The Backyard – End of Summer Trip with a Land Rover

Greetings all and Happy Friday! Welcome to The Backyard.

One of the things I love about this hobby is how it tends to creep into everyday life. Vacations, weekends at the lake, camping trips — RC always seems to find its way into the packing list. Next week I’m heading down to Branson, Missouri, for a little time at a cabin in the woods. Along with the usual essentials — clothes, food, my acoustic guitar — there’s one RC making the cut for the trip: my Traxxas TRX-4M Land Rover.

Why the TRX-4M? Simple. It’s capable, compact, and easy to bring along. The truck carries the same spirit as its big brother, the TRX-4, but shrunk down into a package that doesn’t eat up any serious cargo space. It’s the kind of rig you can toss in a backpack without thinking twice, but it’s still built to take on real terrain.

That balance of portability and performance is what makes the TRX-4M such a great “travel RC.” You don’t need a special course or setup — dirt trails, creek beds, or even rocky landscaping around the cabin all become playgrounds. And when you’re away from home, that versatility is huge. You want something fun, reliable, and not overly complicated. The less support equipment needed, the better. This little truck checks all the boxes.

It also highlights a bigger trend in the hobby: micros and minis have carved out their own niche as the ultimate “on-the-go” rigs. Whether it’s crawling with the TRX-4M, blasting around a parking lot with a Mini-T, or hitting hotel-room jumps with a 1/28th scale, these smaller machines have made RC more packable and more portable. Sometimes, less really is more.

So as I get ready for Branson, I’m looking forward to seeing what kind of trails the TRX-4M can conquer down in the Ozarks. It might not be a hardcore crawling comp, but that’s not the point — it’s about having a capable little truck that’s always ready to roll.

That’s where I’ve found that minis fit in for me. I’m not someone that particularly cares about setting up a massive indoor track or something like that. I just want something that is portable, reliable, and requires minimal fuss to be able to operate on extremely short notice when I’m on a trip.

If you don’t already have a “travel RC” in your fleet, you’re missing out. Whether it’s a micro crawler, a mini basher, or something else that you can easily slip into a backpack, having a rig that goes with you on trips keeps the hobby alive outside the backyard or tracks. Vacations are better with RC — period.

Alright folks, that’s it for me this week. Off to the woods I go! Until next time, keep it on all 4’s!