Influencer II
I am honoured to be the new Member Representative for NZ, and am really excited to be part of growing a local OB community here. There is definitely a wave of enthusiasm for adventures in the outdoors general and 4x4 going at the moment, especially in the cities like Auckland where people want to get away from all the noise and crowds and experience nature. The great thing about NZ is that you never have to go far, even living in Auckland I have many options within a 45min drive.
My personal observation is that while there already seems to be some strong 4x4 clubs and a thriving community built around this "hardcore" 4x4 culture, I think there is also a growing number of people who enjoy having adventures in their vehicles that don't fit into this particular niche. There seem to be lots of people like myself who work and have family commitments but are passionate about getting out an having "micro adventures" on weekends an holidays in my daily driver. While the term "overlanding" isn't as familiar to kiwis (yet!), I am quite confident that if packaged the right way the principals of the Overland Bound community will really resonate with this crowd, and I want to be part of making this happen!
Very soon there will be a dedicated Facebook Group for NZ Members, which will be a great way for us all to keep in touch, share pictures and projects, and arrange meetups. To start off with this could be as simple as meeting up somewhere scenic to chat while cooking lunch/dinner using your overland set-up (I'm always keen to see how other people set up and use their cooking gear!). Obviously the end goal is to have a group of members head out on some awesome overland adventures, and the more the word spreads through social media and word of mouth the more new members we will get. Just like the Mainland Cheese ad says, Good things take time
So that is a little about me, my motivation for being your Member Representative, and a few of the plans I have to get things rolling. More updates soon!
My personal observation is that while there already seems to be some strong 4x4 clubs and a thriving community built around this "hardcore" 4x4 culture, I think there is also a growing number of people who enjoy having adventures in their vehicles that don't fit into this particular niche. There seem to be lots of people like myself who work and have family commitments but are passionate about getting out an having "micro adventures" on weekends an holidays in my daily driver. While the term "overlanding" isn't as familiar to kiwis (yet!), I am quite confident that if packaged the right way the principals of the Overland Bound community will really resonate with this crowd, and I want to be part of making this happen!
Very soon there will be a dedicated Facebook Group for NZ Members, which will be a great way for us all to keep in touch, share pictures and projects, and arrange meetups. To start off with this could be as simple as meeting up somewhere scenic to chat while cooking lunch/dinner using your overland set-up (I'm always keen to see how other people set up and use their cooking gear!). Obviously the end goal is to have a group of members head out on some awesome overland adventures, and the more the word spreads through social media and word of mouth the more new members we will get. Just like the Mainland Cheese ad says, Good things take time
So that is a little about me, my motivation for being your Member Representative, and a few of the plans I have to get things rolling. More updates soon!
