Off-Road Ranger III
- 13,288
- First Name
- Bjoern
- Last Name
- Eldracher
- Member #
-
20111
- Ham/GMRS Callsign
- DO3BE
The Adventure Southside expo is over and we would like to give you a little report about how it was.
A premiere. Last weekend we, @Robert OB 33/48 and I, were at the Adventure Southside Overlanding Expo to present Overland Bound in Europe. The expo was held on the grounds of the Friedrichshafen Fair in the beautiful Lake Constance region. The region forms a four-country corner with Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the Principality of Lichtenstein. The expo is therefore easily accessible for many interested parties.
The Adventure Southside is a small cozy overlanding expo, of which there are several throughout the year in Germany. The event had two exhibition halls, the foyer and an outdoor area. In addition, there is a large camp area in which visitors can spend the night.
After many good talks with America and lots of work Robert was able to hit the road to Germany on Wednesday noon. First of all, he was on the way to meet me at my place near Mannheim. Getting to here was exhausting, as Germany is a country with a lot of traffic on the motorway, lots of traffic jams and loads of road work. Which made it slow and with some detours. After Robert finally arrived, we spent a nice evening with barbecue and good conversations.
The next day started relaxed. After a long breakfast, we were then on the road to the expo. We drove again around 200 miles south and at a certain point we found ourselves on the road at the Lake Constance. It was a picturesque scenery to see and yes, it meant we were almost there.
Have arrived at the fair, Robert and I set up the Overland Bound booth on the outdoor area. Setting up the booth was fairly simple, as it was more or less just our basecamp setup. The only thing different were the banners, a pavilion and some extra flags.
The idea was to set up a small camp. Similar to a journey. And to get into conversation with the visitors there. That worked very well. The weather was also fantastic and only on Sunday there were a few thunderstorms that cooled things down. However, this did not diminish the fun and joy.
Many visitors were understandably starved after such a long time without an overlanding show due to Covid. This was the first overlanding show in Continental Europe this year. And so already on the very first day of Adventure Southside 2021 a high volume of visitors was there. The camp area was also well filled. And thus, already on Friday there were many happy visitors and exhibitors.
In the evening we spoke to several people and handed over a nice bottle of wine and a wooden tablet with the logo of Overland Bound to Ralf who was organizing this expo. He appreciated this much.
Then we enjoyed a relaxed evening before the expo started officially the next day. By the way, it is really funny that when you are at an expo as exhibitor and you can walk around when it is still closed. Really fun. You can see all without any disturbance. We did that every evening. Good times there.
The Friday was a good one, especially in the morning. The first OB members at the booth this morning were Sven and Silvio. They stayed at the camp area and were pretty early at the booth. Great to meet Silvio for the first time. That day, more OB members showed up. Also, Roman together with his father, came to our booth. Michael was on the expo with his Landy at the Overland Journal booth and Overland Vagabond was almost next to us in the area where private people could show their rigs. They all came by to say hello. Good times there as well. Supercool that so many OB members came from Germany, Switzerland and Italy to say hello and visit the show.
Every day we had good talks, some intended, sometimes just because people came to our booth because they thought we were selling trailers and stuff for Defenders. Oh, and Robert´s paintjob at the Jeep and Trailer was also something that attracted visitors.
The weather was absolutely great and so we were sitting outside in the evening and had some great talks with other exhibitors. All three days, we had many good conversations and many visitors and also exhibitors were interested in Overland Bound. And we were already able to welcome a new member here. @Kurtcrossing It was really nice to meet you guys at the expo. Happy to have you on bord here. Many more were very interested to become a member.
It was also especially nice to see how many people are simply on the road, without extensive equipment or a huge vehicle. But simply go out and experience something. It was also great that many young visitors were interested in our topic.
The expo itself also reflected the great diversity of the overlander scene. Here was everything from ground tents, roof tents, small and medium sized rigs, vans to large expedition trucks. Same picture in the camp area, which we visited on Saturday to meet OB members. Together with José, Angelika, Vincent and Sven, the evening was just superb. And the camp area was just as interesting if not more as the expo itself.
And from time to time the Zeppelin, which has its hangar nearby and is a local attraction, flew over the fairgrounds.
After a great time, it was time to get ready for the way home. The way home we first drove together until the highway crossing at Hockenheim. Yes, this is where the Hockenheim racetrack is located. While Robert continued through the night, I was at home after a few miles. Robert arrived at home around 4AM and was dead tired. But sleep did not came fast. It was such a great weekend with so many good people that he had a smile on his face for a long time.
Thank you to all who made this event possible and contributed to its success. Thanks also for all the great conversations and encounters. It was nice to be able to visit such an event again and to exchange with many people about the passion for overlanding. We really enjoyed it.
To all who were there: feel free to write your impressions here. What do you think? How did you experience the expo?
Robert and Björn
