Autoblog Readers Aren't Excited About Paying For Hipster Vay-Cay

Jack Baruth
by Jack Baruth

Meet Brad, Sheena, and Nacho! They are in “the midst of a life-defining campaign to travel around the world”. But they’re afraid to enter Pakistan. Apparently they thought they could travel around the world without visiting any scary places, presumably because their parents didn’t buy them any Jules Verne books. They’d rather drive through China and maybe hang with our Editor-in-chief a little bit, who knows. The cost for that little unplanned detour is nearly twenty thousand dollars. That’s where you come in — helping them make their life-defining campaign as safe and easy as possible.

What? You’re not eager to do this?

When Autoblog scribe and all-around good guy Zach Bowman decided to write “Help A Couple Drive Their 1984 Vanagon Around The World” he probably didn’t expect that his readers would cover all of Brad/Sheena/Nacho’s expenses. But what he really didn’t expect was the unrelenting stream of vitriol and contempt directed at the dream-vacationing couple and their twee-named Vanagon. One of the more even-handed comments sums up the general reaction:

I know I’m echoing others here but really?! They’ve gone travelling around the world, something most of us can only dream of, and have realised they didn’t budget enough? Oops. Nice idea but in today’s economic climate, from a UK perspective a climate that is actually pricing poorer families off the road, they’ve come cap in hand to continue their journey.

It’s a brilliant idea and I wish them all the luck in the world. But begging for money, so you can go gallivanting around China, in a world where people go to sleep hungry every night is slightly tasteless in my opinion.

Other people have rather hilariously suggested that Brad and Sheena, but presumably not Nacho, engage in Pakistani prostitution to cover the tab. The tone of the discussion has apparently caused Mr. Bowman to repeatedly delete comments he finds to be offensive — and if you’ve read AB, you know that doesn’t happen very often.

The video made by Brad to encourage would-be contributors doesn’t exactly improve matters; he complains about having to eat “unidentifiable food” during his extended vay-cay and refers to the $19,000-plus bounty he expects the Internet to shower upon him as “your part in the adventure”. He also promises to write a second book about Nacho’s trip, which given the quality of his video could be plausibly seen to actually be a threat.

While Mr. Bowman is saddened at the Autoblog response to Nacho’s travails, I find it almost impossible to believe he thought it would be any other way. In an era where most young people can’t find work of any type, these two loons quit their jobs to travel the world and expect that somehow the working stiffs left behind at the McDonald’s fry counters and call centers of flyover country will unhesitatingly fund their cowardice. They deserve to be ridiculed using every means at the Internet’s disposal.

In the spirit of friendship, however, I’ll extend a slightly different offer. If Brad, Sheena, and Nacho screw their courage to the sticking-place and drive all the way through Pakistan, I’ll buy a retail-priced copy of any book that honestly details that portion of their trip. Otherwise, I’m afraid that “my part” of their adventure will consist of laughing at their presumption.

Jack Baruth
Jack Baruth

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  • Cameron Aubernon Cameron Aubernon on Apr 25, 2013

    I decided to watch their video, and here are my thoughts: 1. Nacho really is a twee name for any vehicle, let alone a Vanagon. +1 2. There was no ukulele or other hipster-esque sounds playing the background. The video really needed to be as twee as the name Nacho through and through. -1 3. The recording itself was done through what sounds like their computer's mic. Gotta be more professional in audio production. Also: More twee. -1 4. How is it that the video claims they need just over $19,000 to enter China while their Kickstarter goal is the oddly specific amount of $25,602? That's not very twee. -1 Also: Brad, if you're still reading this, Mr. Baruth is more than willing to throw down with you. All you have to do copy/paste your complaint into the contact form. In the meantime, as Charlie Sheen should have told you long ago, plan better. Also: Be more twee.

  • Drksd4848 Drksd4848 on Apr 25, 2013

    I checked their site out to see if she's hot. That's about the only thing worth checking out on their site - just to see if she's hot. Meh... She's alright. Kind of generic and mousey but I wouldn't throw her out. Here's an idea for them: Why don't they get an account on one of those amateur home-made porn sites and sell some videos. There are lots of worthless hipsters doing just that. In fact, that's about the only thing that most millennials know how to do.

  • Joe This is called a man in the middle attack and has been around for years. You can fall for this in a Starbucks as easily as when you’re charging your car. Nothing new here…
  • AZFelix Hilux technical, preferably with a swivel mount.
  • ToolGuy This is the kind of thing you get when you give people faster internet.
  • ToolGuy North America is already the greatest country on the planet, and I have learned to be careful about what I wish for in terms of making changes. I mean, if Greenland wants to buy JDM vehicles, isn't that for the Danes to decide?
  • ToolGuy Once again my home did not catch on fire and my fire extinguisher(s) stayed in the closet, unused. I guess I threw my money away on fire extinguishers.(And by fire extinguishers I mean nuclear missiles.)
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