The making of an Overlander

Road leading to nowhere, Valley of the Gods, Utah

It was back in 1986 when I was about 20 years old that I did my first major trip.  I was stationed near Istanbul, Turkey and I was transferred to Alaska.    Of course you can’t drive from Turkey to Alaska so I flew from Istanbul to my previous duty station in Fort Bragg, North Carolina and from there I drove all the way to Fairbanks, Alaska.    At the time I did not have a clue as to how to map a route and I let someone that knew less than I did planned the route for me, talking about the blind leading the blind.

I did not even know the difference then between an interstate highway and a secondary road. Coming into the military at just 17 years of age, other than military stuff I did not have a clue what was west of me.  But one thing was certain, it was there, during that trip that I knew that I wanted to become an “overlander”, I just didn’t know what it was called back then.

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary the definition of an Overlander is

“one that travels overland”.

   Hmmmmm, pretty simple, right? but if you go to the Overland Journal, the definition of an Overlander is as follows

“Overlanding describes self-reliant adventure travel to remote destinations where the journey is the primary goal. Typically, but not exclusively, accommodated by mechanized off-highway capable transport (from bicycles to trucks) where the principal form of lodging is camping; often lasting for extended lengths of time (months to years) and often spanning international boundaries. While expedition is defined as a journey with a purpose, overlanding sees the journey as the purpose”

Beautiful Afternoon in Hite, Utah

While Overlanding is not traveling, you have to know about travel.  While camping and hiking is not Overlanding you have to know how to camp and hike.    You also have to know myriad of other little things, such as first aid, navigation, survival, mechanical skills and the list go on and on and on.

Some things I learned while I was in the military,  others things I read about and learned it on my own.    Some other things I learned the hard way, such as taking a good tire repair kit and an air compressor when traversing thru the middle of the desert in the hottest part of  the summer (trust me when I tell you that the cheap $5 dollars’ tire repair kit you buy at the local auto part store won’t help you one bit with a 10 ply tire) You also have to know how to pack and what to pack and have “bailout bag” and be ready to use that “bailout bag” and have the ability to leave everything and anything behind in case of an emergency.

Been organized can make a trip more enjoyable,

Taken at Gila Wilderness in New Mexico

One thing I can tell you is that I learn new things from every journey as every journey is different from the other.    I also learned to have redundancy, because what may work here, may not work somewhere else.    While is very easy to over pack, with every journey I learned to pack what I considered to be important things and leave behind what I don’t need.

Organizational skills are a must.  One of my most memorable journey in 2011 took almost 4 months and I believe I wasted like a month and half looking for my own gear in a 2 door Jeep. Because of poor organizational skills. 

While I can’t possibly cover everything in one blog as there are so many variables, I can tell you that you don’t have to go out of your own country and you don’t need a $750,000 EarthRoamer to be an Overlander. 

While is not cheap you can spend 2 to 3 months on a wonderful journey and spend way less than would on a 7 days, Alaska cruise, it all depend on your level of comfort.    In future blogs I will cover the many variables of overlanding and if you are like me, you're on a budget and need to keep the cost of your journey down and trust me when I tell you planning and getting ready is probably just as exciting as the journey.