For a lot of veterans, the hardest part of service isn't the deployment itself, its the transition back to the rhythm of everyday life. As someone who struggles with PTSD, finding a place where I could clear my head without feeling like I was just another clinical case file was incredibly difficult.
Then I met Phillip and discovered Beyond Roads Outreach.
Instead of traditional, sterile mental health environments, Beyond Roads offered a different kind of medicine: an open trail, the outdoors, and the raw focus of overlanding. It is not just sitting around in a circle to talk about your problems, BRO gets you behind the wheel, out into nature, and focused on the path ahead. Overlanding with BRO has substantially helped with my mental health and anxiety, as participating in this activity gets me in the mindset of a tactical operator and decision maker through the use of two-way radio communications and planning the route to take for an adventure.
After joining the community, I have participated in, and just recently led my first overland outings. But just as I was getting into the groove, duty called. Our nation needed us to fight against Iran in OPERATION EPIC FURY, and I had to remain home. Because of this, I missed two major trips I had been looking forward to.
Coming back from a high-stakes, extremely high-OPTEMPO mission is a jarring experience. The noise in your head does not just shut off when you come off duty. But Beyond Roads Outreach didn't miss a beat. They immediately stepped up to help me navigate the transition, providing the exact community and distraction-free environment I needed to really decompress.
Through their outings, I didn't just learn how to maximize the 4x4 capabilities of my truck, I learned how to shift my mindset. Out on the trail, navigating tough terrain requires meticulous focus. That focus allowed me to quiet the noise, leave the negative aspects of my service behind, and truly focus on the positive.
Beyond Roads Outreach gave me more than just off-roading skills. They gave me a brotherhood, a healthy outlet, and a way to conquer my PTSD on my own terms, one mile at a time. If you are a man looking to find your footing, clear your mind, and learn what you and your rig are truly capable of, this is where you belong.
B. Hill