Sashank Varma Kalidindi left India for America and found the road. With two Labs, a camera and a Toyota 4Runner built for anywhere, he is still finding it.
Dallas is flat and hot and full of highways going somewhere else. Sashank Varma Kalidindi knows this. He also knows what’s at the end of those highways, which is why he keeps taking them.
A software engineer by trade and an overlander by conviction, Sashank grew up in Hyderabad, India, did his master’s in Boston, and between a Volkswagen Jetta and a dirt road in New England discovered that the best way to see a country is slowly, and off the main route.
“Being out in nature calms me down and brings me clarity,” says Sashank. “Over time, travel became more than a hobby. It became a way of life.”
You can tell by the way he talks about his truck that Sashank means it.
The Truck
The Toyota 4Runner entered his life two years ago. He was not shopping for features or screen size. He wanted something that wouldn’t let him down when visiting places where that wasn’t an option.
“The 4Runner stood out because it’s proven. It’s been around for years, built on a platform known to last, and backed by one of the strongest aftermarket communities out there. For me, it was about durability and trust.”
The truck has a name, Saptagiri. It comes from his faith, Lord Venkateshwara Swami, the sacred hills of Tirupati in southern India. Seven mountains. The name came to him immediately and he did not question it.
“It’s more than just a vehicle,” he says. “It’s my partner on the road.”
Some people are like that about their trucks. The ones who have been far enough in them usually are.
“I genuinely value it more than most things I own,” he adds. “I’m careful with it, intentional with every modification and I enjoy the process of building it step by step.”
The Dogs
There are two of them. Shelby came first. Getting a dog in a new country, far from home, is the kind of decision that makes complete sense and no sense at the same time. Sashank made it without much deliberation.
“I grew up always having dogs, so when I moved to the States and didn’t have one, it felt strange.” A year of road trips with Shelby. Then a girlfriend. Then, somehow, a second dog.
Scooby is the second dog. The dynamic is not complicated. “Shelby is the calm, quiet one. Scooby is the opposite. He’s full of energy and usually the one doing all the dumb stuff.”
Two Labs in a 4Runner means dog hair in everything and a constant, low-level chaos that Sashank has made peace with. “Traveling with two dogs is chaotic and messy. But I wouldn’t trade it for anything. They’re part of every journey.”
The Approach
Sashank does not plan. This is a philosophical position, not a logistical one. He picks a place and drives there. Then figures out the rest once he’s arrived.
“I like discovering locations in the moment. Finding good spots to photograph, exploring roads that look interesting and adjusting as I go.” He has been doing this long enough to trust the process. “The road usually tells me what to do next.”
The camera is almost always within reach. He is a photographer first, and travel without a camera would feel incomplete. But he has learned something about that too. Not every moment needs to be captured.
“Sometimes I just sit there and drift into my thoughts instead of picking up the camera. And honestly, I think that’s okay. Sometimes being present matters just as much as capturing it.”
The Build
The Alu-Cab setup came together in a specific order, for specific reasons. It started at Overland Expo West in Arizona, in the heat, without shade.
“One thing I realized very quickly was how badly I needed shade. It was extremely hot, and I felt that absence the entire time.” He tried the Alu-Cab Gen 3-R Rooftop Tent at the expo. After looking at competitors he came back to the same tent.
“The Alu-Cab setup immediately felt more solid and thoughtfully engineered.” But what decided it was not the tent alone, but the thinking behind the range. “It didn’t feel like I was piecing together random parts. It felt like a complete system.”
He has slept in the tent up to fifteen nights in a row. Through snow in the Tetons, rain in the Pacific Northwest and Texas heat. It handled all of it. The only thing he would consider adding is a heater for the coldest nights. Everything else has been enough.
“I want gear I won’t have to second-guess in remote places.”
The Awning
The Shadow Awning is the first thing Sashank deploys at every campsite. Before the tent. Before the gear. The awning goes up first.
“Shade changes everything,” he says. “It makes the space usable, comfortable and liveable, especially in harsh conditions.” He wanted the 180-degree Shadow Awning specifically for the 4Runner. He looked at other options, but stayed within the Alu-Cab ecosystem because the build quality was consistent and he did not want to wonder about the weak point in his setup.
This is the thinking of a man who has been far enough from help to care about these things.
The Accessories
The Tilting Fridge Slide is something that has made daily life on the road better.
When he lifted the 4Runner, fridge access changed. His girlfriend could not easily reach inside a raised vehicle. The tilt brought the fridge forward and down. “It’s a small feature,” he says, “but it makes everyday use much more practical.”
The Shower Cube comes out a couple of times on longer trips. “It’s nice knowing it’s there when we need it. Especially on longer trips. It adds flexibility to the setup.” The best gear is often the gear you don’t need until you do.
The Moment That Mattered
Sashank’s best trip was the one he took alone. Just him and Shelby. Texas to Montana. No itinerary, bookings or plan.
“It ended up being one of the best trips I’ve ever taken,” says Sashank. “That experience taught me a lot about independence, decision-making and trusting myself. I genuinely think everyone should try something alone at least once. You learn more about yourself than you expect.”
Mount Shasta is the place that stays with him. They camped where the mountain was directly in front of them. No distractions, with nothing between them and the scale of it. “It wasn’t about being deep in the wilderness. It was about feeling close to something powerful and peaceful at the same time.”
The Community
Sashank did not expect to find people. That is usually not the point of going alone into open country. But the overlanding community found him anyway, or he found it, at expos, through social media, through the slow accumulation of shared interests and mutual respect.
“It’s not easy to find like-minded people in this niche. It takes time. But I’ve slowly built a small community, even started a group and we’re planning trips together.” He has been an ambassador for ICECO Refrigerators for two years. He has met good people through that. “This space isn’t just about gear or travel. It’s about the people you meet along the way.”
What’s Next?
The Pan-American Highway. He has been watching videos about it for years. Reading about it. Thinking about it. It goes from Alaska to the tip of South America, and he wants to drive it in Saptagiri.
Immigration limitations make it complicated right now. He is patient about this. “That doesn’t change the goal. It’s still very much on my list and I’m determined to make it happen in the next few years.”
In the meantime, he is building toward it. Taking longer trips, three to four months at a time, learning what extended travel actually demands of a man and a truck and two dogs and a relationship. “It’s all part of building toward that bigger dream.”
He did not expect to love maintaining the truck. He is not mechanical. Didn’t know bolts from washers. But the 4Runner has taught him. “I’ve started to love the process,” he says. “I still can’t do everything I’d like to, but I’ve grown a lot.”
That is what this life does to a person. It makes them capable, then curious, then committed. Sashank Varma Kalidindi started by saving money on accommodation. He ended up discovering what’s at the end of the next dirt road.
Overlanding has a way of doing that.