Innehållsförteckning för Fall 2010 från Overland Journal

In the spirit of “try everything once,” I decided that I’d been remiss in having reached the creaking old age of 36 without having ridden a sidecar outfit. Sadly, the era of the sidecar as family transport is long gone, but you do still see the occasional rig rumbling around, not, it seems out of impoverished necessity like in the olden days, but just for the pure hell of it. They had always appealed to me, mainly because they look like lots of fun and slightly silly, so last summer when I was offered a quick razz around a campsite in Spain by the proud owner of a Russian-made Ural, I leapt aboard with much excitement. Within two minutes I was hooked, and once I’d sampled the delights of reverse…

What if your expedition vehicle also needs to be suitable for family chores, wieldy around town, comfortable on highway trips, and reasonably economical? I’ll admit it if you will. If either of us were hooked up with brain-scanning electrodes to a neuron decoder, which itself was connected to a 24-inch Mac video monitor, and the tech said the words, “Expedition vehicle,” the image that would pop up on the screen would be a mud-splattered Camel Trophy 110, its Bosch driving lights boring through the Sulawesi jungle, or a Land Cruiser Troopie trailing a cloud of dust across the Namib. It would not be a Suzuki Grand Vitara. On one level our reaction is defensible. Despite various attempts to prove otherwise, nothing has yet surpassed the traditional body-on-boxed-frame, solid-axle, heavy-duty (i.e.…

Each family has its own style and approach to driving back roads and camping (as Jonathan Hanson wrote, “the nuts-and-bolts premise, after all, of overlanding”). Sometimes you just want to know how other families get out and do it. Overland Journal’s Family Overlanding columnist, Mark Stephens, runs a blog with his wife Brooke, and they’re currently quizzing other parents about how they manage their trips with kids, what they love the most about it, and how they overcome challenges. Take a look at adventureparents.com/families…

Altitude sickness risk factors: The primary risk factors include the rate of ascent, the elevation attained, the amount of physical activity, and individual susceptibility. I didn’t want to write about this topic, but I was compelled by circumstances. I’ve seen or heard of too many Overland Journal readers who’ve become sick from getting high. It even happened to me once, but I learned my lesson and I’m taking precautions next time I do it. No, not that kind of high. I’m talking about altitude sickness, sometimes called Acute Mountain Sickness.* I’d bet that most of our overland excursions occur at elevations well below 10,000 feet, though there are certainly people who routinely explore higher regions of the world. And it certainly is common to combine an overland excursion with a…

Chris Scott Over the last 25 years Chris has undertaken nearly 30 expeditions through the Sahara by motorcycle, 4WD, saloon car, or bush taxi. This has given him an unparalleled knowledge of the practicalities of desert travel across the entire Sahara, both as a tourist, a driver/rider, and as a tour leader. In 2000 and 2001 he led the first U.K. escorted tours to return to Algeria and Libya, in 2006 he led an exclusive tour to view the total solar eclipse in Niger, and he continues to offer tours to little-known parts of the Sahara. Stephen Gross When not flying Boeing 737s for USAir, Steve worked for Land Rover as a consultant at their Global Testing Services facility in Phoenix, Arizona. Steve is also a licensed airframe and powerplant…

Fall is a season that inspires wanderlust, and for good reason: It’s a beautiful time to be out exploring, especially in the Northern Hemisphere when trees are changing color and the light is mellow and soft. Three new opportunities for overlanders take advantage of this season—one guided tour, two for do-it-yourselfersand all have a conservation theme. Kirk Schmitt, former business director for RawHyde Adventures, recently launched TerraMoto Adventure Motorcycle Tours. Schmitt says his focus will be “exploring our environment on a motorcycle.” One of his first tours will highlight fall colors in Colorado, but also investigate issues such as bark-beetle infestations and conservation programs to protect forests. If you’d rather organize your own adventure, check out two northern Mexico destinations, both just across the Arizona line and both focused on…

The first time I drove the length of southern Arizona’s El Camino del Diablo—a 120-mile-long dirt track that meanders from Ajo to Yuma along the Mexican border—was in August, 1979, long before the current migrant and drug situation spiked both legal and illegal traffic in the area to insane levels. At that time, only a few desert rats and biologists per year visited the Cabeza Prieta Wildlife Refuge, which is bisected by El Camino, and in the dead of summer, which I reasoned was the only proper time to drive something called The Road of the Devil, no one went there. I spent six days wandering its main route and side trails and never saw another human. Before I left home, I loaded enough water in my FJ40 to ensure…

Two gray whales come straight for the panga:  a male in arduous pursuit of a larger female. Dwarfed by their 40-foot length and massive bulk, we wonder if they are cognizant in their aroused state that our small boat is directly in their path. The female surfaces right next to us and spouts; the spray atomizes in the air and falls in a slightly oily mist onto our clothes and cameras. The male, raising a bow wake, surfaces some 20 yards behind her. Having two 40-ton finned freight trains hopped up on sex hormones bearing down on our boat makes for thoughts of, “Weren’t these the same whales that splintered whalers’ skiffs within the last century?” The female dives shallowly off the port side and gracefully circles under the panga,…

Paul says, "On the Alaska trip the Land Cruiser performed beyond my wildest expectations. There was nothing I felt it couldn't handle; in fact, the only limiting factor was my nerves." In H.G. Wells’s classic science fiction novel, The Island of Doctor Moreau, the mysterious doctor lives in exile and performs experiments on creatures that are half man and half beast. Over a century later, there is continued evidence all around us of man’s unyielding desire to play God. From super soy beans to Dolly the sheep, a compelling argument can be made that it is human nature to control and alter our surroundings to best suit our needs. The Doctor Moreau of the Land Cruiser world is Christo Slee. He started working on Land Cruisers as a teenager in…

Overland Journal asks mothers: What do you like about backcountry travel? “I don’t care about the four-wheeling. Not my thing at all. What I like is the camping atmosphere with fun people I like. I wouldn’t mind a few comforts though. Like a bathroom.” Victoria Whipp, mother of two, Toyota FZJ80 “I love the smell of the unspoiled outdoors; I love the wildlife. Even the bears! I love exploring something new and different, to get out to where most people will never see.” Marni Woods, mother of two, Jeep Wrangler Unlimited “Bacon frying in a skillet with the aroma of fresh perked coffee. Clean crisp morning air and birds. Dappled sun shining through the trees. Doing absolutely nothing.” Name withheld, mother of three, Toyota Tundra…

POST CARD Do Good as You Go: In the Spring 2009 issue, we profiled Jay and Alice Shapiro’s “Do Good as You Go” Muskoka Foundation. Since then, their team of travelers has accomplished impressive work throughout North America (Muskoka’s first workshop, photographs taken by children in Rwanda, was featured in Latitude, Summer 2009). In August, Ann Lockley, an Overland Journal contributor, taught a photography workshop for Songhees youths on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. The Songhees are one of five North American first nation groups with whom Muskoka has established partnerships; all are seeking volunteers to conduct outreach programs. Proving you don’t have to go far to make a difference, Eric Ibarra conducted a photography program in Los Angeles for eight Latina girls at the Para los Niños youth center on…

Step outside your comfort zone and add a little flair to your next camp meal. Gourmet doesn’t have to mean difficult—some of the most “gourmet” meals are prepared with simple, fresh ingredients. The trick is adding a little bit of knowledge and being confident in your abilities. This recipe focuses on rack of lamb, which may sound intimidating to some, but is actually quite easy to prepare on the grill. When paired with sautéed mushrooms and a nice bottle of wine, this dish will quickly become one of your favorites—and it will never fail to impress campsite guests. Menu Starter ~ Bruschetta with fresh mozzarella, tomato and basil Dinner ~ Grilled rack of lamb with sautéed mushrooms (we served with simple spinach salad with homemade balsamic dressing as well) Wine ~…

So, you think Walmart is big business? Consider this: In the early part of the 19th century, the British East India Company controlled half of all the international trade on earth. Not to mention running its own army, printing its own money, and governing a subcontinent. Formalized in 1600 by a Royal Charter from Queen Elizabeth, and subscribed by the Earl of Cumberland and 217 partners (who together had fronted the impressive sum of £68,000), the Governor and Company of Merchants of London Trading into the East Indies, as it was formally known, was granted a monopoly on trade over the region “west of the Straits of Magellan and east of the Cape of Good Hope”—a glib phrase that created a hedgemony encompassing the entire Pacific and Indian Oceans and…

There are moments, however fleeting, when it seems more than possible to earn a living doing what you love. I thought about this not long ago, while driving a ridiculously well-appointed Range Rover down a perversely steep Spanish ravine. My job as a freelance journalist didn’t seem so difficult in that moment. My instructor from Land Rover Discovery was clearly enjoying his work on that day as well, and it occurred to me that adventure-travel guiding might be one of the last great professions. The outdoors constitutes your office, wild animals your aloof coworkers. Clients look on you as the reincarnation of Stewart Granger. It’s an idea that stayed with me, and one that I delved into further when I came to know a pair of bona fide safari guides.…