A Tesla Model X has become home for Rocket and Marshall, who recently took a 7,000-mile road trip in the all-electric vehicle. Rocket and Marshall reconnected with family and made new friends along the way, all while living in Rocket’s Model X. They may have even learned some truth about humanity.
In March 2019, Marshall and Rocket met while they were helping the creators of Yes Theory—a YouTube channel who challenges people to seek discomfort—design, build, and mold their new home into the group’s future base. Rocket didn’t know it at the time, but Marshall would become one of his closest friends.
Fast forward to July 2019, and Marshall has decided to quite Yes Theory so he could spread his wings and travel overseas. However, Rocket had other plans for him. He convinced Marshall to go on a road trip to Vermont with him instead of abroad.
Embracing his free spirit, Marshall agreed to go with Rocket and live in his Model X for the entire trip. The two embarked on a three-week adventure across the country. They traveled 7,000 miles and met a lot of old and new people.
Tesla Model X
Living in a Model X
Rocket’s Tesla Model X became home to them. The frunk—where the engine of a gas car would be—and the secret trunk—where a gas car’s fuel tank and other essential components would be—were the boys’ closets. Their toiletries and other personal items were placed in baskets or small bags, which lay on the floor of the Model X’s second row of seats.
When the boys wanted to sleep, they simply folded up the second row seats and unfurled their bed. After that, they just needed to lay out their blankets and pillows, and sleep for the night. Thanks to the Model X’s large battery, the temperature inside the car stayed at a comfortable level the whole night. Tesla’s Autopilot plays a huge part in making the long road trips easier as well, and the Model X’s free lifetime unlimited Supercharging saves a lot of money. They list a couple of pros and cons to living in Rocket’s Model X one of their videos, but the cons seem to be something the boys are willing to forgo.
Throughout their Tesla Road Trip, Rocket and Marshall visited people from their past who had a significant impact on their lives. Rocket planned the trip to Vermont to visit two people who were there for him during some hard times in his life, and he was grateful to see them again on their wedding day. Meanwhile, Marshall visited his elderly grandparents, whose love for him shows in the way he interacts with other people and maybe why he’s nicknamed Sweet Boy Marshall.
Marshall and Rocket’s trip sort of grasps Elon Musk’s view of the world. They are both free spirits who don’t want to be confined to specific standards or preconceived notions. Like Musk, they strive to think different and live different.
There is a central root to Elon Musk’s work at Tesla, SpaceX, and his other companies. Marshall and Rocket’s road trip encompasses what that central root is for Musk. The billionaire entrepreneur’s main reasons for doing the things he does—regardless of how outlandish they seem—are to preserve Earth for humanity and to push humankind further into the impossible.
Many people, like investors, can’t seem to fathom that Elon Musk isn’t just running companies, he’s forging part of the future of humanity for people like Rocket and Marshall, who see the world as an adventure and greet people with love and kindness. They are the people Musk wants to save the world for and the people he wants to bring to Mars.
In the end, what Elon Musk sees in human potential and what Rocket and Marshall capture so beautifully in their video can be summed up by Wayne, the hitchhiker the boys picked up during their road trip.
“Ninety-nine percent of people are good people. Bad people get all the press, but there are way more good people than bad people. Waaayy more.”
About the Author
Claribelle Deveza
Longtime writer and news/book editor. Writing about Tesla allows me to contribute something good to the world, while doing something I love.