We had the opportunity to listen to the Overland Journal Podcast where Scott Brady, the host, spoke to his 30 Insights of Overlanding. These insights are largely spot on and we wanted to share them here in written form with a few thoughts of our own thrown in as well. Note that I’ve tried to summarize Scott’s points as best as I could, but I may have taken some liberties in summarizing them for this form. They are in the same order which he described them on his show.
1/ Learn from Your Mistakes. Traveling will provide you with plenty of obstacles to overcome where you will make plenty of mistakes, and equally as many opportunities to learn from those mistakes.
2/ Overlanding Defined. Overlanding is vehicle based adventure travel. Adventure is an undertaking with an unknown outcome and travel is a journey, especially to a distant or unfamiliar place.
We really like this definition of Overlanding. As we started Curated.Bid, we were struggling with how to define Overlanding and what vehicles fit in Overlanding or not. This simple definition helped us get clarity on how we can think about Overlanding not only for Curated.Bid, but for our own adventures as well.
3/ You Don’t Need To Spend A Lot Of Money To Go Overlanding.
There’s a tendency to think that you need to have the fanciest rig, the nicest van, or the most up to date suspension and toys to go Overlanding. The truth is that you can go Overlanding in near anything, from a cheap motorcycle to a max-spec Unimog, and everything in between. Money does not buy a great adventure.
4/ Overlanding Is Not Synonymous with Car Camping or Off Roading. It is possible to drive around the world without a single mile of dirt or a night of camping.
We really like this insight as well. You can be Overlanding and going from one amazing place to the next, but perhaps you simply aren’t camping nor actually off road. Still Overlanding given how it is defined above.
5/ Overlanding Routes Do Not Require A Modified Four Wheel Drive. Plenty of stock four wheel drive vehicles, passenger cars, and motorcycles have completed multi-continent treks.
We at Curated.Bid love a modified vehicle as much as the next guy, probably more, but we also understand that getting out there is more important than what you are out there in. Understand the limits of your vehicle, and go out and have some fun. Learn about where and how you will use your vehicle to help guide you to what modifications you need, if any.
6/ Be The Student. Study about where you are going, and learn along the way from the people and the experiences that you will have.
This feels as true if you are headed across Africa as it does if you are traveling from Southern California to Montana. Learn about those cultures, treat the locals with respect, and learn along the way.
7/ The World Is Safer Than It Has Ever Been. Don’t trust the news media, they are just trying to get clicks. Get firsthand knowledge, do your homework, and understand what is really going on in the locations that you want to travel.
8/ Our Responsibility Is To Be Good Stewards. Leave the places we visit better than we found them. Pack out what you pack in. Don’t travel in massive caravans that can harm the environment. Be mindful of your impact on the environment and societies that you encounter.
9/ The Are Few Essential Items. The best way to prepare for vehicle based travel is to first travel by backpack, bicycle, or motorcycle. Reality dictates that there are few essential items. The rest can be done without. Or sourced locally.
It’s difficult to leave things behind, perhaps especially when you have a van that may have the space to carry it. But, that extra weight comes at a cost in terms of maneuverability on the road or trail, fuel costs, or simply space. How many times have you packed for a trip and when you come home put half of your stuff back clean and unused?
10/ What Are Your Traveling Companions Wants, Needs and Travel Goals? Make your fellow travelers a part of the planning process and vehicle configuration, increasing their sense of ownership and connection with the journey. Answer the why before you leave. So why are you going?
This is critical, perhaps especially with your own family. Getting all the parties on the same page up front can stop any issues before they arise with mismatched expectations.
11/ Essential Travel Items. Quality clothing you’re wearing, a passport, a credit or debit card, and a smartphone. An experienced traveler can solve most challenges with those tools.
12/ Overland Planning. Overland planning starts with coordinating required visas and shipping logistics with those items defined and secure. The remaining planning can be more fluid or serendipitous, including inter country routing and provisioning.
13/ Travel Light. Travel light and in small groups of one to five vehicles with one or three being optimal to avoid damage to remote tracks and small capacity campsites.
Favorite quote of this section was ” When you see 20 vans going down a road to a campsite in…Utah or something, it’s, it’s not a good look for anybody.” I think the real rule of thumb here is that it’s fine to go with your buddies, but when you get a caravan going it starts to impact your ability to travel swiftly, smartly, and lightly. Also see Being Good Stewards (#8).
14/ Bring Multiple Copies. Keep multiple originals of travel documents along with printed copies. Scan all documents along with new records from each border crossing and keep copies on a thumb drive and in the cloud. Take photographs of all new documents you get along the way.
15/ Who > How. Who we travel with is more meaningful than how we travel or what we travel in. Venture into the unknown with calm, rationally optimistic travelers. Eject the toxic personalities as soon as possible. We’re allowed to have boundaries with our travel mates. Don’t stay in a situation that you don’t feel comfortable or you don’t feel safe or you don’t feel heard because when things really go bad, you need to be able to count on those people. Travel with optimistic, well traveled, settled people.
We do a lot of backcountry skiing where having great communication and trust in your team can keep you out of danger (i.e. avalanches). When we heard this passage from Scott, it reminded us of how important it is to have great people that you can trust around you when making hard decisions and Overlanding can absolutely get you into similar situations that we encounter when skiing.
16/ Recognize the Planning Fallacy. Recognize the planning fallacy when estimating travel distance and time. Plan for fewer miles traveled due to road closures, mechanical issues, fuel availability, driver fatigue, serendipity, and more. Expect that travel will not go as planned and you will never be disappointed.
17/ Training Before Tools & Modifications. Enhancing vehicle capability through modifications is often more expensive and ultimately less effective than achieving the same result through driver training. Driver training doesn’t necessarily have to be paid for. There’s a lot of training available at events like the Overland Expo. You can become part of a local club, four wheel drive club and learn a lot. You can find other experienced travelers that might be willing to share their information with you. Focus on getting training first and then only add the modifications that you feel like you really need. Less is always going to be more.
For those that have done any track driving in cars should be able to relate to this insight. You may show up in a tricked out high performance car, but having the professional drive you around the course in a van can really teach you what speed is and how you don’t need that new Ferrari to go quickly. Same rules apply for Overlanding.
18/ Safety Is No Accident. The driver’s primary responsibility is occupant safety followed immediately by mechanical sympathy which preserves the vehicle and equipment. All age appropriate occupants should be trained on vehicle operations and systems. Those that you’re traveling with need to be able to drive the vehicle, need to be able to recover the vehicle, need to be able to operate all of the systems of the vehicle.
19/ Start with Pinnacle Vehicles. Pinnacle vehicles and equipment are always less expensive in the long term and often help support favorable travel outcomes. The Toyota Land Cruiser is considered a pinnacle overland vehicle. If not THE pinnacle overland vehicle, along with other similar halo models, models from other manufacturers like the Mercedes G Wagon [we would add the Land Rover Defender, and Range Rover L322].
Critical here is to not take a vehicle and add so much to it that it’s now overweight. Starting with the right platform for your needs at the start can help the vehicle perform better depending on your particular use case.
20/ Buy A Vehicle You Can Afford To Lose. If the vehicle is stolen or totaled outside of the insurance coverage area, does the loss materially impact your financial security? As a result, buy a vehicle you can afford to lose.
21/ Start with the Smallest Vehicle Possible For Your Needs. Understanding the influence of Parkinson’s law on vehicle selection and consider buying a smaller vehicle, which will create a physical limit to the available space for stuff. The Parkinson law posits that most systems will expand to fill the available space, time, or budget.
22/ Weight Is The Enemy. Weight is the enemy of vehicle safety, durability and performance. Know the vehicle’s payload and roof load limit and do not exceed those. Reduce that limit by 10 percent for each additional 30 millimeters of lift, or increase in tire diameter. Keep the vehicle under its gross vehicle mass. The heavier these vehicles get, the poorer it’s going to perform.
23/ Simplicity Wins. A simple vehicle equals happy travels, while a overbuilt vehicle equals happy ego. Keep the vehicle simple and [you’re] going to have a great experience.
24/ 80% Travel / 20% Vehicle. 80 percent of the Overlander’s budget should be spent on the travel and only 20 percent should be spent on the vehicle and modifications. If we want to be travelers, we need to focus 80 percent of our energy, 80 percent of our time, 80 percent of our funds on the experience itself. And only 20 percent of it – time, budget, et cetera, on the gear and things.
We understand and generally agree with the concept, but recognize that the length of time that one will be truly overlanding, and one’s financial position, may change the equation dramatically. Regardless, spend more money on the experiences versus just the gear.
25/ Complexity Is The Enemy of Reliability. Keep the vehicle as stock as possible, only modifying as conditions demand or limitations are discovered. Match the vehicle selection to occupant count, payload, and anticipated route conditions. If the vehicle is over payload, it is overbuilt.
26/ Stock Vehicles > Modified Vehicles For Most Routes. Only the most austere, remote, or challenging routes require specialized vehicles and modifications.
Generally speaking, this is 100% correct. However, some reasonable upgrades are hardly out of the question. See #27 for Tires, for example, and other basic modifications.
27/ Vehicle Modifications May Only Include Communications, Emergency Medical and Survival Supplies, Backup Navigation Equipment, Tools, Spares and Recovery Equipment, and Quality Tires.
28/ Electronics Most Common Failure. Electronics and wiring will be the most common failure mode for modifications. Install limited electrical systems with the highest quality components and installation.
Don’t be sucked into thinking that you need every light available, both inside the cabin, and outside. The backup batteries, charging systems, and the lighting themselves each have multiple points of failure to consider.
29/ Suspension Changes Should Emphasize On and Off Road Performance. Ensure that the vehicle retains limit handling capability to allow for emergency stopping and accident avoidance.
30/ No Perfect Time To Travel. There’s never a perfect time to travel, and there will never be the ideal vehicle, and there is never enough money in the bank. The rapid passage of time is the only constant that we have in our lives. So toss off the bow lines and go.
Thanks to the Overland Journal team for these. It definitely helped us think through some of our adventures both past, present, and future and how we should consider learning from them, and adjusting for the future adventures ahead.
(?Credit to @landroveradventuresiceland for the pic)