Photography by Valentina Vallinotto 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 2024 issue, this article is part of that celebration. This rope looks like it will hold me—famous last words, I thought, gripping the…
Category Archives: Overland Journal
Voyages on Bales of Straw: The Saga of Kota Mama
Photography courtesy of the Scientific Exploration Society 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 Fall 2016 issue, this article is part of that celebration. Having been taught that Christopher Columbus discovered America, I was intrigued…
Congo to Congo
Photos by Dan Grec and Dietmar Zepf 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 Gear 2019 issue, this article is part of that celebration. My thumbs-up is answered with two honks, so I gently ease…
Analog Nomads: Navigating Tajikistan in the Digital Age
Photography by Kira Hak 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 Fall 2026 issue, this article is part of that celebration. Calm, steady breaths accompanied my evening survey as I looked out at a vast…
EP331 | Reliving Iconic Overland Journal Stories with Chris Collard
Overland Journal Podcast host Ashley Giordano interviews automotive journalist and former Overland Journal Editor in-Chief Chris Collard (2011–2018) as the publication approaches its 20-year anniversary. Collard discusses recent Sierra Nevada conservation initiatives, trips through Baja and South America, upcoming guided expeditions, and commercial automotive photography. He reflects on managing issue planning and performing data-driven product…
El Gran Desierto de Altar: Crossing the Largest Sand Sea in North America
Photography by Sinuhe Xavier, Scott Brady, Ho Chung, and John Lee 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 Winter 2012 issue, this article is part of that celebration. The evening glow of the setting sun…
Lost in K’gari: Exploring Australia’s Fraser Island
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 Gear 2019 issue, this article is part of that celebration. “Hey guys, no one panic, but a snake is heading your way.” I looked at James and, with…
Off the Map: Essential Paper Maps for Overlanding
My first proper job in the mid-1990s was as a salesperson working out of a major city. Prospective clients were scattered across the urban center, the surrounding suburbs, and as far as the platinum-rich west, often a half-day’s drive away. Each morning began with cold calls and confirmed appointments, followed by time spent at my…
Clean, Safe Water: Filters and Purifiers for Overland Travel
Photography by Brian Slobe 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 Fall 2009 issue, this article is part of that celebration. “Filthy water cannot be washed.” –West African proverb While the proverb’s lesson probably had…
Hat Tricks
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 Winter 2016 issue, this article is part of that celebration. Since taking the editorial helm of Overland Journal in 2011, I’ve had several people make tongue-in-cheek comments that…
Trekking Under an Endless Sky: Swapping Troopies for Camels in Egypt’s White Desert
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 Fall 2025 issue, this article is part of that celebration. A small announcement on Facebook promoting a possible trekking expedition in Egypt’s White Desert hit an immediate chord….
Testing the Ice: A Moto-adventuring Trio and a 1993 Ural Sidecar Take on the Arctic
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 Spring 2015 issue, this article is part of that celebration. There are two basic prerequisites for a motorbike trip: a motorbike and the ability to ride one. We…
Overlanding Meets Physics: 6 Storage Solutions to Beat the Laws of Thermodynamics
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 Spring 2007 issue, this article is part of that celebration. The second law of thermodynamics strikes early on overland trips. If you remember the basic version from Physics…
EP330 | Gary and Monika Wescott on their Return to South America
In this episode of the Overland Journal Podcast, host Ashley Giordano interviews Monika and Gary Wescott, seasoned photojournalists with 50 years of travel experience. They share insights into the Turtle Expedition, detailing the custom build and features of their Turtle V vehicle. The Wescotts also reflect on the evolution of travel photography, communication on the…
Soggy in Sota: Bikepacking Minnesota’s North Shore
Ten years ago, Minnesota wasn’t on my bikepacking radar. Or any radar, really. But love has a way of changing things, introducing your horizons. When I fell for a woman who called the North Shore home, the state earned an unlikely corner in my adventure catalog. It’s a destination that draws me back with its…
Exploring the North Rim’s Back Roads on a Royal Enfield
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 Gear 2011 issue, this article is part of that celebration. “On that?” The ranger in the North Rim Ranger Station stopped filling in my backcountry camping permit and…
The White Desert: The Expeditions 7 Team Crosses Antarctica
Photography by Chris Collard and Scott Brady 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 Spring 2015 issue, this article is part of that celebration. Beyond the windscreen, I can barely make out the edge of…
OV Routes: Coronado Borderlands Arizona Traverse
The city of Nogales, Arizona, has long been our preferred border crossing as we make our way down, or up, from our base in central Mexico. Yes, the Baja route south is far more fun, but it is too easy to get stuck for a month, as you soon convince yourself that just one more…
Twenty-eight Days, 6,000 Miles, Five Land Rovers, and a Big Bag of Money
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 2007 issue, this article is part of that celebration. “Oh, by the way, you will also have to figure out how to get through the mine field…
The Exhibit Curator: Slow Travel in a Series One Land Rover
Illustration by Michele Dallorso 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 Fall 2021 issue, this article is part of that celebration. I stepped out of the airy hall of Durban’s King Shaka International Airport with…