I've known Ron Douglas since I bought the Sport Trac from him a few years ago. He turned out to be a true friend. Ron is always coming up with fresh ideas and when he wanted to do a motorcycle tour around Iceland and make a documentary video about it, I was all for it. Ron made all the arrangements and took his friend Jon Hulme out here with him. We set out with two motorcycles and my Sport Trac.
Here is a short clip from the movie:
Even though the weather was sometimes as bad as it can get here in the middle of the summer, the resulting film gives a good insight into parts of the country you are not used to seeing in other similar films. And - Ron turns out to be a natural when it comes to standing in front of the camera and Jon looked pretty cool in the viking outfit!
Thrandur: Hey Ron - thanks for taking the time to do this interview. Can you tell me a little bit about you and your 4x4 love and off road adventures.
Ron: I fell in love with Overlanding when I was small. My father was in the military and as a family we would explore the new base and surroundings on the weekends. That is where I caught the bug to explore and find new things.
Thrandur: How did you get started?
Ron: I was mostly into drag racing and building fast muscle cars. When I moved to Utah, I visited Moab in a 1976 Ford Hi Boy I had. After that, it was all about dirt roads and back country explorations!
Thrandur: So - how come you thought of making a motorcycle tour to Iceland?
Ron: Well my good friend Thrandur has been inviting to visit for a while. It was always a passion of mine to visit Iceland, and motorcycling across a new country is really an amazing experience.
Thrandur: I know you spent a good deal of time and effort to organize the whole trip. How did you do that?
Ron: A lot of research. Spent a lot of time on Google Earth. Researched the country and figured out the things I wanted to see. Also couldn't have done it without great support! Thanks go out to Thrandur Arnthorsson and Jon Hulme. Without them, the trip wouldn't have been the same.
Thrandur: Was there anything that came as a surprise to you about Iceland?
Ron: The friendliness of the people. I never expected the amount of friendly people I would come to meet.
Thrandur: What are some of the most interesting places you saw?
Ron: So many! Rotten Shark, Viking huts, river crossings and amazing glaciers. I also loved the waterfall that we had to hike into a cave to see. That was truly amazing.
Thrandur: I know you LOVE good food - anything you got that was memorable?
Ron: I am all about good food! There were so many great dishes out there. The restaurants were so good. I can not think of one meal that was just "ok". They were all so great! I loved the dried fish. I didn't expect I would. It tasted like fish jerky, but once I ate it I was hooked.
Thrandur: Do you plan on coming back - and what would you like to see or do?
Ron: I would love to come back! Our family world trip we have planned, Iceland is at the top of the list.
Thrandur: I know you are planning on a world tour. When is that scheduled - and what route will you take?
Ron: We plan to start this in about a year. We will concentrate a lot on North America and Iceland, while my youngest gets a little older. Then we plan on South America. After that is still in the planning stages.
Thrandur: What kind of a vehicle will be your ride and what equipment/accessories will you take with you?
Ron: I will take The Badlander, our family Suburban that is Cummins powered! We will also be pulling our camp trailer. It is quite the setup! I cant wait to get out there and show my family what I have seen! I will probably spend minimum of two months there.
Thrandur:Name five important things you learned about shooting video?
Ron: 1-Audio is just as important as film.
2-Filming is not even close to as easy as it looks on TV.
3-Filming outdoors in ICELAND can be a real challenge! Most of the video couldn't be used because the audio was blown.
4-Have a great mic handy and always on. We had people come up and chat, and because I wasn't mic'd up we missed it.
5-Get a bean bag. It was a total life saver to have a bag we could set the camera up on.
Saved a lot of time so we didn't have to constantly pull out the tripod.
Thrandur:What about the film editing and marketing - any tips there?
Ron: I hired the editing done. It was costly, but I wanted to concentrate on my next Overland Journey. Marketing is a tough one. I'm still working on that one myself.
Thrandur: I hear you sold your business in Colorado and just moved to Missouri. What are your plans there?
Ron: I did sell one of my companies. My plan is to sleep in my hammock until I'm so extremely bored that I hit my next project with 110% drive! I still do a lot of business coaching, so it wont be all down time. I may take this coaching to the next level, people are always asking if I will take on just one more client.
Thrandur: How can our readers get to see the video?
Ron: It can be seen directly online or you can order a hard copy from our store!
Thrandur: Well, thank you for taking the time off to do this interview, and great luck with your off roading and other projects. Some final words?
Ron: There is so much to see and do out there, get out there and explore! Find your own Overland Journey! Do not wait, start today!
