Here's the deal. The overlanding community isn't killing itself. It's running strong, and stronger than ever, thanks in part to the consumer products being available to the ones who need it.
The people who don't need it, the ones who build a rig just for the attention, the ones who ride the hype, those are the ones who are killing their own community. Not ours. Frankly, the only intersection between their community and the overlanding community is that both modify vehicles to suit their purposes. Those guys build theirs for attention, we build ours for travel. Period.
I'll never hate on a guy because of how he built his rig. I'll even admire a well-outfitted rig that never sees dirt. But there is a line in the sand between real overlanders, and people who just like the image.
There's also a large intersection between overlanders and off-roaders, which is a different discussion to be had; but the ones who ride the hype and like the image tend to try to look like the off-road overlanders. Let's be honest. It does look pretty good.
It just looks a lot better when the owners actually use it for something other than like's and subscribe's. But since those are the guys whose community is dying, let it die, and just keep doing what you did. You liked it before it was cool, and you'll like it after it's not cool any more.
The people who don't need it, the ones who build a rig just for the attention, the ones who ride the hype, those are the ones who are killing their own community. Not ours. Frankly, the only intersection between their community and the overlanding community is that both modify vehicles to suit their purposes. Those guys build theirs for attention, we build ours for travel. Period.
I'll never hate on a guy because of how he built his rig. I'll even admire a well-outfitted rig that never sees dirt. But there is a line in the sand between real overlanders, and people who just like the image.
There's also a large intersection between overlanders and off-roaders, which is a different discussion to be had; but the ones who ride the hype and like the image tend to try to look like the off-road overlanders. Let's be honest. It does look pretty good.
It just looks a lot better when the owners actually use it for something other than like's and subscribe's. But since those are the guys whose community is dying, let it die, and just keep doing what you did. You liked it before it was cool, and you'll like it after it's not cool any more.
