Have you ever driven a truck? Let me tell you, if you drive a car that ever feels vulnerable or like it could be easily pushed around, driving a truck is an absolute game changer. A certain level of anxiety is normal when you’re driving with a semi truck on one side and a highway guardrail on the other, but in a truck, you won’t flinch a bit. Speaking as someone with zero experience in anything involving the military or tanks, I can say with one hundred percent certainty that driving a well-built truck feels precisely like driving an M1 Abrams, which I know is a real tank because I play video games. Please, do yourself a favor and find somewhere nearby with trucks for sale. Ask for a test drive, and then tell that salesman to close his talk-hole so you can focus on feeling like a badass.
Now that I’ve driven a truck for five minutes and chosen to free myself of my midsize sedan shaped shackles, I have a journey to take. I’m going down a rabbit hole of truck information. I’ll be looking mainly at things that pique my interest, so you can expect a lot of information regarding the more fun and exciting aspects of America’s favorite type of vehicle.
Personal Interests
I like camping, and since it’s the summer it’s been on my mind a lot lately, so that was one of the first things I checked up on. It seems completely obvious to me now, I don’t know why I never thought about it before, but I was surprised to find out just how useful owning a truck can be for an avid camper. I’ve never had the luxury of a vehicle with off-road capabilities, so I’m used to hiking a few miles before being able to set up camp. I’m not a huge fan of public campgrounds either, so none of my camping experiences have been close to cars. The idea that I could drive right to a viable (and legal) campsite and set up without breaking a sweat is enticing. That extra time and energy coupled with the additional carrying capacity would make larger, more versatile campsites possible. Never again would I be forced to wrestle with myself over decisions like whether to bring the portable grill or the fishing pole, I could just bring it all. Even if you aren’t as passionate about camping as I am, it’s still a great activity for a group of friends, and owning a truck makes it ten times more accessible. And who knows, maybe you’ll enjoy it more than you think. I have plenty of friends who are morally opposed to hiking, and I’m very excited to finally be able to share these kinds of experiences with them despite our disagreements involving walking on inclined land.
Accessories
With thoughts of camping tools swirling around my head, I figured I’d do a search to see if there were any interesting accessories for trucks, maybe even some things that accommodated my interests. The number of neat attachments and accessories that exist for pickup trucks is insane, from truck bed hammocks and truck bed coolers to truck bed tents and truck bed mattresses. I know that doesn’t sound very diverse, but that’s just because they all attach to the truck bed, and the truck bed is the most logical place for truck-specific attachments. Gosh.
While taking a second look at these accessories I came to the realization that a properly outfitted truck can very easily double as a kind of mobile party. Whether you’ve got a hammock and cooler attachments, cooler and grill attachments, or as many cooler attachments as physically possible (preferably this option), tailgating before a game or concert instantly becomes easier and more fun.
Mobility
Driving across the country with a couple friends has been a dream of mine since before I could even drive, but once I was old enough I could never justify the cost of hotels. I’ve seen far too many road trip comedies to rent an RV; the risk of potential hijinks is far more than I can afford on my insurance. But a camper trailer is a purchase that I can justify every summer for years to come. Heck, I’m already creating a tradition for my theoretical children, and they won’t even exist for another five years according to a naked Austrian guy that stole my pants in an alleyway a few years back. The traumas of my referential personal history aside, a camper trailer is a great way for me to finally realize that childhood dream.
At this point I already had a few tabs open on pages with trucks for sale, so I don’t know why I even bothered — especially since it was clear to me that every single truck that exists on Earth can handle snowy terrain better than my car — but I decided just for kicks that I would watch some videos of trucks slamming through multiple feet of snow. My current vehicle has been stuck in snow more times than I’d like to admit, so watching other vehicles plow right through it is enough to inspire jealousy. I didn’t have to look very far, and it seems like I even stumbled onto some kind of underground pickup truck snow race circuit, like the Canadian version of The Fast and the Furious that I’ve dubbed “Snow Drift” because I’m whimsical and hilarious.
Closing
For a long time I couldn’t see the purpose in buying a truck. I assumed that without a regular need for hauling things that I wouldn’t have use for any of the unique features that pickup trucks provide. I’m really glad I had the chance to try one out, because my mind was immediately changed. Even though I’ve barely scratched the surface of what they have to offer, with just a couple curious web searches I was able to find a massive number of different reasons that a truck would be perfect for even a dork like me. And no matter what your interests are, there’s nothing more important when driving than feeling confident and safe, and a well-built truck gets those jobs done across the board.
