Is the Overlanding community killing itself

[K12]

nature is better than the internet.

depends who you ask...

View attachment 282681

I am guessing that he is safe because he was out enjoying the beauties of nature and came home to that.... now he can go full time without the stress of selling the house

 

[MidOH]

Ick.

Built a FWC online. $45,000.

If I plan on a 20 year service life: That's about 2 camping trips per month, for 20 years, to make it worthwhile (at current hotel / lodge pricing)

4 nights of traveling every month, if I plan a 10y time span.

If half my over landing still includes rental lodges, yurts, and tent camping.....that's a tough pill to swallow.

 

[MOAK]

Funny you should mention FWC. Compared to others they are cheap. Well not cheap, they are very well built, but 10s of thousands less than other expedition worthy 4 season truck campers. I’m currently in the process of specing one out. I also briefly looked at the Norweld Flatbed trays. Now that’s ridiculous! 18k plus installation? I’m sourcing a local manufacturer that can custom build one for less than half, installed. I refuse to pay a $10k overland tax. Back to the FWC, yes, they are costly, so is an Airstream, they both hold their value. After 5 years when we are done, it’ll easily fetch about 80-90% of the initial outlay. It is not unusual for an 8-10 year old Grandby to sell for what it cost new and sometimes more. Just recently one around here, a 2016 model, sold for 24k. Back in 2016 the base price was 17k. Then there is the typical RV or trailer which loses 50% of its initial cost in 5 years. In ten years it’s ready for the crusher. What’s really cool is everything we are specing is made in Louisville Ky, Woodland Ca, Gap Pa. and Prineville Or. to your point though, if you’re not using it, a lot, or going full time, then yup, it’s a tough pill to swallow. If we were not going full time, long range, I’d never even consider the expense. I’d keep what I have and keep on tenting.

 

[orange01z28]

Ick.

Built a FWC online. $45,000.

If I plan on a 20 year service life: That's about 2 camping trips per month, for 20 years, to make it worthwhile (at current hotel / lodge pricing)

4 nights of traveling every month, if I plan a 10y time span.

If half my over landing still includes rental lodges, yurts, and tent camping.....that's a tough pill to swallow.

Imagine doing the math on an RV

Especially when the average buying price in conjunction with maintenance is more expensive than a cabin, with the added bonus of depreciation!

 

[K12]

Ick.

Built a FWC online. $45,000.

If I plan on a 20 year service life: That's about 2 camping trips per month, for 20 years, to make it worthwhile (at current hotel / lodge pricing)

4 nights of traveling every month, if I plan a 10y time span.

If half my over landing still includes rental lodges, yurts, and tent camping.....that's a tough pill to swallow.

Imagine doing the math on an RV

Especially when the average buying price in conjunction with maintenance is more expensive than a cabin, with the added bonus of depreciation!

I have a BlackSeries Caravan and am saving far more money with it than I would having to pay for hotels, mortgage and everything else that comes along with a house/cabin/land etc.

 

[Mr_Mnml_Engnr]

So I’ve been reading this thread over the last few days and I have to agree with the “OL community isn’t dead” camp. But it’s been a fascinating read to see how we all try to balance enjoyment of gear and the enjoyment of the adventure. I think it’s perfectly healthy to have an appreciation for both, but if it takes a community thread like this to remind me occasionally to be intentional with my gear purchases and not get sucked into “keeping up with the Joneses,” then I’d say this community (Overland Bound specifically) is thriving. At least in my opinion

 

[grubworm]

Imagine doing the math on an RV

Especially when the average buying price in conjunction with maintenance is more expensive than a cabin, with the added bonus of depreciation!

ha! when it comes to maintenance and depreciation... try doing the "math" on one of these....!
makes a brand new Earth Roamer look like a bargain!

 

[Mr_Mnml_Engnr]

Imagine doing the math on an RV

Especially when the average buying price in conjunction with maintenance is more expensive than a cabin, with the added bonus of depreciation!

ha! when it comes to maintenance and depreciation... try doing the "math" on one of these....!
makes a brand new Earth Roamer look like a bargain!


View attachment 282821

I’m gonna be honest buddy. I don’t think white is your color
You’d look much better in and eggshell dress

 

[MMc]

I've been reading this thread for a while , is it dead? Who cares. I've been a outdoorsman all my life. Rock climbers and Mountaineers look down at Back Packers/Trekkers who look down on Car Campers who look down on RVers. The folks that are looked down upon don't know or care. My grandfather had a decked station wagon in the 60's, he would travel around the PNW fishing and hiking. I guess he was a overlander, he thought of himself as backpacker and camper.

Most overlanders are pretty inclusive. The folks living full time, the one weekend a month, the couple time a year, the folks the wheel their rig, the forest road & dispersed , van lifers, the fashion plates, all seem it get along. These forums have been great to spread a knowledge base. Like most things in life there are trade-offs and compromise. I like my life a bit closer to the bone than most, so most of my trips are solo. Driving 6 to 10 hours a day for a week end or more is my slow death. I'll drive to someplace up to 3 days mostly and post up for a week or two. There are different flavors for everybody.

There are plenty of folks that during C-19 that romanticized about life on the road, then discovered what it really is. Many dropped out while other embraced the lifestyle. I personally know 2 couples that have done the PanAm, 2 singles that have done the southern half and meet many more that were doing it. Their experience is very different than the Moab trips. Is overlanding dead? it will live on in some fashion as it has for plenty of years. Market it as you will.

 

[orange01z28]

ha! when it comes to maintenance and depreciation... try doing the "math" on one of these....!
makes a brand new Earth Roamer look like a bargain!


View attachment 282821

Tell me about it.

Nothing but trouble and expense

 

[DintDobbs]

Imagine doing the math on an RV

Especially when the average buying price in conjunction with maintenance is more expensive than a cabin, with the added bonus of depreciation!

ha! when it comes to maintenance and depreciation... try doing the "math" on one of these....!
makes a brand new Earth Roamer look like a bargain!


View attachment 282821

If you want her to stay looking like that, overlanding isn't the way!

Let's all be honest here; no matter how much money you make, life is expensive. You make more, you spend more. Does quality of life improve? You decide.

Finding your ideal balance of effort, convenience, freedom, and stability is the key. Everybody has to do things that aren't fun. Making the un-fun things more tolerable or less inconvenient is generally a priority when raising your standard of living. If you don't mind doing inconvenient things, you can live a lot cheaper. If you want the time more than you want the money, spend the money and enjoy the convenience.

Hence, specialty equipment.

Once upon a time, houses had bedpans, outhouses, and outdoor bath tubs over fire pits. Overlanding always will.

 

[yazanabbas11]

It's frustrating as hell. I'm in Australia and we love our 4WD access beach, my wife injured herself at work and finds it very difficult to trek over sand, so we drive down the beach and get a shade awning and fridge as a bonus. The rules are pretty simple, stay off the dunes and on the beach. But every time I go there there are vehicle tracks all over the dunes, I've even bitched out a few people I've caught doing it. There are plenty of people just itching for an excuse to shut down 4WD beaches, and as much as I would hate that, it's hard to come up with a good defense.

Tutuapp 9apps​

 

[MiamiC70]

Pretty sure Michael is still around, saw a post from him not too long ago. People have lives and honestly posting on a forum is no where near as fun as getting out and doing stuff. My activity on here had dropped drastically since I went full time cause nature is better than the internet. Spring, summer and fall will naturally be slower on forums because people are actually doing stuff as weather permits. Honestly who cares if people fall off and stop "overlanding"?

Yea, that’s it. He’s circumnavigating the planet with the “Lost Boys” that’s why he’s ghosting YouTube and forums

 

[grubworm]

Is the Overlanding community killing itself

i dont know...but it certainly feels like a part of me just died...

 

[MidOH]

That's pretty much what Stelantis is right now.

If you think Jeep and Ram ain't toilet garbage, now might be a good time to buy. Lots are overfull. They ain't selling.

People are wising up to the simple fact, these brands ain't got a single reliable engine.

 

[MOAK]

The 4.0 straight 6 was the last reliable engine that Jeep used and 2005 was it. Even at that those engines were good for only about 150,000 miles. I’m just curios to see what company purchases the Jeep name when Stelantis goes under. Will it be the further destruction of the Jeep, or will they take a cue from Toyota’s Landcruiser division and reduce the steroids and make the Wrangler smaller? It’ll be interesting to watch. In the meantime, I’ll be getting back to Ford gassers.

 

[MidOH]

I doubt they'll get smaller.

But they'll copy Toyotas superior hybrid system. Still rumors of a little turbo straight 6.

 

[LostWoods]

The 4.0 straight 6 was the last reliable engine that Jeep used and 2005 was it. Even at that those engines were good for only about 150,000 miles. I’m just curios to see what company purchases the Jeep name when Stelantis goes under. Will it be the further destruction of the Jeep, or will they take a cue from Toyota’s Landcruiser division and reduce the steroids and make the Wrangler smaller? It’ll be interesting to watch. In the meantime, I’ll be getting back to Ford gassers.

You can get double that 150k on an HO 4.0L easily. You just need to install an oil tank alongside your gas tank to fill up each time.

Legit though, it makes me sad that all the Gladiator did was give me a taste of what if would be like to own a LC79... just... without any sense of reliability. It was so insanely capable dragged down by the fact I was afraid of every single time the electrical wigged out or it made some odd noise. It was bad enough with a simpleish V6, there's no way I'd trust it with a turbo or hybrid system.

 

[MOAK]

You can get double that 150k on an HO 4.0L easily. You just need to install an oil tank alongside your gas tank to fill up each time.

Legit though, it makes me sad that all the Gladiator did was give me a taste of what if would be like to own a LC79... just... without any sense of reliability. It was so insanely capable dragged down by the fact I was afraid of every single time the electrical wigged out or it made some odd noise. It was bad enough with a simpleish V6, there's no way I'd trust it with a turbo or hybrid system.

I’ve always maintained had the LC 70 series been permitted into North America, Jeep would no longer be in business. There are two things that Americans are good at building- ( hopefully ) the GM and Ford full size pickup trucks.

 

[ThundahBeagle]

Is the Overlanding community killing itself

i dont know...but it certainly feels like a part of me just died...



View attachment 283247

Yup. That's just about right