Vehicle Based Recreation Discussion

What is overlanding? How is it different from bugging out, car camping, or an expedition? In this episode, we will explore the aspects of as many forms of vehicle based recreation as I can find or remember.

Remember this is solely my personal opinion on each based on personal experience and limited research done. All pictures are only representative of the category discussed and in no way is intended to be an absolute of that category.

“Sunday” Drive

The “Sunday” Drive also known as Going for a Drive, is found to be relaxing for some. What makes this one different than the rest in this list is that there is zero planning to do it, you have no destination, nor do you really need supplies.

When going for a drive, you simply get in your vehicle and just drive. It’s pretty aimless for the most part, you don’t really have a destination in mind. You’re just driving and meandering the terra firma. You don’t HAVE TO turn in any particular direction if you don’t want to. Maybe you end up at your favorite fishing hole, the mall, or a surprise visit to a friend, but you’re destination isn’t planned.

Car Camping

This is the one most people do. You have picked your dates, camp site, load up the vehicle, and set off. This form of recreation can often bring the most stress and frustration to it’s participants.

Car Camping is a great way to enjoy the outdoors. There really is no wrong way to do it. Some folks enjoy the simplicity of camping in a tent with as few “modern” amenities as possible while others still require most of those amenities.

There are virtually unlimited ways to go car camping. You can literally sleep in your vehicle, pitch a tent, setup a hammock, use a RTT (Roof Top Tent), a trailer, or any combination you see fit. However, with car camping, there is a degree of logistics that is involved. You’ve have to decide where you’re going, what equipment you need, how long your going for, etc. In most cases, car camping will involve a site you can drive up to with almost any vehicle.

Bug Out

Bugging out is a new buzz word once reserved for crazy people and conspiracy theory nuts. Now prepping and and having a bug out plan is more socially acceptable than in years past. So what does it mean to bug out and why is it included in this list?

Well, simply put, to bug out means you leave your house unexpectedly due to some emergency. Typically you have an emergency destination in mind that you are going to for a short time until it’s safe to return home. The reason this is included in this list is that prior to the event that causes you to bug out, you can go camping or do practice runs with your equipment for a couple of days as a form of recreation.

While you can use any vehicle as your bug out vehicle some are better suited for the task than others. With a bug out event, you may not know when it’s gonna happen or what you may face in route. So unlike everything else in this list, this is the most unpredictable one. In which case, your planning has to cast a wide net to include the most likely scenarios, weather, terrain, etc for your home environment as well as your preplanned destination.

Off-Roading

Off-roading is basically any time you are driving on terra firma that is not concrete or asphalt. There are different levels of off-road driving and most people immediately think of the more extreme level of offroad driving. You can simply drive down a dirt road or an unpaved access road through a State Forest and you are technically offroading. The hardcore types would argue that anything short of rock crawling, mud pits, etc is not true offroading. But the simple fact is,when your tires leave the pavement, you are off road.

Overlanding

Overlanding, another recent buzz word. What does it mean? What is it? What does it mean to you? Dictionary.com defines the root word, Overland, as being “by land or terrain” or “over or across the land.”

I might make a few enemies with this option, however I’ve found Overlanding to be just like car camping. And honestly, you can use alot of the same gear for both. For myself what sets overlanding apart from car camping is the vehicle you use, some of the gear you pack and your destination.

Typically your overlanding destination is going to be more remote than your average car camping destination. As such, the average overlanding vehicle is going to be equipped with 4WD and be more capable off road than your average vehicle. What you choose to pack is going to be highly dependant on where you are going, how long your going to be gone for, and the terrain/obstacles you expect to encounter. Typically with overlanding you will need to be more self sufficient as you may not have the ability to hook up to electricity, running water, go to a store for supplies, etc.

Expedition

As defined by Dictionary.com an expedition is “an excursion, journey, or voyage made for some specific purpose, as of war or exploration,”
“the group of persons, ships, etc. engaged in such an activity,” or “promptness or speed in accomplishing something.” So what does this mean then? Well, to me it means that an expedition is just overlanding with a mission.

And just as with everything else on this list, your vehicle and equipment are going to depend on the environment and terrain you expect to encounter as well as the duration of the trip. As with everything else, an expedition will take planning, and depending on the purpose, could take the most amount of planning, sometimes years, to ensure its success.

Final Thoughts

So in short, regardless of what kind of vehicle based trip you do, just get out there and have fun. What type of trip are you doing? That depends on the purpose you set for your trip.

Why should you plan and take one of these trips? Why not? We all need a break from the rat race, the mundane rituals of our daily lives. Any one of these types of trips is a great way to recharge.

What vehicle should you use for what type of trip? Well that’s all going to depend on what you have and what your doing. But we’ll save that for a future discussion. For now, I’ll say just know your vehicle, it’s limitations, and don’t exceed them.

So what is overlanding? Overlanding is a form of vehicle based recreational camping in which your destination is typically not reachable with the average vehicle. This is not to say Walmart hopping in an RV isn’t overlanding, it certainly can be and there are people who do it that way.

Links

These are just a few link of the thousands out on the interweb. A Google search for exactly what you’re looking for is honestly your best bet but you might find these just as useful.