Your journey starts here: the long haul rally blog
Welcome to the Long Haul Rally blog, your ultimate resource for everything car rallies and epic road trips. From essential vehicle prep and trip checklists to exciting side quest adventures and radio communication tips, we're here to fuel your passion. Join us as we share stories, insights, and behind-the-scenes glimpses of the ultimate Corvette rally experience.
Mile Marker 6 Outer Banks, NC (OBX)
Lights, Camera, Action!
This is my geek side...
We have been purchasing some camera gear over the last few years for our family vacations and small travel youtube channel.
We have an Insta360, a few goPros, (3) DJI drones, (2) DJI Action 5 Pro cams, DJI OSMO 360 cam, DJI Osmo Nano, (3) DJI Mini Mics, tripods, suction cups for the 360 cameras/Gap Cam setup, windshield suction mounts, mag mounts, gimbal, SmallRig etc. Also, have an extra iphone for streaming. Everything has its purpose.
For the rally, we are geared up already. Dont think we need anything else to capture footage except some power management cabling and maybe a few more mounting options for quick changes. We have a chase vehicle picked out for the rally and would like to double up and use this as our camera vehicle. For extra power and charging we have a Bluetti 1800W power system that can be recharged along the route with the cigarette lighter socket in the back of the chase vehicle.
The next phase! Setup and testing. For me, this is the fun geeky part. What is possible, what are the limitations, sound and image quality, shot angles and can we go live for the rally? I know we can use the iphone for connection and the easiest setup is go live on the iphone... but we can tether the laptop so we can use the iphone as a camera, add graphics, and possibly add some of the other cameras as sources. I haven't tried this or researched this yet. I also dont know how many cameras can connect to the laptop at one time through the DJI mimo app, and if they are capable of being used as sources in OBS.
The not fun part for me is storage. Seams that everything was geared to cloud storage. We have a MBP, some TB drives some extra memory cards as well so I think we are covered here also.
Configure checkpoints
We are adding checkpoints to the route. We were on Day 3 but then needed to start over to have Google Maps coincide with the checkpoints. This will make on the fly decisions easier to navigate.
A life on the road: your guide to epic journeys
The Long Haul Rally exists because the road has shaped my life. I grew up in a military family, which meant constant moves and countless hours in the car crossing the U.S. Those drives weren’t just about getting to the next assignment—they were where my love for travel, cars, and the open road was born.
That passion followed me into the U.S. Military, where travel became part of both my job and my identity. Over the years, I’ve explored nearly every state (with Alaska still firmly on my bucket list), traveled extensively through Europe, and spent the last seven years driving more than 50,000 miles every year for work (in a 4Runner).
Along the way, I realized something: the best trips aren’t just about the destination—they’re about the people, the stories, the unexpected stops, and the shared experience of the journey itself. That realization is what led me to create the Long Haul Rally. This isn’t just another drive—it’s a rally built by someone who’s lived on the road, for people who want to experience it the right way.
"I can't say enough about the dedication to crafting an unforgettable journey. Our team is going above and beyond to ensure these rallies are a true adventure, filled with discovery and camaraderie."
The Long Haul Rally Founder- Doug Demore