Michael--Overland Bound caught my attention awhile back as interest in overlanding has increased in recent years. Overlanding began to interest me because my hobby now has more of a title whereas in the past and to this day sometimes I'll tell people I like to combine off-road exploration and camping. Anyway, I came across these guidelines while lurking around the web and decided to chime in. First off I like #'s 2 and 3 as I feel people get caught up in that sort of thing a lot.
I wanted to address #8 "Share without reservation, trip locations, and information." mostly. I think as a "community" overlanders need to share locations and information cautiously. Having begun off-road adventuring prior to the internet being as easily accessible as it is today, I feel in recent years the internet has provided a means for information regarding locations to fall into the wrong hands. This may be inevitable though I've seen evidence and experienced first hand folks in the outdoors who had caused damage/defaced/trespassed/vandalized/etc. and seen or heard from the horses mouth they learned of the location via the internet. So, I believe that as a community we need to be cautious about sharing pictures, coordinates, etc. on the internet but also cautious not to be elitist or selfish with information (i. e. when asked don't ignore folks, help them figure it out). Another facet of sharing information is that we need to leave something for others to explore. I've seen posts so detailed (not necessarily here) that at the end I felt like I had already done that trip! I've also had a lot of folks allude to things I might find which rather than tell me details which I've found to be the most rewarding. Below are some links I feel address this issue appropriately:
http://calipidder.com/wp/2013/03/sensitive-locations-and-our-responsibility-as-bloggers/
Long story short...Overlanding focuses so much on our route, our destination, etc. to such detail that should very detailed trip reports in sensitive areas be shared for anyone to see it could result in a detrimental effect on a location or trail. With the internet being so accessible these days I've seen a lot of sensitive areas posted on social media with very specific details essentially dropped into the laps of folks who otherwise wouldn't normally do the homework to find such a place and thus (from what I've witnessed) may not treat the location quite as well. So, I'm here suggesting #8 be modified in order to preserve both the adventure and the landscape. Thanks!
Nick
I wanted to address #8 "Share without reservation, trip locations, and information." mostly. I think as a "community" overlanders need to share locations and information cautiously. Having begun off-road adventuring prior to the internet being as easily accessible as it is today, I feel in recent years the internet has provided a means for information regarding locations to fall into the wrong hands. This may be inevitable though I've seen evidence and experienced first hand folks in the outdoors who had caused damage/defaced/trespassed/vandalized/etc. and seen or heard from the horses mouth they learned of the location via the internet. So, I believe that as a community we need to be cautious about sharing pictures, coordinates, etc. on the internet but also cautious not to be elitist or selfish with information (i. e. when asked don't ignore folks, help them figure it out). Another facet of sharing information is that we need to leave something for others to explore. I've seen posts so detailed (not necessarily here) that at the end I felt like I had already done that trip! I've also had a lot of folks allude to things I might find which rather than tell me details which I've found to be the most rewarding. Below are some links I feel address this issue appropriately:
http://calipidder.com/wp/2013/03/sensitive-locations-and-our-responsibility-as-bloggers/
Long story short...Overlanding focuses so much on our route, our destination, etc. to such detail that should very detailed trip reports in sensitive areas be shared for anyone to see it could result in a detrimental effect on a location or trail. With the internet being so accessible these days I've seen a lot of sensitive areas posted on social media with very specific details essentially dropped into the laps of folks who otherwise wouldn't normally do the homework to find such a place and thus (from what I've witnessed) may not treat the location quite as well. So, I'm here suggesting #8 be modified in order to preserve both the adventure and the landscape. Thanks!
Nick
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