What is Overlanding?

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What is Overlanding?

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Overlanding. It’s a term that’s been used with a variety of context over the decades. For me, the mere mention of the word conjures images of...
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There is a Tacoma forum with a great thread on this subject. Some of my favorite gems from there are as follows:

OVERLANDING and CAMPING = spending a lot of money to live like a hobo...



Overlanding is when you hate society so much that you spend all your money on a vehicle that can help you survive a Walking Dead style zombie apocalypse and get you thousands of kilometres away from civilization where you take pictures of your rig with the sole intention of posting on sites like this in order to seek the approval of the same folks you were driving away from.



I used to drive out on the woods with my 4WD and camp. When the overlanding craze started I took up mountain biking to go further down the trails to get away from them. Now they have e-bikes. I have started climbing rocks to get away from the ebikers. I'm about at the edge. Don't know what I will do when hover shoes become popular...



It is “officially” Over-Landing when the monetary value of the items you have purchased to protect your truck and yourself from “worst-case scenarios” and personal discomfort, exceeds the monetary value of any traveling done in the truck, including time off work.

Up until that specific point, it is officially called “camping”, which is the act of making do with what you have, while trying to stay relatively dry, somewhat warm, and maybe drunk, while driving around in the bush with your buddies.

Overlanding is driving to work everyday with a rtt on your truck.
 
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Anak said:
There is a Tacoma forum with a great thread on this subject. Some of my favorite gems from there are as follows:

OVERLANDING and CAMPING = spending a lot of money to live like a hobo...



Overlanding is when you hate society so much that you spend all your money on a vehicle that can help you survive a Walking Dead style zombie apocalypse and get you thousands of kilometres away from civilization where you take pictures of your rig with the sole intention of posting on sites like this in order to seek the approval of the same folks you were driving away from.



I used to drive out on the woods with my 4WD and camp. When the overlanding craze started I took up mountain biking to go further down the trails to get away from them. Now they have e-bikes. I have started climbing rocks to get away from the ebikers. I'm about at the edge. Don't know what I will do when hover shoes become popular...



It is “officially” Over-Landing when the monetary value of the items you have purchased to protect your truck and yourself from “worst-case scenarios” and personal discomfort, exceeds the monetary value of any traveling done in the truck, including time off work.

Up until that specific point, it is officially called “camping”, which is the act of making do with what you have, while trying to stay relatively dry, somewhat warm, and maybe drunk, while driving around in the bush with your buddies.

Overlanding is driving to work everyday with a rtt on your truck.
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Lord. Cynical much? Lol.

Yes, overlanding is trendy right now. Trendy terms aside, it’s also just the current take on something people have been doing forever. Exploring. And what’s wrong with someone driving to work everyday with a roof top tent on their vehicle? If that makes them happy, and they enjoyed the RTT the one time they used it, and spent the rest of the time enjoying being trendy, then cool? Doesn’t effect me being able to camp or do whatever I want to. On the flip side, maybe they do that because they take it out every other weekend, but also use that vehicle to get to work. Just because something is trendy doesn’t mean it has to be ruined for people. Just accept people where they are, and enjoy what you want to do regardless of them.

@SwellRunner I subscribe to your channel, and enjoyed the video.
 
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Anak said:
There is a Tacoma forum with a great thread on this subject. Some of my favorite gems from there are as follows:

OVERLANDING and CAMPING = spending a lot of money to live like a hobo...



Overlanding is when you hate society so much that you spend all your money on a vehicle that can help you survive a Walking Dead style zombie apocalypse and get you thousands of kilometres away from civilization where you take pictures of your rig with the sole intention of posting on sites like this in order to seek the approval of the same folks you were driving away from.



I used to drive out on the woods with my 4WD and camp. When the overlanding craze started I took up mountain biking to go further down the trails to get away from them. Now they have e-bikes. I have started climbing rocks to get away from the ebikers. I'm about at the edge. Don't know what I will do when hover shoes become popular...



It is “officially” Over-Landing when the monetary value of the items you have purchased to protect your truck and yourself from “worst-case scenarios” and personal discomfort, exceeds the monetary value of any traveling done in the truck, including time off work.

Up until that specific point, it is officially called “camping”, which is the act of making do with what you have, while trying to stay relatively dry, somewhat warm, and maybe drunk, while driving around in the bush with your buddies.

Overlanding is driving to work everyday with a rtt on your truck.
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Don’t worry about the ebikes. Just ride further than their battery can take them!!!!
 
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Hmmm, Overlanding? We have been doing this since 1997, long before it was a term used to describe what it is we are doing. Before 1997, we were just going 4 wheelin and day hiking on the weekends locally and just not very often. Career and the restoration of our 1904 home simply didn't allow time to venture any further. Then, in 97' we began looking for campsites that required a high clearance 4wd to get to. I'd use my two or three week vacation to travel thousands of miles to get to these sites and camp, day-hike and back pack a bit. As time passed we acquired the gear we need to explore remote areas for 5 or 6 days before coming back to civilization for more gas, food and supplies and continue on to more remote areas. Now with retirement we are able to go out locally much more often and are able to take a 6 or 7 week tour of either Canada or the western United States. For us, "Overlanding" began when we crossed the line back in 97. We no longer had a weekend destination. We had the desire and the ability to make our tours much more about the journey rather than the destination. Sure, we have general destinations, however we now have the luxury of time which allows us to be more or less free birds when we are out and about. So for us "over-landing" began when the day trips ended back in 97. Is it trendy? I suppose so, but I've talked with a lot of people over the years and like anything else that becomes trendy the trend will pass, as some folks just are very uncomfortable when they find themselves completely off grid. I've been out with folks that have all the latest stuff, the latest rig, etc etc, and they find themselves very uncomfortable with being so remote. I think in the next 10 years we are going to see a lot of really nice used gear on CL as those folks continue to discover they simply aren't suited well to "over-landing".
 
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I think OLDFOOLADVENTURES has it right on the money. So does Jason. It is about the journey. Not the destination. That's why we outfit our favorite vehicles with the appropriate gear to thrive off grid. That's why we carry the necessary tools to make our own repairs. That's why we carry ax, shovel, and self recovery gear. We want to see something besides the interstate. In fact, we want to see what few others get the opportunity to even imagine. Wilderness!

My parents began overlanding in an Austin Healy Sprite with me laying behind the seats. I slept in the car. They slept on the ground under a canvas lean too. We traveled the western states before it was popular. I grew up this way. We eventually graduated to a yellow Volkswagon bus with a full rack on top. Each summer, we would leave just as school let out. We would return when it was time for me to go back to school. I remember the vast emptiness. I used to imagine leaving the roadway behind and traveling cross country by horse all alone.

Well today, my butt is too old to sit in the saddle for that long. I accidently came across Jason's VLOG after purchasing my dream car at the time (used 2005 Toyota T4R Sport). Prior to that I had never heard the term Overlanding. I just wanted a cool looking 4 x 4 SUV that was dependable. Jason showed me that my 4th Gen T4R was my horse. Not only that it has A/C.

I made a few trips and made modifications / purchases to make the trips I was taking easier. In May 2018, I had reached my rigs capabilities. It was either time to start spending money on upgrading a 13 year old vehicle, or getting something ready to go. While traveling through Colorado, I saw a 2017 T4R TRD Pro on CarGurus in Utah. I traveled directly to the dealership and swapped vehicles. Now I had a better horse! I took it stock through Cinnamon Pass (Anamas Forks to Lake City, CO)a couple of days after it was opened by a dozer on May 10, 2018. Alone. It was amazing.

As soon as I got back I began looking for used gear on CL. Just was OLDFOOLADVENTURES predicted, I found a full RCI armor kit, GOBI Stealth Rack with Ladder, Ax/Shovel Mounts, and a full size ARB awning from a guy in Baton Rouge. It was a 7 hour drive for me one way, but I got the lot for the price of a new Gobi Rack without the wait.

We took off again and put it through its paces in South Dakota, Wyoming, and Colorado. Not to mention the states in between. We spent the entire trip avoiding the interstate and taking county roads when we could.

We downloaded Avenza Maps and then accessed the national forest maps to locate "Dispersed Camping" locations in the areas where we wanted to travel.

For me it is seeing the unspoiled beauty of the amazing country. So much so, that in May 2019, I am headed the long way to Prudhoe Bay.

Get out there and make your own adventure. Just make sure you have a dependable horse.
 
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Jared Ortgiesen said:
Vehicle dependent Travel
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This is the simplified version I hear the most... Does my commute to work count?

Who says it needs to be off-grid? I will concede that that is what most of us here strive for, but it’s not necessary for the definition above. We did a 10 day, 5000 mile trip from MN to CA. We hit Rushmore, Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, the Vegas Strip, several beaches in San Diego, sea world, Disneyland, San Francisco pier, stayed with friends and family. All on pavement. I think that would also qualify as vehicle dependent travel, where the journey was as important as the destination.
 
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m_lars said:
This is the simplified version I hear the most... Does my commute to work count?

Who says it needs to be off-grid? I will concede that that is what most of us here strive for, but it’s not necessary for the definition above. We did a 10 day, 5000 mile trip from MN to CA. We hit Rushmore, Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, the Vegas Strip, several beaches in San Diego, sea world, Disneyland, San Francisco pier, stayed with friends and family. All on pavement. I think that would also qualify as vehicle dependent travel, where the journey was as important as the destination.
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That sounds like a nice road trip, but my goodness 500 miles a day average? You need to stop once in a while, relax and smell the proverbial roses.. For me? Off grid is preferable, but of course the definition of overlanding is pretty broad. OB seems to encompass that very broad spectrum which is why I stick around.
 
MOAK said:
That sounds like a nice road trip, but my goodness 500 miles a day average? You need to stop once in a while, relax and smell the proverbial roses.. For me? Off grid is preferable, but of course the definition of overlanding is pretty broad. OB seems to encompass that very broad spectrum which is why I stick around.
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Its not quite as bad as it sounds, the miles were heavily loaded on the front and back ends, the middle was pretty leisurely.
 
Overlanding is a vehicle journey that requires refueling from a source transported in addition to the factory fuel tank.
 
RedRob said:
Overlanding is a vehicle journey that requires refueling from a source transported in addition to the factory fuel tank.
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Not sure if your serious or not. My local gas station has their fuel transported by truck, does that count?

EDIT: Apparently it was not clear that the last half of this statement was an attempt at humor. So, for the record, that was an ATTEMPT at humor. My bad.
 
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