Editor’s note: This article was originally published in Overland Journal’s Fall 2020 Issue. Let’s accept that adventure motorcycling means long, unsupported journeys across the world’s developing nations, lately redefined as the Global South. Overlanding is another word for it, as distinct from regular touring vacations or even gnarly domestic adventures that aren’t hard to have…
On the back cover of her book, Road to Mekong, Jai Bharathi stands in a black motorcycle jacket, one foot propped up on the footpeg of her Bajaj Dominar 400 motorbike. Her look is casual, but Jai is anything but. This woman is a force. From the South Indian city of Hyderabad, Jai’s first experience…
This week’s video of the week has it all: adventure, history, breathtaking scenery, and stunning videography. The Escape Artist, Wieland Hintz, shares footage from his journey across the Andes, from Santiago to Montevideo, with deep insights about the people, places, food, and architecture he encounters along the way.
The cash deposit I’d paid was all the ATM would give me, and a handwritten receipt was all I got back. So once I’d landed back in the UK, I transferred some money to my new Bulgarian bank account and jumped on the bike back to the European Union’s most easterly member. I was on…
When people learn my husband, Dave, and I traveled around the world by motorcycle, the assumption might be I sat on the back of his bike. I enjoy mentioning there were two bikes. Dave rode a BMW F 800 GS. I was on a G 650 GS then upgraded to an F 800. I’m not…
It’s an emotional time for Dos and Wamuyu of Throttle Adventures. Like many overland travellers, COVID-19 has thrown a wrench into their travel plans. After two years, five continents, 24 countries, four months of quarantine in Managua, Nicaragua, two bikes in a shipping container, and COVID-19 restrictions lifting just enough, the couple is set to…
To live in South Africa as an adventure biker has many advantages. It is a great place to get your motorcycle fitted out with state-of-the-art equipment, as well as a great starting point for an expedition to some of the wildest and most beautiful countries in Africa, such as Botswana, Zambia, Namibia, Tanzania, and Rwanda….
This article was originally published in Overland Journal’s Summer 2020 issue. One of the wonderful things about adventure motorcycle travel is the simplicity, eschewing the complexities and excesses of daily life. As a rider, we can only bring so much, and the more we travel, the more we tend to leave behind. The less we…
The Baikal Project, Part Two A Guinness World Record for the Longest Distance Traveled Off-road On Ice Photos courtesy of the Baikal Project and Egidijus Babbelis Imagine Russia’s Lake Baikal during the dead of winter: does it freeze over entirely or just in spots? Are the frozen areas smooth like glass or chunky with plates…
In 2015, I had some fuel buried in the Western Sahara by a Belgian couple on their way to Mauritania. A few weeks later, they sent a picture of a thorn tree with “CS” carved on the trunk. “Mark two meters north, and dig,” it said. “We left you a mystery gift.” I nicknamed it…
Elspeth Beard tells how motorcycling around the world at a young age set her on track for a life of challenge and achievement.
Lois Pryce earns every inch of the last 600 miles of her motorcycle trip down the length of the Americas.
Prologue: In May 2003, Lois Pryce left Anchorage, Alaska, en route to Ushuaia, Argentina—a journey of nearly 17,000 miles and eight months.
Each year, our staff members spend months exploring some of the best backroads our planet has to offer, from the red sands of the Simpson Desert to the frozen expanses of Greenland. Along the way we’ve discovered there’s no lack of breathtaking adventures to be had, but believe it or not, some of the best…
Imagine a motorcycle rally where riders tackle rugged, challenging terrain, delivering new motorcycles to park rangers across the globe, enabling them to protect endangered species and precious cultural resources by performing their duties more efficiently and effectively. This ride exists and is called Rally for Rangers; it’s making an impact across the globe “one motorcycle…
Breaking a world record takes creativity, ingenuity, and—in the case of the Baikal Project—at least one Irishman with unstoppable perseverance. In February 2019, Declan McEvoy arrived at the Russian border from Estonia with his motorcycle. He had with him the necessary documents for entry: temporary vehicle import papers, passport, and visa. Friendly border patrol officers…
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in Overland Journal, Gear Guide 2019. It’s springtime in Morocco’s High Atlas mountains. The wildflowers are out, birds cheep, and there’s a soft warmth in the air. My flying visit here is capping off a satisfying bout of winter travel in North Africa. A few weeks prior, I’d joined…
My first motorcycle was a Honda. . . and so was my second (curiously, my first car was also a Honda). It was that XR250L that opened my eyes to the fun and adventure of exploring by dirt bike, and my life-long love for adventure motorcycling. When I think back, it was the reliability and…
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in Overland Journal, Spring 2019. Photography by Jake Hamby and Alex Manne We rolled up the 20-foot-tall garage door a little bit before 3:00 a.m. The temperature inside the WWII-era steel Quonset hut plummeted as the wind forced snow and ice in around us. One by one we…
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in Overland Journal, Gear Guide 2018. Photography by Alfonse Palaima, Scott Brady, and Colin Evans Expedition 65 was not a tour; it did not even have a leader. While some might view that as a recipe for ending friendships, it played into a grand experiment and ultimately a…
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in Overland Journal, Spring 2018. Dusk is settling into the hills along the Sea of Cortez. The sky is a bruised purple, still streaked with veins of red and yellow, a reminder of the brilliant but difficult day behind us. Our band of friends rides west leaving the coast behind,…
