Recently I was lucky enough to travel through Syria for a week or so, taking in ancient sites I’d wanted to visit since childhood and taking a Land Rover through the Syrian desert. Syria, as you might expect, currently shows examples of both the best and worst of humanity. A beautiful and varied landscape holds… Read More Syria

So much of Land Rover ownership is to do with being within the law – obeying the law, what to do when you fall foul of it, and so on. Overland travel, however, often occurs in areas outside the law, or beyond it – places where the police cannot, or will not, reach you –… Read More Travel outside the reach of the law

I was on the road in Oman a few years ago with my girlfriend and she had an upset stomach. Not, I hasten to add, as a result of my cooking, but as a result of a hotel stay beforehand that was the tradeoff against an overland trip that we’d agreed in a bargaining session!… Read More Fake medications whilst travelling

Many of the queries I receive from readers concern bribery of officials. A couple of summers ago I ran across some examples of it on a trip through East Africa, and I thought it would be worth mentioning one as an attempt to allay readers’ fears about the topic.             It’s often the case that… Read More Thoughts on officials wanting bribes

As an ‘exotic’ destination, Morocco is perhaps the most reachable by 4×4 from the UK. Three or four day’s drive across Europe brings you to the southern Spanish ports, a quick hop across the Med and you are in Africa, and the Sahara looms.             I’ve been lucky enough to have the time to explore… Read More Morocco at the millennium – travels 22 years ago

One of the biggest factors when considering equipment for an overland trip is that of fuel. It can cause all sorts of issues, especially when travelling in developing countries. Living in Cairo there were many times when I found decent diesel unobtainable, thanks to the woeful economic policies of various Egyptian governments (that of Morsi… Read More Fuel issues in North African countries

It happened at the tail end of a long Saharan trip. I’d taken my Land Rover Defender from my home in York in the north of England across France and Spain to North Africa, intent on tracking down some prehistoric rock art in southern Morocco and Algeria. With me were two friends from the U.K.,… Read More The unforeseen….. even back home after a trip

Needless to say I’ve been out in the desert a lot lately in Bumblebee, my ’96 v8 “Camel Edition” Discovery. The old roof tent died a death, the fibreglass top deteriorated after too much exposure to intense desert sun and the fabric sides were becoming brittle for the same reason, so I replaced it with… Read More Recent desert travel in the UAE

The issue of interaction with wildlife on an overland trip is often the stuff of dreams. Many of us imagine the thrill of bouncing across the plains of East Africa in the middle of an endless herd of wildebeest, zebra and lions as we are awestruck spectators to the Great Migration. Others dream of the… Read More Interactions with wildlife on an overland trip

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 Thoughts on languages as a traveller