What is Traveler?
Traveler is a YouTube Series that I filmed in 2021. I hit the road in my 2002 Ford F-150 and travelled the entire East Coast of the US in 28 Days while living out of the bed of my truck. I put a twin mattress in the back, packed a suitcase, and hit the road. I did it like that to save money by not getting hotel rooms. That was the only way I could afford to make the trip.
The idea first came about when I was looking to go to Covington, Georgia to see The Dukes of Hazzard Filming Locations. But with the way my mind works, I began planning a few stops along the way. The ideas for this trip just kept coming in and it became a month long journey from my hometown of Howell, Michigan. I went all over, and filmed 16 YouTube Videos in the process, and I even got to meet Kid Rock while on the road.
Where did I go?
My first stop was at the Northeast Ohio Dukes World Headquarters. I swung by to see my buddy Raymond Kohn, and tour his shop. Plus I met up with a friend of mine from Instagram, Bruce. We kicked it for a bit at Walmart, and when he headed home I got ready for bed, but before doing that I had to cook up some dinner!
Part of my idea for the trip involved bringing a grille to save money. I could buy some food at Walmart, then cook it later that night. Some days the food lasted me until the next night if I cooked enough. It was way cheaper than spending $20+ at McDonalds every time I got hungry... not to mention, cooking was way healthier for me as well. On the first night, I cooked some turkey burgers. They were pretty good, but the first night cooking was a bit of a shit show LMAO!
I'm a massive history buff. Despite how I talk, or how unprofessional I can be at times... learning about history holds a big piece in my heart. So the first half of the series consisted of me visiting the historical locations of Pennsylvania. The first location on the list was the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville. On September 11th, 2001, the plane that was headed for the US Capitol Building crashed here. The memorial is gorgeous, and a great tribute to those lost.
Shortly after visiting the Flight 93 Memorial, I went to Somerset to go Antiquing. That place was like a Vintage Toy Collectors DREAM! Only, they didn't have any Dukes Memorabilia which sucked, but I did get a Flintstones Lunch Box and some Pez Dispensers while I was that was pretty neat. I have an addiction to antiquing, but there's always so much cool and random stuff in them places! It soothes my ADHD to run around one and look at stuff lol.
At this point, I was working on making my way to New York City, but still had a few more days on my hands so there was some time to kill. I made a stop in Gettysburg to see the Military Museum. There was a ton of cool relics in there from the civil war, it was fascinating! Gettysburg was a really cool town, the architecture in the downtown area was beautiful! I wasn't there for too long, it was extremely hot outside and considering I was living in a truck with no air conditioning... I was excited to hit the road again and feel the wind.
I think the most random place on this list that I visited was Hershey! In this vlog you'll get to see both my professional side, and my "zero fucks given" side HA! I talked some history at the beginning of the video, but the bulk of it is me sitting in a big Hershey Kiss on a children's ride through the "chocolate factory" lmao! If you need a good laugh, go give it a watch!
At this point in the trip, I was a day ahead of schedule (which was good). My plan was to arrive in New Jersey on Friday Night to stay the weekend with my good friend Joe Picariello. It was Thursday morning and I had already arrived in Philadelphia, not even an hour away from Joe's.
I went to Philadelphia for 2 reasons: One, I always dreamed of seeing the birthplace of this great nation. Two, at the docks in Philly sits the SS United States. The SS United States is one of the last ocean liners that still exist. She was America's Flagship back in her prime days of ocean travel. The ship is 990 feet long, almost 108 feet LONGER than the RMS Titanic. I hope one day she will see restoration, this ship is so badass and definitely doesn't deserve to rust away in port.
After exploring Philly, I made my way to Joe's house that night. I was exhausted at this point and ready to sleep in an air conditioned home. I rested pretty much all of Friday, then come Saturday morning we made it to NYC. The first place on our agenda was the Statue of Liberty. We couldn't climb up it though sadly, all because of the 'Rona ugh. But we also went to Ellis Island and the One World Observatory. I had never been in a big city like that, so I was mind blown. NYC is very liberal sadly, but fun nonetheless.
Being in NYC, there was one place that I had to see: the 9/11 Memorial at the World Trade Center. It is so beautiful, and a great way to remember those lost... but it felt so eerie to be walking on the same grounds that hundreds ran for their lives that fateful day. One thing I can say about it is that I love the fact that the One World Trade Center stands at 1776 feet tall... making it a 1776 Foot Tall Middle Finger of Freedom! Fuck Terrorists.
We left New York City after going up to the One World Observatory. I spent the rest of the weekend hanging out with Joe, resting up for the rest of the trip. Which was a good thing, I really needed it.
Monday morning came quick, Joe had to go back to work, so I hit the road again. I hit the highway, and intended to drive straight through until I reached Cooter's Place in Luray, Virginia. But then I started thinking... Washington DC isn't too far out of my way. I set my GPS to take me to Capitol Hill and man I was so out of place there! But I had fun, minus the thunderstorm I got caught in. My dumbass didn't check the weather upon arrival lol. I thought it was hilarious! "The Storm is HERE"
After being a lost puppy in big cities like NYC, DC, and Philly... I was so ready to get back to the countryside. Being a big Dukes fan, Cooter's Place in Luray, Virginia was the perfect place to head. Just the drive out was absolutely stunning, the views in the mountains were amazing. I toured the museum, and I was greatly surprised to see they actually had one of my Orange Cars Matter stickers in the museum! That was extremely cool to see, and luckily I had some on me to hand out.
When I left Luray, I continued south from there and headed to the Boar's Nest Dukes of Hazzard Museum in Rougemont, North Carolina. There, I got together with my friend Brandon Bergin (owner of the Silver General Lee) who I tailed over to the Boar's Nest. At the Boar's Nest, we were greeted by the owner, Tracey Duke. Tracey took us on a tour of the museum and showed us his huge collection of Dukes Memorabilia. It was a lot of fun to visit.
After the Boar's Nest Museum, Brandon and I went and got ourselves some food over at Waffle House. There in the parking lot is where I filmed a showcase video of the Silver General Lee. It is a 2009 Dodge Challenger Hemi with the General Lee graphics on it... and a whole lot of signatures on the Dashboard. He also took me for a ride in the car, and man it was fun! We had a blast hanging out that day.
This was probably the highlight of the entire series... Covington, Georgia. This is where the first 5 episodes of The Dukes of Hazzard was filmed, and in my filming locations tour I explored town square, the Boar's Nest, Duke Farm, and many other locations from the show in between! It took two days to film this video... I was so dehydrated from the heat that I had to take a break halfway through filming... it was 104° out on the first day.
Breaker One, Breaker One! After the second day of filming the Filming Locations Tour, I was invited over to my friend Pete's house (Krazy Kochiss). He gave me a tour of his epic car collection and Dukes memorabilia collection. What you see in the video was genuinely our very first time meeting, and it was so cool of him to invite me into his home like he did. Thanks again, Pete! Stay Rebel haha.
The last episode of Traveler! This one is the Smokey & The Bandit Filming Locations with Pete! What a damn good time this was going to see these spots... and it was especially fun to ride in that badass blacked out Challenger of his haha! The AC was a blessing from above lol, especially considering my ol' pickup doesn't have air conditioning and still doesn't to this day haha! Just gonna send it though bud lmao!