Long hours on ice-covered roads coupled with continual concentration seeped deeply into our bodies. After nearly 30 tanks of diesel and 10 days of white wonderlands, we neared the end of our Arctic journey, completing the 2020 Alcan 5000 Rally. What started as a pipe dream to pilot an old, right-hand-drive diesel deep into the…
Field Tested | Webasto Thermo Top Evo Coolant Heater
Recently, my husband, Andy Lilienthal, and I rallied a 1991 Mitsubishi diesel-powered Pajero in the Alcan 5000 Rally. Not only did we pilot this right-hand-drive Japanese Domestic Market (JDM) 4×4 over 5,120 miles of ice, snow, and blizzard conditions, we had to ensure it started every morning after it slept in Arctic temps of -40°…
Nova Scotia | Overland Routes
Editor’s Note: This article was originally featured in the Spring 2020 issue of Overland Journal As a child, there were a few things I “knew” about what lay beyond the borders of Texas. In the States, the Southeast was a land of sugary sand beaches and muggy afternoons; the Northeast was home to big cities,…
Caught Up in the COVID-19 Crisis in Saudi Arabia
A life on the street, a life in a van—after more than four years in Africa, we thought that nothing and nobody could stop us. But then came coronavirus. Africa We spent 1,561 formative days on the African continent, and every country left its mark—a total of 36 countries, 49 border crossings, and countless roadblocks…
Across the Deserts in Kazakhstan
The world was gray without any visible contours of clouds, making it impossible to see where the horizon separated the earth and the sky. It was a depressing start to our off-road journey across the Aralkum Desert and the Mangystau Plateau to the Caspian Sea in Kazakhstan. Driving Around and Across the Aral Sea Our…
The Art of Volunteering While Overlanding | Interview With Candice of Be Old Later
If you ever come across Candice of Be Old Later, you’ll likely find her in the midst of various art supplies, drawing cartoons, catching up on freelance artwork, or teaching a group of children how to draw. Her enthusiasm for art developed at an early age, eventually leading her to become a professional illustrator and…
Coleman Powerhouse Dual Fuel 414 Stove | Field Tested
There are people who love old Triumph motorcycles and classic Italian sports cars, and for good reason. These machines were design icons in their time, and they force the user to become active and essential participants in the experience. For every thrilling apex, acceleration, wind in your hair corner, there is a greasy oil puddle…
Snomaster CL56D Long Term Review | Field Tested
We have been travelling for a long time now and I am a large man who loves a cold drink, my family consumes more meat than even the most carnivorous Uruguayan. What do cold drinks and meat have in common? Well, they both need to be kept cold, or at the very least cool. Until…
Lagunas Route | Total Eclipse if We Start
No, I didn’t know diesel fuel gels when it gets too cold, preventing the van from starting. I did not find this to be common knowledge before this all went down. We should have probably thought things through a bit more or at least paid attention to the below-freezing temperatures the night before when the…
Lessons From A 35-Year-Old Land Cruiser
The morning frost had begun to melt on the sage and bunchgrass steppe that stretched to the horizon. A thick cloud of dust billowed from our tires, diffusing into the otherwise tranquil air. Inside the cabin of the Troopy the atmosphere was thick with corrugation-induced vibrations and the voice of Jack Johnson trying to cut…
Modern Explorers | Mac Mackenney
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in Overland Journal‘s Summer 2020 issue. All men dream, but not all equally. Those that dream by the dusty recesses of the night, awake to find it was all vanity. But the dreamers of the day are dangerous, for they may act their dreams with open eyes and make…
Gear Spotlight
We are planning another intercontinental overland journey, and as always, our gear is an essential part of the trip. While we are not always able to get our paws on an actual product, the internet is a wonderful, addictive creature, and a few hours are easily lost to drooling over new gear, gizmos, and essentials….
Field Tested | Garmin Instinct
Originally Published in Overland Journal, Fall 2019 With cellular phones progressing from calling device to personal computer, the humble watch has also morphed from timekeeping caterpillar to fully fledged, personalized smartwatch butterfly. Borrowing heavily from the much-lauded Garmin Fenix, the Instinct cannibalizes the best elements of its expensive cousin, ditching well over 50 percent of…
The Migration
This article was originally published in Overland Journal, Summer 2019 Prior to witnessing the Serengeti migration for the first time, I thought I had more of an understanding of what it entailed. I had dreamt about seeing this phenomenal sight for many years, only to realize the scale of how it all threaded together was…
Mystic Myanmar on Dirt Bikes
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….
Is a “Hard-Side” Camper Worth the Investment?
Hard-side, built-on, live-in campers are all the rage these days. But are they worth the investment? I was having a conversation with my friend John the other day. Three times a year, he tows a large off-road caravan with a V8-powered Land Cruiser to Namibia, Botswana, or Zimbabwe. I suggested that a hard-side camper such…
Overlanders Share Their Favorite Apps
Mobile apps are designed to improve our lives and provide us with readily available information. This is especially helpful while travelling. Hundreds of new apps are popping up left, right, and centre, so we connected with our fellow overlanders to help narrow down the search. Google Maps, iOverlander, and Maps.me were crowd favorites, and nearly…
What I’ve Learned About Full-time Travel From Shelter-in-Place
Lead image by Amber Baldwin Perspective through being forced off the road for the first time in over six years. Cliché as it may be, “You don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone” certainly applies to this period of sheltering in place, the longest my husband, Eric, and I have stayed anywhere in more…
Expedition Portal Celebrates 15 Years of Adventure
June 25, 2020 :: Press Release In late June 2005, expeditionportal.com (known as ExPo) went live, serving initially as a community forum, and now as one of the world’s largest online overland resources for the vehicle-based adventure traveler. While the website has grown continually since 2005, growth has accelerated in recent years because of the…
Life on the Road | Moto Proven
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…