What Is Overlanding?

Overlanding is a new and fun way of combining camping and also off-roading. This is what creates a new and exciting hobby that a whole host of people enjoy being a part of. Overlanding is a great way of giving you a mixture of different hobbies, to create one overall distinctive experience.

Here, we are going to outline what exactly overlanding is and how it works as a hobby.

The History Of Overlanding

It is true that overlanding originated in the Australian outback, and this was where early overland tracks were made. This was a means of helping the intercontinental travel and the trade industries – which were first of all created for horseback riding usage.

After horseback riding, the overland tracks were then used for rail until they were finally converted for usage by motorcycles along with cars.

What Exactly Is Overlanding?

As you can see from us tracing back the history, overlanding used to be done out of genuine necessity. Now, overlanding is much more of a fun and recreational activity. It is considered to be for the adrenaline junkie rather than the standard daily mode of transport.

In fact, overlanding can sometimes be called ‘car camping’ – but there is much more to overlanding than just pitching up a tent in the back of your car.

Ultimately, overlanding is all about pushing yourself out of your comfort zone and immersing yourself into adventure. Overlanding is about exploring the wilderness out there and within yourself with only the essential tools that you need in order to survive.

Overlanding has no minimum or maximum staying time – overlanding can just be a weekend, or it can be something that you go off and do for months at a time. You can destination hop or you can just stay in one place and embrace the wilderness.

You might be wondering what exactly separates overlanding from camping – and this is where the transport side of things really comes into play. Your vehicle will ultimately play a huge role in your adventure, it is what makes overlanding the hobby that it is.

Equipping Your Overlanding Vehicle

Here’s the thing, it is important that your overlanding vehicle is fully equipped and fully loaded in order to be able to give you the adventure that you truly desire. Overlanders will usually drive around in jeeps or SUVs and maybe even motorcycles.

It is absolutely essential that your overlanding vehicle is able to cope with the terrain that you are driving on. Not only that, but you are going to need a vehicle that can really cope with the weather conditions.

You will also need your vehicle to be able to uphold all of the things that you need to truly survive on your excursion – you will need to be able to transport food and water, and you will also need other amenities to be able to survive.

How Can You Get Started In Overlanding?

Ultimately, your frame of mind is significantly more important than your supplies. It is important to stress that overlanding is not for the faint of heart. Overlanding requires serious grit and determination.

It is pretty hard work and you are totally exposed to the natural elements.

But, if you truly consider yourself to be an overlanding enthusiast, then this will merely be a part of the experience. Overlanding is meant to be spontaneous and surprising. It is meant to push you and test your limits. That is all part of the experience!

Who knows what you’ll end up doing – you could be subjected to days without having a shower, and you could even have an evening of black coffee and whatever else you can source from your natural surroundings.

This might be something that greatly appeals to you – and if so, overlanding is perfect for you.

As a general rule, expect the unexpected and try to prepare yourself to deal with whatever challenges overlanding throws at you.

You could end up with tires blowing, and your vehicle might not look as shiny as it did when you started, but that is all part of the experience.

It’s not just your vehicle that won’t look so polished – you might have to go the entire time without showering, and you will have to be creative when it comes to making food each day.

You might have to make the most of whatever is around you – or you might just have to snack on whatever supplies you’ve brought.

What Is The Ultimate Vehicle For Overlanding?

Naturally, there are going to be some vehicles that will suit overlanding significantly more than others. You are going to want to use a vehicle that can cope with the difficult and rocky terrain.

The most common choice of vehicle for overlanding is an SUV or a lot of people will even decide to use motorcycles. Ultimately, you will find that you can utilize any kind of vehicle that has the capability to go off-road.

This might be a vehicle that you will need to adapt just to give you that stable overlanding vehicle.

Motorcyclists will enjoy overlanding too – this is not something that is just limited to SUVs. The ‘adventure bike’ is naturally the go-to motorcycle option because of the functionality of it.

This motorcycle has the attributes of dirt bikes and street motorcycles combined, and this is what makes them an especially popular choice.

In Conclusion

Overall, it is clear that overlanding is a fun and upcoming outdoor adventure type of hobby, but one thing is for sure, overlanding is not for the faint hearted.

This is a challenge and an adventure that will really test your resilience and will push you out of your comfort zone.

The fun of overlanding is that you are totally exposed to the natural elements, and your goal is to work with nature as a means of surviving the overlanding experience.

There are a whole host of vehicles that can be adapted to suit overlanding, and it does not matter whether you prefer driving a car or whether you are a keen biker. Both of these attributes are perfect for getting stuck into overlanding.