What is your favorite overlanding movie, video, book, story, or inspiration?

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Neil Q Smith

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I think early wildlife documentaries on British TV, during late 1960's and throughout 1970's (as I grew up), first inspired me to go out and see the world.
(e.g. David Attenborough, etc.)

Scouting helped to build and develop outdoor skills.

Later in the 1980's, I was lucky enough to be chosen to represent "Youth of the World" on round the world expedition "Operation Raleigh" - this clearly cemented this inspiration.

Operation Raleigh Badge.jpg

Ever since, I have been an avid reader of travel, expedition and climbing books.

Many examples spring to mind, but I believe my fellow South Yorkshireman, Michael Palin, and his "Around the World in 80 Days" really added a boost to my inspiration.
(We both come from the Sheffield area, South Yorkshire, UK).

AroundTheWorldIn80DaysBookCover.jpg

Today, my Mountain Hytte (Cabin) in Norway, holds an extensive library collection of global travel books.
Great inspirational material..........

Something else to also consider:
Key influential people along our personal timelines, also help a lot more than we first realize.........take a moment to think about it........we can all recognize someone that influenced you this way.

Thank You to all who have helped and inspired me over the years.
I certainly hope to "Never Stop Exploring"
 
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Rexplorer

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Camel trophy for sure. Charlie boorman too. And any books about the halcyon days of adventure like mountain climbing or amazon stuff in the 1920s to 1950s.

Adding alone in the wilderness with dick prenoke
 
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TreXTerra

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Long Way Round and Long Way Down were big ones for me, especially about what not to do. (Could you guys overpack any more?)

The one that I really love is Alexa: The Life and Death of an Austin 7 Ruby. The author set out from the UK in a woefully inadequate, aging, economy car with the goal of getting to South Africa. Why would a young man attempt such a feat? For a girl, of course!

This is a great campfire read and I keep it right next to my Long Way Round book.
 

TreXTerra

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127 Hours. Gotta love that red 4runner in Zion.

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There are quite a few people who talk about that guy like he's a hero. For most of us who adventure in that area, he is a walking example of bad decision making. The fact that he isn't dead is due to luck more than anything else; he broke pretty much every backcountry travel rule and paid for it with his arm, most pay with their life.
 
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Benn

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There are quite a few people who talk about that guy like he's a hero. For most of us who adventure in that area, he is a walking example of bad decision making. The fact that he isn't dead is due to luck more than anything else; he broke pretty much every backcountry travel rule and paid for it with his arm, most pay with their life.
I agree. He's brave but not a hero in my book. The movie can teach us various lessons on what NOT to do. Cheap gear, going alone, not informing family/friends about the location of the planned trip, etc. And that's just to name a few. It's still a nice entertaining movie though. Not a huge fan of James Franco but I think he did well.


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There are quite a few people who talk about that guy like he's a hero. For most of us who adventure in that area, he is a walking example of bad decision making. The fact that he isn't dead is due to luck more than anything else; he broke pretty much every backcountry travel rule and paid for it with his arm, most pay with their life.
Ditto
 

TreXTerra

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I just thought of another one, but it is musical. I have a particular playlist that I listen to when I'm off the grid.

A few selections from my list:

Fanfare for the Common Man:

"Rodeo"

"Hoedown" from Rodeo

The Magnificent Seven (hands down one of the best Western themes ever)

The Sons of Katie Elder Theme

"The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly" Theme

EDIT: How could I forget the theme from "Silverado"?! (Voted the piece most likely to blow out my Xterra's speakers and cause my future hearing loss)

I have others, but you get the idea.
 
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Woodchuck

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A fantastic Overlanding book is Road Fever by Tim Cahill. It documents his travel from Tierra del Fuego to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. His writing style is quite comical and very informative and the trip is one I’d love to attempt sometime.
 

JoshD

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Ham/GMRS Callsign
AF5RY
A Walk In The Woods
A movie about two old guys taking on the Appalachian Trail. Its pretty funny.

and

The Way
Martin Sheen stars as a father that decides to walk a trail across Spain after his son dies trying to do it.