Is "Overlanding" a thing in your area yet?

Cookie cutter bolt-on one upmanship is profitable for someone, laughable for the rest of us
I didn't ask the question to dis anyone, was just curious if it's getting popular elsewhere. Could not care less if someone has a Star Wars motor coach or a tent on their Crosstrek.
 
I don’t have any interest in using a ladder to get into or out of a rooftop tent. I have a camper shell on my GMC and use a truck tent to allow sleeping with the tailgate down because I am longer than the 5’8” bed. Only downside is I have to remove the tent to drive the truck, but you would have to fold up a rooftop tent too.

If I take the family we go with our 32’ travel trailer. This arrangement works great because I like to go more often and to places where the trailer can’t go.
 
We used to sleep in the back of our pickups when we were young mostly because we were broke and wanted to go places and do things. Who knew we were setting trends ?
One of our boys made a couple trips through the U.P. with his Jeep camping in tents along the way.
Its funny how hipsters do things that other have done for years and now have to assign new names to it.
 
We just called it 'camping'. Didn't need fancy terms. Camping also included 4x4 offroad excursions, dirt bikes, ATVs, hiking, biking, tents, RVs, campers, fishing, swimming .....

Some just need to look or be cool, with their cookie cutter look at me and my rig lifestyle. Boring.
 
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Queen size with A/C. I've had this thing two hours up the forest service roads around here. I just take my time.
I was surprised in Australia that a set up like yours was incredibly rare. Something like the trailer below would be the most common, and then they all get more off-road biased from there. Bare minimum was to have the same tires on the truck and trailer for spares, and I guess no overloaded smaller trailer tire issues.
I would think in the southwest US there might be enough level-ish open terrain to explore with an off road camper trailer? In the east it gets too treed and hilly and muddy in most places try to offroad with a trailer of any size.

LXV+5.8.webp
 
We just called it 'camping'. Didn't need fancy terms. Camping also included 4x4 offroad excursions, dirt bikes, ATVs, hiking, biking, tents, RVs, campers, fishing, swimming .....

Some just need to look or be cool, with their cookie cutter look at me and my rig lifestyle. Boring.
Like Glamping
 
Its popular around here, but I don't know why - there really is nowhere to go. I saw a new rav4 with a hatch ladder and a gas can strapped to it?

I have 2 4x4's. There all stock except a gobi ladder and roof platform on my Xterra. I found the ladder in a junkyard for $20 bucks and it makes getting on the roof rack easy. I built a platform out of multiple cross bars also from a junkyard. Makes a good birdwatching platform for me and the kids, and stargazing as well because the gnats like to stay closer to the ground. We take it off road to some places I know around here, but there no more than a few miles on forest service roads. You also need 4x4 to get onto a few of the florida beaches as well.

Many of the guys that actually do go off grid camping and have for years really hate the phrase - too commercial. For them its just off grid camping.

There are some routes out west I would love to do some day if I ever had the chance. I would also like to have driven the road of bones in Russia, but I guess thats out - for a while at least.
 
I was surprised in Australia that a set up like yours was incredibly rare. Something like the trailer below would be the most common, and then they all get more off-road biased from there. Bare minimum was to have the same tires on the truck and trailer for spares, and I guess no overloaded smaller trailer tire issues.
I would think in the southwest US there might be enough level-ish open terrain to explore with an off road camper trailer? In the east it gets too treed and hilly and muddy in most places try to offroad with a trailer of any size.

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See how far the axles are set back? The build them differently overseas so you can tow with much less vehicle. Less tongue weight and 3/4 ton and up trucks are thing, but even more pricey. I am seeing more and more trailers like this here and I like it. The other thing is in Australia my Caprice is rated tow at about 4700lbs, in the states? 1500lbs... My next trailer will be WAY smaller. The big one was good when the kids were small, and they brought a lot of friends along. It is 35 feet overall. I want the next one to be somewhere around 25 feet overall.
 
We used to tent a lot. It's a great way to spend an evening around a campfire with your family and trusty dog.

What we didn't enjoy so much was having a generator running in the next site so the people there could sit in their trailer and spend the evening watching movies. But I suppose they were watching movies about camping, wildlife, hiking in the woods, etc. And probably went home with a whole new appreciation of the great outdoors.

"Flame suit on."
 
Overlanding is here in western Canada. I saw a group in Radium, BC. Not sure where the roof-top tent thing came from but I suspect it was a snake precaution. If anyone thinks being on top a truck can keep you safe in grizzly country, better think again. ;)

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They were all over So Cal during the lock down days. None of the offroad stuff ever looks used. When gas got to $6 all those rooftop tents and visual attachments disappeared and haven't returned. I like offroading and riding dirtbikes but not camping. I'll spend the $$ on a hotel.
 
Overlanding is not in my area but getting out off road to site sea or camp is. I do like the fact there are people out there enjoying their rigs & the great outdoors. What is wrong with that? Some people just want to attack others simply b/c they wouldn't do it or don't understand it.
 
Here are some pics from a couple I know that like to camp on logging roads here in SE BC. You don’t get views like this from the KOA or the lobby of the Ritz- Carlton. Overlanding combines a love for camping with a love for four wheeling and turns it into a club activity. Going as a group provides some extra security, which otherwise may discourage a person from going into the back country by themselves. What’s not to like? The roof top tents might be a bit out there, but a least they’re quick to set up. For those who need hotels, well, not much you can do about that. ;)

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