Overland Journal

Desert Riders :: The great unknown—off-piste in the Sahara 🏜️

The three of us reigned in our 650s, cut the engines, and stared ahead. Around us the horizon was a flat 360-degree sweep—sky above, the sands of the Ténéré desert below. But what was that a few miles ahead? An army patrol or smugglers, neither of which we wanted to meet, or just the harmless silhouette of the Lost Tree for which we’d set course that morning? I zoomed in with the camcorder but was none the wiser. If anyone was there they’d have spotted us by now.

It was January 2003. A couple of weeks earlier I’d crossed from Tunisia into Algeria with two friends, Andy and Jon, and together we rode south through the oil fields of the Grand Erg Oriental—a sand sea the size of Ireland. A day or two in, we pulled in behind a big dune, fitted our Michelin knobblies, and buried the trail tyres for the ride home. 

| Spring 2017 📔 | by Chris Scott ✍️ |

Introducing the Overland Journal Stewardship Bundle 🤝

We’ve partnered with our friends at and to offer a bundle for the stewards of adventure who help protect the places we love to explore.

Included in the bundle:

• 1-Year Overland Journal Subscription 📔 — immersive stories, expert how-tos, and expedition-tested insight delivered for a full year in five beautiful print and digital issues
• 1-Year Tread Lightly! 🌿 Guardian Membership — support responsible recreation and help protect the places we explore, with exclusive industry discounts to boot
• Exclusive Overland Journal x Tread Lightly! T-shirt — limited only to bundle customers 👕
• (BONUS) Dometic 350 Tumbler — durable, trail-ready hydration 🥤

Full details linked in our profile & stories 📎

The Year of the Lion 🇰🇪

A musky smell swept over the two Land Rover Defenders in the blackness of an East African night and we realised that the lions had come. In the darkness I could see one of the lithe, tan-colored cats, huge and powerful, emerge from a wall of brush. It walked softly towards us, inquisitive and alert. A ripple of excitement moved through our team as we hunkered down on the roofs. I whispered into my walkie-talkie, “Can you see her?” A rapid, quiet response came back from Overland Journal’s editor Chris Collard, who was on the roof of our 1974 Range Rover about 30 feet to my left. “Roger, I see her.” The booming call of a dying wildebeest roared out across the plains of Kenya as we triggered the “callback” recording once again. In a moment the hungry lioness was joined by a second of the great predators who was equally vigilant.

| Fall 2016 📔 | by Sam Watson ( ) ✍️ / Photos by 📸 |

A CJ-3B Jeep sluks its way through Botawana 🇧🇼

Botswana borders South Africa’s northern and northwestern boundaries. It’s a mainly dry country of some 230 thousand square miles of primarily sandy semi-desert scrub known as the Kgalagadi. The centre of the country is dominated by the Makgadikgadi, 7,000 square miles of salt pan. In the north, the Okavango River, which rises in southwest Angola, drains into the Kgalagadi, forming a huge inland delta, a wildlife paradise. It was into this world they were headed.

Broz had a Land Cruiser pickup, a 1972 FJ45, still with a three-speed transmission. Major towns were sometimes hundreds of miles apart on unsurfaced dirt roads, often involving days on tracks through soft sand where petrol consumption could drop below 10 mpg. The Jeep and Land Cruiser were well loaded with camping equipment, food, booze, cans of water, jerry cans of fuel, and necessary spares and tools. As they were about to leave home in South Africa, Garner produced the bottle of raat for all to take a sluk from to promote luck and good fortune in their endeavour. 

| Winter 2022 📔 | by Roger Gaisford ✍️

Living Legends: :: An architect of her own fortune 🏍️

Her two-and-a-half year journey began in 1982. Along the way, she witnessed riots and civil uprisings that altered the course of nations, and suffered permanent scars and memory loss from physical maladies and major accidents. She even managed to fall in and out of love with three men. What better ingredients for some serious character building?

Her trip would still be considered impressive nowadays, but the fact that she was a young woman in her early 20s, setting off alone with no sponsorship or support in an age before email, cell phones, and sat navs makes her journey all the more remarkable. 

| Spring 2017 📔 | by .pryce ✍️ |

The Last Mirage 🐫🏜️

In my frustrating post as an under-challenged air force pilot, phrases such as completely uninhabited, no-one ever crosses from one side to the other, and no trace of any water system and not a single tree flamed my abiding love of the great deserts. My 1969 attempts to launch an expedition to cross Africa at its widest point were frustrated by my doctors’ wishes to make adjustments to my right lung. An overseas posting later, I was able to persuade the guardians of the Royal Air Force (RAF) Expedition Training Scheme that the project was worth a try.

The logistic and technical challenge of just the Majâbat was enormous: over 1,000 miles of sand dunes, and rocky or obstructed going without any previous route to follow along the 20th parallel of latitude, with no fuel, water, or supplies available. In this pre-satellite era, the best maps were 1:1m scale. How would we navigate? What vehicle could do the job? Could we communicate if something went wrong?

| Winter 2016 📔 | by Tom Sheppard ✍️

Adventures in Balochistan, Iran 🗺️

Along with my two good friends Leigh and Paul, I had arrived in Iran about a month earlier after spending five months driving 16,000 miles from London via the Arctic Circle. Our idea was simple: we had bought an old London taxi on eBay, fitted it out with a winch and other gizmos, found some sponsors, and were now halfway through a long drive to Australia. Hopefully, after another 10,000 miles we would break the current Guinness World Record for the longest journey by taxi. That was, of course, if we could make it out of Iran, through Pakistan, and into less dangerous territories.

So far we had loved Iran. The people were exceptionally friendly, the roads were good and, perhaps surprisingly, it was packed full of amazing sightseeing. But there was a problem. Despite repeated attempts, Paul and Leigh had not been able to secure their entry visas for Pakistan. With only my visa in hand we developed a new plan. Paul and Leigh would fly to Dubai, where a contact at the embassy promised that he could get them the elusive visas. Meanwhile, I would cross the border into Pakistan and we would meet up again somewhere in the north; we would then cross over to India where we would enjoy our first beer in two months. This scheme would allow us to continue with our journey, unbroken, and so maintain the world record attempt. However, it also meant that I would be crossing the Balochistan region on my lonesome. 

| Fall 2015 📔 | By Johno Ellison ( ) ✍️

The Deserts of Mangystau :: Exploring the Floor of an Ancient Ocean 🌊

Some journeys are born from restless curiosity, a flicker of wonder that demands pursuit. Ours began with a handful of photographs. They showed a landscape so alien it could’ve easily been from a different planet: jagged spires clawing at a bruised sky, canyons carved by eons of wind, and lonely rock formations scattered across a sandy void. I’ve crossed deserts, climbed mountains, and driven trails from Patagonia to the Pamirs, but these pictures stumped me—no frame of reference, no familiar horizon. 

The answer came after a fair amount of digging: Mangystau, a desolate area in Southwest Kazakhstan. A glance at a map confirmed the scale—Kazakhstan sprawls across Central Asia, a behemoth of steppe and desert, and Mangystau clings to its wild western fringe, kissed by the Caspian Sea, a place few travelers reach. Those photos lit a fuse. Questions tumbled out: Where exactly was this? How would we get there? What would it take to explore there with a young family in tow? Could we perhaps weave it into our current trip? And why had this geological wonder stayed off our radar for so long? 

| Spring 2026 | by ✍️( )

Get a Dream 🗺️
 
So you want a life of travel and adventure, maybe become a journalist, maybe get famous and make lots of money? No problem. First, get a dream and latch onto it like a pit bull. In 1970 I bought a 1967 Land Rover 109 and proclaimed that I was driving to South America. “You’re what?” was the reaction from friends. I worked three jobs, paid off all bills, saved about $5,000, and in 1972 headed south toward Panama, the dream firmly clenched in my teeth. 
 
I had no plan or purpose. My motto was paraphrased from John Steinbeck’s book Travels with Charley: Don’t take the trip, let the trip take you. I met Monika on a Baja beach and though driving to South America, Mexico got in the way. We camped on the coast, caught fish, bought local fruits and veggies, a little gas, and propane. Our total costs were about $25 a week. We had no mortgage, car payment, or insurance. Nada! We were in a rare window of life when we were responsible but had no responsibilities.

| Spring 2017 📔 | by Gary Wescott ( .expedition / .wescott )

Toyota Land Cruiser 250 :: The Land Cruiser North America needed

Any new Toyota 4WD announcement is exciting, but the reveal of the new 250 international Land Cruiser/Prado/ GX/4Runner is groundbreaking. The 90, 120, and 150 platforms were excellent, but this variant utilizes the new global TNGA-F platform and reflects Toyota’s “all in on overlanding” mantra these past few years. While it is important to note that the 250 does not have the same underpinning and duty cycle as the 300-Series Land Cruiser, this variant is still a Land Cruiser II by every measure (Land Cruiser II and Prado have been used interchangeably in various markets since the 1990s), striking a balance between price, durability, and capacity. In late summer of this year, I had the opportunity to join Toyota for several days of overlanding and camping in the mountains of Colorado to drive the new 250 Land Cruiser. So, is it ready to drive around the world?

| Spring 2025 📔 | by .a.brady ✍️