Off-Grid Office: Gear, Systems & Adventure with Howard Fox and Emanuel Rose

SPEAKER_01 0:06

Hello everyone, this is Howard Fox and welcome back for another episode of the Outdoor Adventure Series, the podcast that celebrates individuals and families, visitors, and organizations that seek out and promote the exploration, stewardship, conservation, access, and enjoyment of the outdoors. My good friend Emmanuel Rose is returning to the podcast because I want to talk to him because he's not liking that. Okay. Three, two, one. Emmanuel Rose is a returning guest to the outdoor adventure series. And I wanted to get Emmanuel's take on what it would involve getting out on the road as a full-time digital nomad. Because I know Emmanuel likes to get out there and explore weeks at a time. So I thought, who better than have him back on the podcast? So Emmanuel, it's good to see you again. How are you doing?

SPEAKER_00 1:03

Thanks, Howard. I'm doing great. And uh it is it's a fun topic. And I am I'm I want to talk to you about it so we get you out of the house and on the road when at some point this year for a few weeks. So I got I gotta I got a double double purpose here.

SPEAKER_01 1:21

I love that. Thank you. And this is what it means to have a good friend, you know, who cares about me and wants to you know look out for the best. And I do that as well. And uh you're up just up the road a little bit in Reno. I just I even need to get take get out on the road and just get up to Reno just to to see your your outdoor environment because it's a little different. And absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 1:44

And we give get we'll do some desert time, but then we also just go over the border and go hang out in Truckee or in Gregel and get into the National Forest over there. It's uh there's lots to do.

SPEAKER_01 1:55

I love that. And I think you're spot on too. I mean, I am uh the host of the outdoor adventure series. I really do want to put outdoor in the outdoor adventure series. So and uh you are my role model, and I aspire uh to to do that just like you are. I I am curious, but before I actually get started, I have to share this. You and I were talking before I hit the record button, and last weekend I was up in uh Petrified Forest National Park, and there's a lot of national monuments up there, and we were at a one of the monuments is a kind of a central gathering point for set for commerce in the in the in the in the Indian tribes that were up there. Gorgeous red rocks and the beautiful landscape. And this couple was coming down the steps. I was waiting to get a picture with no people in it. This couple was coming down the steps, and the husband they were with two kids, the husband had the Detroit Tigers hat on. And so, of course, being a Detroiter, I said, go D. And he knew exactly what I was talking about. And as we were having this conversation, uh, and my friends Susan and Phil were there as well. We started to talk about just being what sites they were seeing. They shared that they are full-time digital nomads with their kids. And I love it. Uh, and I thought that is that is such a cool thing to do, and what a way to learn for kids just to be out exploring the country, one section of the country at a time, over months or years at a time. That is that's that was pretty cool. And I was curious how they were staying connected, and here we are having this conversation as well. But I had to share that with you.

SPEAKER_00 3:39

Yeah, that's cool. That's uh that's an interesting way to grow up for sure.

SPEAKER_01 3:45

As if you were contemplating, I'm I'm I am past the what I would call idea, I'm past the what I might call the pre-contemplation. But it's actually top of mind, I gotta get out of this house. I mean, I have a nice digital background behind me, but I want to do my podcast out on the road. I want to do my coaching, you know, my business coaching out on the road. And and it and so it begs the question, and I'm curious your take on this. How would you advise folks to get started? And what are some, you know, what's the preparation to be out there safe, but there's also the preparation to get the work done. So there's it seems like there's two tracks we have to care about here.

SPEAKER_00 4:33

For sure. And I I think about it in terms of systems. That's the first thing, right? So if we just take the work system, uh, we got to have uh all the things that you are have in your office space right now. We have to have that mobile level, mobile ready, right? And and some things uh are easy to be mobile, you know. You got a laptop instead of a desktop, your camera is gonna be is fine to have a super mobile, the the sound, uh the speakering, that's a challenge, right? In terms of having a this kind of microphone and and you got headphones, that's fine, but it's the mic, that's a challenge, and then uh lighting is always a challenge uh on on the road. So you gotta figure out a a system for that, and then um and then power, right? Because everything is gonna take electricity. So uh and I'm I'm really uh a low-level understanding of all all things power and electricity, but I do know that if you track the watt hours, that's the way that you can uh understand uh what you need. And so I have uh two 1,000 watt hour battery packs that also have inverters in them. So and these things are readily available. Uh and I always think, in terms of anything that's critical gear, I always have redundant systems. So I actually have three of these battery packs, and that way uh I've got one at home that's charging, and then I have two with me, and then I have multiple ways to charge the battery packs because they're critical, critical gear. So I got solar panel, I've got car charger, I've got wall charger, and and that way I can always be replenishing one while I'm using the other one.

SPEAKER_01 6:33

Okay. So once at home, two are on the road with you, these these chargers like the I have a uh small blue Eddie. Yeah, it's a replacement for one that went bad. And so having you want one, and you talked about the the watt hour. So you really it sounds like you if I need if I have a camera, a microphone, a computer, lighting, I have to know how much watt hours those are going to consume, say over the course of a day or a week that I'm gonna be away. And that is that would be the goal, and then any other equipment that I have, the living side of the of the equation. So I need to be able to run all that equipment day in, day out on that device. And while that's happening, then the backup is is charging. So that's the best case. Yep. Swap it. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 7:35

So I know that uh with uh a standard Starlink for internet and my laptop, I can get about 20 hours of work out of a 1,000 watt hour battery pack.

unknown 7:49

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 7:49

So that's my consumption level. So for me, you know, that's a it's that's a about a week's worth of work uh if managed correctly, uh, to to um take meetings and do work and all that stuff. So that's for me, and they're now are very nice 2,000 watt hour battery packs, but um I will I will always have two, at least two, right? You uh you could have your uh your 2,000 watt hour battery pack is your primary, but you still have to have a backup it for me, because I've been out nowhere out in Troy, Oregon, or on the Deschutes and have a uh a plug go bad on one of those. And so if you just have one, you're you're gonna be driving to town, which is two hours away.

SPEAKER_01 8:35

Right. And you may not even be able to find what you need.

SPEAKER_00 8:39

Oh no, you're just gonna go there just to get your work done. Yeah, there's no way uh that uh that yeah, Eastern Oregon, small town in Eastern Oregon has anything like no no radio shack there. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 8:53

With uh you you mentioned Starlink, and I know we were eventually going to uh uh speak to it. You know, Starlink has been around for a couple years now. There's rockets going up and satellites, I imagine they have to be replaced day in, you know, over the course of time. Is is Starlink as far as connectivity is concerned, is that would you consider that the gold standard if you are out in the middle of you know nowhere and or on the you know the shoots or up in Oregon and et cetera? Is that the gold standard for staying connected? Because my my role work, podcasting, coaching, requires connection. So is that the gold standard?

SPEAKER_00 9:41

Uh for me, I I've what I've found with Starlink is that it's uh it's as good as my home internet access. Um so it's as long as you got north facing sky, uh you're you're good. It's it you know, it ha you have to have line of sight to the north, but um it is every bit as good as as uh wired internet in your house for sure. And it's very reliable, it's very affordable, and uh and the power consumption of the the Starlink Mini, I think, is like it's like 15 watt hours or something, you know, 15 watts per hour, very low consumption. I I just have the standard. I haven't uh I haven't upgraded to the mini because I don't need to, but there is that option.

SPEAKER_01 10:28

Now, if let's say you run into an issue that you you can't get to that a clear view of a north facing sky, what's your backup?

SPEAKER_00 10:40

Well, I have uh uh a Wi-Fi, a cellular Wi-Fi router. So I would have to get into somewhere where there was cell reception and then one of those uh Ryoko or one of those kind of tools that pulls in 5G and then turns that into Wi-Fi. And those those also have been very, very uh stable for me, but um I don't I'm I don't like having to be within cellular range.

SPEAKER_01 11:07

Okay, okay. What type of standing, sitting tables, chairs, what type of equipment are you typically working in? Because day in, day out, that's that's your office.

SPEAKER_00 11:24

Yeah, for sure. So the director's chair is the one that that you want to have. It's the it has the square the square shape versus like the soccer mom chair. So the director's chair, and then there's some heavy-duty uh roll-up tables uh that that I use. There's an some good ouse products that uh that you can get that are pretty readily available, but then there's another one that's a different company that built a really heavy-duty uh set of tables. And uh, and so I usually have uh I have you know have one for the kitchen and then um one for miscellaneous gear, and then one that's just like my desk. And that with the director's chair uh is pretty bomber. And then the the primary tents that I use are the Cabela's Alaskan uh guide, I think they're the Alaskan guide tents, and uh either a four-man or uh eight-man, and inside of those is enough enough room to be able to work uh and get out of the weather if needed. Otherwise, a lot of times I just set up on on the the front of my Xterra and uh I just work outside. Um I'll plugged in out there and uh get the as you've seen, I have the the Vista in the background and uh it always creates good conversation with people.

SPEAKER_01 12:47

I love that. By the way, uh because I I want to uh make this request early on so I don't forget, if you have some photos of you in the office and some of the setups, I would love those for the show notes. Oh yeah, I'll send some. Yeah. Okay. So we've got uh we've got the the portable batteries, uh we've got charging systems while the uh and the inverters while the while the the vehicle is moving, you're charging your equipment. You've got solar a solar setup uh when you get to your location uh to keep the the batteries uh at uh at at the top of the charge. We've got Starlink. We if we need to get to town, we've got the cellular, uh the Wi-Fi routers, we've got tables, chairs. What other now you we talked very briefly about you know some of the equipment for outdoors. Now, like I have a professional mic here, you've got one with a um, I forgot what those little things are with the the oh yeah, the sound, the sound protector there's spit protects. Yes, I was gonna say I was not gonna say spit protector, but I thought about it. We've got a uh a good digital camera, you've got a good camera, I've got a good camera. Uh we've got lighting. Any particular kind of camera, mic, lighting, or is it just as long as it's good podcast quality?

SPEAKER_00 14:10

Yeah, I'd say just qu just quality. I mean, there's there's so much good electronics out there now. I I I'm not um I'm not brand conscious, I'm tech uh feature conscious. And uh so that's that's how I do it, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:25

Okay. Now, while you're out there, you know, I'm sure you've got your your Coleman two-burner stove, you've got your little uh propane kind of tanks, but what what are you doing to also you just need to take a break, you want to make some breakfast, some lunch, dinner. How are you accomplishing that?

SPEAKER_00 14:46

Yeah, so I definitely have a propane grill, so I can grill grill food that way. Sometimes you gotta make garlic bread or steak, so you want to have that grilled. The camp chef is the is the the stove de jour these days. It you want 10,000 BTUs per burner. That that keeps it um keeps the speed of cooking up. And so yeah, the camp chef is good. And then I have uh, you know, have one cast iron pan and then a couple of uh regular pans and some pots. And uh, you know, I try to keep it simple. I like to grill meat and uh and cook a little bit of you know, or have salad, or or to do uh some uh what we call chislets, which is usually wild game meat cubed up into one by one squares and then flash fried in the olive oil with some some breadcrumbs on it.

SPEAKER_01 15:43

And uh so you you are you're you're we're not talking granola, we're talking good eats out there.

SPEAKER_00 15:49

Yeah. No, we're we're grown up now, we don't have to have granola. We so you want to have you want to have one one yeti ice chest, probably 35 at least quarts, maybe 45 quart yeti, and that would be your your the food that you need to keep cold, and then uh and then usually you'd have a a second uh kind of uh ice chest or or soft-sided cooler, that would be your drink cooler and all the other stuff. And then uh I keep a uh a dry box for the dry food. And then uh yeah, you get uh the I you know I don't have a trailer, I have an ana because I like the the freedom and the mobility of just being in in my my truck. And so I have uh I got four totes that are all the same size. I think they're like 20 quart totes, and that's my storage system, and then for all the for all the gear we just talked about, and then uh two ice chests and uh and then a tent, and you would need to have a cot. That's a as a grown man, you want to have a cot and a at least a three-inch, but preferably a four-inch pad for the cot. And uh, and so um, you know, space is a always a consideration, especially once you know you've got camera gear, you're gonna have some hiking gear, and then I have usually I have at least two disciplines that I'm out after. I usually have a hunting set, which could be decoys, uh, shotguns, specialty clothing, and then I have fly fishing gear, which is waders, fly rods, and uh, and all those accessories. So it can it can get pretty tight. Plus, the dog has to have some space in the back, too.

SPEAKER_01 17:38

Oh, dogs, that's a whole other uh layer of comp complexity here.

SPEAKER_00 17:44

Yeah, so he's got his own bag and uh and then uh some some accessories for him as well. But so you've got to have you know your systems, you gotta have your sleep system, you gotta have your camp system, your cook system, and cleaning, and then also you gotta have some kind of a bathroom system because uh, you know, you gotta have have some ways to uh wash your hands and uh take care of all the other bathroom necessities.

SPEAKER_01 18:12

Sure. You know, I did a episode last year with a company called Compu Closet, and part of what excites me uh about going out with someone like yourself and and really kind of replicating as best I can your your conditions so that I too can do this and and lean into this unknown for me is also to to to to have the facilities because you need you need that's not going away. You have to plan for it. And especially when you're out for one week, two weeks at a time, and these guys at Compu Closet uh had this composting toilet, and it was great, you just do it all. And you know, it's just and I I imagine the the Jeep Extera is gonna have uh it is a Jeep, right? Nissan, yeah. Nissan Xtera, excuse me, Nissan, I apologize. But you you I mean you have to factor in the space for it, uh the this this toilet. How when you are re when you are all packed up and ready to go, you give the wife a kiss, goodbye. Is that is that extera filled? There's not a there's not a spot left, uh, or is there still room for some maneuvering around?

SPEAKER_00 19:29

Yeah, well, like last year when I I was on the road for eight weeks straight. Yeah, and I I drove about six thousand miles. And uh for that adventure, it was it was it was everything on the roof that was packed, and uh, and then yeah, every there was no room because I've got got all that gear I said, and then I got a guitar, and then my my work gear, and uh, and yeah, so I've extended now. I have a uh I have a a hitch rack. So I can put put some things like the propane tanks and uh ice chests and that kind of stuff on the on the back outside, and that frees up a little bit of room on the inside, but it is a little Beverly Hillbilly, but I I'll take the the embarrassment of looking like a hillbilly uh to be able to be uh have the freedom to not have to drag a trailer.

SPEAKER_01 20:25

There you go. Well, you know something that I love that because uh at our age, I much want to I well for especially for me, I want to get out there and just have done it and successfully have done it. I don't care what I look like. Speaking of the extera, how are you getting the vehicle ready? Because you're out in the middle of nowhere. Yeah, okay. What are you preparing for as far as the vehicle c vehicle is concerned?

SPEAKER_00 20:54

Yeah, I I definitely uh have a strong maintenance program all year round so that uh there are no no uh surprises. And I'm getting ready to do some some kind of pre-maintenance, which will be put in a new radiator, put in a new starter, a new alternator, even though they're all working fine. But those are those and then uh belts and uh you know those those things are the things that that will go wrong that are avoidable uh if you take care of them in advance. But yeah, okay. You gotta you have to think about that too, and that's a good point.

SPEAKER_01 21:29

Okay. Uh so I am curious before you uh are heading out, how much lead time are you allowing for yourself to like get ready? And do you have lists kind of like a checklist that a pilot would use before they leave the gate, before they head out to the taxiway, they're on the runway, they're they're heading down the runway. Do you have checklists that you have created? So okay, I've got this, I've got this, I've got this.

SPEAKER_00 22:03

No, what I've done to kind of take the take the mystery out of it is I just I have uh totes that are just for certain systems. And so and I never touch those, never take anything out of them uh except to use it and then put it back. And so you know, I've got the tote that's got all the fire making and hatchet and saw and all that stuff, um, and the tubes for the uh propane uh setup and those sorts of things, and I got my cooking tote and um and then if if it's uh an activity like fly fishing, then I just I have one bag that has the the boots and the waiters and the and the appropriate reels and uh and uh flies in it. So I never have to think about it. Otherwise it just can it's too much uh too much overhead for me.

SPEAKER_01 22:58

I I I appreciate that. Now you're if you're doing your work, you know, our our computer, we have backup. Well, we have our storage on our computer, we've got a variety of backup flash drives we can plug in, but how are you storing your content when you are out on the field, you have that internet connection? Where's the content going so you know it's safe and you can work with it a day later, a week later or more?

SPEAKER_00 23:28

Yeah, I I do everything on Google Drive. And so, you know, obviously you have to have well, you don't have to, you can work locally on your laptop, and then once you have uh internet, then it pushes every it resets all the files for you. So that way you don't have to worry, I don't have to worry about it just on on the cloud.

SPEAKER_01 23:45

Okay. Now you you briefly mentioned some of the uh safety aspect of uh you know carrying some of the equipment you're carrying, but what happens when something unexpected, say uh the unexpected guest comes by at the tent?

SPEAKER_00 24:02

Well, I mean I I do have uh I do have some tools, some force multipliers, what we call them. Okay, and except for when we travel to Canada, we're not allowed to bring those force force multipliers. So yeah, I I in all the years and I've been going and doing these things since I was five years old, and uh really the probably the worst thing that's ever happened is a bear coming in the camp trying to get in the ice chest, right? I fortunately haven't haven't really ever had a a need for it, but uh for any kind of defense, but we always are prepared for uh such activities.

SPEAKER_01 24:43

Okay. So if if you're a newbie uh as I am, now I don't have the others may not have the benefit of knowing you and being good friends, and you're you're gonna help me along here. Absolutely. What what would you recommend folks do to get out of this? Oh, this is a kind of a wild idea, I'm never gonna do it, to actually making it happen. How what recommendations would you have for folks to start to get started?

SPEAKER_00 25:14

Yeah, I love it. I I would say uh go and you know, first of all, schedule the time and pick a weekend and say we're gonna do this for this weekend, and then do a little bit of research on YouTube, and and then you want to make sure that you have a comfortable sleeping area with a warm enough sleeping bag because the that's that's probably one of the bigger changes that you're gonna have since there's the the heating, heating part of the house is what we get used to. Um but pick a time, commit to doing it for the whole weekend, um state park or something, or county park. And if you you forget something, it's easy enough to run into town and and pick up some extra supplies and go back out there. And um, you know, you the best way to do something is just get started. And uh you just have to think about um there's there's food, there's uh sleeping and uh safety from the weather, and uh you want to make sure you have enough the correct clothing and uh and then uh and then some activities to do to do during the day. So bring bring a book or uh bring a fishing rod. I love it.

SPEAKER_01 26:30

Or you know, just uh you got the book, the fishing rod. I'm just curious, uh beverage of choice for you?

SPEAKER_00 26:39

Well, in the morning it's coffee, and then uh yeah, I've I do enjoy enjoy red wine and I do enjoy a dram of whiskey now and again. Okay, and yeah, so that's nice uh campfire activity for sure.

SPEAKER_01 26:54

Okay. As you kind of look back on the journeys you have been on, any surprises for you or moments of insight like wow, uh this is great. And I know you're uh I I alluded to it uh at the introduction, you are a uh an award-winning author as well as podcaster, and I know you're very uh passionate about just getting out in the wilds and just being in the moment, being with nature, clearing your head, and just take it all in. But are there any free uh aha moments for you where you look back and go, this is fantastic?

SPEAKER_00 27:39

Yeah, a couple years ago I was up in uh the Great Plains of Saskatchewan, and uh and I got to see the Aurora Borealis for a couple nights. And um and it was I you know, you see the pictures of it, right? I'd see the pictures and well, that's pretty, blah, blah, blah. You know, that's nice. But experiencing it and and feeling the electricity that was in the air and and just uh feeling like a part of it, even briefly, uh the the beauty and the light show and the the the electricity was just uh it was uh amazing and uh transformative for sure.

SPEAKER_01 28:22

Okay. And I have to think that just being out there with your four-legged friend has got to be pretty amazing too. Man, a man and his dog.

SPEAKER_00 28:31

Yeah, I mean it is. It's nice to it's nice to get out. But I'll tell you, after eight weeks on the road, I was uh most happy to get home and uh you know, ready, ready to get into, I guess, a more familiar uh routine of activities. So, you know, those people who are out there living, living like that for and raising their kids like that, that uh I don't think I could do that. That's that's more than I would want to do. I like having seeing my friends and you know, some of these, some of these things that we take for granted in our day-to-day activities.

SPEAKER_01 29:07

Very good. Well, Emmanuel, I uh appreciate you taking time today to to chat. And you know, and actually I do have one last question or a couple last questions. Is there any equipment or materials belongings that maybe we should have mentioned that we hadn't yet mentioned that come top of mind?

SPEAKER_00 29:29

Well, yeah, once you get out there a few times, you really want to have uh like I have those small propane tanks, I think they're like six-pound propane tanks, so the smaller ones because they're easier to pack. And then there's a distribution tree that you attach to that where you can attach multiple uh appliances to it. So one propane tank will run your your camp kitchen, uh your your camp shelf, it'll run the grill, and then also have uh space for a lantern. So that's a really nice uh single you know, single purpose unit so that you have your cooking and lighting system all contained in one for the kitchen. So that's important. And then yeah, you just kind of you'll the if you go five or six times, you kind of build your own systems. And um there's uh home home depot as your friend and REI is your friend, and uh and you'll be able to um you know really find uh the necessary gear uh around each of the activities that you're doing that way.

SPEAKER_01 30:37

Excellent, excellent. Uh Emmanuel, before uh before we do head out now, uh where would listeners go to if they want to learn more about you and your work?

SPEAKER_00 30:48

You can go to emmanuelrose.com and uh or type that into Google or type that into uh ChatGPT and I'll come up uh first on that.

SPEAKER_01 30:59

Fantastic. Emmanuel, uh thank you so much for this episode of this idea, just uh kind of a spark on a previous call you and I and uh our friend Rick were on, and I just uh I'm glad we were able to do it. And it's always a pleasure to produce work with you. So thank you so much.

SPEAKER_00 31:15

Yeah, thank you, Howard. And I'm looking forward to getting your after-action report from your uh your weekend camping trip.

SPEAKER_01 31:21

There you go. I love it. Well, I I I definitely have to make at least a couple days, a week long weekend, a week. I think I can handle that. But uh there's there's some planning that goes into it, so it's definitely uh I'm ready for it because, like I said earlier, I need to be able to put the outdoors and the outdoor adventure series. There we go. I love it. I love it. Listen, we're gonna do a quick close and then you and I can have a final chat, okay? Sounds good. All right, folks. We have just been chatting with uh Emmanuel Rose, good friend and outdoor enthusiast, podcaster, award-winning author, and uh a man who really I aspire to to join out on the open road, just to to get out there, enjoy myself, do a little work, but just be off-grid for a little bit, get out of the get away from the pavement. And uh Manuel has been doing this for many years, and he and the the key word was the word systems. He has systems in place that allow him to do this. And so every month when he's going off on an excursion, you know, he's prepared and he not only is he enjoying himself, but he's getting his work done because a lot of what we do is is virtual, and we don't have to be stuck in an office. We can do it uh anywhere, state park, national park, uh BLM land, uh, of uh or wherever really your heart's desire. So really appreciate Emmanuel uh taking some time to talk about uh the systems and processes that go into uh doing having this kind of lifestyle uh off-grid. Now do go out to uh Emmanuel's website, emmanuel.com, and we'll also provide a link uh to it and also to his LinkedIn profile uh as well. As for us, you can find this episode on our website, outdooradventureseries.com. We're also on LinkedIn and Facebook on our outdoor adventure series pages. The video of this episode will be up on YouTube. Uh on our website, we'll have uh some photos with our show along with the show notes of some of the equipment that we uh spoke about today. And I'm going to twist Emmanuel's arm. He's gonna provide a few photos of him out in the middle of nowhere, just living his best life with his uh four-legged friend. And of course, folks, you can listen to this episode wherever you get your podcast from. All right, wherever you are, whatever you're doing, go out there and have a fantastic day. And we look forward to having you join us on a future episode of the Outdoor Adventure Series Podcast. Take care now.