A great deal has changed in West Africa since overlanding became popular in the ’80s and ’90s. Back then, it was a serious slog into the unknown. Things like infrastructure and supplies were extremely hard to come by, but that was 30-plus years ago. Now it’s 2018, and Africa is rapidly developing. As a community…
You Know You’re An Overlander When…
We all dream of being that guy (or gal). Suntanned, sinewy and wise, a world traveller with a million stories to tell and the scars to prove it. The life of a long-term international overlander is far from glamorous though; in fact, the closest he gets to glamour is drinking wine from a glass. That…
Video of the Week: First 4×4 Crossing of Greenland Ice Cap
Let’s take a moment to travel back to the turn of the millennium. It was 1999, a gallon of gas was $1.22, Napster had just been released, Britney Spears was on the top 100, Bill Clinton was on trial for impeachment, and half of the world was in a panic that the Y2k computer glitch…
36 Hours of Adventure: Slopes and Summits
Contrary to popular belief, those of us working at Expedition Portal and Overland Journal do actually exist outside of our jobs. Much like young students assume their teachers magically vanish into some other dimension after class, many of our readers seem to think that if we aren’t typing away at our keyboards or out on…
A Journey to Africa
The desert is a place to find peace and freedom. Even before we fell in love with overlanding, we dreamed of camping in the dunes of Morocco. We heard story after story about the amazing country, and each picture of its lonely expanses only served to feed the fire of our burning wanderlust. Unfortunately, life…
Video of the Week: History of the Toyota Land Cruiser
When it comes to overland vehicles, few are as loved or revered as the Toyota Land Cruiser. These legendary trucks can be found in the most remote corners of the globe, and command an almost fanatical following of enthusiasts, but it wasn’t always so. Back in the fifties, the Land Cruiser was simply an imitation…
Adventure Interview: Advanturing
If you follow vanlifers on Instagram, chances are that you’ve spotted Advanturing’s flat black sprinter along the way. It looks a little like Batman designed a delivery truck, and we’re digging it. Apparently, others do as well, because over the last few years this adventurous couple has accumulated over 20,000 followers on Instagram, and that number…
On the Lizard’s Tail
I took a deep breath, letting the cool mountain air fill my lungs. The crisp smell of snow and pine was invigorating, and I inhaled again, letting the sensation wash over me. It was a perfect morning. A fresh layer of powder was coating the ground from the previous night’s storms, and it muffled the…
Video of the Week: Roads Less Traveled
You might find this hard to believe, but most of us here at Expedition Portal and Overland Journal live and breath four-wheel drives. On any given weekend, you’ll find us out exploring the trails and backroads surrounding our hometowns, and taking every chance we get to go camping—but we do, in fact, have other interests….
Environmentally Friendly Overlanding
I met Nena Barlow in the ponderosa pine-clad mountains halfway between Sedona and Prescott, Arizona. Nena is a 4WD trainer and the owner of Barlow Adventures, a company that offers off-pavement experiences in the American Southwest. As a certified Leave No Trace instructor, she also knows everything and a bit more about environmentally responsible driving….
In Search of Swazi Gold
A Bonafide Moto Adventure from South Africa to Swaziland.
International Women’s Day: Bertha Benz
In August of 1888, Bertha Benz loaded her two teenage sons into a Model III and headed 106 kilometers to visit her mother. This was no ordinary road trip—it was the first long-distance automobile adventure ever, and it changed the world. Benz was the wife and business partner of Karl Benz, the German engineer who…
From the Vault: Desk to Glory – Chile
The Carretera Austral (otherwise known as Chile’s Route 7 and translated as “Southern Road”) is a highway that runs from Puerto Montt to Villa O’Higgins over a span of 1,240 kilometres through Northern Patagonia. In 1976, Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet (What a guy! Check out this Wikipedia article for his messy history) ordered the army to commence construction of…
Video of the Week: Overland Norway
When you think of exploring the misty hills and lush valleys of Norway, I’d be willing to wager that a Land Rover Defender comes to mind. It certainly did for me, but this group of friends did things a little differently. They chose to make the trip in two Jeep XJs, equipped with diesel motors…
Overland Preservation: Bankhar Dogs
Let’s face it, no matter what side of the political fence you land on, the news tends to provide a rather bleak look at the world these days. Bad news sells, and there’s little incentive to show the good occurring when outrage and fear are far better at boosting ratings. This is certainly the case…
Five Reasons to Ride in Bolivia
If you want to get a reading on a place, it’s always best to ask the people who have traveled there. What’s even better, is to ask someone who has traveled there, and just about everywhere else. Someone like Antonia. She has driven a pink tuk-tuk 12,500 miles from Bangkok to Brighton, is a founding…
Overland Commute: Morocco
“You have Kalashnikov in there?” asked a weary Moroccan customs official in broken English. Two hours after rolling onto Moroccan tarmac we had filled in countless forms, seen them passed around by various policeman, douanes (customs officials), and gendarmes, then watched as the everyone else was sent one-by-one on their way. Eventually, our turn came…
Video of the Week: Beyond Trails – Atacama
Where do you find inspiration? Do you seek it in the exploits of adventurers long past, the stories of overlanders circumnavigating the globe, or perhaps right here in the articles and posts shared amidst our members? I find that inspiration can be found anywhere if you know where to look, but sometimes it is simply…
25 Things We “Learnt” Overlanding the USA
American people say, “That’s funny,” when they are amused, which makes you doubt whether all the other funny crap you said was not funny. You can return any item bought, in any state of use, at any time and you will either receive a full credit, your money back, or a new item (OK, not…
Christmas in Utah
I’d been wanting to do this trip for a while now because my girlfriend, Olivia, has never been to these areas and one of my oldest/best friends Charlie has been wanting to go on a trip with me for a while now. We loosely talked about doing it a couple of months ago, but nothing…