Jason Varnadoe: Chief Marketing Officer, OutdoorX4 Adventure Magazine

Today on The Storied Outdoors, we sit down with Jason Varnadoe, Chief Marketing Officer of OutdoorX4, lifelong fisherman, habitual tinkerer, pilot, mentor, and perhaps most fittingly a pathfinder.

Jason’s story stretches from the coastal marshes and diverse landscapes of South Carolina to the canyon creeks and desert washes of Arizona. Along the way, a lifetime of fishing, camping, flying, tinkering, and exploring has shaped the way he sees both the outdoors and the stories we tell about it. We talk about the places that formed him, his next adventure chasing small streams with a fly rod, and how a serious heart surgery became an unexpected chapter in his own story of finding a way forward.

Jason also pulls back the curtain on OutdoorX4, an immersive media platform built around the idea that vehicles can be gateways to meaningful outdoor experiences. We explore the explosion of overlanding and the funny reality that much of what is now marketed as “overlanding gear” used to be what we simply called camping. More importantly, we dig into what happens when the gear, the marketing, and the adventure become secondary to the experience itself.

That leads to a deeper conversation about storytelling and authenticity. Jason shares how OutdoorX4 chooses the stories it tells, how he balances marketing strategy with genuine storytelling, and why he believes people are far more discerning than the internet sometimes gives them credit for. We talk about the loss of community stories, the importance of reclaiming the “real” in our lives, and the ordinary stories like those from his childhood, watching his grandfather bartering over the price of crickets, earning free coffee by sweeping a parking lot, and the small moments around a campfire that often become the stories that make us.

We also explore the power of a fire in the wilderness: how, in the darkness, a distant light can mean something far greater than warmth or cooking. A fire is greater than the sum of its parts. It signals presence. It offers hope. And perhaps that is what good stories do, too.

Ultimately, this conversation moves beyond adventure and marketing into something much more foundational: community, presence, and the people who shape us. Jason reflects on mentoring the next generation and lands on a simple truth every parent and adventurer should remember—the most important thing you can give a child is your presence.

It’s a conversation about finding your way, telling better stories, and remembering that the best adventures aren’t always the most spectacular ones. Sometimes they’re the ones that bring us back to what and who matters most.

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