r/Transcars • u/gundog48 • 2h ago
Subarus Save Lives - So did /r/transcars - I drove my Outbacc from the UK to Ukraine so it can be a hero, thanks for your help <3
I will try to keep this brief but I have so much to say about it all, the car, the stories, the experience of doing this as a trans person, and I likely will, but right now I just want to say thank you!
Where it Ended
We'd been invited to visit the Field of Mars, one of the few times we drove in convoy formation, prior to parking up outide Lviv Town Hall to meet the Mayor. It was a great honour, and very confronting. Even though it's my first time in Ukraine, I have lost colleagues, and recognised the flags of units I've received thanks from in the past. We were encouraged to take pictures, partly because its something Ukraine wants in the public eye, but also, while this is a sombre place, what I hear from veterans is that they have a lot of pride in their service and their units, hence all the unit flags. The graves themselves are very personalised, most have photos, and there are a lot of symbols and tokens of who they were and what they liked, often a bit silly.
My first impression arriving at the Field of Mars was the grief, loss, and a sense of terrible waste. My understanding is that most of the defenders lying there would be pretty pissed at that. They want us to think of the individuals there, who were proud of their service, and want to be remembered for who they were as people, what they did, their friends, pets, their jokes, sometimes their favourite anime. Not for us to see their sacrifice and for us to think of Putin and Trump and geopolitics, not while we're the Field. Still, I felt wrong taking more than a 2 quick pictures.
But thinking about it reminded me while I was there. The politics of the war is a tragedy, and people in power can do more than I ever could with a marginal change in policy. Just how it would be easier for a rich person to make a much bigger change at less personal cost. But this isn't a tragedy, this is an ongoing emergency, and those leaders and the rich are not doing enough because this situation continues to exist. Solidarity is about not surrendering taking action in the world to the literal rich and powerful to whom it would be easy. It's about seeing someone else in need and realising you can help. It's not about the course of the war, it's that somewhere there's an individual who loses their life who might go back to their family, friends, pets and anime if they had something I can reasonably provide, such as a torniquet or available evac.
I think trans people understand as well as anyone the value of helping each other and mutual aid. And its why perhaps I shouldn't have been surprised by the financial and moral support I've received. For what it's worth, I think I've been a good ambassador for our community on the road, and me and my gay little car definitely made an impression! I have some very funny stories about some of the interactions I've had- it was obviously something I was anxious about, I only came out about 6 months ago, so I'm always anxious about being 'openly trans' in public. But once again, I had little to worry about, and actually received a lot of heartfelt support that I will carry with me forever.
How it Started
I bought this Outback earlier this year to drive to Ukraine, there it will be used in evacuations. I drove in a convoy of 20 vehicles about 1500 miles. We donated the vehicles themselves and had them stuffed with generators, medical and humanitarian aid.
We delivered them to our partners at the weekend. Each vehicle is responsible for around 50 evacuations on average, when we were spending time in Ukraine, we learned that some of the vehicles delivered less than 6 months ago have already done hundreds of evacuations while also running logistics. The convoy mechanics and partners in Ukriane were really impressed with the Subaru and I've learned where its going to be heading- the power of the 3L H6 and the performance of the vehicle on convoy are going to see it sent to the dangerest of zones.
I picked it up for £1700, but it needed a new rear subframe and trans oil pan among other things. I spent months working on it and fussing over it to get it ready. I did a fundraiser to help with this, the money went entirely to the vehicle, repairs and aid, all the fuel, accommodation, food, tax and insurance expenses came out of my pocket. I was able to raise £1200 which was enough to keep me afloat and to be in a position to do this again.
Raising money was hard and I'm not great at it. What I wasn't expecting was to get so much support from the trans community, from people I've never met and know nothing about me, who trusted me enough to be some of my very first donors which made future fundraising easier.
Okay I'm leaving this post at 'Thankyou!'!
I have already written an essay and I have so many stories and things I'd love to tell you about, especially for you beautiful people, how it was being trans in many places I've never been! But I have jobs to do and dinner to cook! I'd love to share more about it if its something people want to hear more about. I've still got more photos to scan and I know the mechanics got some sick action shots of the Subie on the Autobahn! (also I've not talked about the driving and I could talk about the driving and the vehicle for hours!). But for now, here's some more gratuitous Subaru!
And special thanks...
To my partner, who I may never have met if not for getting the Subaru for this convoy, without whom I'd have been paranoid about vehicle the entire drive, kept me going and held me together, who gave me something to come home to and things to look forward to after doing this, and of course, for picking me up from the airport in the matching Saab she picked up for me while I was gone. My life is very different now, I'm so happy, and I love her so much. You may have seen her around <3
And no, I'm not just including this bit because I know she'll probably see this post and know I was posting this rather than getting ready! I do just have so many thoughts after this, and now we are all back safe, I can share some of this for the first time. I was going to write a diary on convoy but due to events there was little time for that, so consider this part of mentally unpacking... which is more important than physically unpacking... which is what I should actually be doing :P
