Preventative maintenance is a big deal, especially on older Land Rovers. They are big, tough vehicles, but things wear out. Things get loose. It’s something we as owners need to keep on top of – especially if we have older trucks.                 As an example, as soon as Covid lockdown was lifted in the UAE… Read More Preventative Maintenance

Maybe the easiest meal when on the road and campfire cooking? Certainly one of the most fun, and versatile. How to Make Kebabs: 1. Cut the ingredients into similar-size pieces and prepare as the recipe directs. If marinating, refrigerate 1 hour for fish and up to overnight for meat and poultry. 2. Preheat a grill… Read More Kebabs!

One of the most fulfilling ways you can adventure with a 4×4 is to link your travels with those in a canoe. I use my Land Rovers to get as far into the wilderness as I can – and a canoe is a perfect way of doing exactly the same thing, in almost complete silence.… Read More Canoedling (sic)

Note – this is a trip report from 2015, before the UK suicidally jumped from the EU. So border crossings are a lot simpler here! My friend Ben Stowe who runs overland and restoration specialists Black Paw 4×4 in York had taken a year to rebuild and restore his 1949 Land Rover 80” soft top,… Read More Chasing Trucks – in a Series 1 to the Alps

After yesterday’s discussion about how to scout and set up a camp in an arid rocky valley, it might be worth extending the view and talking about actual desert camps. Typically an overlander’s first experience of a desert camp might be Morocco or Tunisia and, though the “real” desert is fast vanishing from those places,… Read More Desert camping

Over the last 7 years most of my overlanding has been travelling around the southeastern parts of the Arabian peninsula, where I’m based for most of the time – in the United Arab Emirates and Oman. Many of these areas are mountainous and therefore many of my overnight halts have been in steep-sided rocky valleys,… Read More Camping in rocky wadis (valleys)

Learning languages to help communication when traveling overland is a multi-sided issue. On the one hand it opens doors and makes friends if you can chat to someone with even a few words of their own language, on the other hand it can get you into trouble fast, and then leave you high and dry… Read More The language of travel

(With apologies to Don Henley) Given a clean sheet of paper, how would you go about creating your perfect overland truck? Gather ten overlanders and you will get twenty opinions. Everyone has different ideas and experiences; different needs and tasks for the vehicles, varied expectations of terrain and difficulties to face, different ideas of ergonomics… Read More Building the perfect beast

The eastern edge of Arabia holds the countries of Oman and the United Arab Emirates. Both are a beautiful mixture of mountains and desert, and both have a fascinating and adventurous history which supports them as they move into the 21st Century. Both countries count the Land Rover as the first motor car that they… Read More The Pirate Coast of Arabia

Tyres are always a source of discussion amongst travellers. Many folk have their favourite brand and tread pattern, and woe betide anyone who questions it on Social Media! Sometimes this is a case of “First World Problems” – after all, if you travel in the developing world you realise that for many folk, tyres are… Read More Tyre choices on a long trip