Books that Inspired You to Get into Overlanding

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rtexpeditions

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I thought I'd start a thread for people to post details about books they have read that inspired them to get into overlanding.

Here are three from my own bookshelf I have selected. They all have an Australian slant of some kind:

1. African Adventure (A Senile Safari), Hazel Barker 1995. By the 1990's I'd been in the 4WD scene for a while when I saw a magazine article about a couple that had embarked on an overland trip in Africa in an Australian-registered Landcruiser. Hazel and David drove from Cape Town to London, then across Russia, years before the Trans Siberian Highway was finished. Shipping the Landcruiser back to Australia. They later shipped the same Landcruiser back to Vladivostok ad drove it back to Europe. I couldn't get this book in Tasmania at the time, so I contacted Hazel herself and she sent me my prized, signed copy.

2. Bush Tucker Man, Les Hidins 1996. Les Hiddins is an Australian legend and an expert on survival in Australia for the Australian Army. He follows the routes of many European explorers in northern Australia highlighting how they could have survived when they perished and why some expeditions flourished by eating native food. The book also details a number of excellent overland tracks some of which I have travelled myself.

3. Safe Outback Travel, Jack Absalom 1976. This is the classic Overlanders book, way before the term ovelander was widely used for what we do now. The book is written before 4WD was common place and many of the modern navigation and communications aids existed. Some of the ideas seem antiquated indeed, but then vehicles in the 1970's weren't as reliable and didn't have the range that we take for granted now. Still, to a ten year old it inspired me to want to explore this country.

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Perhaps you could post a few of your own.
 

Lou Skannon

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Jupiter's Travels by Ted Simon. I followed his reports in the Sunday Times and then bought the book. I stumbled across his motorcycle in the museum at Coventry many years later and my heart skipped a beat. Nice to know Ted is still fit and well.
 

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I'd be lying if I said Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer didn't inspire me to get out there and explore.

But, to do so with the proper gear, a plan, and at the very least, a map.
 

ZombieCat

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Not so much overlanding, but wilderness in general:
One Man’s Wilderness - Richard Proenneke
Indian Creek Chronicles: A Winter in the Bitterroot Wilderness - Pete Fromm
The Final Frontiersman - James Campbell
 
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Ron W.

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Anything by Larry E. Heck. His books describe the adventures his 4x4 club had chasing the outlaw trails in Utah in the 80's. Has useful information to locate some areas.
 

markrobson

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I thought I'd start a thread for people to post details about books they have read that inspired them to get into overlanding.

Here are three from my own bookshelf I have selected. They all have an Australian slant of some kind:

1. African Adventure (A Senile Safari), Hazel Barker 1995. By the 1990's I'd been in the 4WD scene for a while when I saw a magazine article about a couple that had embarked on an overland trip in Africa in an Australian-registered Landcruiser. Hazel and David drove from Cape Town to London, then across Russia, years before the Trans Siberian Highway was finished. Shipping the Landcruiser back to Australia. They later shipped the same Landcruiser back to Vladivostok ad drove it back to Europe. I couldn't get this book in Tasmania at the time, so I contacted Hazel herself and she sent me my prized, signed copy.

2. Bush Tucker Man, Les Hidins 1996. Les Hiddins is an Australian legend and an expert on survival in Australia for the Australian Army. He follows the routes of many European explorers in northern Australia highlighting how they could have survived when they perished and why some expeditions flourished by eating native food. The book also details a number of excellent overland tracks some of which I have travelled myself.

3. Safe Outback Travel, Jack Absalom 1976. This is the classic Overlanders book, way before the term ovelander was widely used for what we do now. The book is written before 4WD was common place and many of the modern navigation and communications aids existed. Some of the ideas seem antiquated indeed, but then vehicles in the 1970's weren't as reliable and didn't have the range that we take for granted now. Still, to a ten year old it inspired me to want to explore this country.

View attachment 252812

Perhaps you could post a few of your own.
African Adventure (A Senile Safari), Hazel Barker 1995 is my favourite overland book I've ever read. I'm pretty new to it and haven't read a lot yet, but that book is amazing.
It was actually my father who recommended it to me! Some time ago, I got a task in uni to write a review of a book, and I chose that one. Usually, such tasks are challenging for me, and I use the help of https://edubirdie.com/ because I can miss the deadlines, but that task I really loved. Maybe I'll have the same one soon and will read one more overlanding book.
 
Last edited:

Sunny37

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I thought I'd start a thread for people to post details about books they have read that inspired them to get into overlanding.

Here are three from my own bookshelf I have selected. They all have an Australian slant of some kind:

1. African Adventure (A Senile Safari), Hazel Barker 1995. By the 1990's I'd been in the 4WD scene for a while when I saw a magazine article about a couple that had embarked on an overland trip in Africa in an Australian-registered Landcruiser. Hazel and David drove from Cape Town to London, then across Russia, years before the Trans Siberian Highway was finished. Shipping the Landcruiser back to Australia. They later shipped the same Landcruiser back to Vladivostok ad drove it back to Europe. I couldn't get this book in Tasmania at the time, so I contacted Hazel herself and she sent me my prized, signed copy.

2. Bush Tucker Man, Les Hidins 1996. Les Hiddins is an Australian legend and an expert on survival in Australia for the Australian Army. He follows the routes of many European explorers in northern Australia highlighting how they could have survived when they perished and why some expeditions flourished by eating native food. The book also details a number of excellent overland tracks some of which I have travelled myself.

3. Safe Outback Travel, Jack Absalom 1976. This is the classic Overlanders book, way before the term ovelander was widely used for what we do now. The book is written before 4WD was common place and many of the modern navigation and communications aids existed. Some of the ideas seem antiquated indeed, but then vehicles in the 1970's weren't as reliable and didn't have the range that we take for granted now. Still, to a ten year old it inspired me to want to explore this country.

View attachment 252812

Perhaps you could post a few of your own.
It would be interesting to read.