The UK is an absolute riot to drive through. Twisty, narrow roads bordered by mossy stone walls lead to lush glens filled with bluebells, quaint towns whispering of a captivating past, and seaside coves that stretch for miles. Charmingly, it’s impossible to escape the bahs of baby sheep in the spring. Whether you’re passionate about…
Overland Expo Foundation Announces 2023 Grant Recipients
The Overland Expo Foundation has revealed the recipients of its grant program for 2023, which supports organizations and individuals working towards protecting public lands and maximizing rights for overland travelers. The foundation aims to fund projects aligning with its mission of turning passion into protection. One of the wholly deserving recipients of the grant is…
Overlanding Europe? Here’s What You Need to Know About the Schengen Zone.
Whether you’re a history buff, espresso fanatic, art lover, off-road adventurer (or a combination of the above), there are many compelling reasons to tour the European continent by vehicle. For North Americans, shorter driving distances and a wide variety of foods, languages, and scenery make the region a particularly rewarding travel destination. Or, perhaps you’re…
Starlink Competitors To Increase Global Broadband Coverage (And Why This Is Great News For Explorers)
Starlink is a game changer for those who travel and work and explorers who benefit from the security, peace of mind, and seamless connectivity that satellite-distributed internet access provides. Soon there will be nowhere on Earth without a high-speed internet connection, with all the positives and negatives that come with it. One thing is certain:…
Why Overlanders Are Choosing Iraq as the Gateway to the Middle East
Lead image by Olga On Tour When Swiss overlanders Marcel and Chiara Fuerst drove through Iraq in November 2021, they stopped at roughly a hundred military checkpoints. Heavily armed military escorts were required through certain areas, and they tackled the stretch from Baghdad to Jordan in one go due to the risk of ISIS terrorist…
BMW Partners with BDR on Oregon Route
BMW Motorrad USA is collaborating with Backcountry Discovery Routes (BDR) on their newest project in the west, Oregon. The ORBDR brings the total routes created by the non-profit BDR organization to an even dozen. It is the second with BMW as a partner, the first being the Wyoming BDR. ORBDR Film Premier Save the date:…
Five Reasons Japan Should Be on Your Overland Bucket List
It was with great joy this October that I read Japan was lifting its last Covid-19 travel restrictions and that the country would be open again to individual travelers. As of yet, Japan has been little visited by overlanders who bring their own vehicle, probably because it’s a long way from any of the main…
Overland Routes: The Trail of Kings
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in Overland Journal’s Fall 2022 Issue. Arizona may be known for saguaro cactus, but it is also 26 percent timberland, and Humphreys Peak rises 12,633 feet into the southwest skyline. From the precipitous enclave of Jerome, and the start of this Overland Route, Humphreys Peak looms in the distance….
The Great Gravel Boom :: 4,000 riders expected at Garmin UNBOUND Gravel 2023
unbound adjective un·bound | \ən-ˈbau̇nd\ 1: having no limit The gravel race that began with 34 participants in 2006 will boom through the scenic rolling hills of Kansas’ Tallgrass Prairie in 2023, with thousands of cyclists clamoring for a lottery ticket to ride. Although participants will hit blacktop roads in smaller sections, the vast…
Destination :: Mount Assiniboine Provincial Park, British Columbia
Photography by Richard Giordano Located south of Banff and within the traditional territory of the Ktunaxa or Kootenai First Nations, Mount Assiniboine Provincial Park is a culmination of the Canadian Rockies’ finest. Bright alpine lakes border jutting rocky ridges, while spruce, fir, and pine trees shade blazing wildflowers in fiery orange, pretty pink, and delicate…
Twisties, Curves, and Canopies: A Journey Through the Ozarks
It’s All in the Planning We had planned the trip for a couple of months, poring over the details, making inventories of what we had and would need for a long-distance moto journey across the Ozarks of Arkansas and Missouri. I would need to bring a new set of tires for my BMW F 750…
Overland Embassy Guides Darién Gap Crossing for Travelers
Photo credits: Alejandro Huerta Franco The Darién Gap crossing between Panama and Colombia is many overlanders’ first exposure to the red tape of transcontinental vehicle shipping. Some travelers are so overwhelmed by the paperwork and costs involved they turn around and return the way they came. Others take a deep breath and plunge in, embracing…
The Canyons of the Ancients
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…
Destination: Cotopaxi National Park, Ecuador
Photography by Richard Giordano At 5,897 meters (19,347 feet), Cotopaxi is Ecuador’s second-highest peak and one of the highest active volcanoes on the planet. Located a mere 30 miles from the Ecuadorian capital city, Quito, the park is well-visited and offers enough to keep visitors entertained for several days, including camping, hiking, off-pavement driving, and…
Video of the Week :: Living in the Cactus Forest with Tight Loops
Lead photograph by Tight Loops Eager to escape the coldest winter months in Montana, Chase Bartee and his wife Aimee head the desert southwest in their 1985 VW camper van, exploring the rugged terrain of the Saguaro, Joshua Tree, and Death Valley National Parks. The couple’s skills as artists, photographers, and filmmakers fuse with a…
How to Ship an Overland Vehicle
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in Overland Journal’s Spring 2022 Issue. Photography by Coen Wubbels The alarm clock sounded at 3:00 a.m. For the fifth morning in a row, Coen yawned as he threw his legs out of bed to once more get on the phone. We were in the Netherlands, visiting family while…
Gaia GPS Launches New Overlanding Map
Gaia GPS has launched Gaia Overland, a new global base map designed to provide the information you need to plan and navigate your next overland or off-pavement adventure. Map features include updated roads and trails, including those from OpenStreetMap, road and trail data from the US Forest Service (USFS) and Bureau of Land Management, and…
Destination: Juan de Fuca Provincial Park, British Columbia
Photography by Richard Giordano Located on the west coast of southern Vancouver Island, Juan de Fuca Provincial Park offers visitors the chance to bask in its rainforests, try out the surf, observe local flora and fauna, and hike the local trails. One of the park’s main features, the Juan De Fuca Marine Trail, winds 47…
Looking for Firewood? Stacked.camp Knows Where It’s At
These days there’s a website or app for just about anything, and you can now add firewood to that list. Stacked.camp is a new “community-focused project” (website database) that was created to help campers find firewood, quickly and easily. Stacked was specifically built as a “lite-weight” webapp to facilitate quick loading of information, even when…
The Mojave Desert MDHCA has Elected a Prominent Overland Explorer as President
This is excellent news for us desert lovers. Billy Creech has been elected President of the Mojave Desert Heritage and Cultural Association (“MDHCA”) non-profit which was formed in 1993 with the mission to research, conserve and share the natural and cultural history of the Mojave Desert. The MDHCA runs the 75 acre Goffs facility and…