overlander or car camper?......

[Iubootgater]

Wow! According to overland journal I'm not even supposed to be here as traveling established routs for weekend trips is not overlanding but a backcountry trip or at the very least car camping. I'm so glad they cleared that up for me, the Midwest is not what I would call a place where one can travel for weeks to months in under-documented areas.

O-well.... it was fun while it lasted.

please note that all of this is just a joke and a big reason why I'm here and not there.

Would be interested what everyone else says when someone asks you to put a label on your outdoor activities?

Cheers!

 

[Robert OB 33/48]

Hello Wilson,

I found that, and its unfortunally not a joke, stigma very active at certain Overland forums. Why? I dont know.

Overland? What is overland? actually I found this on Wikipedia.

Quote:

Overland travel or overlanding refers to a journey performed without the use of flights or boats - a famous historical example being Marco Polo's first overland expedition in the 13th century from Venice to the Chinese court of Kublai Khan. Today overlanding is a form of extended adventure holiday, often in a group. Overland tour companies provide a converted truck or bus and a tour leader, and the group travels together overland for a period of weeks or months. Individual travelers may use public transport, personal motor vehicles, bicycles, or even travel on foot.

End quote.

So, everything doing without boats or planes is overlanding. The other item is, time. So, going for a weekend is in that meaning no overlanding.

BUT:

If you consider the time we have, I think each weekend, daytrip or whatever is to me equal to Overland. If you dont have six months, weeks, or years, it is just a weekend, or a day you use for your trip.

Consider, Marco Polo was years on the "road", we can do it inless time.  Going from one town to another was in the past a more days of travel. And no roads.

Nowadays it is mere hours.

So, the same with Overland. Now we can do a trip within a weekend, what took a week in urlier days.

SO:

For me is Overlanding any trip, any weekend, any holiday I spend to go out in the world, using my van, car, or whatever wheeled transportation I have.

Overlanding is you do something just a bit more then just drive into a field, play a bit and go home at the end of the day. If you drive a route, or going from one waypoint to a waypoint. If you have a interest in nature, the world, well thats Overland to me.  Going from A to B, and enjoying every inch of the journey, well that is Overland.

It doesnt matter if you go on one trip each five years for several months/years or every weekend/month going out for a trip or journey.

So, I think we are overlanders, and everybody who disagree with that, has just one narrow definition of the word Overland.

Enjoy

Greetings from Robert

 

[Wolvee]

OJ is a big joke.  Self Strokers.

 

[expeditionnorth]

its all about advertising over there, ever notice how everything is LR related, though there are so many more capable rigs out there that they will never focus on

glad you made it over here with the rest of us that enjoy  glamping LOL

 

[Iubootgater]

its all about advertising over there, ever notice how everything is LR related, though there are so many more capable rigs out there that they will never focus on glad you made it over here with the rest of us that enjoy glamping LOL

Nothing says hard core adventurer like a $1000 refridgerator in the back.... I would love to have one, don't get me wrong but until then I guess it's ice and pit toilets for this car camper

 

[Michael]

Love this thread! I'll offer this. It's my philosophy for Overlanding:
Overlanding is a movement. It's a lifestyle. It isn't elitist, and it doesn't matter what you drive. It's for everyone who feels the call of the wild, and anyone willing to go find it.
For me, its about getting outside, pushing your boundaries, and having fun doing it. We are adventurers and travelers, and doing so as often as we can keeps us grounded. It doesn't matter if we drive a NAS Defender 110, or a Mini-Cooper. If it gets you safely where you need to go, and provides life support in the process, it's good.

 

[Iubootgater]

Robert-

I like the definition and as a lover of history I can appreciate the Morco Polo analogy.

All jokes aside we probably are not overlanders. My wife and I rarely pack up the jeep or the "Mule" as I refer to it, without throwing a canoe/Kayaks on top or dragging a pontoon around.  We love the outdoors but actively seek water whenever possible. As Michael has so often said its about getting out. We are lovers of the outdoors plain and simple. Myself, I detest being inside, I sell too many squares on the calendar to a employer for the means to be outside when not on a clock. Maybe I have read too much Thoreau and Muir but it seems this is no way to go through life, working 5-6 days a week to spend couple a days a month outside. On the other hand if I quit working its going to be awful hard to buy the rigs and gear I spend too much time looking at.

Enough philosophical discourse for one day.

I hope those of you who are not on the clock are out there now, where ever that might be!

Cheers!

 

[expeditionnorth]

we are out there, thats what matters I say

 

[deeker]

double post - sorry.

 

[deeker]

We travel across paved roads to get away from the hustle and hectic life.  We then take our vehicles through rough terrain to get out into the less crowded land, to enjoy these areas that others don't often get to see.  Whether we paddle, cycle, hike or sit and soak it in once we get there - that is irrelevant.  We travel over land to  get there... therefore, we overland.

The vehicle, the level of (dis)comfort, fuel type, number of wheels - none of that matters when we become overlanders.  To those that it matters to, well, they must not have bigger things to worry about!

And that's all I have to say about that.  

 

[vicali]

Best not to take life so seriously..

 

[Dilldog]

Love this thread! I'll offer this. It's my philosophy for Overlanding:
Overlanding is a movement. It's a lifestyle. It isn't elitist, and it doesn't matter what you drive. It's for everyone who feels the call of the wild, and anyone willing to go find it.
For me, its about getting outside, pushing your boundaries, and having fun doing it. We are adventurers and travelers, and doing so as often as we can keeps us grounded. It doesn't matter if we drive a NAS Defender 110, or a Mini-Cooper. If it gets you safely where you need to go, and provides life support in the process, it's good.

I agree 100%. To me overlanding is simply using what ever equipment you have or can afford to go experience something out of your norm. For some that will be more elaborate than others. But at the end of day, be an individual and be comfortable in your desicions. Seek the approval of those you respect and hold dear, and the rest can just, well you know...

 

[Billiebob]

There are many forms of outdoor travel. Camping is pretty generic and what most of us do. Gathering a group of buddies to crawl up a waterfall and "camp" is another, or mud bog and "camp". Then there are those full on expeditions where one travels alone or with others thru desolation hundreds of miles from "civilization" while camping.

And there are a few who actually overland, travelling thru a different culture or country experiencing new people, food, language, where just the act communicating is a challenge and a neccessity to survive. You can overland close to home, travel thru some native lands, get permission to be there, meet the people living there, become a diplomat, an ambassador. Or go to Baja but the difference is overlanding involves people. It challenges what you call normal. It expands your character.

What most of us do today is the opposite, we seek to control and isolate ourselves from the world while travelling in security, hoping to never be challenged. Overlanders live for the challenge.

But since the buzz word is "overlanding" the definition and activity is diluted to sell "overlanding gear". Today overlanding is defined by the gear, rather than activity. Get a garbage bag and a burlap sack. Leave your wallet and technology at home. Don't have a shower for a week, sleep on the floor for a week, then go live downtown on the street for a week. THAT IS OVERLANDING. It involves challenge to see a part of the country and its people you never meet.

Then there are rich overlanders like Ned Gillette, an adventurer, someone who explored the world truely overlanding travelling by foot, sleeping in a tent, until he was shot tenting in Asia. His life was constantly challenging the unknown. Sometimes an expedition to Antarctica, sometimes an extreme mountaineering expedition, travelling light, sourcing local help to complete his goals.

No need to leave your home town. No need to buy stuff. But you can also overland staying in 5 Star Hotels if you actually learn a new culture in the process and challenge yourself. Step beyond your comfort zone. Otherwise it is just a camping trip.

 

[Dilldog]

but the difference is overlanding involves people. It challenges what you call normal. It expands your character.

we can probably end the discussion with this comment.

 

[grubworm]

Otherwise, you are just camping off grid.

works for me!

 

[Billiebob]

Then on a different forum I read this..

"Hey y'all I'm looking for some good trails here in the state but am not having much luck finding any haha.
I'd appreciate any help and advice as i explore the unknown."

Overlanding is about finding those trails, not finding a guided tour.

 

[Lanlubber In Remembrance]

OH NO, NOT AGAIN !

 

[Louiston]

OverGlamping ...........nothing more, LOL.

 

[grubworm]

“If you name me, you negate me. By giving me a name, a label, you negate all the other things I could possibly be.”

— Søren Kierkegaard

 

[Joey83]

I thought Overlanding was "vehicle based travelling".