I think OLDFOOLADVENTURES has it right on the money. So does Jason. It is about the journey. Not the destination. That's why we outfit our favorite vehicles with the appropriate gear to thrive off grid. That's why we carry the necessary tools to make our own repairs. That's why we carry ax, shovel, and self recovery gear. We want to see something besides the interstate. In fact, we want to see what few others get the opportunity to even imagine. Wilderness!
My parents began overlanding in an Austin Healy Sprite with me laying behind the seats. I slept in the car. They slept on the ground under a canvas lean too. We traveled the western states before it was popular. I grew up this way. We eventually graduated to a yellow Volkswagon bus with a full rack on top. Each summer, we would leave just as school let out. We would return when it was time for me to go back to school. I remember the vast emptiness. I used to imagine leaving the roadway behind and traveling cross country by horse all alone.
Well today, my butt is too old to sit in the saddle for that long. I accidently came across Jason's VLOG after purchasing my dream car at the time (used 2005 Toyota T4R Sport). Prior to that I had never heard the term Overlanding. I just wanted a cool looking 4 x 4 SUV that was dependable. Jason showed me that my 4th Gen T4R was my horse. Not only that it has A/C.
I made a few trips and made modifications / purchases to make the trips I was taking easier. In May 2018, I had reached my rigs capabilities. It was either time to start spending money on upgrading a 13 year old vehicle, or getting something ready to go. While traveling through Colorado, I saw a 2017 T4R TRD Pro on CarGurus in Utah. I traveled directly to the dealership and swapped vehicles. Now I had a better horse! I took it stock through Cinnamon Pass (Anamas Forks to Lake City, CO)a couple of days after it was opened by a dozer on May 10, 2018. Alone. It was amazing.
As soon as I got back I began looking for used gear on CL. Just was OLDFOOLADVENTURES predicted, I found a full RCI armor kit, GOBI Stealth Rack with Ladder, Ax/Shovel Mounts, and a full size ARB awning from a guy in Baton Rouge. It was a 7 hour drive for me one way, but I got the lot for the price of a new Gobi Rack without the wait.
We took off again and put it through its paces in South Dakota, Wyoming, and Colorado. Not to mention the states in between. We spent the entire trip avoiding the interstate and taking county roads when we could.
We downloaded Avenza Maps and then accessed the national forest maps to locate "Dispersed Camping" locations in the areas where we wanted to travel.
For me it is seeing the unspoiled beauty of the amazing country. So much so, that in May 2019, I am headed the long way to Prudhoe Bay.
Get out there and make your own adventure. Just make sure you have a dependable horse.
