I would venture to assert Black Gap Wildlife Management Area in the Big Bend region near the Mexican border is not only the most remote place in Texas but one of the most remote areas of the country. The WMA is the lesser-known state park here in Far West Texas and sits adjacent to Big Bend National Park. It’s a…

The Land Cruiser Heritage Museum offers a unique opportunity to experience one of the most iconic and longest-standing sport utility vehicles in the Toyota lineup. Its mission is to “celebrate the history of the Land Cruiser while preserving its legacy and inspiring adventure.” The museum planted its roots in a specially designed building at the former Miller Motorsports Park near…

  Nissan’s latest midsize offering checks so many boxes  My earliest memories of any vehicle was my dad’s 240Z, the pumpkin-colored coupe firing to life as my dad worked the curved choke lever on cold Los Angeles mornings. Even being so young, I knew that car was just…cool. And my first exposure to a Nissan 4WD was on my aunt…

  Show Notes for Podcast Episode #57 Interviewing Ashley Giordano: Adventurer, Journalist, and Overlander Summary: In this podcast from the field, Scott interviews Ashley Giordano at the Overland Expo Mountain West. Ashley has traveled the length of the Americas overlanding with Desk to Glory, and is currently planning her next global adventure while balancing working from the road. This podcast…

Photography by Richard Giordano We always seem to find ourselves at the brink of dusk with nowhere to camp. Richard and I were parked at a Whole Foods Market in Castle Rock, Colorado, and while my husband scrolled through the iOverlander app, I crammed the last of a Chipotle burrito into my mouth. We hopped into the 8-speed automatic 2021…

Sinuhe Xavier  |   LOOT MX State Change 09-09-2021 Publisher’s Note: We are excited to announce this gallery event in Mexico City, featuring Sinuhe Xavier. Sinuhe has been an essential member of our team, and has also been a luminary of creative visual storytelling for travel, vehicles, and overlanding. Sinuhe’s earliest photographs of Land Rovers in Utah set the standard of…

  Show Notes for Podcast Episode #56 2021 Bronco Badlands Sasquatch for Overlanding Summary: Matt and Scott do the deep dive on the new 2021 Bronco Badlands Sasquatch for overland travel  This podcast is supported in part by: RedArc Electronics    Full Transcription below: ­­­Bronco Podcast Scott Brady: [00:00:00] Hello and welcome to the Overland Journal podcast. I’m your host,…

There is a mist that hangs over this small landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley. The clouds fall gently over the mountains, quietly holding the land and shrouded forests even when the sun shines. Rwanda is not the first place you would visit in Africa, but it’s a short distance from Tanzania or Kenya to experience a trip. As…

I am smitten. But this is no fly-by-night love affair—it’s complicated. It all began nearly 40 years ago when I caught a ride with a friend in her dad’s Bronco. I don’t recall where we were or what we were doing, but it made an impression on me. A two-tone orange and white box on wheels, it was parked in…

  Show Notes for Podcast Episode #55 2022 Nissan Frontier and the State of Mid-Sized Pickups Summary: Scott Brady discusses his test of the new Frontier, and Matt Scott raises important questions and insights on the state of the mid size truck market.   This podcast is supported in part by: Rumpl OnX Offroad Full Transcription below: Scott Brady: [00:00:00]…

All bleeding stops, eventually. This morbid maxim, with two very different outcomes, is taught to first-year surgical residents during day one of rotation with the trauma surgery service. The moral being that if medical professionals do not learn their craft well, a patient could bleed out. The same dire lesson is especially true for anyone who chooses to travel in…

  Show Notes for Podcast Episode #54 Building the LJ and TJ Jeep Wrangler for Overlanding Summary: Matt Scott shares his recent purchase of a 2006 Jeep Wrangler LJ Rubicon, and the challenges of modifying it properly for both trail and travel. Matt and Scott discuss available aftermarket components, and the joys of a simple Jeep. This podcast is supported…

  Show Notes for Podcast Episode #53 Grand Tour Overlanding Summary: Matt Scott and Scott Brady discuss the merits and challenges of overland travel by car. They do a deep dive on exploring by classic Mercedes diesel sedans, Porsche, the Bentley Continental GT, Subarus, and more. There are glorious roads on the planet best viewed from the drivers window in…

Five years ago, Costa Rican overlander Emmanuel Solórzano went camping for the first time. At the site, which was located near Arenal Volcano in Costa Rica, Emmanuel met an American couple who had been traveling in their 2012 4Runner for nearly two years. Ernesto López Pérez and Taisa Welhasch of Overland the Americas shared stories about their experiences on the…

Some of you will know that I ordinarily live (pre-Covid) full-time in my 1986 Volkswagen T3 Syncro and thus have a soft spot for this iconic classic. I follow hundreds of 2WD Vanagons and Syncros online and frequently contribute to the various Volkswagen forums. There are simply thousands of incredible rigs out there, as diverse and unique as the owners…

These days the Land Rover Defender is best known for navigating London’s W1 postcode, but that wasn’t always the case. I remember a time when the Defender was the vehicle of choice for hardcore expeditions, and none were more iconic than the those featured in the Camel Trophy. These events pitted the Defender against some of the toughest environments on…

Photography by Jason Spafford I’ve always been fond of Scotland, our near-faraway neighbour, famed for its white-painted dollhouses nestled in the hillside, among red deer grazing in a lush green glen. There are likely more sheep than people, chewing the cud on the rush pasture amid bright bursts of yellow gorse bushes. There’s often a solitary distant spire framed by…

“Comes with buttons, levers, and switches. Remember those?” Ugh, music to my ears. The era of overland vehicles synonymous with simplicity, minimal electrics, and wipe-clean interiors is over. Or is it? Dun, dun, dunn. The Ineos Grenadier might just be the most interesting and refreshing approach to vehicle manufacturing we’ve seen in a long time. Firstly, we all have to…

Inside the world’s largest country, you’ll find elderly ladies baking bread in wooden houses with painted window frames; large, prosperous cities and honking horns; children riding bicycles on gravel roads, and some of the most industrious, approachable people on the planet. Russia scares many travelers. Bad things happen there, just like bad things happen in your own country, where you…

  Show Notes for Podcast Episode #52 Interviewing Hourless Life on overlanding around the globe as a family Summary: Scott Brady interviews Brittany and Eric Highland about the joys of traveling for years as a family, including giving birth to their son while on the road. They discuss migrating from an RV to a Jeep Wrangler, and ultimately deciding on…