To honor the 20-year anniversary of Overland Journal, we are revisiting special heritage content in the upcoming 100th issue of the magazine. Originally published in Overland Journal’s Summer 2019 issue, this article is part of that celebration. I’ve had a few travel dramas in my time, but on my latest journey, a serious misfortune occurred….
Category Archives: Grand Touring
EP325 | Principles of Overlanding: App Navigation with Chris Cordes
Overland Journal Podcast host Scott Brady discusses the core principles of overlanding navigation with Chris Cordes, highlighting primary, secondary, contingency, and emergency backups. They compare three main app categories: turn-by-turn tools like Google Maps, reference/layer apps like iOverlander and Tracks4Africa, and hybrid discipline-specific platforms such as onX and Gaia. While Google excels at everyday routing…
Fall is Colorado’s Best Season
The last twinkling mustard-colored leaves from a small grove of Aspen trees clung to the bone bark at a campsite perched high above Brush Creek, a few miles from Crested Butte, Colorado. It’s a treat to take a hammock nap in a grove like this, because we don’t have many aspens in Oregon, where I’m…
The Vashon Ranger Goes Way Overland
Just a few miles from my home in western Montana lies the sprawling Frank Church-River of No Return and Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness complex. At 3.6 million acres (approximately 14,500 km²) in size and spanning multiple US Forest Service districts across Idaho and Montana, this is far and away the largest swath of protected wilderness in the…
Trinitē Road Rally Announces Inaugural 2026 Event in Northern California, Concluding at Sonoma Raceway
The Trinitē Road Rally has announced plans for its inaugural event, scheduled to take place from May 4 through May 7, 2026, in the Golden Gate and Northern California regions, culminating at Sonoma Raceway. The rally’s organizers are associated with the team behind Rebelle Rally, and describe the event as a motorsport experience designed to…
The Alcan 5000: Is This the Last Great North American Rally?
Lead image: Tedrick Mealy In September 2025, my wife and I finally checked one of those “someday” adventures off our bucket list—the infamous and prestigious Alcan 5000 Rally. If you’re reading Expedition Portal, chances are you’ve already heard of it. The mythical endurance rally runs roughly from Seattle to Fairbanks and back, covering over 5,000…
Land Rover Honors 75 Years of Adventure at Pebble Beach
When you think of the annual Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, you usually think of the famous waterfront golf course lined with immaculate eight-figure Ferraris and one-off pre-war vehicles from European marques that are long out of business. But for the past two years, Land Rover has made a statement at the iconic event with a…
Winging It Through New Mexico
The key to enjoying college is figuring out how to maximize your time away from school. In all seriousness, university life can be a drain, and finding little moments to recharge your academic battery by embarking on adventures can be pivotal to a college experience. That’s why I was extra motivated to go on this…
Mobile Warming Clothing from Fieldsheer :: Field Tested
If staying warm without piling on a ton of clothing appeals to you, Fieldsheer can help. Their Mobile Warming collection includes everything from vests and coats to socks and insoles. As well, they pay special attention to heated clothing for those who work outside. My concern is keeping warm on a motorcycle. With that in…
The Land Rover Defender X-Dynamic :: A Modern Off-Road Icon with Flawed Charm
I can’t quite make up my mind about tres leches cake. On the surface, it’s a delightful dessert. But for me, there’s a fundamental issue: it’s a wet cake. Cake isn’t supposed to be wet, even if it’s a sponge, and whenever it comes up in conversation, I’m ambivalent to the point of mild irritation….
Blanche Stuart Scott: The Original Lady Overland
Photography by the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library and Public Domain Face-to-face with a large lynx, Blanche Stuart Scott’s heart pounded as she gripped the Colt .32 in her hand. “How do you do?” she asked politely, meeting the wildcat’s hazel-colored eyes. She and journalist Gertrude Phillips were amid a vehicle recovery on the way to…
This 1941 Plymouth Sedan Took on the Pan-American Highway (And Won) :: Video of the Week
One week after Willys revealed its General Purpose vehicle, and in the midst of The Blitz, journalist Sullivan Richardson, mechanic Arnold Whitaker, and Kenneth C. Van Hee drove quietly out of Detroit in a 1941 Plymouth sedan bound for Cape Horn, Tierra del Fuego. It was just before midnight on November 18, 1940, and as…
The Principles of Overlanding :: Insights on Exploring the World by Vehicle
Lessons are often learned the hard way, which, in my case, includes screwing up, getting stuck, carjacked, impounded, detained, delayed, and generally mired in the throes of adventure. Even the worst scenarios had a silver lining (maybe not the carjacking) as my awareness grew, and I adjusted my traveling operating system. During my travels, I…
Ultra Overlander of the Year: Raptor R vs. Bronco Raptor vs. Rubicon 392 vs. AT4x AEV vs. TRX and more
Overland Journal Podcast Episode 185 Last summer, I had the privilege of enjoying three weeks behind the wheel of a 2018 Ford F-150 Raptor during my long-term review of the Tune M1 camper. As someone who is used to traveling in a Land Rover with a wheezy four-cylinder turbo-diesel, planning all my passes and resigning…
Top Ten Modern Classics :: Motorcycle Buyer’s Guide
The term modern classic, when used to describe a motorcycle, has quite a loose description. For our purposes, we’ll categorize it as a motorcycle that has been styled to look like it belongs in the 1960s and 1970s while offering the rider modern conveniences and safety features such as ABS, traction control, no carburetor, etc. …
Overland and Off-Road Porsches of Rennsport Reunion
When you think of Porsche, you probably think of a sleek 911 GT3 whizzing past you on the Interstate. Or maybe a a Boxster, top down and cruising up the coast. Or perhaps your taste is more vintage, and you picture a little, air-cooled 356 piloted through a mountain pass. You could, of course, have…
2023 Nissan Z: Grand Touring an Icon
My first memory of a vehicle was my dad’s Datsun 240Z, childish wonder on eleven as my father adjusted the choke lever and the carbureted straight six roared to life. There are also flashes of the bright orange color and how joyous it felt to be in that moment with the person I admire most….
Ural Gear Up Expedition :: New for 2023
Ural, king of the 2WD sidecar motorcycles, announces their top tier Gear Up Expedition model. The company modestly calls it “a fully equipped, go anywhere, do anything machine that can tackle nearly any situation on or off the road.” The Better Equipped Ural The Expedition comes straight from the factory with everything a rider and…
The 2023 Ram TRX: The World’s First Grand Touring Truck?
Scott Brady tests the 2023 Ram TRX pickup for backcountry travel, only to find it one of the most comfortable rides of any 4WD we have evaluated. When combined with the (absolutely mental) 700+ horsepower figure and premium interior, the Ram TRX becomes the ultimate Grand Touring pickup. 2023 Ram TRX 1500 Specifications: Base…
Introducing: Grand Touring on ExPo
Adventure takes many forms, from climbing mountains to crossing continents to the limits of adhesion through a mountain chicane. On Expedition Portal, we have covered all manner of human and vehicular exploration, which now includes the thrill of grand touring. Grand touring originated from the Italian phrase Gran Turismo, which was subsequently abbreviated to the…