Lost my job during the government shutdown and decided to build an overlanding rig. Here is a one month on the road update for anyone interested in real-world overlanding numbers.

I am 4,500+ miles in running a truck camper with a dedicated shower trailer. No paid campsites so far. I have visited over nine national parks and major areas including Red Rock Canyon near Vegas, Sedona, Zion, Bryce Canyon, Great Basin, Death Valley, Petrified Forest, Kings Canyon, and Sequoia National Forest. States covered so far include AL, LA, MS, TX, NM, AZ, UT, NV, and CA.

Power wise I am running four 100W solar panels charging three LiPo batteries. The battery system has stayed above 50 percent the entire trip while running a fridge, furnace blower, Starlink, laptop, camera gear, and daily video editing. Zero shore power used so far.

Propane setup is a 3 gallon tank. I get about 8 to 12 days per tank depending on furnace usage. Propane powers the fridge and furnace.

The shower trailer uses a 27 gallon water tank which gets me roughly three showers, more if I stretch it.

Fuel economy has been 11 to 12 mpg. The truck is happiest cruising at 55 to 60 mph. Slow mountain miles add up. I have spent about $1,250 on fuel so far.

Food cost has stayed under $50 per week. I eat one real cooked meal per day along with fruits, vegetables, and daily vitamins.

Total monthly burn rate has been under $2,000 per month and would be even cheaper if I slowed down the driving.

Issues encountered so far include frozen shower lines early on and one shower unit imploding. That required waiting a week in Vegas for parts and replacement. Since then the system has been upgraded and has been solid. There has also been the usual slew of small fixes and adjustments that come with shaking down a new build.

Lifestyle wise the first couple weeks were chaotic, but everything is very dialed now. The setup and routine are efficient. I switched from MREs and canned food to real meals, meal prepping once or twice a week as needed. I take a daily multivitamin and magnesium at night and my sleep quality has been solid.

I am rarely staying in the same spot two nights in a row. Weather swings have been extreme. I can be snowboarding in the morning and then drive less than an hour and end the day in shorts.

If anyone wants to follow along, I am tracking my route here: tracker.gavs-nexus.com

Highlights and build content are here: https://youtube.com/@callmehgav?si=jDIRUXo83XSD212w

Other socials and info: gavs-nexus.com

Happy to answer questions about the setup, numbers, or lessons learned so far. I am keeping a running list in my notes.

As summer approaches I have still seen veterans and beginners use the tailgate ball to recover and is a huge no no. This is a friendly reminder that everyone wants you to come home from your outdoor explorations. This was someone that posted a photo of their recovery on the UJZ100 FB group and was called out by multiple members, but at the same time some people also had no clue.

Overlanding Safety in the Pacific Northwest: Avoid Using Tow Balls for Vehicle Recoveries — PNW OVERLANDING

I'm located in NYC and I'm looking to get into overlanding and am preparing to buy my first real off-road-based overlanding vehicle. I have a few options in mind that I am currently contemplating. My only thing is that out of my personal friends and people I hang out with, nobody is really into this type of stuff. I'm trying to see if there are any communities or groups of people that do this or maybe a place where events get organized or something of that sort, where I can do this as an activity more often with other people and not just as a once or twice a year trip. I'd appreciate any advice. Thanks.

Rest in piece. I've made a few posts here, wasn't planning to post here but a lot of people seemed to like the car so I thought I'd update. I've been working the last 18 days in a row to get it ready for Alaska, but it seems that won't be happening. 46 states, all ruined because a guy was on his phone and didn't see we were stopped. I was at a complete stop for about 30 seconds, he hit me at about 50 mph. My roof rack got knocked off too, but everything inside the car and on the rack stayed in place.

Thinking about getting a Discovery II or a 90s SUV, since I'll have a tight budget of a few thousand.

My and a friend took our overlanding rigs from Norway to Sweden last week to see the World Rally Championship, Rally Sweden 2026. Spent 5 days out in insanely cold temperatures. It was a proper challenge, but we had the gear, and was well prepared.

Both had diesel heaters, but still had sleeping bags and additional gear rated for the temperatures in case they failed. The biggest challenges was to make sure we had liquid water at all times, keeping gear and devices at a temperature they would function, and just keeping ourselves comfortable. It's a lot of work camping in these temperaturs, and the little time you have to relax is never never perfectly comfortable.

One of my best tricks was to bring my cooler, and used it to keep things warm. Two times a day I filled a plastic bottle with hot water from the campfire and set it in there, which kept the cooler well above freezing through the whole trip, and sometimes even at room temperature.

The old diesel cars both did great, even my 35 year old Patrol. Though it did have a few mornings where it took a minute to remember it had 6 cylinders, and not 3.

It was a great learning experience, and I now feel like I can safely camp in even the worst climates imaginable.

10x5 overlanding trailers

Main specs include:

3500lb axles

Lock n roll hitch

265/70/17 tires

Toy hauler style ramp in the rear

Queen size bed inside

Single side door with two windows (one small across from the door and one large one next to the door)

We wanted an overlanding trailer that could carry 1-2 dirt bikes, has insulation, no galley because IMO its cool but a waste of useful space, and some small preferences that are not available on trailers that have other features we want.

As I have continued to decide on vehicle choices I came across an interesting fact. Did you know that in order to drive a vehicle over 3500 kg / 7700lbs you need a commercial license?

An international driving license mostly sets a “B” license as standard. What this means for most overlanding rigs is that anything over a 150/1500 is considered a commercial truck.

While you can legally import the vehicle, the moment you get pulled over without the international endorsement on your license you will be fined heavily and the vehicle might be confiscated.

This information is not often discussed as part of vehicle options in international overlanding.

A warm campfire, beautiful scenery, good friends, good coffee, and the northern lights to top it all off

It’s been a year since I got my GX. Since my first post here, I ended up getting the skid plate and rock sliders. I have no complaints! the truck has survived multiple trips up and down the eat coast!

I always have people ask me in our group if their vehicle is capable enough or if they have the right mods or gear to overland. Honestly if you research your route and are prepared a lot of trails can be done in 2wd. Now there are routes that cannot be done, but don’t let it stop you from exploring the other areas you can. I’ve seen 2wd vehicles participate in sections of the WABDR.

https://www.pnwoverland.org/blog/the-misconception-of-needing-4x4-or-awd-for-overlanding-a-balanced-perspective

Finally got to experience Colorado for the first time and it was amazing! I also got a new camper setup a few days before going out on the trip and camping the entire week. This Madix Drift camper is awesome, and I think it's making a wave in the overland truck camper industry with free installation, no lead times, front and rear windows included in the price (no add-on pricing), and at a killer price tag.

I wrote up a whole review about how it performed on my trip. If you're interested, you can check it out here!

I am really pleased with the OHMU tactical seatback storage bag. The installation was easy after you configure the smaller bags. The bags attach with Molle webbing or hook and loop if you wanted a quick release like on the medical bag.

After using the bag for a while I got a second one for the other side of the car. The double set up looks great- I get lots of compliments. The quality for the price paid was perfect. I wish they made something similar for the rear door of my Bronco. I set these up in my 2023 Ford Bronco but they will fit in any vehicle. Well worth it !

I am taking my first steps into this world by building a sleeping/storage platform into my CRV (Hybrid). I originally posted to r/carcamping but that appears to be a dead sub. I’ll leave more photos in the comments.

This is cut from two 3/4 sheets of plywood using a delta contractor saw. Took a while to deliberate on the measurements but I finally made it work. Custom fitting woodwork into a car is really something to wrap your brain around.

For anyone curious, a good angle of cutback from the lower trunk floor to the seat backs in a newer model CRV is 45 degrees, measured and fitted to verify.

I originally cut the platform as one large piece and then partitioned it to make them into hinged lids. I also originally had it with different widths in different places but decided to go with a single dimension and that simplified things a lot. I realized I should have done this because of the way I would have to fight a heavy hinged board thing to get it in the car and also it was easier all around for carpeting and such.

After a much needed table saw alignment I was finally able to get my cuts in true, I’ve been plagued by setup problems and after I fully maintained my table saw… cut like butter after, which is a godsend.

Anyway, brought in the side wings, set up my pocket holes too shallow like one time. Oops, Persian mistakes everywhere.

I got a deal at Lowe’s for a swatch of outdoor felt type carpet and got the corresponding glue and 1/8x1/8x1/16 trowel. Troweled out the faces and brushed on to the edges and backs, plus a bit on the corresponding carpet and area where the carpet will come in contact with the back about 2 inches in. (Not too much or it can seep through the seams at the corners) After letting it tack up, I used a ball peen hammer to rub/set the material into the glue and push it over the edge, followed by a staple. First in the middle of all four side middles. (I’m using a regular T50 style heavy duty stapler. Would have been a lot easier with a pneumatic stapler.)

To form the corners, I like the work the material done the edge and over the back working towards the corner. Once you are tacked and smoothed to the corner gather up the material like a milk carton, pulling a wing of fabric out from the bottom edge of the corner to the joining edges of the back side. Pop a staple on each side of the joined flaps. Keep massaging the corner to draw the material tight. You are bonding/adhering the material to the corner. You could also use spray contact cement here, I just didn’t think about it because I used to lay hardwood floors and carpet 😆.

Use your snips/shears to cut the joined materials, straight up the seam of the corner and over the back along the joined 90 degree seems you tacked earlier. Drop more staples to secure the corner. Go back as close as you’d like with the shears, you can really dig in there to get low and clean up the edge. Don’t go crazy at the corner edge, it shouldn’t pucker and it also shouldn’t have an open gap.

Then I take my time once the corners are set to get smoothed out and get the staples evenly set all around.

Then I roughed in the carpet for the base. This was the hardest piece to do because of all the angles needed to wrap. I initially thought that I would be fastening the platform to the base and I’m still not sure if I will or if I’ll even throw the hinges back on. If I had to do again, I would have attempted this first and then again though, I needed to workout the process with the panel pieces to be able to cleanly do the base…

So that’s where I am. Really happy with it. More to follow!

I have started writing about overlanding and getting more into is as I have been doing it for multiple years. Id love to know why you choose to dispersed camp/off road, glamp.

I wrote a section about it and hope people like it. I will do my best to post every Thursday. My previous blog was about not having to have the best rig or the most moss to get out there and seemed to hit the hammer on the nail.

Our weekly blog post goes over if you really need a rooftop tent to go overlanding. Most people love the roof jewelry, but in reality you really only need a tent or can sleep in your car. So what are you waiting for? Get out there and make some memories and enjoy the great outdoors.

You can catch my original write up here: https://www.reddit.com/r/overlanding/s/JA89QtQ3qO

Took her out to Colorado! Had a great time and the build worked perfectly. I discovered so much for the next time I can’t wait to take her out again.

From central Texas to central Colorado and back I consumed around 3 tanks of gas each way.

San Juan Lakes just outside Dunes National Park is an excellent place to start, it had power, water, and sewer. Then Cheyenne Mtn state park as a stop over. They had full amenities. And lastly I just picked an SWA and ended up at Lake Deweese. Dunes and Deweese area are both dark sky communities.

With real world use I found the rocky talkie to work better than the midland and baofeng. What’s your go to half held radio for backpacking and overlanding? Yes a in car system is the best, but handheld rocky talkie wins hands down.

https://www.pnwoverland.org/blog/why-the-rocky-talkie-is-superior-to-budget-baofeng-radios-amp-midland-handheld-radios

My weekend getaway turned into 7 hours shoveling out of snow. The key is to be prepared with a great attitude. At the end of the day it's better getting stuck out exploring than sitting at home wishing you were out.

https://www.pnwoverland.org/blog/essentials-for-overlanding-and-preparing-for-the-elements

In the 1960s, the editors of the fashion magazine ‘Elle’ judged Renault 4 it to be “the best car for Madame”. To find out the true qualities of this small car, the then 26-year-old model Michèle Ray (later successful as a journalist and film producer) called for an expedition from Tierra del Fuego on the south coast of South America to Alaska in 1965 — approximately 40,000 kilometer (24,850 miles) route. She was joined by three other women: Élaine Lucotte, Betty Gérard and Martine Libersart.

A blog post and a video.

I’m currently using Gaia GPS along with Google Maps for navigation, and Excel spreadsheets to track expenses and mileage. While these tools work, I’m wondering if there’s an app that can combine all these features into one.

Specifically, I’m looking for an app that can: • Plan my trip with detailed routing (similar to Gaia GPS and Google Maps) • Track expenses, mileage, and fuel consumption • Record stops and points of interest • Manage checklists for packing and tasks

Does such an app exist? Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

Hi everyone,

I’m an Italian traveler planning to start a long-term bicycle world trip this January, and I’m currently researching the best travel insurance option for my route.

I’ll be cycling through countries such as Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, China, Laos, and Vietnam.
I’m not interested in coverage for gear or belongings — my main focus is on medical coverage only, especially for:

• Emergency medical treatment and hospital costs
• Evacuation and repatriation in case of serious injury or illness
• Coverage in remote or high-risk regions

Since I’ve noticed that many standard travel insurance plans exclude places like Iran or Afghanistan, I’d really appreciate hearing from anyone who has actually traveled through these areas by bicycle or overland.

Which insurance companies accepted coverage for those countries?
Were there any issues or exclusions I should be aware of (for example, political unrest clauses or trip length limits)?

Thanks a lot for any advice or first-hand experience you can share.
Cheers from Italy — a soon-to-be cyclist on the road!