possible!
There is one aspect of this world I love, that isn’t always talked about and it’s the ability for things to go wrong. Trails can be closed, there are mechanical issues waiting to happen at any moment, interactions with wildlife, weather, life in general and just the unknown can be extremely intimidating. However, once my ex husband and I went our separate ways I refused to sit back and let my life go by waiting on someone to continue this hobby of mine with.
I never expected for the internet or anyone to be inspired by what I was doing. In my eyes, I’m just a girl…in a Jeep…trying to disassociate in the most positive possible way. Of course I didn’t start out this way. I began with small trips, local state parks for one night, then for a weekend and eventually working my way up to my first solo ten day overlanding trip to Colorado and Utah camping and off-roading over 80% of the time. I have received comments about this being an “escape from reality” or it being seen as me “running away from my problems” and I wholeheartedly can see that viewpoint. In my world, it’s quite the opposite. Getting out there, logging miles (and smiles) gives me the opportunity to think through my thoughts and process whatever hardships I’m currently facing without distractions. Not much more to do on the road while driving, than think, Binge thinking if you will!!!
What I believe that sets me apart from some others, is my ability to stay positive in some of the most trying situations. I have been continuously tested on my trips, in many difference scenarios. However you can’t have testimony without some tests. Throughout this healing journey I truly believe that you have the ability to channel energy into how it can best serve you. Majority of instances, being angry or mad at a situation that is out of your control will generally make things worse and can lead to silly mistakes. Sure, there have been times that I’ll sit and cry about a situation, however I refuse to let that be my narrative. I do give myself the ability to process emotions and then put my head back on straight and figure out next steps. Not easy, but being in control of my emotions and thoughts has been the biggest game changer throughout this journey. I believe that’s what has resonated with so many people–figuring out how to sort through emotions and problems to get yourself back on track.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
If you find me on social media, you will probably see me refer to “my previous life”. Before I started on this journey, I was moving through life exactly as I had carefully planned out since I was a little girl. Checking the boxes, if you will….
I was married, had two beautiful children that I was lucky enough to stay home with, we lived in a beautiful home in a desirable neighborhood. Had all the materialistic things on top of being able to spend roughly 3 months of the year in our second favorite state (Colorado). Thought I had it all figured out.
On a Saturday in February of 2021 my little world came crashing down. I found out soul crushing information regarding my ex-husband. Information that broke countless wedding vows over majority of our married years. This information wasn’t subjective or influenced, it was black and white. I will forever remember that day, figuring out what to do and feeling incredibly helpless. I sat there in shambles as I tried to hide the flood of emotions from my (then) 2.5 year old and 8 month old children. I hid this information and my crushed heart for roughly 48 hours, compartmentalizing the best I could before I could figure out next steps.
That Monday when he left for work, I printed out the information I found…put it on the kitchen counter and headed to my parent’s house with my babies. They were ready and waiting with open arms. Over the next two years I tried to process it all, work through it with professional help, trying to salvage the marriage, lifestyle and -in hindsight- myself. I was still able to stay at home with my babies, while running the side businesses we built, and work on not only the relationship with my partner, but with myself. Throughout those two years I started to lose who I was. I became so obsessed with figuring out the ‘why’ to his actions that I lost track of what lit my soul on fire. In September of 2022, I knew that I would file for divorce. I couldn’t bring myself to do it until after the Holiday season, so January 2023 I made the call that would pivot not only my life, but those closest to me.
I knew I didn’t want my children raised in a home where certain actions are excused, with a mother that was constantly anxious and struggled to be herself. Making this decision was the absolute hardest decision of my life. But I decided that in this scenario, I get to choose my hard. Being true to myself, my heart, my livelihood seemed less hard than the emotional spiral I was currently in.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
Throughout the past few years, I have learned so much about myself. I have always loved talking to people and learning their stories. I have come to find, that through social media, people also like hearing and learning about my story. I continuously get the, “aren’t you scared” or “I don’t even know how to begin solo travel”. Both of those questions/statements are extremely valid. I am truly hoping that through my story, I can inspire men and women to not settle for mediocracy. I could have stayed in my marriage. I would have been very financially stable, I wouldn’t have to share time with my two favorite people in the world (my kiddos), I would have more free time, and get to travel more. However, I would be trading my light. The light inside me that shines, that laughs freely and doesn’t overthink every movement or word.
There’s something incredibly freeing about being your authentic self. There’s never a great time to make a life change of any sort. I’m hoping I can help remind people how precious life is, that they deserve to be in an environment that supports a healthy mentality.
On the flip side, the last thing I ever want to do is glorify divorce. I do get comments about ‘how easy’ or ‘how happy’ I now look or how it must be ‘great to get a break’ etc….and I’ve shared bits and pieces of my healing journey, but I don’t share the times that I’m physically sick because I miss my kids so much. I’ll work myself up with worrying about their safety when they’re with their father. I don’t show the difficulty of balancing all the metaphorical plates as a single working mother with over 50% custody. The early mornings, the late nights, school projects, extra curricular activities fall on my plate, which can be hard….really hard to be honest. However, I will forever choose this hard over any and every other “hard” situation I’ve been in.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: v8jpgrl
- Other: Tik Tok: v8jpgrl
