JoMarie Fecci
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JoMarie Fecci

JoMarie Fecci-LON MemberJoMarie Fecci

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"A modern nomad, JoMarie Fecci spent over 20 years roaming the world with a camera as a photographer before getting involved in overlanding and back-country exploration in 2007. Fecci's initial foray into the off-road world was the natural extension of her desire to go further in the discovery of new locations, simply using her Jeep to access more remote areas. In an effort to master her vehicle's capabilities she began to search out opportunities to learn more, starting with Jeep Jamborees and then moving on to various club-sponsored events. But being based in the New York metropolitan area there were few opportunities locally to practice her skills. She made her first trip to Moab in 2008 and was smitten by the incredible beauty of the southwest.JoMarie Fecci-LON Member

The magic of Moab inspired her to take on her first major overlanding adventure which she dubbed "The Great American Roadtrip 2010" -- a roughly 10,000 mile loop from New York to California via Route 66, then up and across some of the iconic desert locations back to Moab and continuing south to the Mexican border, following the Rio Grande in Texas, and on to New Orleans before turning north towards home. Fecci, her best friend, and her best friend's 12-year-old son spent roughly two months living out of the Jeep, camping most of the way in a marathon drive that mixed on- and off-road routes over 25 states.

That adventure was life-changing in the sense that it hinted at the incredible freedom that "Jeeping" could offer. It opened the possibility of realizing a dream. The Sahara. Fecci had been intrigued by the Sahara for years. No stranger to North Africa, she had first experienced the region while working as a photographer there. Fecci's photographic endeavors have taken her to the Middle East, Latin America, Europe and Central Asia as well as in Africa. During her time overseas she had visited a few different parts of the Sahara. She was touched by this desert and the wisdom of the people who called it home.

JoMarie Fecci-LON Member

With the vague goal of an epic overland journey across the Sahara, Fecci set out to learn the skills necessary to realize it. Driving and navigating independently across a desert the size of the continental United States would require skills beyond the basics, so she sought out some of the industry's top experts on off-road desert driving. Training in the American southwest, she got a taste of "fun" challenges on increasingly technical terrain, and even got to drive the iconic Rubicon trail. She passed her first "test" in 2014, successfully competing in the 24th edition of the Rallye Aicha des Gazelles in Morocco. This one-of a kind event -- considered one of the toughest in motorsports -- requires two-woman teams to criss-cross the Sahara for two weeks, driving completely off-road and using only a map and a compass to navigate.JoMarie Fecci-LON Member

After the Gazelle Rally Fecci was ready to begin a series of independent scouting expeditions in the Sahara. Her scoutings have thus far encompassed Morocco, Mauritania and Algeria including, most recently, some exploration around the borders with Libya and Niger in southeastern Algeria. She began to expand her off-roading experiences beyond the Sahara as well. Over the past year, Fecci competed in the inaugural edition of the Rebelle Rally, took part in an expedition across Mongolia in support of a humanitarian project to assist nomadic herders in the Gobi desert, and spent more time exploring trails all around the American southwest. Her latest major endeavor took her into a new region -- Central Asia -- with a solo loop through Kyrgyzstan along segments of the ancient "Silk Road" caravan routes. She is still working on realizing her dream of a complete trans-Sahara crossing and chronicles her adventures at USnomads.org"

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Questions & Answers

JoMarie Fecci-LON MemberAbout JoMarie:

Q: What is your favorite color?
A: "Black, but I guess that is not really a color, so Blue."

Q: What is your favorite food?
A: "Italian food."

Q: Do you have kids? 
A: "No."

Q: Do you have any pets?
A: "No, I sure wish I could (I grew up with dogs and really miss having one), but my nomadic lifestyle does not allow for a pet (with all the traveling I can barely keep a few extremely hardy houseplants alive!)."

JoMarie Fecci-LON Member 

JoMarie's Off-Road Facts:

Q: How old were you when you first started wheeling?
A: 
"Too old..."

Q: Are you usually the driver or the co-driver?
A: "Driver."

Q: Do you have any off-road traditions or rituals?
A: "Not really. Though I do have a "mascot" in my Jeep at home (and we actually brought it with us to the Sahara for the Gazelle Rally). It is a stuffed camel on the dashboard that my best friend and her son bought for me when I just got the Jeep (The camel is because it is a "Sahara" model Jeep and because of my affinity for the Sahara desert in JoMarie Fecci-LON Membergeneral)."

Q: How often do you get to go off-roading?
A:  "It really varies a lot. Some months I only get out on the trail a couple of weekends, other months I am offroad for multiple weeks."

Q: How did you get started in the off-road world?
A: "As usual, I took a rather circuitous path: I lived and worked outside the US for much of my adult life, and it wasn't until 2007 when I returned home to the States that I got involved in offroading. (Well, I guess occasionally driving the UN vehicles myself in Liberia might count -- though mostly we had professional local drivers for any long journeys into the bush, so any driving I did there was just "utilitarian.") So, let's say I got started in the offroad world when I bought my Jeep. I had been very inspired by the local drivers I'd worked with in North Africa who could drive up a sand wall and across the Sahara at night without lights. These guys were amazing. They could JoMarie Fecci-LON Memberrepair a Land Rover with parts they fabricated from old USAID cans! When I got my Jeep, I never imagined I would be able to drive like they could, I just wanted to be  competent. Then someone told me about a place called "Moab" and the rest is "history" as they say (though I never did learn how to fabricate car parts out of tin cans...)."

Q: Where is your favorite place to wheel?
A: "The desert; I love the sand dunes at Glamis! I also still love Moab with all the possibilities for wheeling "fun" trails and also exploring further from the "usual" places. Locally, as I am based in the NY-metro area, Rausch Creek is my "go to" place. Honestly though, my favorite place to wheel is somewhere I haven't been before -- I love exploration and discovering new (to me) places."

JoMarie Fecci-LON MemberQ: Do you belong to an off-road club? Which one? What is their motto/mission?
A: 
"No."

Q: What is on your off-roading bucket-list?
A: "I still want to drive a Jeep across the Sahara -- west to east in one long "trans-Sahara" crossing -- which is a complicated journey on many levels, but I am hopeful that I will eventually accomplish it."

Q: How are you active in the off-road world?
A: "I volunteer trail guide for some events at Rausch Creek, and have taught classes at Overland Expo (East and West) as well as given navigation seminars at local overlanding events."

 JoMarie Fecci-LON Member

JoMarie's Off-Road Stories:

Q: What is your most memorable offroad moment?
A: "Wow. Hard question. There are so many now. I guess one of the more "magical" personal moments for me was when I was training to drive and navigate in sand dunes. It was a December in Glamis, and Nena Barlow was teaching me how to navigate at night without GPS, using just the stars as guides. I got out of the Jeep, took a heading and made note of the specific star in the dark night sky, then drove off across a sea of sand dunes following that star -- and because it was December, and not far from the Christmas holiday, I couldn't help thinking that what I was doing was exactly the same thing as the Magi of old -- and I was just amazed that I was actually capable of this."

JoMarie Fecci-LON MemberQ: What was your first wheeling trip?
A: "The first time I took my Jeep wheeling was when it was less than 3 months old, and I went to the Penn's Wood Jeep Jamboree (and everyone thought i was nuts taking a brand new Jeep to a Jamboree!)."

Q: What was your longest wheeling trip?
A: "Hmmmm... another hard question. Possibly our "Great American Roadtrip 2010" which was roughly two months long, but that encompassed long paved road sections (we drove the old Route 66 to get out West) as well as plenty of dirt. So maybe the Gazelle Rally, which was about two weeks. Or possibly Mauritania or Algeria which were both longer than two weeks, though both of those had some pavement sections as well. I think the longest dirt-only trip segment would have to have been either a week-long trip along El Camino del Diablo or one through the San Rafael desert and Canyonlands Maze."

JoMarie Fecci-LON MemberQ: What was your favorite wheeling trip?
A: "There are so many. The Rubicon trail was fun because it was so challenging and required so much concentration, which was very different from most of my other trips. The rallies were also lots of fun and very intense. And the Sahara is truly epic."

 

All About the Ladies:

Q: Who do you look up to in the industry? Why?
A: " I have been very fortunate to be able to learn from so many great folks in this industry, but if I have to name just one person -- Nena Barlow. Nena has been inspirational and someone who I continue to respect and admire for her work in the industry as well as for her stewardship of the deserts we all love. She is an aspirational role JoMarie Fecci-LON Membermodel for many of us, encouraging, teaching, and simply sharing her knowledge throughout the community."

Q: How do you feel as a woman in the off-road industry?
A: "As a woman in the US off-roading community I feel that gender is mostly a "non-issue" out on the trails. The guys I know -- and most of those I encounter on the trails here in the U.S. -- are respectful of skills and knowledge regardless of gender. I do, however, see a certain disparate treatment of female customers by some businesses (though many companies are making efforts to reach out to the female demographic more -- and the existence of things like the Ladies Offroad Network and the Rebelle Rally are bringing more attention to women as an important segment of the market)."

JoMarie Fecci-LON MemberQ: Give us a story, any story, about educating, guiding, empowering ladies in the off-road, past or future:
A: 
"One of the events that I volunteer guide at is the annual Topless for Tatas Charity Wheeling event at Rausch Creek to raise money for breast cancer research. The TFT event is really unique because it also encourages a lot of survivors to come out and wheel or even just join along as passengers on the trail. As part of that event I have had the honor of guiding some of these survivors who are taking their Jeeps offroad for the first time--sometimes the ladies are a bit nervous or hesitant, and need some gentle reassurance, but by the end of the first day, they are smiling and laughing and enjoying the trails as if they'd been wheeling their whole lives. And it's so rewarding when I see them back again the next year full of that same enthusiasm."

JoMarie Fecci-LON MemberQ: What changes have you seen in the off-road industry?
A: "On the up side, it seems like there are more and more organized events going on making it easier for people to participate in offroad activities at different interest levels. On the down side, it seems like more and more trails are being restricted or closed off to motorized usage completely."

Q: What advice do you have for ladies who want to get started off-roading?
A:  "Get out there and do it. Learn. Grow. Discover. Have fun!"

JoMarie's Vehicle:

About JoMarie's Jeep:
JoMarie Fecci-LON Member"2007 JKU Sahara 4DR (I am a "Jeep Girl" at heart, but also do a lot of driving outside my home region -- both in the US and abroad -- in a variety of vehicles sourced locally: the usual mix of Jeeps, Toyotas, Land Rovers, and most recently a Russian UAZ.)"

Q: Does your vehicle also serve as a daily driver?
A:  "Yes."

Q:What is the best modification you have done to your vehicle?
A: "As a daily driver my jeep is only very lightly modified -- but the lift and upgraded tires have definitely made it more capable on the trails (AEV 2.5" suspension lift and 33" Mickey Thompson Baja ATZs)."

JoMarie Fecci-LON MemberQ: Do you work on your own vehicle?
A: "Not really, though it is something I would like to do."

Vehicle Type: Jeep Wrangler 4DR Sahara
Year: 2007
Tire Make/Size: Mickey Thompson Baja ATZs LT 285/70R17
Wheel Make/Size: AEV black aluminum17"
AEV 2.5" Suspension Lift
Bilstein shocks
Mopar rock rails
Rugged Ridge XHD aluminum bumpers (front and rear)
Rugged Ridge 8500LB synthetic line winch
Rigid 50" LED light bar