The Relentless Pursuit of Joy

The Defender Diaries, vol. 3

As I was sitting by the campfire a few days ago, single malt scotch in hand, I looked over at our mobile home parked nearby. We’d clipped an awning to its roof rack, under which we maneuvered a wooden picnic table. A wet towel was draped on the rear ladder, and dusty hiking boots sat on the front fender. Inside the back, a folding foam mattress and two sleeping bags awaited us, illuminated by a small lantern suspended from a bungee cord. It was a cozy scene, our tidy, self-contained little home away from home—a three decade old Land Rover Defender—and it made me smile to see it there. Over two years of ownership, and three road trips this summer, I’ve come to appreciate this old truck more and more. We’ve owned many vehicles, some of which we’ve driven all over the country, taken camping, diving, hiking and all other manner of activities. But none really inspired us to jump in and go with such a purposeful, beckoning call to adventure. It waits there, on the street, the trailhead, at the campsite, in all weather, panting and muddy like a faithful sled dog that just wants to have fun. And we’re happy to oblige.

I’ve long been a proponent of using wristwatches for their intended purpose, and beyond. I’ve also said that the most important function of a modern “tool” watch is to inspire its owner to get out and do cool stuff while wearing it. I’ve realized that the same logic applies, for me, with this Land Rover. It makes the most mundane trip into an adventure, and driving it, loaded up for a diving or camping weekend, enhances those outings into full-on expeditions. During our long, cold winters, we sometimes take a camp stove, a kettle and a couple of tea bags and go find a snowy park in which to brew up a cup in the back of the Landy. Swaddled in our down clothes, clutching the mugs for warmth, we call it, “adventure tea,” and it’s not something we’d likely do in our newer Volvo with its heated seats and traction control. I’ve driven the Defender onto frozen lakes to ski and dive, on 4x4 trails up in Minnesota’s rocky, remote Iron Range, and on fire roads along the North Shore of Lake Superior. Sure, another vehicle might be able to do some of these things, but there’s just something about doing it in a Land Rover that stirs my soul.