I found 4Xpedition via a video link. I knew immediately I would find people that share my adventurous sprit. What I found was a love of the outdoors, and the beauty and adventure that it has to offer. Expedition is synonymous with Exploring. I love both. I’m not an adrenalin junky. As Jim Rohn pointed out “Take care of your body. It’s the only place you have to live.”

My name is Kevin Wright, I live in Texas, but I adventure in New Mexico. We have a second home there (Red River). I have visited many states, but the Rocky Mountains and the Island of Kauai are my favorites.

Kauai shares many attributes with the Rocky Mountains, but at an altitude much closer to sea level. It has its own version of the Grand Canyon, wonderful hiking trails, and great vistas. Because it is known to receive the most annual rain fall in the world, its landscape is quite verdant and lush. One thing it doesn’t share with Rocky Mountains is snakes, bears, and large cats, but that’s what keeps us on our toes when we adventure into the wilds along the Continental Divide.

I do have other interest outside of hiking and Jeeping. I love the movies, and have been an extra in a film that was made in my home town. I’m an author and somewhat of a treasure hunter. Treasure hunting inspired my son and I to create a related business this year. More about that a little later.

If you haven’t seen “The Vast of Night” it’s a well-made, alien-based movie, set in the 40’s/50’s. It was largely filmed in and around Whitney, TX, but the story itself was set in New Mexico. In some ways, the story took the Roswell incident and built a story around it. They needed some extras for a portion of the movie set around a small-town high school basketball game, and so I volunteered. All the scenes that I was part of were shot from about 6pm in the evening till about 6am the next morning. It was a long night, but a real adventure into the movie creation business.

I would love to see my book made into a movie. I spent a couple of years working on it. I got this story stuck in my head, and sat down and started putting it on paper. The story is about believing that you have a purpose, no matter the struggles that confront you. With the help of her mom, the main character leaves her losses behind and sets out on an unexpected quest. The easiest way to find it on Amazon is to search by author first, and then tittle, “The Story of Faith.”

My treasure hunting passion was actually inspired by a poem, but more so by the author of that poem. The author is Forrest Fenn. He was an Airforce pilot who retired and began dealing art in Santa Fe, NM. His years of dealing art made him a small fortune. Faced with a terminal cancer diagnosis, he was motivated to leave behind an adventure that could be shared by all. He recognized the impact that technology was having on the once adventurous spirt for the outdoors that many of us once shared with many of our friends and family. He set out to change that. He wrote a book, which contained a poem that when deciphered correctly would lead one to a chest full of gold, jewels, and artifacts. Forrest estimated the value to be around 2 million. He hid that chest somewhere in the Rocky Mountains north of Santa Fe. And so began a 10-year adventure shared by an estimated 350,000 searchers.

Forrest beat his terminal diagnoses and went on to write several other books. He even lived long enough to see his quest come to an end during the summer of 2020. He passed shortly after the treasure chest was discovered. My family and friends participated in many quests for the hidden chest. Faced with the disappointment of not finding the chest ourselves we decided to re-create that adventure for the thousands that were also left wanting.

We started “The National Treasure Quest” this year. Although the value of our quest only tops out at $10,000 in some states, we share Forrest’s goal of getting people off the couch and outside. There is no better time than now. With COVID isolating people for over a year, we feel the timing is right to get people outdoors to breath the fresh air and find a trail that needs exploring. Who knows what you might discover? If this kind of adventure interest you, check out our web site for further details TheNTQ.com

I’m looking forward to meeting more members at the Zoom Camp Campfire Chat, and perhaps soon on the next 4Xpedition.