Innehållsförteckning för Fall 2023 från Overland Journal

No matter what kind of overland travel you partake in, striking a balance between comfort and available space can be tricky. Multi-purpose equipment eliminates the tendency to carry too much stuff. For this reason, Hydaway’s collapsible bowls have become an important part of my cooking kit. Hydaway started as a Kickstarter campaign to build collapsible water bottles to curb the excessive disposable plastic water bottle problem facing the planet. The campaign was so successful that they followed up with cups and collapsible insulated bowls. Bowls are available in 32- and 12-ounce versions and come with rubber-sealed lids. The smaller bowl lid has a clever drinking spout built into it that allows it to be used as a bowl or a cup. The decorated cover protects your hands from hot food…

Few will be unaware that Garmin makes a lot of different hand-held GPS units and countless fancy watches. They also do flight instruments. Indeed, complete flight deck updates for aircraft: navigation, route flying, autopilots, and auto-lands. The design specifications and certification criteria for such systems may be imagined. A bit more demanding than an afternoon in the Welsh hills with a satnav. But what if the Welsh hills were the Sahara or a target track 50 miles north of a bend in the Amazon? Is reliability for handhelds any less vital? A wide-screen feel for Garmin’s immense shop window helps. I have not bought a Garmin Forerunner 245 watch or zombied my way, slack-jawed, through the 18 (yes 18) YouTubes that accompany it. But what I have bought over the…

They say the Million Dollar Highway begins and ends between the Colorado mountain towns of Silverton and Ouray, but traverse it, and you’ll also discover a plethora of dirt road hideaways laced with abundant scenery, lakes and streams, ample camping opportunities, and the rich history of these once bustling mountain mining communities. The 24-mile stretch of US Route 550 that weaves its way through the Uncompahgre Wilderness from Silverton to Ouray takes about 45 minutes to travel if you don’t stop along the way, but commit to the greater San Juan Skyway National Forest Scenic Byway, and the route stretches 233 miles through the incomparable splendor that is Colorado’s San Juan Mountain Range. Add in numerous off-road jaunts by motorcycle or vehicle, and be prepared to explore for weeks. Some…

A shot rang out, followed by a scream, loud and very close—too close. Our new Nigerian friends scattered as one without hesitation, cowering as they ran as if expecting a hail of bullets. They disappeared into the building beside which we were camped, leaving us bewildered, on our feet, and alarmed. There had been a murder, and this was one of the most unstable areas in Africa. It was late May 2019, and our family of four was driving the length of West Africa in a dispirited, temporary convoy through one of the most dangerous areas of Nigeria. We were in a corner of the country sandwiched between the volatile, oil-rich Niger Delta and areas controlled by radical Islamist Boko Haram, the region famed for criminal gangs, kidnapping, and murder.…

Unless you fly in, you will have seen a fair share of the Atacama Desert by the time you reach Iquique, whether your Pan-American overland journey takes you southbound or northbound through Chile. No matter how smooth the asphalt that cuts straight through the driest non-polar desert in the world, 995 miles of driving through it is a lot to take in. Vast expanses of pebbles alternating with dunes and beaches made it a perfect setting for a number of Dakar Rally stages, with the climax of blasting down an almost vertical dune just south of Iquique. Fortunately, the Atacama is more than a seemingly endless sandbox. The desert breathes history, culture, and economic wealth—as well as decline. This four-day route, 200 miles from Chile’s northern border with Peru, will…

MARIANNE TODD Marianne Todd has been a professional photojournalist and writer since 1987. Her career began in newspapers and rapidly spread into national news magazines. Her work has been featured on the pages of Time, Life, National Geographic, Newsweek, and the Wall Street Journal, where she was nominated for Photog-rapher of the Year International. Todd became a publisher in 2009, creating titles reflecting the music, arts, and tourism industries of the South (she still sports the accent), and her work as the official photographer for Governor Haley Barbour led her to photograph everything from Hurricane Katrina to presidential visits. Since moving to New Mexico four years ago, she has left hard news coverage to travel on her trusty BMW F 750 GS, journeying the roads of America and beyond. RICHARD…

Rev’It pursues new fabrics and clothing technologies like many of us seek the next challenging backroad or stunning campsite. Their Storm WB (for wind barrier) jacket is no exception. Rev’It combines Hydratex WindBarrier fabric for water resistance, moisture wicking, and breathability with Exkin Air insulation panels for warmth. Though designed as a mid-layer thermal jacket for colder weather riding, the Storm WB’s light weight and small packed size make it a good choice for an auxiliary garment on any ride. The three-layer Hydratex WindBarrier is a stretchy, laminated fabric with a water-resistant coating. The feel is soft, and the fit is snug, the latter due to its stretch component. Thumb loops aid in guiding the Storm through jacket sleeves. Thin, lightweight Exkin Air panels, claimed to have one of the…

SEQUESTERED IN ONE OF THE WORLD’S MOST STRIKING SHANGRI-LA CORNERS, north of the Annapurna mountain range, Upper Mustang is Nepal’s last vestige of the Tibetan empire. The people of Thakali, Gurung, and Tibetan origin keep their cultures and customs devoutly alive, practicing mainly Buddhism in its purest form and conducting sky burials, courtesy of the vultures, among other rituals and festivals. Falling into the past, we trekked through remote Himalayan villages dating back 600 years, overnighting in mud-floored “teahouses” that emanated a hole-in-the-ground rustic charm. We reached as far north as the Last Forbidden Kingdom of Lo Manthang, the walled city that served as the controlling trade junction between the Himalayas and India centuries ago. “Big” was how a friend described the terrain to us beforehand. The unfolding landscapes were…

Travel has taken many forms throughout the ages, from the earliest surviving travelogue in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea (100 CE) to one of the first volumes about the joys of adventure in Ascent of Mont Ventoux (1336). It is also clear that many explorers of yore took great love from the journey as well, including Eusebio Francisco “Father” Kino, a Jesuit priest, explorer, geographer, and cartographer. Father Kino was known for his thoughtful approach toward interacting with indigenous peoples, and even opposing the slave labor forced upon those tribes under Spanish rule. He interacted with 16 different tribes, and learned their overland routes throughout the desert Southwest, including his most notable expedition to California that proved (finally) that Baja was not an island, and was not occupied by…

Alexandria Lewis says the Idaho Overland Association was born out of staying at campgrounds with her young, screaming children. “That was not fun for them or for me, so we started researching—where else can we go camping?” Idaho is rich with Bureau of Land Management and forest service land, so Lewis and her family started heading to those sites more frequently. As they broadened their outdoor explorations—eventually opening as a local overland distributor in Idaho Falls—they noticed many locations were completely trashed. “It’s so easy for BLM or US Forest Service to say, ‘We’re done’ and lock it up. If we’re encouraging families to get out and explore, we wanted to do something more.” So, Lewis founded the Idaho Overland Association, a non-profit, membership-based organization that brings like-minded community members…

The Arctic fox on the shoulder speaks volumes. When I meet a traveler and they are wearing Fjällräven, I know that the person is either Scandinavian, well-traveled, well-heeled, or all three. I am merely well-traveled and have been yearning for a Fjällräven jacket ever since I was freezing in Patagonia, and my Scandinavian companion was not. In late October 2021, I finally took receipt of a Skogsö. The problem with finally owning gear you have coveted for years is that the risk of disappointment is real. Would I be disappointed? Is the Skogsö the new Land Rover Defender? Let’s find out. The Skogsö is a hip-length, lightly padded winter jacket constructed of PFC-free, G-1000 material with a fixed, adjustable hood. G-1000 is Fjällräven’s “cornerstone material,” used in everything from backpacks…

In late 2012, we said goodbye to our home in Cape Town, South Africa, and packed the Land Rover for an expedition that would take us around the world without pause. We researched and sourced gear that would serve us best in preparation for the journey. When living an adventurous lifestyle on the road, you learn to depend on the layer which buffers your body from the elements. Wind, sun, rain, heat, and cold will erode your enthusiasm as sure as they erode rock, and, as the Norwegians say, there is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing. We eventually agreed to source a limited wardrobe of Craghoppers clothing for each member of the family, including waterproof and winter jackets, shirts, summer dresses, hats, cargo shorts, and trousers,…

Some people have an innate ability to learn their lessons from the wise words and experiences of others. As I gazed at the half-empty plastic storage case on my roof with a bewildered stare, I couldn’t help but wish I was one of those people. How long had it been open? For 10 miles, 30, 100? It was impossible to say. Remnants of the broken front latch still clung to the box, shattered by whatever debris had hit it at 75 mph. Inside, I observed the sad and soggy array of my remaining damp clothes and camp supplies that still clung to the bottom of the bin. Everything else was gone, and if I wanted it back, I’d need to backtrack. My stomach churned as I did the math. It…

Prior to its resurrection in 2013, our 1990 Toyota Pickup, “Little Red,” had been ridden hard and put away wet. It was left for dead in the back forty with 321,000 kilometers on the odometer, flat tires, and a cracked windshield that leaked like a sieve. Mold, rust, and long grass consumed the 25-year-old beast. Despite the Pickup’s unfortunate condition, we knew in our hearts that this truck would make a stellar overland vehicle for tackling the Pan-American Highway. We spent four weekends building it for the trip—not four weeks, four weekends. This limited period of time didn’t allow for perfection, but it was more than enough to build a capable machine to get us to Ushuaia, Argentina, and back. This venerable minitruck embarked on a 65,000-kilometer adventure it couldn’t…

Frank and Helen Schreider were preparing to leave for the island of Flores, Indonesia, when the village chief in Komodo brought bad news. “There is no road at Labuhan Badjo,” he said, running a calloused thumb eastward over their map. “It starts here, at Reo.” Their map of Flores clearly showed a road, but the chief was adamant. “There is no road.” Trusting the local intel, the Schreiders recharted their course. The extra detour by land and sea would drain their fuel and water tanks long before they reached Bajdo. With no chance to send for more gasoline to fuel their amphibious Jeep, Helen and Frank studied tide charts and US Navy nautical books, hoping for an obvious solution. But as the sky darkened, heavy waves crashed while the air’s…

More than a decade ago, we camped in a large wooded campsite in Punta del Este, a coastal town in Uruguay. Despite extensive overland travel in Africa, we were relative rookies. It was our first night in South America, the Defender had been released from the port of Montevideo the day before, and the family had flown over from South Africa two weeks before that. Our setup was simple and old school—a sizable four-sleeper rooftop tent (the type most commonly used on travel trailers), an annex that created a living space, and a rear load system. The evening had passed quietly with an asado (barbecue) and a glass of wine to celebrate the true beginning of our grand adventure, but later we were rudely awoken by the sound of flapping…

I feed on stories about couples overlanding and thriving together for the long haul. I want to know how they make it work. The Bells have survived malaria, machine guns, and Land Rovers in some of the world’s harshest regions (a2aexpedition.com). Tim and Kelsey of Dirt Sunrise (dirtsunrise.com) have a relationship that plays like a soothing, understated fiddle on the backroads of Alaska, the Andes, and the deserts of North Africa. My good friends from Switzerland, Richie and Abigail, decided one day to have a baby, travel the world, and change diapers on the hood of their Ram truck (meataroundtheworld.com). There are many more such impressive couples. How do they do it? What secret glue keeps them bonded? And why did my 25-year relationship with the woman I respect and…