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Despite how many years have passed, you surely remember the mix of emotions when you first got your driver’s license.
For some, it was an eager excitement; for others, a sweet release. Maybe there was some nervous anticipation in the air as well. But regardless of how comfortable or confident you were behind the wheel as a brand-new driver, securing that license meant one thing for all of us: freedom.
The ability not just to drive but to travel places. To get away. To go anywhere, anytime, and to create all the experiences that come with it. That’s something you don’t forget.
Like many, I spent the first week after getting my license cautiously driving to school and over to my then-girlfriend’s place in the family mini-van – a slightly embarrassing Toyota Sienna.
But videographer Mark Vasilyuk – AKA Skuraweekly – took a much cooler route. Right after passing his driving tests, Mark took his Nissan S14 project car 2,000 miles from Washington State to Southern California (and back again, hopefully). Along for the ride was his older brother Ruvim, who drove a JDM S13.
How could a barely 16-year-old afford such a project, you might wonder? Well, Mark had been hard at work shooting and editing videos since before he was a teenager. By the time he was 12, he had a special exemption to shoot videos at his local drift track, creating content for friends and eventually clients well before he could even drive.
“I grew up in a family of 14 [not a typo], so we never traveled at all. One of the things that drove me to get into videography was that it was a way to travel and have new experiences. The first time I flew on a plane, it was for work. I always wanted my work to take me out of my comfort zone,” Mark says.
This work led to Mark producing one of Kansei Wheels’ early promotional videos, which featured Ruvim’s S13. The video was shown at the SEMA Show that year, and the relationship with Kansei continued from there. The company later invited Mark and Ruvim to showcase their cars at a drift event in Southern California at Apple Valley Speedway (or ‘The Grange,’ as it was known back then).
So, when the time came, Mark’s S14 – slammed on coilovers and rocking some Kansei wheels – was ready for its first major adventure. It just needed a driver. Or, more specifically, one with a license. Mere days after that milestone was achieved, it was road trip time.
A brief disclaimer: These photos are nearly seven years old, so Mark is now well into his twenties. But I recently stumbled across these shots and felt compelled to revisit them.
Not because the cars or the story are particularly unique but because they reflect something universal. The early days of driving are formative, and more importantly, they’re shared experiences. But we don’t always realize that at the time.
From The Archive
So, Mark set out from Washington with Ruvim, the more mechanically inclined of the pair. It was Ruvim who had been instrumental in teaching Mark how to wrench on his car in the years and months leading up to his younger brother getting his license.
Of course, this dynamic brought them closer, too. “Cars are what united us. You have the usual fights as young siblings, you grow up, and then you find common ground. For us, it was cars,” Mark shares.
This was their first road trip of this magnitude, and for Mark, it was the first big journey where expenses were covered by a client.
The drive was fueled mostly by Cheetos and Red Bull, so a ham and egg breakfast from my local diner felt like a luxury after hours on the road. Afterward, we cruised out to the beach and hit one of my all-time favorite backroads before Mark and Ruvim continued their journey south.
I’ll never forget driving Mark’s S14 that day or how excited he was about the car and getting to share it with me. But beyond that, I had a front-row seat to something much bigger: Mark’s world was expanding exponentially, all thanks to the privilege of driving.
It’s easy to take for granted when you’ve been driving for years, but moments like that remind you that something as simple as getting behind the wheel can still feel like a life-changing experience. Years later, Mark says he and Ruvim still talk about that trip.
“Ruvim has moved a few hours away to Seattle, and we’re both married now, so we don’t get to see each other that often. These are the stages of brotherly relationships… we never realized at the time how cool that opportunity was. Looking back at the trip, it was just good times,” Mark says.
So, the next time you set out on a road trip or cruise down a back road, take a moment to appreciate it. Experience it fully. You never know, you might just be making one of your best memories yet.
Trevor Ryan
Instagram: purposebuilt_trevor
www.purposebuilt.media