Brotherly Bonds
Eventually, they outgrew the rules to stay in-state and be home by sundown. Josh moved to Colorado and opened a backcountry hunting outfitter. Sam went to the state university and learned the art of photography. Living in different states, this is the part in the story where two brothers may begin to grow apart. But not these two.
Whether it was planning their next hunting trip, throwing around marketing ideas for the outfitter, or daydreaming about vehicles on Craigslist, Josh and Sam always found a reason to stick by the other’s side, regardless of their home addresses.
“I am intensely fortunate. It’s unbelievable to have someone in your family that you enjoy being around so much and who you can hang your hat on and trust with everything. Sam is all those things. Our ideas and our efforts are better when put together. They always have been.” – Josh Soholt
One day, they made one of those Craigslist daydreams real. They found “the one” — a used school bus from a district just south of Josh’s home in Colorado. Sam made the purchase on New Year's Day, 2016, with plans already in mind for spring. The original concept for the bus was to build a basecamp for turkey season. “Like a camper, but better. More ours.”
The project really took off when they decided to give it a bigger mission. On the road, the sharp green school bus always turned heads. Why not direct those heads to an important message? They called it “The Public Land Bus,” a rolling billboard for the fight to protect, maintain, and keep public lands accessible. The mission earned the project fresh media coverage, sponsors, and wind beneath its wings. Sam began a year-long tour of public land parcels across the country, making content about the beauty, the recreational splendor, and the different political challenges that each place was facing along the way.