Advice for Adventure from the 2020 Travel & Adventure Show | Part 2 — Overlanding: The New Responsible Travel?

Each year the Adventure Travel Show highlights an alternative side to travel. Travel off the beaten path.

With so many amazing places to visit in the world, why focus on the most instagrammable destinations? Why visit the places everyone is talking about when you can find your own adventure in more overlooked destinations?

If you’re looking for that kind of adventure, the Travel & Adventure show is a playground of inspiration. From overlanding adventures, to marathons in Afghanistan or hiking in remote parts of Africa. There is so much to look at you have to remember to reign in your excitement and avoid a spending spree signing up to all these tours.

A good distraction are the 70 or so free talks — stories from adventurer’s, authors, filmmakers and specialists. It’s these that inspired this three part ‘Advice for Adventure’ series.

The first instalment focussed microadventures and Mountain Man’s expedition to reach the peak of all 446 mountains in England and Wales in just six months.

In this post I want to talk about another way of travel. Less about taking to the skies, and more about taking to the roads.

What is it overlanding?

You may have noticed a recent travel trend where everyone’s talking about van life. As the name suggests this is all about living in a van, travelling the world and existing as a nomad with this kind of hippy, freedom vibe. And though I can’t say that doesn’t totally appeal (check out our van conversion) there’s another term that interests me even more — overlanding.

“Overlanding is self-reliant overland travel to remote destinations where the journey is the principal goal.”

Wikipedia

It’s about getting out there and experiencing a place. And I mean really experiencing it. No hop-scotching around all the must-see destinations and flying home in a frantic whirlwind. This is about slowing down, taking time and spending hours reflecting on it all. Enjoy staring out the window and watching the world, and the journey, go by.

Generally, but not always, overlanders take to the roads in off-road vehicles. They’re rugged, durable and built for muddy adventure. They’ll support you whether you’re camping or staying in lodges, whether your journey lasts from one week to one year. The bounds are limitless: the length of your trip, the destination, the route, the pace. It’s all up to you when you choose an overlanding adventure.

Is overlanding for me?

Overlanding is clearly not for everyone. It’s not always the most comfortable ride and you probably need to be happy to camp for at least some of the journey. Plus we don’t all have enough time to see and do everything we want to in our annual days of leave off the day job.

But if you’re lucky enough to have the time, and maybe prioritise what you do want to see, it’s a great way to experience slow travel. Slow travel can be about a more mindful approach to what you’re experiencing. It can be about getting closer to a country, a culture or a language. It can also be a more responsible way to travel.

Why overlanding is a sustainable way to travel?

More and more there’s pressure to act and behave in a responsible way (and rightly so!). We share our planet with nature and its amazing creatures. We have all got to learn to share it better in every aspect of our lives.

Travel can be a force for good or for real destruction.

Venice is an example of a city break destination that’s really suffered. Over-tourism and rising waters are causing the floating city some real structural and overcrowding issues. Venice cannot cope at the rate it’s being affected.

But we can use our passion for travel and adventure for positive impact. One of our options for doing that is to travel overland.

• Overlanding avoids using planes, and reduces our carbon footprint.
• Overlanding looks beyond the tourist hotspots to reduce overtourism.
• Overlanding supports the local communities.
• Overlanding is flexible.
• Overlanding is about the journey not the instagrammable destination.

How about overlanding then?

Next time you plan a holiday or a trip why not think about travelling at a more considered pace? Slow it down, think about responsible travel and using your time to positively impact the world. Imagine yourself immersed in another community. Imagine exploring their way of life through their eyes. It makes me excited just to write the idea down!

Be inspired to plan a trip where you can truly absorb what’s around you, where you can become part of some place new — whether it’s close or far from home.

And if you’re worried about switching from four star hotels to camping and overlanding, just think how many stars you can see beyond the zipper of your tent. It’s a multi-star hotel if ever there was one!

Go on, get out of your comfort zone! But more importantly, get out of your current perspective. Live, learn, adventure.

Originally posted on Sage Adventures travel & wellness lifestyle blog: www.sageadventres.co.uk.