What is “OVERLANDING”?

Team Top Heavy!

 

Also it's super convenient to have a place to sleep if you're traveling long distances. Prices are as crazy as cars right now though. The little trailer I have is near double what I paid in 2020

 

Not much in the past 30 years.
I was born in 1963. The US population has doubled since then to 340M. When I was in my teens and early 20's, we did quite a bit of overlanding because everyone did not own everything and we could just take off on the bikes through the woods with a sleeping bag and a rifle.
Now? Not a lot of land, lots of people.
People still don't believe me but today you cannot get further than 25 miles from a paved highway.

 

When you OVERLAND so hard you end up with your tent on the ground.

 

Yeah it is. My grandfather used to have a motor home that we did a few cross-country trips in, get tired just pull over. Though not much into long distance anymore, one of the reasons we moved to Idaho bunch of stuff right out the front door, so most of my traveling are a day trips, then come back and sleep in my own bed. Real nice living in a place many people vacation to.

 

Come to Idaho and I’ll show ya!

 

Agreed, if anything it’s another avenue for some to make some money. Got to jump on the train while it’s one the tracks. A friend of mine started up an off-road/camping shop in AZ.
So far so good, their business has done very well serving and listening to their clients.

 

That blows. Flopping a vehicle might be the worst feeling, even if it’s your dedicated buggy.

 

Many places we can still do that out here in Nevada and some of the Sierras in Cali.

 

Portsmouth island outer banks . No roads very few people . Good fishing and no stores.
Of course you have to have your truck shipped over on a boat.

 

Just back from two weeks in SW Colorado and Moab. Half the fun of planning the trip was figuring out what could fit under the Tonneau and in the back seat. Wife and I drove over land from NY to CO and had a blast. Camp in what 'ya got, but this "keeping up with the jones-bros" shit is starting to get ridiculous. You don't need an RTT, heated portable shower, convection oven, satellite internet, generator etc. to experience this beautiful continent.

 

Elko county is the most remote in Nevada. However, it is bordered by rt 225, 93 and 80 so you still can't go further than 25 miles from those three roads.
It's not a driving 25 miles, it's as the crow flies 25 miles!

 

Not even close lol. It's only five miles back to route 12!

 

Frank Church is listed as the most remote spot in Idaho. Less than 15 miles from a road as the crow flies.

 

As the crow flies isnt a great measurement for this kinda stuff though. Yeah, it's proximate, but , for example, there's a a place in southern Utah I like to go where it's 10ish [edit: 10.4] miles probably from the paved road in a straight line, but the actual trail does a huge sweeping U bend that's 50 [edit:30] miles of dirt and sand to get to by vehicle.

Not massively remote but you're not gonna see hardly a soul if you spend time out there.

 

Check out the Owyhee Wilderness. Can do roughly 70 miles from a paved road. Least populated area in the lower 48 I am told.

https://www.blm.gov/visit/owyhee-river-wilderness-area

 

Lone Mtn in the Hart Mtn Antelope Refuge, Eastern Oregon is very remote as well. Spent a week exploring out there, it was a great “4x4 camping” trip….not going to call it the O-word, because the only culture we experienced out there iwhere the cows, antelope and wild mustangs.

 

My point is, that no matter where you go, you can usually hike out in three days at worst case. Except an island, not many people can swim a few miles in the ocean.
It was a lot different 40 years ago though. We seriously would load up the motorcycles, shoot or catch what we ate and come back with no issues.
We did take ancient logging roads with trees 80 years old growing in them though.
We carried a .22 rifle, a .45 pistol (bears), some fishing line and bobber (made the rod with a stick) a skillet in a backpack, a few forks, a really sharp Bowie, we each had a sleeping bag and a few ponchos. Oh, we each had those cool canteens. We took two canteens because we lost one onetime when we only took one canteen. Eat what we shot or caught. Never went hungry.
And, this was not abnormal behavior and I don't even consider that to be overlanding.

 

I figured that was where you were going with that. Totally agree with you, there isn't the "Frontier" like it was even a relatively short time depending on location.

10 miles of summer sun and ankle to knee deep Utah sugar sand may actually kill you before you make it to the road though.

 

Yeah I have lived the dream out between Helper and Huntington!