What sparked my interest in overlanding

[MarioT'sCJResto]

I'f I had to look back and pick a few key influencers who helped pave the way to my love for overlanding, building out rigs I would have to list my top 5 YouTube Creators:
1. Wayalife
2. Dirt Every Day
3. AutoEdits
4. OB
5. The Epic Family Road Trip

I learned so much from the top5 here on what to do, how to build it, and most importantly how to plan it out. I still remember laying in the hospital and all I could think about was subscribing to Motortrend for Fred and Dave's latest builds to watching Clamity Jane's Series that really sealed the deal. Jason from AutoEdits has really helped me along the way with my Ram and Jeep - on DIY tips, and OB and EFRT's epic trips to DIY tips round out my top 5.

 

[Autism Family Travels]

Do you have DED's wiener roaster set up?

 

[smritte]

For me it was backpacking then turning 16 and getting a drivers license. More reach using vehicle equipped camping then modding the vehicle to do better gear wise. I cant remember the magazines from back then but most of the articles didn't match what I was doing. Most of my mods I had to figure out on my own. Now someone else has already done the math. Its so much nicer buying something I need rather than trying to come up with the idea and build it.

 

[grubworm]

i met my wife (Denise) in 2018 and after 3-4 months of dating, her daughter moved from baton rouge to phoenix. her jeep wasn't set up for towing, so i offered to pull a U-haul trailer with my tundra. the daughter went on ahead and Denise rode with me. after 18 hrs of straight driving, i decided to pull over at a rest area outside of las cruces, nm. the back seat was full of stuff, so i grabbed a moving blanket and stretched out in the bed. Denise hopped back there with me and at 2am, we laid in the back of the tundra staring up at a beautiful night sky. pretty cool moment.

we made it to phoenix and unloaded her daughter's stuff and decided to go to sedona instead of going back home right away. we got a nice room in sedona and spent a few days being tourists, but something was missing....that was when Denise suggested we "camp". we had ZERO gear and i didn't even have the moving blanket anymore, so we decided to head up to flagstaff and outfit ourselves for camping. we bought a tent, sleeping bags, ice chest, stove, food....everything we needed for camping and we headed north. we hit the grand canyon and then camped in colorado a few days and then started heading east thru wolf creek pass and down to red river and taos, santa fe and then hit the carlsbad caverns and did some desert camping.

we eventually made it back home and pretty much just sat and stared at each other saying "Wow! That was amazing!" a few weeks later we were in east tennessee and then started finding camp areas in arkansas. within a few months, we decided to get a small camp trailer. we found the NoBo camp trailer watching youtube vids. that is when i was first introduced to the term "overlanding". the small trailers were called overlanding trailers and i started seeing that word used a lot (also how i found this site and joined). we found a new NoBo in ohio that was $4000 cheaper than buying it locally. we headed up to ohio to get it in january 2019. we were just supposed to get it and come straight back, but once we got it, we decided to go to gatlinberg and try it out. we brought ZERO gear and it was in the 20s temp wise. i stopped at walmart and bought a lil buddy heater and we slept in the camper. we woke up and was all grubby and nasty being on the road over 2 days with no shower, so we went to the bathroom of a rest area to splash some water on our faces and freshen up. a couple hours later, we went to a drive thru chapel and got married. we honeymooned in north georgia in the NoBo in 20 degree weather and no gear. it was quite the experience. since then, we travel A LOT and being retired, "overlanding" is pretty much our job now!

weird how things happen....

 

[KonzaLander]

In 1999 I was invited to go on an ATV trip to Taylor Park, Colorado by a friend who rode enduro out there in the past. I still have the calendar style map book from that trip. As I went down the trails soaking in the natural beauty of the area, I discovered there were a ton of camp sites along the trails we rode. Then I started to notice Jeeps along these trails. I continued to observe the trails, vehicles and camp conditions for a few more years via ATV all across Colorado.

In 2004 I took my nearly new 2003 Rubicon loaded with Coleman camping gear and a Gott water cooler to the Medicine Bow-Route National forest north of Steamboat Springs. A few friends and I decided we were going to 'live in the woods' for a week with the Jeep. It worked and I loved the isolation, self reliance and discovery along the way. The rest is history. In hindsight, I should have documented those trips much better. I could have become the influencer everybody references today, but my Garmin 60c could only store so many tracks

 

[Team4M]

When i was younger I had a truck and enjoyed camping and backpacking all over. Life happened and I found less time for adventure and was lucky to get 1 trip a year to do a hike or hunt but always thought "wouldn't it be great if..."
When my oldest son finished elementary school I thought it would be great to do a trip while he still liked me and before the distraction of being a teenager set in so we went to Colorado for a summer trip in 2019 and rented a fully kitted out 4Runner with a RTT and all the goodies and we were hooked. We spent 5 days off the pavement and drove some of the prettiest scenery I've ever seen. I came home and spent months trying to find a clean Landcruiser to build as a 3rd vehicle/weekend rig but never found what I wanted (for a reasonable price) so I traded in my daily driver for a Tundra and haven't stopped the ongoing build yet! (Had a Jeep Cherokee before kids that I never should have sold).
Now I turn regular vacations and trips into an overland adventure whenever possible.
- A weeding in Ohio, sounds like I need 4 days to get there...
- Want to visit your parents in Michigan this summer, I'll drive but I'm leaving a week early and will pick you up at the airport...
- Want to rent a house in the outer banks, we'll be camping on cape lookout for a few days on our way up...

 

[MMc]

My Grandfather had a decked station wagon the 60's. (It was called drawers then) Backpacking, rock climbing, mountaineering, fishing, surfing all my life. We would drive and spend the night before we started whatever. It all grew out of that. I was confined by what I was driving, so the rigs got better and more purpose built. At 64 I have pretty well dialed in for my style of overloading and do it regularly now. I don't really care for a straight driving trip, I prefer compost up and play.

 

[JimBill]

The Fast and Furious movies and age drove me to overlanding. Seriously.

My gearhead fix was always with muscle cars. I had mostly stock 4x4s come and go for towing, dump runs, camping, hunting, and fishing trips and was fine with that. But pushing the potential of V8 muscle car on pavement was more my fun.

After the movie franchise came out, way too many idiots took to the roads thinking they knew how to drive fast, and the "authorities" responded with new laws and increased penalties which took the fun out of driving a "street machine" with any enthusiasm. I got tired of being followed by the local cops anytime I drove through town, even as I puttered along to work. With no local track, the hot rod collected dust in the garage rather than miles on the road.

That left a gear head void, and since I enjoy and was experienced in the outdoors, I thought I'd give vehicle dependent back country touring a try! Plus I am too old and broken to wilderness hike anymore so it is nice to take a LOT more luxury than a backpack can hold.

So combine the effects of the movie franchise and age, and here I am.

Before I was always trying get a front wheel off the ground on a launch, now I'm trying keep all 4 on the ground as much as possible. Go figure.

 

[MarioT'sCJResto]

The Fast and Furious movies and age drove me to overlanding. Seriously.

My gearhead fix was always with muscle cars. I had mostly stock 4x4s come and go for towing, dump runs, camping, hunting, and fishing trips and was fine with that. But pushing the potential of V8 muscle car on pavement was more my fun.

After the movie franchise came out, way too many idiots took to the roads thinking they knew how to drive fast, and the "authorities" responded with new laws and increased penalties which took the fun out of driving a "street machine" with any enthusiasm. I got tired of being followed by the local cops anytime I drove through town, even as I puttered along to work. With no local track, the hot rod collected dust in the garage rather than miles on the road.

That left a gear head void, and since I enjoy and was experienced in the outdoors, I thought I'd give vehicle dependent back country touring a try! Plus I am too old and broken to wilderness hike anymore so it is nice to take a LOT more luxury than a backpack can hold.

So combine the effects of the movie franchise and age, and here I am.

Before I was always trying get a front wheel off the ground on a launch, now I'm trying keep all 4 on the ground as much as possible. Go figure.

View attachment 198830

Not bad, spot on about the Fast & F..... I always enjoyed camping up in Northern AZ during my NAU days, but my overall unhealthy addiction has to go to the first 3 on the list.

 

[MarioT'sCJResto]

i met my wife (Denise) in 2018 and after 3-4 months of dating, her daughter moved from baton rouge to phoenix. her jeep wasn't set up for towing, so i offered to pull a U-haul trailer with my tundra. the daughter went on ahead and Denise rode with me. after 18 hrs of straight driving, i decided to pull over at a rest area outside of las cruces, nm. the back seat was full of stuff, so i grabbed a moving blanket and stretched out in the bed. Denise hopped back there with me and at 2am, we laid in the back of the tundra staring up at a beautiful night sky. pretty cool moment.

we made it to phoenix and unloaded her daughter's stuff and decided to go to sedona instead of going back home right away. we got a nice room in sedona and spent a few days being tourists, but something was missing....that was when Denise suggested we "camp". we had ZERO gear and i didn't even have the moving blanket anymore, so we decided to head up to flagstaff and outfit ourselves for camping. we bought a tent, sleeping bags, ice chest, stove, food....everything we needed for camping and we headed north. we hit the grand canyon and then camped in colorado a few days and then started heading east thru wolf creek pass and down to red river and taos, santa fe and then hit the carlsbad caverns and did some desert camping.

we eventually made it back home and pretty much just sat and stared at each other saying "Wow! That was amazing!" a few weeks later we were in east tennessee and then started finding camp areas in arkansas. within a few months, we decided to get a small camp trailer. we found the NoBo camp trailer watching youtube vids. that is when i was first introduced to the term "overlanding". the small trailers were called overlanding trailers and i started seeing that word used a lot (also how i found this site and joined). we found a new NoBo in ohio that was $4000 cheaper than buying it locally. we headed up to ohio to get it in january 2019. we were just supposed to get it and come straight back, but once we got it, we decided to go to gatlinberg and try it out. we brought ZERO gear and it was in the 20s temp wise. i stopped at walmart and bought a lil buddy heater and we slept in the camper. we woke up and was all grubby and nasty being on the road over 2 days with no shower, so we went to the bathroom of a rest area to splash some water on our faces and freshen up. a couple hours later, we went to a drive thru chapel and got married. we honeymooned in north georgia in the NoBo in 20 degree weather and no gear. it was quite the experience. since then, we travel A LOT and being retired, "overlanding" is pretty much our job now!

weird how things happen....

How do you like your No Bo trailer? I was looking at one in RV trader for
Long road trips with the pups.
I’m now aiming towards a Taxxa Wolly Bear just to haul the gear and free up my truck bed for the pups.

 

[M Rose]

I was born into it... ok not literally, but I was adopted by an avid outdoorsman. We overlander for hunting and fishing trips. We used to just call them “Camps”. When I was 14 my grandpa gave me an old canvas tent, railroad oil lantern, and a skillet and told me of the go-to spots of his youth for large brook trout. So off I went with my heavy load packed onto my uncle’s mule to wander the hills for a couple of weeks.
Three years later I got my driver’s license and I spent my summers as a migrant farm worker living out of my truck, tent, or under the stars as I traveled the Willamette Valley making grass hay.
When I was 19 I got my first 4X4, a 1960 Willys Wagon with a 226 Flat head Super Hurricane. Every weekend you could find me in the mountains, during the work week I would find as many off pavement ways to get to work as I could.
From there, I joined the US Army, where I continued to explore and build out several Ford F-150’s, F350’s, 3 different XJ’s, a Explorer, a YJ, and a whole bunch of other rigs...I traveled all over the US and even the world driving some of the best overland vehicles Uncle Sam had to offer.

I never lost my passion for the outdoors, exploring, and Overlanding. I was telling one of my buddies about my summer plans after he made a comment about me driving to Boise, Idaho two times in under 3 weeks.He was in shock that I plan to spend most of my summer behind a steering wheel. Either my Bronco or my boat.

 

[Autism Family Travels]

The Fast and Furious movies and age drove me to overlanding. Seriously.

My gearhead fix was always with muscle cars. I had mostly stock 4x4s come and go for towing, dump runs, camping, hunting, and fishing trips and was fine with that. But pushing the potential of V8 muscle car on pavement was more my fun.

After the movie franchise came out, way too many idiots took to the roads thinking they knew how to drive fast, and the "authorities" responded with new laws and increased penalties which took the fun out of driving a "street machine" with any enthusiasm. I got tired of being followed by the local cops anytime I drove through town, even as I puttered along to work. With no local track, the hot rod collected dust in the garage rather than miles on the road.

That left a gear head void, and since I enjoy and was experienced in the outdoors, I thought I'd give vehicle dependent back country touring a try! Plus I am too old and broken to wilderness hike anymore so it is nice to take a LOT more luxury than a backpack can hold.

So combine the effects of the movie franchise and age, and here I am.

Before I was always trying get a front wheel off the ground on a launch, now I'm trying keep all 4 on the ground as much as possible. Go figure.

View attachment 198830

Not bad, spot on about the Fast & F..... I always enjoyed camping up in Northern AZ during my NAU days, but my overall unhealthy addiction has to go to the first 3 on the list.

I was into sport compacts before fnf came about. The first movie was entertaining but, like you said it ruined it. I had a 2000 integra with a supercharger on it, quiet stock looking exhaust and no exterior clues that it was modded. Cops were on me all the time becuase of the light rite morons that came after that movie.
I have always loved camping, mountian biking, and anything outdoors so it was a thing I always did. I didn't know it was called over landing until my first wrangler. But we love it.

 

[grubworm]

How do you like your No Bo trailer? I was looking at one in RV trader for
Long road trips with the pups.
I’m now aiming towards a Taxxa Wolly Bear just to haul the gear and free up my truck bed for the pups.

here is the link to a thread on them

No Boundaries - New trailer by Forest River

I was doing some research for new travel trailers designed for modest off road use and came across a new trailer by Forest River. Model name: No Boundaries...it is not yet available for purchase, but is on order by a few dealers. It has several options, such as an an Overlander Package: 16...

www.overlandbound.com

LOVE the design, but my gripe is the bad workmanship in the rv industry and with demand now soaring...quality will get even worse

 

[Autism Family Travels]

How do you like your No Bo trailer? I was looking at one in RV trader for
Long road trips with the pups.
I’m now aiming towards a Taxxa Wolly Bear just to haul the gear and free up my truck bed for the pups.

Check out sylvansport. We LOVE ours.

Check em out here.

Adventure Camping Trailers & Outdoor Accessories | SylvanSport

 

[MarioT'sCJResto]

here is the link to a thread on them

No Boundaries - New trailer by Forest River

I was doing some research for new travel trailers designed for modest off road use and came across a new trailer by Forest River. Model name: No Boundaries...it is not yet available for purchase, but is on order by a few dealers. It has several options, such as an an Overlander Package: 16...

www.overlandbound.com

LOVE the design, but my gripe is the bad workmanship in the rv industry and with demand now soaring...quality will get even worse

I hear you on the poor workmanship, I walked into a few RV stores and I wasn't impressed with what they had to offer. Now add the used car salesman approach to the mix, I might skip RV stores and buy used. Here is another perfect example of the benefits of this forum, we get to reach out to those who have the experience for some pointers.

 

[MidOH]

Some RV-ish trailers are better than others. On the cheap side I recommend ''Imagine''. On the expensive side I recommend ''Outdoors RV''. Outdoors RV is made in Oregon, so don't expect any warranty.

Regular camping is just as fun as overlanding and boondocking, over here.