There’s an inevitable need to take on fuel on overland trips, and the further you go, the more strange the issues connected with the refuelling – at least, strange from ‘our’ European/US point of view. Recetly I got back from a thousand-mile trip through Nepal where we refuelled our three Land Rovers at remote hill… Read More Fuel and refuelling when on a long trip

Thanks to economic and Coronavirus-related issues, many UK-based readers will be contemplating taking their 4×4 on the NC500 or similar trips within the British Isles this summer. With that in mind, it might be worth talking about a couple of issues that affect wild camping and vehicle-based camping around the UK – campfires and “wild… Read More More thoughts on using a 4×4 in the UK “wilds”

Perhaps the thing that worries most folk when planning a big overland trip is interacting with authority whilst on the road in developing countries – police and border officials. Will they expect bribes? How will I know when to bribe, and when it could get me into trouble? Will they try and rob me? The… Read More Interactions with police officers whilst on a long trip

Travellers are resuming trips to Morocco from mainland Europe and the UK. It might be worth sharing a tale of a similar trip I made a few years ago. This is NOT representative of Morocco trips generally!             The Sahara is at the back of the mind of many 4×4 owners – the biggest, hottest… Read More A trip to Morocco

            A major area where 4x4s suffer from their reputation is in load carrying – especially on overland trips. We’ve all seen the pics of some poor battered vehicle somewhere, laden up to the eyeballs with all manner of kit – people, goats, hay bales, ammunition, you name it. Many 4x4s (“traditional” Land Rovers especially)… Read More Loading and overloading an overland 4×4

Egypt is a wonderful place. A bit like an onion, if you peel back one layer of Egyptian history, you find another, and another, and still another. Walking along a street you might pass a Pharaonic statue, next to a 1920s belle epoque villa, abutting a 1960s Soviet-era brutalist concrete façade, all overshadowed by a… Read More Long Range Desert Group sites in Egypt

Over the years I have collected several LRDG artifacts from various places, especially North Africa. One of the most unusual is a bone knife with a fox-paw handle and silverplate crossguard. On the 12.5cm blade is the inscription “Presented by Long Range Desert Group, Capt H. J Bennett, Cairo 1944”. It came to me from… Read More LRDG Artefacts – 1

I’ve lived in North Africa and the Middle East for over half my adult life, and I’ve been spoiled by access to wide open wilderness like the Sahara as a camping destination. Whenever I return home to my own crowded islands I am forced to recalibrate the way my “outdoor head” works – all land… Read More “Wild” camping in the UK

The world of 4x4s in general, and overland travel in particular, is becoming particularly kit-focussed. What roof tent have you got? What boots do you wear? What drawer system do you use? What, you haven’t got one?! And so on. This, of course, quickly followed by the Harry Enfield quote “ooooh you don’t want one… Read More All the gear but……

As regular readers will know, Lebanon is one of my favourite places to be. Friendly, vibrant, relaxed, fascinating, with great traditions of cuisine and hospitality, and a rich depth of history, it’s a place I could easily and happily live. Not only that, from my point of view, the Lebanese are great lovers of the… Read More A return to Lebanon