If you had lived in southern Colorado during the Ice Age, chances are you’d be hunting camels for your dinner. Luckily, a lot has changed since the Pleistocene era, the epoch geological timespan when glaciers ruled North America. Ten thousand years after its first settlers dined on camels and woolly mammoths, modern-day visitors to the…
How To Become an Adventure Rider
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in Overland Journal’s Spring 2022 Issue. Photography by Susan Dragoo Few motorsports employ such a diverse array of skills as adventure riding. Adventure riders are those enviable souls who ride big-bore motorcycles, some approaching 600 pounds before adding luggage, over terrain befitting a world traveler lost in the wilderness….
The Moment Collectors, by Sam Manicom and Friends
I’ve never been much of a short-story reader; I like to invest in written tales for book-length escapes from reality. However, The Moment Collectors is a different kind of collection of short stories altogether—at least it was for me. As a round-the-world motorcycle traveler, there was something in each writer’s tale that I could directly…
Through Algeria and Tunisia on a Motor-bicycle with Lady Warren
Lead photo courtesy of Through Algeria & Tunisia on a Motor-bicycle “When the wandering spirit stirs him, lucky is he who can yield to the lure. There are probably few people, to whom travelling is even remotely possible, who have not felt the longing to feel and see the romance unfolded by travellers’ tales. To…
The Thumper Diaries
I found myself riding a fairly beat-up motorcycle across desert highlands in Bolivia, a quote from Back to the Future 2 bouncing around in my head just as all of my gear was bouncing over rocks and grass balls. “Roads? Where we’re going, we don’t need roads!” The place I was in didn’t need me…
Tuk South :: From Kenya to Cape Town in Two Tuk-Tuks
What began as an adventure travel documentary project morphed into something more powerful for Robbie, Josh, Jasper, and Ivo of Tuk South. These young British gents are driving 6,000 kilometers from Kenya to Cape Town, using their platform and video production skills to raise funds for African wildlife rangers. Driving a couple of 8-horsepower tuk-tuks,…
It’s the End of the World As We Know It
Editor’s note: This article was originally published in Overland Journal’s Fall 2021 Issue. Riding to the end of the world, aka Ushuaia, was never our original plan. We did not ride the Dalton Highway to the tip of Alaska. Hence, the popular route from the northernmost point to the southernmost point of the Americas was something…
Video of the Week: Wyoming Backcountry Discovery Route and Film Release
The Wyoming Backcountry Discovery Route (WYBDR) is number eleven from the BDR non-profit organization, and as of February 1, all route information is available on their website. Along with free GPS tracks, travel resources, and waterproof Butler maps, you can also find the WYBDR film, showcasing highlights from the route, such as: the Sierra Madre…
Destination: McCarthy, Alaska, and Kennecott Mine
In Alaska’s Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, there sits a village called McCarthy. If you search for this place on Google, you’ll find it says, population: 0. But people do live here. A 2020 census lists 107 residents, up from 28 in 2010. I rode my BMW G 650 GS to McCarthy in 2016. I sat…
New Yezdi Adventure Bike
If you saw the main image for this article and thought I’d made a typo, you’re probably not the first. The new Yezdi Adventure bike looks very similar to a Royal Enfield. Is that the point? Maybe. I’m not about picking sides in the war against what ADV bikes are the best. Instead, I’ll outline…
Moonbikes: 100 Percent Electric, 100 Percent Silent
I’m not a fan of snowmobiles. The concept is great: floating on snow, getting high up into the mountains with the help of an engine. But one significant reason why I go into the backcountry is for the peace and quiet. Sleds have their selling points, but they smell and are loud. For these two…
The Cold Start, an Off-Road Riding Clinic and Culinary Experience February 4-8
If you’re an ADV or dirt bike rider, you probably know about Baja, Mexico, and its incredible winter escape possibilities. Well, Baja just got even more enticing with The Cold Start, an Off-Road Riding Clinic and Culinary Experience organized by Kyra Sacdalan. I don’t know about you, but I can’t think of anything better than…
Cathy Birchall—the First Blind Person to Circumnavigate the Globe on a Motorcycle
When Cathy Birchall was growing up, her eyesight was problematic in a way that left her out of playground games with her friends. Objects and people were indistinct, but Cathy didn’t know this was anything other than normal. When she was a pre-teen, she saw a specialist and discovered she had retinitis pigmentosa—a genetic disorder…
Auto Hotels: What Does Luxury “Love” Accommodation Have to Do with Overland Travel?
After a long day on our motorcycles, my riding partner, Dave, and I, were in Guanajuato, Mexico, looking for a place to stay. We found a hotel on the side of the road, just out of town. The place looked nice—possibly too expensive for our budget, but we decided to see how much a night…
The Rugged Road :: A Sidecar Journey from London to Cape Town
Photographs courtesy of The Rugged Road by Theresa Wallach It was New Year’s Day, 1 January 1935, when Theresa Wallach and Florence Blenkiron sat in the postmaster’s house in El Goléa, Algeria, listening to Big Ben chime over the wireless radio. Rather than evoking a reassurance or wistfulness for home, the sounds and news from…
Lofty Elevations and a Higher Understanding
The excitement of what lay before me had purloined any chance of slumber on the six-hour flight from Qatar to Nepal. Despite a 1:00 a.m. departure, I kept my eyes glued to the horizon, willing the sun to climb as we raced toward it at 420 knots. My breathing quickened as the first blueish-gray hints…
Interview :: The Sidecar Guys
Matt and Reece are just a couple of young blokes from the UK who circumnavigated the globe on a scooter and sidecar, setting a Guinness world record for their feat along the way. Neither had ridden a motorcycle or knew anything about overlanding. Yet, they decided to drive one of the world’s most uncomfortable and…
Video of the Week: Zero DSR Electric Motorcycles on the Colorado BDR
Have you ever wondered if an electric motorcycle can really go the distance off the highway? Well, they can. And Tucker Neary has proof. Riding two Zero DSR electric motorcycles, Tucker and his friend Mark traveled and documented over 1,000 miles in seven days along the rough and rugged Colorado Backcountry Discovery Route. They wanted…
Seven Adventure Motorcycle Podcasts for the Fall
It’s that time of year—podcast season! Wait, were you thinking Thanksgiving? Christmas? Sure, those are good too, but what about the fall days when it’s too wet or cold to ride, yet too warm and stormy for snow sports? That’s podcast season for me. I usually take to nearby walking paths and tap into some…
The New 2022 Himalayan from Royal Enfield
I love the style of Royal Enfields, but they’ve always looked uncomfortable for anything longer than a day trip. However, it looks like that may have changed. Since its international debut in 2018, the Himalayan has undergone significant changes to appeal to more long-distance riders. (PS-there’s even talk of RE developing a 650 cc engine.)…