Overlanding, I’m sure you’ve heard the word before, but what does it really mean?
Simply said overlanding is traveling by car, most of the time in a 4×4, to a remote location where camping is the most common for of accommodation. Some people do this for the weekend, some people do it for months.
Overlanding is more about discovering, than about conquering obstacles. The roads and trails might be rough and challenging, but those roads are only the way to reach your destination. The eventual goal is to see the world, but not the cities and the history but really discover the nature and learn to appreciate it. Don’t confuse overlanding with offroading. With offroading it’s most of the time a one day adventure of which the goal is to conquer obstacles, while overlanding is a journey that has obstacles along the way like mud and hard trails but it’s not the main goal. Offroading focusses on technical obstacles, mud, hard trails and that’s not the case with overlanding.
The core of overlanding is the love for the outdoor life, camping and discovering nature. Doesn’t matter if you like to keep it basic or prefer a luxury overland trip, it might just be fun to build your vehicle like it fits you and your needs the best on the road. The most important thing is that you can be independent, you don’t need a camping for water or electricity, you have everything you need to survive on the road. Everybody can overland, you can learn the skills you need as you go and explore what you want out of it. Don’t be afraid, just do it!
How you want to adjust your vehicle to go overlanding depends completely on yourself. Do you prefer luxury on the road? You can spend a lot of money on a rooftop, rooftent, a camping kitchen that has everything on it. Are you a simple soul that prefers surviving with the basics? Either way you can find all your tools and equipment in our shop! Building your vehicle itself is an experience, you can keep on building and improving. Some build their 4×4 to an overland machine, others prefer to get a Unimog or a MAN KAT 6×6. You can find enough inspiration about this on YouTube and Pinterest, don’t forget to check Expedition Vehicles or Global X Vehicles on Instagram or Bold Overland or Rock Creek Overland or Desk To Glory (https://www.instagram.com/expeditionvehicles/ – https://www.instagram.com/globalxvehicles/?hl=nl – https://www.instagram.com/boldoverland/ – https://www.instagram.com/rockcreekoverland/ – https://www.instagram.com/desktoglory/). You can always rent or buy a trailer to go on vacation, don’t forget to check out the American brand Boreas Campers (https://boreascampers.com/)!
Did you know that you can work completely remote while overlanding with the right tools? For example, the portable battery from Dometic is definitely recommended, you can not only charge it with your car while driving, but also with solar panels if you camp somewhere for a longer period of time. The same goes for Dometic fridges and freezers!
But of course you cannot just leave without any planning. Most of these trips can easily take a week or longer and then you should think carefully about what equipment you need, how much food do you take with you, do you have enough clothing and what kind of weather will it be like? Since you are traveling by car, you obviously don’t have an infinite amount of space to store everything, so a lot of thinking is involved. You can set up your car as you want, also do not forget that some basics should be present, for example a fire extinguisher, jumper cables, recovery gear, tool kit to repair simple things on the car, spare wheel, shovel, … There will certainly be another later blog about the must-haves and nice-to-haves during overlanding.
Not only do you gain great experiences and memories during the trip and camping, but cooking itself is also an adventure! You are a bit more limited than at home, but with some creativity you can come up with the most delicious thing. You can get some inspiration on this great YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0rfAG3DVoanZsPO6USODvA You can also perfectly barbecue on the go or cook on a gas plancha, but of course you can also cook on a normal gas fire.
Another YouTube tip to watch: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEEgz9PD6iTRSB0VXNbWvRw