Overlanding "Fulltime"???

[grubworm]

i'm just wondering where people who overland fulltime go on vacation???

 

[4WheelAstroHack]

i'm just wondering where people who overland fulltime go on vacation???

Anywhere they want?

 

[Road]

i'm just wondering where people who overland fulltime go on vacation???

.
When I was on the road full-time working, over 5yrs straight without house or apartment, I'd meet a lot of folks out on vacation. They'd ask "How much do you travel?"

I'd tell them "I'm on the road 49 weeks a year from coast to coast, and the three weeks I get for vacation, I go somewhere!"

There's always somewhere to go to and explore.

I used to regularly go from Fargo ND to McAllen TX for work and stay off the interstate as much as possible, taking state and US highways like US 81. Small towns, local markets, and local people are far more interesting and engaging when you stay away from interstate exchanges.
.

 

[TacoMacs]

I'd love to go full time. But I have a job.

 

[Armor_LG]

a good look into the life of fulltime overlanding is the youtube channel Epic Family Road Trip

 

[AbsoluteAdventure]

My GF, two dogs and I are moving out of our apartment into our 2 Overland rigs and finished 6×12 Enclosed OL Trailer full time. Ive done the basic research on it all but I would love to see what advice you all have to give about full-time overlanding or extended overlanding. Thanks in advance!

 

[grubworm]

My GF, two dogs and I are moving out of our apartment into our 2 Overland rigs and finished 6×12 Enclosed OL Trailer full time. Ive done the basic research on it all but I would love to see what advice you all have to give about full-time overlanding or extended overlanding. Thanks in advance!

i'd say 90% of it is a person's mindset. there is a saying that "where your treasure is, so is your heart". if you treasure the freedom of overlanding fulltime, then your heart will be in it and all will be well. if you really treasure material things and modern comforts, then your heart will not be in it and eventually you'll regret it. just make sure you and your girlfriend are honest about why you are doing it and if those reasons are sustainable...meaning the reason you want to fulltime overland today will pretty much be the same reason you will still be doing it a year from now.
its all perspective. i spent 20 years of my life living out of a duffle bag. i was a commercial diver and i worked around the world, usually on a crappy boat or rig out in the middle of nowhere eating crap food and living out of a bag. i actually enjoyed it and saw it as adventure. other's saw it as insanity and wouldn't do it for any amount of money. i was right for doing it because i really liked it and the other people were right for NOT doing it because they would have hated it. my mindset was that i really enjoyed seeing new places and meeting new people and doing crazy shit underwater that 99% of the population wouldn't even dream of doing. and for me, that was worth eating the bad food and taking cold showers and spending months having nothing but what i could pack in a bag that would fit in overhead storage. a lot has changed in my life since then, but i am still very happy i made the choices i did.

people seem to focus on fulltime overlanding and how to set themselves up with material things...which, yeah, you will need to have a reliable tow vehicle, life sustaining necessities and all that, but the biggest thing is the right mindset. if your mind is right, everything else will follow...

 

[SemperCoasty]

Hello all, I was referred to this thread as I am starting out as a fulltimer. Although it looks like this thread is not very active at the moment. I haven't decided on how I'm going to set up outfit, whether a roof top tent, trailer, etc. As of right now its just a ground tent and my grand cherokee. But I'm not thrilled of being in a ground tent in bear and wolf country! So looking for some ideas of what works and what doesn't. I plan on spending most of my time in the northwest like Utah, Idaho, Colorado, Montana, Washington, and Wyoming. I am leaving Indiana after the holiday and heading to Kalispell, MT via I-90. Any suggestions on overnight stays along my route would be very appreciated! I'm finding out that the hardest part of full timing is the route planning! Seems it gets easier out west since there are plenty of trails, parks, blm, etc. But getting there from the Midwest there are not many options except for campgrounds-at least that I can find.

 

[Kelly]

How are you communicating with the world? Or are you going mostly incommunicado? I find myself with the opportunity to be a part time digital nomad. Starlink, cell signal booster, tracking down wi-fi signals?

Cellular, almost exclusively.

 

[Kent R]

Hey everyone we just created a full time part of the forum

Full-time & Long Term Overland Travel

For our esteemed full-timers.

www.overlandbound.com

I am going to move this thread over to it.

 

[UgotWheelz]

Hello all, I was referred to this thread as I am starting out as a fulltimer. Although it looks like this thread is not very active at the moment. I haven't decided on how I'm going to set up outfit, whether a roof top tent, trailer, etc. As of right now its just a ground tent and my grand cherokee. But I'm not thrilled of being in a ground tent in bear and wolf country! So looking for some ideas of what works and what doesn't. I plan on spending most of my time in the northwest like Utah, Idaho, Colorado, Montana, Washington, and Wyoming. I am leaving Indiana after the holiday and heading to Kalispell, MT via I-90. Any suggestions on overnight stays along my route would be very appreciated! I'm finding out that the hardest part of full timing is the route planning! Seems it gets easier out west since there are plenty of trails, parks, blm, etc. But getting there from the Midwest there are not many options except for campgrounds-at least that I can find.

The best thing I can say is after 5 months of planning and a vehicle change is to watch allot of backpacking, bikepacking, and military survival videos so that you can be Light & Fast only carry what you need as space is highly limited and make sure you have the right vehicle for your situation. If you need to tow make sure you have the towing capacity. In my case I dont so I have to go lighter or take the hit of selling a brand new vehicle at a loss because of towing capacity is to low. Also I am finding that it really helps if you enjoy driving your vehicle you will be spending allot of time in it and so you need to like t be there.

 

[UgotWheelz]

Hey everyone we just created a full time part of the forum

Full-time & Long Term Overland Travel

For our esteemed full-timers.

www.overlandbound.com

I am going to move this thread over to it.

great thanks Kent

 

[SemperCoasty]

The best thing I can say is after 5 months of planning and a vehicle change is to watch allot of backpacking, bikepacking, and military survival videos so that you can be Light & Fast only carry what you need as space is highly limited and make sure you have the right vehicle for your situation. If you need to tow make sure you have the towing capacity. In my case I dont so I have to go lighter or take the hit of selling a brand new vehicle at a loss because of towing capacity is to low. Also I am finding that it really helps if you enjoy driving your vehicle you will be spending allot of time in it and so you need to like t be there.

Thanks. Yes I've been watching tons of videos and getting ideas. Everything I have can fit in the back of my grand cherokee without putting down the rear seats so I'm pretty light on gear. I feel like I might be too light but have all the essentials. Think I'm just going to go with it and wing it as I go. Youtube videos can be discouraging though. I have a Jeep Grand Cherokee and the overlanding videos I've watched, none have the same vehicle. So I'm kinda doubting my vehicle might not be suitable or something lol

 

[UgotWheelz]

Thanks. Yes I've been watching tons of videos and getting ideas. Everything I have can fit in the back of my grand cherokee without putting down the rear seats so I'm pretty light on gear. I feel like I might be too light but have all the essentials. Think I'm just going to go with it and wing it as I go. Youtube videos can be discouraging though. I have a Jeep Grand Cherokee and the overlanding videos I've watched, none have the same vehicle. So I'm kinda doubting my vehicle might not be suitable or something lol

I would not worry about what they have or what vehicle they drive in the Youtube videos. Pay more attention to the ethos and the how to's than the gear. I have said this plenty of times on this forum; but I spent every school break and even some school absences of my entire childhood traveling in a 69' Ford Econoline 2WD poptop camper van, we also borrowed a older 60's flat nose Econoline work van from the other Grandpa before we got our poptop van. We did not have a bathroom but we did have a propane stove/oven, fridge, and a pump sink, even a propane heater that mostly worked. 2 children, 2 adults, one very large dog we traveled extensively across Oregon, Washington, California, Baja Mx, Vancouver BC, as well as most every road race and karting track on the Westcoast and Midwest. Most of this travel was on back country roads, forest service roads, BLM, and other public lands to see new sites and avoid traffic. We never needed anything else or had any issues. We used basic car camping/hiking gear, sleeping bags, coolers, mostly cooked on pit fires, Coleman lanterns, sometimes we borrowed Grandpa's Coleman stove, WW2 surplus mess tent for guests, WW2 surplus mess kits. We never had purpose made anything.

Well there was the one flat in Eastern Oregon rock hounding on public lands with Grandpa in his Ford pickup 2WD; that kept the van on the side of the road in 100d plus heat for what seemed like hours because the jack failed and we had to dig out under the wheel/tire to get the tire off with the axe after my WW2 surplus shovel broke, but eventually Grandpa backtracked when he noticed we weren't catching up on the paved road and came to the rescue with cold soda pop and wet towels. It was an adventure and after that we packed a different jack, a few more tools and a proper shovel.

Depending on the year the GC is a very capable offroad rig and it has allot of space inside. What year and trim is your GC?

 

[SemperCoasty]

I would not worry about what they have or what vehicle they drive in the Youtube videos. Pay more attention to the ethos and the how to's than the gear. I have said this plenty of times on this forum; but I spent every school break and even some school absences of my entire childhood traveling in a 69' Ford Econoline 2WD poptop camper van, we also borrowed a older 60's flat nose Econoline work van from the other Grandpa before we got our poptop van. We did not have a bathroom but we did have a propane stove/oven, fridge, and a pump sink, even a propane heater that mostly worked. 2 children, 2 adults, one very large dog we traveled extensively across Oregon, Washington, California, Baja Mx, Vancouver BC, as well as most every road race and karting track on the Westcoast and Midwest. Most of this travel was on back country roads, forest service roads, BLM, and other public lands to see new sites and avoid traffic. We never needed anything else or had any issues. We used basic car camping/hiking gear, sleeping bags, coolers, mostly cooked on pit fires, Coleman lanterns, sometimes we borrowed Grandpa's Coleman stove, WW2 surplus mess tent for guests, WW2 surplus mess kits. We never had purpose made anything.

Well there was the one flat in Eastern Oregon rock hounding on public lands with Grandpa in his Ford pickup 2WD; that kept the van on the side of the road in 100d plus heat for what seemed like hours because the jack failed and we had to dig out under the wheel/tire to get the tire off with the axe after my WW2 surplus shovel broke, but eventually Grandpa backtracked when he noticed we weren't catching up on the paved road and came to the rescue with cold soda pop and wet towels. It was an adventure and after that we packed a different jack, a few more tools and a proper shovel.

Depending on the year the GC is a very capable offroad rig and it has allot of space inside. What year and trim is your GC?

I'm not too worried about it, just found it odd cause I think/know it is more than capable of handling what I have planned. Maybe I'm just one of the dumb ones to take a $50k vehicle off road lol. Well i'm sure its worth less than half that now. I have a 2016 GC with the Overland edition. It has the Quadra Trac II, Quadra Lift air suspension, 5.7 Hemi V8 and a 3.09 axle. I've kept it stock other than throwing on 20x9 wheels with Cooper Discoverer AT3 tires. Think they are 265 50 20. Thanks for the advice and feel free to throw me recommendations for trails with camp spots. Sounds like you've been all around the same areas I plan on going.

 

[MattLodi]

These two italians are my fulltimer idols. They've selfbuilt their rig in two years (it was an ex Danish Army truck). Now they're doing the world tour.

Here they have the construction video -> Youtube channel <- unfortunately they're all in italian.

 

[SemperCoasty]

These two italians are my fulltimer idols. They've selfbuilt their rig in two years (it was an ex Danish Army truck). Now they're doing the world tour.

Here they have the construction video -> Youtube channel <- unfortunately they're all in italian.

Just watched their youtube introduction video, looks awesome and gone to some amazing places! Too bad I couldn't understand what they were saying the closed captioning didn't do a very good job translating lol

 

[MarioT'sCJResto]

Is Overlanding fulltime, still "Overlanding", or are you now just living in a van down by the river? :-)
P.S. I'm now full timing it :-) View attachment 179066

Okay now this is what I needed to see; I have had the HQ 17 or 19 in mind as well for F/T or at least 6 months on the road each year. Can you post more pics of this setup?
I have a million questions here, but I'll just ask 3 if you don't mind
1. Did you have onboard Wifi? I run Wifi off my Ram F/T but since I work remote I was looking at the best off the grid options
2. Did you increase your range (IE; Long Range America, or additional fuel tanks that you might bring)?
3. The most important one for me is do you travel with Pets? - I have 3 100lb pups that would hit the road/trails with me.
Thanks for your time

 

[Magic Mike]

We all probably dont mean the same, if we talk about fulltime Overlanding. I was now for 70`000 Miles on different long term trips, like the transafrica (car trip from europe to south africa with 12738 miles).

That is for me not "fulltime" in my eyes.

Fulltime Overlanding is when you dont have anymore a flat/house - if you life in your rig / campingsetup. If you really live that way, If you still go working, have a job, or even are retired.

For living fulltime in your rig at different weather and climatic kondition, you will not like roof top tent based solutions. After 2 weeks of rain everything starts to get wet. Depending on your Job you have to come with a ironed shirt and so on. Fulltime Overlanding - to really live that live - has some own topics...

Our full time set up... July can't come fast enough.

Michel - this trailer/Campsetup is so beautiful!

Trippin

Thank you my friend! We are leaving tomorrow, house is sold, everything that did get sold or pitched is in our storage and our new life is starting.

It’s such a great feeling but also a little weird,. I’ve always had a “home” base but this time, home is where we setup our trailer!

New chapter in both our lives. We both love to travel, see and experience new things. We both love camping and bing in nature, so let the adventures begin.

Checkout our instagram @ironhorseoverland and soon our You Tube channel “Ironhorse Overland.” Tell everyone to follow and when channel is going to subscribe.

Thanks

 

[Magic Mike]

Hello all, I was referred to this thread as I am starting out as a fulltimer. Although it looks like this thread is not very active at the moment. I haven't decided on how I'm going to set up outfit, whether a roof top tent, trailer, etc. As of right now its just a ground tent and my grand cherokee. But I'm not thrilled of being in a ground tent in bear and wolf country! So looking for some ideas of what works and what doesn't. I plan on spending most of my time in the northwest like Utah, Idaho, Colorado, Montana, Washington, and Wyoming. I am leaving Indiana after the holiday and heading to Kalispell, MT via I-90. Any suggestions on overnight stays along my route would be very appreciated! I'm finding out that the hardest part of full timing is the route planning! Seems it gets easier out west since there are plenty of trails, parks, blm, etc. But getting there from the Midwest there are not many options except for campgrounds-at least that I can find.

Congratulations looking forward to seeing you out there. We start tomorrow.

Here is our set up if you have any questions hit me up!!!

Also give us a follow on IG @ironhorseoverland