About
Hi, I'm Chris Shontz — the person behind venture4wd. I'm a solitude-seeking introvert who follows random tracks deep into the backcountry to see where they lead. I've been documenting those adventures on YouTube since 2017 and, somewhere along the way, it became my life. Born in Pennsylvania in 1975, I studied Computer Science in school, but I've been a four-wheel drive enthusiast since 1994 — and that's when the real curriculum started.
The Jeep Years
From 1998 to 2008, I worked at OK4WD in Stewartsville, New Jersey — a full decade in the four-wheel drive industry, surrounded by Jeeps, parts, and people who lived and breathed this stuff. I was an active member of local clubs and served as a trail guide at Pennsylvania's off-road parks, such as Rausch Creek and Paragon Adventure Park.
My interest in four-wheel drive adventure was always centered on backcountry exploration rather than running circuitous trails for the sake of the challenge — though I do love it when the trail gets spicy.
After OK4WD, I shifted into the tech sector as a web developer, working the full stack from design to back-end. The work was solid, but I've always been pulled in multiple directions — design and code, exploration and creation, the digital and the wild. A desk job, no matter how well-paid, couldn't satisfy all of that.
The Road
In 2017, I left Pennsylvania for an uncertain adventure, wandering the US and Canada in my camper-converted Jeep. That's when I started making my weekly venture4wd videos. What began as casual trip documentation turned into a way of life. In 2020, I met Shannon in Colorado. We bought a 2021 Winnebago Revel and continued traveling full-time together — the Jeep and the Revel rolling in tandem across the United States.
Home Base
By 2022, years of full-time travel had worn thin. After nearly a decade on the road, the constant motion stopped feeling like freedom and started feeling like exhaustion. We bought a house in Arizona — no grand plan, just needing somewhere to land. My son Cole, who'd joined me on several road trips over the years, graduated from college and moved nearby. Shannon and I got married in March 2025. For the first time in a long time, I had a home and the people I cared about in the same place.
Now
My primary focus today is Mapkind GPS — a backcountry navigation app for iOS and Android that I started building in late 2024 with my partner Ronnie Ragains. We still have and use the Jeep, plus a project vehicle I've wanted since I was a kid: a classic 1991 Land Rover Defender 110 Hi-Cap. The Revel was sold soon after we bought the house. This site is the companion to the YouTube channel — a home for downloadable GPS tracks, video archives, gear write-ups, and Mapkind GPS development updates.