Welcome to Overland Primer

Welcome to Overland Primer! The purpose of OP is to help you learn the basics of overlanding so that you can get out there and start adventuring. For this initial post I will provide some context about overlanding, primers, and myself by answering some questions and asking one in return.

What is Overlanding?

Overlanding has become an umbrella term that means different things to different people.
According to Oxford Languages, overlanding is simply “traveling a long distance over land”. Wikipedia goes a step further by defining it as “self-reliant overland travel to remote destinations where the journey is the principal goal.”.

Colloquially in America, overlanding is typically referred to as vehicle assisted adventure with camping being the primary form of lodging. Often the vehicle is a car or truck with four or all wheel drive (4WD/AWD). Adventure motorcycle travel and bicycles have also been included in the fold.

My personal definition is that I am overlanding whenever I am traveling into the backcountry with my vehicle being the primary form of transportation.

Many claim that overlanding is just car camping. I would argue that car camping can be a part of overlanding, but is too specific to define the entire recreation. Car camping usually consists of driving your car to an established campground and setting up a tent. Amenities at the campground often consist of plumbed potable water, toilets, and sometimes even showers. To contrast that, dispersed camping involves finding an adequate location in a remote location and mitigating the lack of amenities through proper preparation. Both methods have similarities, sure, but significant enough differences to require different levels of planning.

What is a primer?

A primer is something that prepares you for the next step. You have probably come across the term in painting where it serves as a base layer. It is also a term used for a textbook which presents the building blocks of a particular subject. Overland Primer is here to help provide you the basics so that you can move onto the next step of enjoying your adventures with confidence.

Who is Garrick?

I am the founder of Overland Primer and am located in Seattle, WA. I created this site because I am at the position where I still remember what it was like to be new, but I have acquired a lot of useful knowledge since then.

I started my overland journey back in May of 2020, back when the Covid-19 pandemic was still in its infancy. I did not own a car prior, but decided to buy a 2001 Toyota 4Runner as a transportation method primarily for camping. I was a seasoned campground camper, but the pandemic closed all of the campgrounds in Washington state. This forced me to figure out how to disperse camp. I quickly came to realize that I preferred dispersed camping and traversing into the remote forest service roads to find the sites. 

Since those early days I have become a passionate overlander between weekend adventures and week+ long excursions. My dream is to become a full time overlander.

Who are you?

My intended reader is somebody who recently acquired or is looking to purchase their 4WD/AWD vehicle and want to go exploring into the backcountry, but feel that there are too many unanswered questions holding them back from doing so. I'm curious to find out what your overland experience may be and what questions you my have. Please leave a message in the comments!