What is Overlanding Anyway?

Here’s what Wikipedia has to say.  

But I think Overland Journal has a much better description here at Overland Journal.

Overlanding describes self-reliant adventure travel to remote destinations where the journey is the primary goal. Typically, but not exclusively, accommodated by mechanized off-highway capable transport (from bicycles to trucks) where the principal form of lodging is camping; often lasting for extended lengths of time (months to years) and often spanning international boundaries. While expedition is defined as a journey with a purpose, overlanding sees the journey as the purpose.

Overlanding is about exploration, rather than conquering obstacles. While the roads and trails we travel might be rough or technically challenging, they are the means to an end, not the goal itself. The goal is to see and learn about our world, whether on a weekend trip 100 miles from home or a 10,000-mile expedition across another continent. The vehicle and equipment can be simple or extravagant – they, too, are simply means to an end. History, wildlife, culture, scenery, self-sufficiency – these are the rewards of overlanding.

To me, overlanding is simply RVing with a more capable vehicle. Modern supersize RV’s are distinctly American.  They are built for the American Interstate Highway system.  We have this wonderful road system which enabled our car culture and freedom to travel whenever and wherever we want.  The American RV industry grew to supply Americans with a vehicle that can get them from corner to corner of this great country and everywhere in between, as fast as possible, and as comfortably as possible, and as cheaply as possible.  To that end they’re not the most robust and durable vehicles.

The general use case for most RV’s is someone who uses it for family vacations and long weekends throughout the year.  Drive to a campground or RV resort and then enjoy it there for a few days and then drive home along the highway.  They’re mass produced in factories to crank them out as fast as possible to keep the costs down to make them as cheap as possible.  We’ve got a 2016 31’ Winnebago Class A (Harvey the RV) which we paid close to $90,000 for new.  However, there are luxury pickup trucks which cost only slightly less than that.  And our unit has a Ford V10 CHassis, Queen size master bedroom, 3 bunks, fold down dinette and sofa, full kitchen and bathroom, and 5 Televisions.  The only way to pack that many features in is to make them as cheaply as possible.  That means lots of laminate wood and staples and cheap appliances, etc.  Ours is holding up really well, but we’ve got less than 10,000 miles on it in 4 years, and it sees most of its time in storage in the driveway.  I think that if we tried to drive it down a dirt road or a forest service road, it would likely shake itself apart.

To me then, the world of overlanding is that same level of experience, but into a much more durable chassis, much more capable drivetrain, and clearances, much higher quality interior furnishings and appliances, much larger capacities for batteries, water, fuel, and waste tanks to allow for longer offgrid camping experiences.  So that’s my plan now to design and build Harvey 2.0 as an overlanding expedition vehicle which will be capable of getting us camping away from RV resorts and even campgrounds in the backwoods, and hopefully even internationally.

Beyond the US and Canada and Western Europe, the rest of the world has a much less developed highway and road system.  And any vehicle aspirations for wanting to drive through Mexico, Latin America, and beyond to South America and the rest of the world would need to be much more robust and capable than a traditional US market RV.  Enter Harvey 2.0