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…
When Bridges Collapse
“Forget about it. We just came from there. The bridge is gone. Repairs are going to take weeks.” Two Dutch motorcyclists, Bart and Renate, on their way from Ecuador to Ushuaia, gave us the news. We met them in Huanchaco, a beach town in Peru, one of those places where travelers intend to stay for…
Video of the Week: Colossal 2017
Last week we posted an article following the adventures of a few friends through Canada’s stunning backcountry. (You can read it here.) The trucks, trails, and photography reeled us in, and the landscape can only be described as epic, but it left us wanting to see more. Well, it looks like our wish was granted, as…
Oasis on the Playa
In the spring of 2015, I planned an expedition to the Great Basin Desert with some of my travel buddies from Prometheus Design Werx (PDW) and Exploro. It was to be a quick weekend of high desert trail riding and exploration and an escape from the monotony of the city surrounding us. Our vehicles for…
Colossal: The Canadian Wild
Colossal has always been about expansive views and the enjoyment of nature both on the trail and back at camp each night. It is not the trip to sign up for if you’re after bragging rights for the most technical trail, or sheer mental exhaustion after navigating a full day’s worth of California rock. As…
Tail Lamp: Camp Fear
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in Overland Journal, Summer 2017. Anxiety is not a word often associated with overlanding, but if you are adventurous enough to test the limit of your courage, you will experience your fair share of this symptom. I am not merely referring to the pre-departure turmoil (particularly the intercontinental let’s sell it…
Overlanding in the Snows of Japan
It took Coen 10 minutes to clear the roof, hood, and winch of a thick layer of snow. It had become part of a ritual now that we were on Hokkaido, the northernmost and coldest island of Japan, in the middle of the winter. Meanwhile, I packed everything away inside the Land Cruiser. The engine…
The Last Mile
For some, breaking away from the norm and living a life of adventure becomes, well, normal. When it comes to folks like Loren and Patty Upton, I maintain that Merriam Webster should add “Upton” to the definition of the word adventure. Back in June of 1984, the couple packed up their CJ-5, affectionately called Sand…
From the ExPo Vault: Sun Soaked Sands to The Great White North
Two FJ Cruisers take on a journey from San Diego to the Arctic Circle
Year in Review: A Look Back at 2017
And just like that, 2017 passed on by. It’s hard to believe that we’re standing at the forefront of a new year, a time that will be filled with endless possibilities, uncharted opportunities, and of course plenty of interesting adventures. As we prepare to begin the newest segment of our lives, we feel it’s best…
Mobility for a Million: Free Wheelchair Mission
In the vast world of so-called humanitarian organizations and NGOs that promise to save the world, several of us at Overland Journal have been blessed with the hands-on opportunity to work with one that puts the ox before the cart: the California-based Free Wheelchair Mission (FWM). What began as one man’s spiritual conviction to help…
36 Hours of Adventure: Perpetual Fire in Southern Utah
“Did you know there is a part of Utah that is always on fire?” I gave my husband a look of pure disbelief as he went on to say, “I guess there are these weird cracks in the ground above underground coal veins that are burning and always have been. Want to go see it?”…