When it comes to overland gear, North America has been playing catchup for the last decade. The trickle of products started with a few rooftop tents, followed by fridge/freezers, a torrent of off-road trailers, and finally a few innovative pop-top truck shells. All of this culminated into a pretty healthy menu of four-wheel drive fare, but there’s still one segment…

A few years back, I decided I’d try for once to get some people together on my birthday. We set a three-day expedition date in February to the high desert in Western Nevada, which was a risky proposal due to the potential conditions. I invited some friends from Prometheus Design Werx, Exploro, and some guides from my former company Bay…

Overlanding from a blank canvas.

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in Overland Journal, Gear Guide 2015. Air, the simple mixture of nitrogen, oxygen, argon, and a few other gases, is not only elemental to life, it is a fundamental requirement for a vehicle or moto-based backcountry trek. In addition to assisting our internal combustion engines in converting chemical energy into thermal and mechanical energy, it…

What is the ultimate overland vehicle? Plenty of people have voiced their opinions, but from Defenders to Jeeps their responses couldn’t be more diverse. Out of everyone I’d say Jonathan Hanson was the closest when he wrote “The best overlanding vehicle is the one you already have”, but it still left something to be desired. In my opinion the ultimate overland vehicle isn’t always what you own…

If you want to get a reading on a place, it’s always best to ask the people who have traveled there. What’s even better, is to ask someone who has traveled there, and just about everywhere else. Someone like Antonia. She has driven a pink tuk-tuk 12,500 miles from Bangkok to Brighton, is a founding member of the Mongol Derby,…

In the spring of 2015, I planned an expedition to the Great Basin Desert with some of my travel buddies from Prometheus Design Werx (PDW) and Exploro. It was to be a quick weekend of high desert trail riding and exploration and an escape from the monotony of the city surrounding us. Our vehicles for the journey were far from…

For some, breaking away from the norm and living a life of adventure becomes, well, normal. When it comes to folks like Loren and Patty Upton, I maintain that Merriam Webster should add “Upton” to the definition of the word adventure. Back in June of 1984, the couple packed up their CJ-5, affectionately called Sand Ship Discovery, topped off the…

Here at Expedition Portal, we talk a lot about how to make your four-wheel drive more capable and reliable for the road ahead. After all, these vehicles are often our only way into and out of the remote locations we love, so it makes sense that we’d want to purchase parts that help them perform more effectively. Despite how useful…

Deep into the Colombian savanna, a ragtag team of adventurers get caught in a quagmire of mud, sand, piranha, and gunboats.

As Expedition Portal has grown in size and coverage, we’ve seen more big expedition trucks built, reported on, and periodically sold through the Portal. But as with any overlanding vehicle, there are pros and cons, and compromises must be made.  Still, for a sizable minority of the Expo inmates, there’ll be a time when these big trucks are worth considering….

When Land Rover ended production of the Defender, the assembly line had not yet come full stop before an eccentric billionaire began making claims he was going to single-handedly bring the vehicle back to life. The uber-rich are prone to such musings, but Jim Ratcliffe is not your garden variety rich guy, he’s a genuine captain of industry. Born in…

As I write this post, it’s almost a year since we completed our camper conversion of Maggie, the Land Cruiser 78 Series Troop Carrier we’re currently using to explore the world overland. For us, Maggie’s the ultimate go-anywhere overland vehicle. An expedition tiny home, which serves as our transportation, home on the road, and mobile base camp for photographing wildlife…

Exploring Colombia’s backroads and villages with Elephant Motorcycle Expeditions

After a hugely successful debut in 2016, Adventure Southside once again opens its gates from July 14-16, 2017, in Eigeltingen, slightly to the west of Lake Constance. With a comprehensive programme of lectures, workshops and events for the whole family, the organizers invite overlanders, off-roaders and survival fans to join them on the Swiss-German border. The outdoor show is host…

“It’ll be amazing,” they said. “A trip of a lifetime,” they said. Every day, we want to believe that driving through Africa in our ’91 Defender named Maggie is an incredible, once-in-a-lifetime experience, but the truth is that it doesn’t always feel like rainbows and butterflies. At times it can be really, really hard, but it’s exactly because it’s hard…

A purpose built touring trailer that’s as rugged as it is luxurious

For International Women’s Day, Expedition Portal celebrates six women overlanders

The next evolution of XO’s Toyotas is complete and ready for their biggest adventure yet.

The most unique and capable expedition camper ever made in North America is for sale!