Innehållsförteckning för Spring 2021 från Overland Journal

STANDING THE TEST OF TIME Many thanks for the shirts and back issues. Here is an OJ-branded ExOfficio shirt [see photo above] which Scott [Brady] gave me years ago and is now cut down a bit; it remains one of my all-time favourite travel shirts, especially for paddling. It seems immune to wear. Chris ScottHonda Africa Twin PERSPECTIVES I started reading “The Beginning” (Summer 2020) and wondered, are they biting off more than they can chew? Or are they legitimately good to go? Can they be minimalists and live a simpler life, enjoying the adventure and love of discovery? I think when they get home, things will be completely different. Life will be awesome, no matter what they do. If [the journey] lasts the full year or longer, then it…

The Micro Grid hoodie from outdoor clothing manufacturer Melanzana has developed a cult following over the past decade and a half. Perhaps it’s because this synthetic hooded pullover achieves the perfect balance of comfort and technical performance or because its two-tone color combinations are constantly changing. Or maybe the reason is that it’s sewn in the highest incorporated town in the United States, Leadville, Colorado, and made entirely from US-sourced materials. Whatever the case may be, people come from near and far to purchase one of these cozy and highly coveted tops. Melanzana, which means eggplant in Italian, got its humble beginnings back in 1994 when friends and outdoor enthusiasts Fritz and Kevco moved to Leadville with the goal of producing high-quality, affordable outdoor gear. Fritz initially squatted in a…

The Land Cruiser limped into Gudara. I was steering frantically on a downhill, twisting path, having to turn the wheel a number of times before the wheels responded at all. We were at the end of our tether and relieved to have made it back to civilization. That is to say, a wind-blown village of 63 mud-brick houses at the remote, eastern side of the Bartang Valley. Here people get their water from a well, toilets are long drops set away from dwellings, stoves burn on animal dung, and most farmers till their land by hand. A BROKEN STEERING SHAFT It had taken a full day to cover 15 miles. Too tired to drive one more inch, I turned off the engine with a breath of relief. It was late…

THE J120 POSSESSES A LONG LIST OF DESIRABLE TRAITS. MOST NOTABLE ARE THE HIGH-STRENGTH FRAME CONSTRUCTION, FIVE-LINK SOLID REAR AXLE DESIGN, AND THE COILOVER INDEPENDENT FRONT. Traditionally, the best SUV platforms in North America have been restricted to the Land Cruiser offerings, and to a lesser extent, the 4Runner, G-Wagen, and Land Rover wagons. In 2003, Lexus released the GX model in North America, Russia, and other limited markets based on the international J120 chassis. What was critical was its association with the “J” designation, which shares the general emphasis on robustness and reliability of the Land Cruiser. In numerous markets, the J120 is even called a Land Cruiser or Prado. Development began in the late 1990s with Lance Scott of Toyota ED (Europe), which is often considered the pinnacle…

It’s the generosity of the Cambodian spirit that most defines my memories of traveling across the country. People are quick with a smile in even the busiest tourist destinations—Angkor Wat hosts a staggering 2.5-million+ visitors a year. And in the small towns and rural mountain villages, I discovered that traveling off the beaten path rewards travelers in dividends. Cambodia’s unique experiences remain undiscovered by most who visit. Decades of poor infrastructure development confined travelers to a set route through the country that hit the highlights but missed the nuanced details that enrich an overland journey. Crossing the Thai border through Poipet, my niece and I made our first detour, heading for Battambang rather than the more popular route to Siem Reap. I had visited Siem Reap and Phnom Penh years…

It’s a wet 40°F atop Tomichi Pass in Colorado. I am riding with six other guys, and one of them just slammed his BMW R 1200 GS into a rock. The front tire is flat. Jason whales away at the damage with a hammer, trying to reshape the rim to hold air. Rain runs off his back in a steady stream. The rest of us stand in the downpour, also without shelter; some are shivering. It’s the better part of an hour before the tire finally holds air, and one of those times I am happy to be wearing motorcycle gear which keeps me dry and reasonably warm. It could easily be much different and has been for most of recorded history. In 1903, when George Wyman made his historic…

‘I’m not doing that,” I said, pointing to a steep doubletrack arcing out of the safe forest I was standing in. The road was the worst we’d seen yet. Summer in British Columbia’s Chilcotin was a beautiful time of year, but the previous winter had ravaged the dirt roads we were riding. Both sides of the track angled steeply down in a V-shape. The rut running through the middle was eroded, full of rocks, and 2 to 3 feet deep in sections. Ascending would require a zig-zagging trajectory, lots of throttle power, and the sort of mental mind frame I didn’t have. Dave and I had wanted to take a four-day backcountry trip to become better off-pavement riders. We’d been dating for scarcely over a month and had already decided—with…

DAVID PAGE David has always lived his life as an outdoor enthusiast. He grew up in southeast Idaho and spent his youth exploring the state’s vast backcountry before starting a family on a small ranch in the mountains—where the outdoor lifestyle isn’t just magazine gloss but a way of life. His entire career has been based on a passion for the outdoors, beginning as a fly fishing/hunting guide, then a river ranger for the Bureau of Land Management, finally settling on a career behind the camera in the off-pavement world. David is an accomplished traveler, having spent many years exploring remote Africa, as well as many other countries across the pond and south of the border. He is also an accomplished vehicle designer. AKELA WORLD We are Leander, Maria, and…

Communication is one of the cornerstones of backcountry travel. The ability to advise family and friends of our progress, call for assistance, or make an SOS during an emergency helps provide us with the confidence to travel farther afield. While the Bivy is one of the newest devices on the market, I have been testing their units for a few years, including their original V1 model that served as a tethered communicator and device charging brick. The concept was clever and robust, but it suffered from a fatal flaw: it required the phone to operate any function other than powering on/off. That meant if the phone sustained any damage or the traveler was separated from their device, the unit would no longer function. A fall at speed from a motorcycle…

Freeze-dried backpacking meals are an exceptionally convenient way to eat in the backcountry. They are lightweight, simple to prepare, and don’t need refrigeration. Freeze-dried meals have also gotten pretty tasty due to increased consumer demand. However, one thing that manufacturers of shelf-stable meals have generally not offered are options for people with dietary restrictions. But times are changing, and Wild Zora, a food producer based in Colorado, has stepped up to the plate to offer freeze-dried meals with no artificial ingredients that are also gluten-, nut-, grain-, dairy-free with no added sugar. Their meals are packed with protein and utilize free-range meats as well as organic vegetables. CALDERA CHICKEN CURRY The flavor of the chicken curry was good—a little sweet with a mild curry taste that had just a tiny…

FOR AS LONG AS I CAN REMEMBER, the thought of spending time in the Himalayas was on top of my bucket list. Climbing and trekking have long been a part of my heritage, so why not at the rooftop of the world? Some years ago, I was on a fishing expedition in Alaska when my father shared a novel with me about an expat living in India that had built a basket case Royal Enfield and rode from India into Tibet. I finished the book knowing this was something I needed to do. Some years passed. A new love sparked a conversation about life achievements, and the idea was reborn. Never one to shy away from the unknown, Abigail suggested we drop everything and go to Nepal. While her excitement…

The radio crackled alive with an excited voice, “I think we have something here. It’s a door panel, and it’s got a bullet hole in it.” Expedition members waited with bated breath for the next report to come across the radio net as they maneuvered their Land Rovers from line abreast formation across the desert sand and started to merge in the direction of the radio caller. Could we have found paydirt on the first day of the search? Three weeks before, we gathered in southern England to pack our vehicles and drive toward our destination in the Tunisian desert. Our mission was simple: find the remnants of Popski’s lost patrol where it was attacked during the Second World War. Then retrace the survivors’ journey across the Grand Erg Orientale…

Once a year or thereabouts for the last 30 years, a gathering in the bush called Old Trucks Babanango takes place in South Africa. Oddballs arrive from all over the land with their vintage four-wheel drives of various lineages: Jeeps, Land Rovers, Land Cruisers, and Dodges. To be deemed suitable participants, trucks must have a metal dashboard, which serves as a kind of age stamp of approval. This keeps character in the gathering and excludes those modern spaceships-on-wheels with their air-conditioning and beeping fuel warnings. These spirited chariots fit right into the dry bush scrub with the swagger that only comes with experience—the sputtering growls of their heavy engines complementing the grunts and guffaws of their often equally antiquated owners. It is a much-anticipated reunion, and days of adventure are…

There is such joy in simplicity, distilling a pursuit down to its elemental components. I have tested quite a few adventure bikes through the years, and they are nearly all technology wonders, but I never quite had that fundamental connection until I tried out a Moto Guzzi V7. Even testing it was unexpected, as I received a call from their PR team and a suggestion that “you really need to ride the bike.” I took the V7 Special on a long-term loan and started riding it daily. By the time the loan period was over, I had called up their offices and sheepishly asked how much it would cost not to return the bike and send them a check instead. Curiously, this is the only demo vehicle I have ever…

Finnish company Suunto has been in the game for over 80 years, making compasses, watches, and dive computers. I owned their Vector, the first outdoor, sports-focused wristwatch that incorporated an altimeter, barometer, compass, and thermometer in one chunky housing. For me, a watch needs to do more than tell time if I’m going to take it along on my outdoor endeavors. That’s why Suunto’s flagship wrist-based GPS watch, the 9 Baro, has consistently been on my wrist for the last month. Weighing 2.86 ounces, the Baro feels solid without being heavy. The comfortable silicone strap is easy to swap out for a variety of other options, and it did a great job of staying in place on my arm during vigorous activities. The buttons, which are all located on the…

There is nothing better than a satisfying meal after a day of adventure in the backcountry, and it needn’t consist of hotdogs and Kraft singles on white bread. Enter the Nomad, the low-mess solution to smoking and grilling. As travelers, we demand ease of use from gear and the ability to stow and go, and this product delivers. The grill features a diecast cook chamber, stainless honeycomb grates, dual-layer aluminum shell, and high-temp food-grade silicone. All parts are bolted in place, not riveted, which means a replacement part is only a few turns of a wrench away. The cooking chamber features a tongue-in-groove lip providing a seal when closed, keeping charcoal off your seats, floor, or cargo area. Thanks to rare-earth magnets cast into the corners of the cook chamber,…

Beginning in late 2018 until mid-2019, my family and I drove our Land Rover Defender across the African continent from north to south. When planning the journey, we knew that we were going to face our most significant challenge since setting off to explore the planet seven years earlier. During those 10 months in Africa, we suffered malaria, mechanical breakdowns, and threats of severe violence while also enjoying incredible displays of kindness and humbling generosity. West Africa is the overland equivalent of summiting Mount Everest, and we will never be the same again. Morocco to South Africa is arguably the last great overland route. Yes, others are more remote, wild, and extreme in terms of terrain, temperature, and location. The Canning Stock Route in Australia and the Silk Road in…

SERVES 2-4 PREP TIME 10 minutes EQUIPMENT Chef knife, large bowl, box grater, cutting board 5 ounces arugula or mixed greens (without radicchio)1 medium Ambrosia, Honeycrisp, or Braeburn apple, unpeeled and washed6 pitted, fresh Kalamata olives¼ cup (or to taste) grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Grana Padano cheese¼ cup toasted, shelled pistachios1-2 tablespoons black truffle oilFlaked salt and ground pepper to taste Hidden in the hills above sparkling Farrer Cove, British Columbia, is a small tea room you get to by driving two kilometres along a rutted gravel road that passes through a dense forest. It was at this tea room that I first enjoyed a simpler version of this salad, minus the olives and cheese. I recreated the dish two years ago on the trail, upping its savouriness with minced kalamata…