By Ruby the Adventure Dog Hi, I am Ruby, and I love adventure. That scar by my left eye was from a tussle with a rattlesnake! Read to the end to find out more about our first annual Roverlander of the Year contest and win some cool swag for your pup! If you’re going to be an adventure dog, you’d…

It all hit me at a Starbucks in San Jose, California. I was hammering away on my keyboard, happily sipping my latte while writing a story, when I noticed a group of five girls in the corner. Every single one of them was alternating taking photos of their drinks with taking selfies in the sun. There was no conversation, or…

We evaluate a lot of gear here at Expedition Portal and Overland Journal. Tents, trucks, bags, fridges, and recovery equipment are regularly used and reviewed by our team, and normally the write-ups are pretty straightforward. We cover their specifications, talk about our expectations, and determine how well the product ended up meeting them. But today I find myself unable to…

Exploring the depths of America’s most captivating landscape.

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in Overland Journal, Gear Guide 2016. The mere mention of the word overlanding is often enough to evoke images of sunsets on the Serengeti, the silhouette of a truck marked for adventure by the outline of a roof top tent. Although roof sleeping is not commensurate with overlanding, removing the tent from that…

In 2018, environmentalism, conservation, and preservation are common terms. Most of us are aware of the damage society has inflicted on the natural treasures we love, and, in turn, we make conscious efforts to save these wonders. But it wasn’t always so. Back in the late sixties, pollution was rampant, lake and rivers were treated as dumps by large corporations,…

How adventurous is your family? Do you think you’d survive a nine-week road trip together in a small car? How about a nine-month road trip in a tiny 60-year-old Land Rover that breaks down every day? Well, the Hyland family did just that, and their route took them from London to Singapore across some of the most beautiful and unpredictable…

G’day, mate! If you’ve come here to take a squizz at some of the four-wheel drives rolling around Australia, you’re in the right place. On our last trip to this speccy country, we picked up more than just some ripper new slang. We also brought back heaps of photos of cool fourbies from coast to coast. These aren’t vehicles built…

On April 30, Land Rover will be celebrating a huge milestone in their company history: its 70th anniversary. While most manufacturers would choose to throw a big party or rip around a racetrack, this British icon has opted to commemorate the occasion a little differently. They decided to drop world-renowned artist Simon Beck off at over 9,000 feet in the…

We all dream of being that guy (or gal). Suntanned, sinewy and wise, a world traveller with a million stories to tell and the scars to prove it. The life of a long-term international overlander is far from glamorous though; in fact, the closest he gets to glamour is drinking wine from a glass. That first year on the road…

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…

A little over seven months ago we introduced our latest project vehicle: a low -mile, 7.3-liter turbo-diesel Excursion. It had spent the last 17 years living the easy life in a small town garage, but with our purchase came a second chance for a life of adventure. The plan was to turn this low slung SUV into a versatile backcountry vehicle; one…

A few months ago we shared with you a preview of Ram Truck’s new 1500, a from-the-ground-up redesign of one of America’s favorite half-ton pickups. Earlier this month we spent a few days near San Antonio, Texas, testing various configurations not only on the trail, but also tracing hundreds of miles of twisting tarmac, some of which with a heavy…

The Carretera Austral (otherwise known as Chile’s Route 7 and translated as “Southern Road”) is a highway that runs from Puerto Montt to Villa O’Higgins over a span of 1,240 kilometres through Northern Patagonia.  In 1976, Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet (What a guy! Check out this Wikipedia article for his messy history) ordered the army to commence construction of the road. Prior to the…

“The best overland vehicle is the one you love.” – NW Overland Rally One of the benefits of writing for 4WD magazines is that you get to compare a lot of very different vehicles. And as with any machine, every vehicle is a series of compromises. Too lightweight and it breaks easily, too heavy uses a ton of fuel. A…

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,…

Where do you find inspiration? Do you seek it in the exploits of adventurers long past, the stories of overlanders circumnavigating the globe, or perhaps right here in the articles and posts shared amidst our members? I find that inspiration can be found anywhere if you know where to look, but sometimes it is simply everywhere. Take the world of…

This past month Texas was shocked to its core from a winter storm that left us reeling.  Yes, the state shuts down when any cold, inclement weather hits us square in the flip-flops, but you can’t ignore an opportunity to beat the summer heat and explore the backcountry.  Winter camping alone demands special attention, but with my 4-year-old twins as…

Building a Range Rover Classic for reliable, economical expedition travel. A family road-trip in the desert leads to a long-term fascination with Solihull metal.