Is it ‘overlanding’ or is it remote car camping? I’m trying to figure out if my spring 2020 trip I’m planning is the start of a new form of vacationing for me, called overlanding, or if it’s run of the mill remote car camping.
Most people who know me are well aware that I am not a big fan of car camping at designated campgrounds. I enjoy visits to State Parks and State Forests but camping in their drive up campsites has always been lackluster for me. My preference is to get remote and far away from other people, to immerse myself in seclusion.
Is this thing called overlanding the answer?
What Is Overlanding?
Overlanding, according to Wikipedia and many other sites: is self-reliant overland travel to remote destinations where the journey is the principal goal.
That sounds all find and dandy, as I, like many other people, enjoy driving and seeing some amazing sights… but for me the destination is just as important as the journey, and in most cases more important. It’s all part of the greater experience; getting out of the house and outdoors.
What Is Remote Car camping?
Also called dispersed camping, remote camping or remote car camping in some situations, is all about finding a place to camp that is off the beaten path and far away from other people.
Now that is what I like! Getting remote and away from other people. It’s why I love canoe tripping alone into the Boundary Waters Canoe Wilderness Area (BWCWA). Solitude, peace, quiet, mmmm gooood.
Being able to do that from my Jeep could be a lot of fun for various reasons.
2020 Overlanding & Camping Adventures!
My first big adventure this next year that will take me further than 150 miles away from home is in May of 2020. It is going to be an overlanding trip. The journey is going to be oh so important; some highway but lots of back roads to travel and sights to see. I’m talking dirt roads, gravel roads, two tracks in the forest, crossing streams and creeks. You get the idea.
But the destination is as important if not more important than the journey. The destination is a hidden gem I uncovered last year; a couple small lakes brimming with brookies and lakers deep in the forests in Northwest Minnesota not far from the Canadian Border. The lakes have a couple designated campsites on them that are dispersed and removed from each other that hardly ever see any use.
I’m really looking forward to making this trip. There is even a chance my wife and dog may go along… maybe.
Jeep Renegade, Canoe, Camp
My little Jeep Renegade Trailhawk may not have a massive lift or lug tires, but let me tell you it can crawl through some deep muck and over some nasty terrain – within it’s limits of course. Not bad for a vehicle built around a Fiat 500X frame! It’s a tough little SUV. It carries my solo canoe like a champ and all my camping gear (which isn’t much) when I head for the BWCWA.
Usually my canoe trips require I travel light and camp with minimal gear while traveling in the BWCWA. However, my overlanding trip, because I will be camping out of my Jeep, will allow me to bring along some extra gear. That means creature comforts!
What comforts will I be bringing along, you may ask? Well, for starters a 5-6 person tent instead of my usual 2 person. A cot. A larger camp chair with lumbar support! Scotch!! Beer for beer battered fish frying! Cooking oil for fish frying! A cooler filled with delicious foods! You get the idea…
Giving Overlanding A Serious Attempt
So there you have it. Overlanding may become a thing I do from time to time throughout the coming years. I’ll still be doing my wilderness canoe trips away from the vehicle, but likely that will only happen once per year in September.
I’ll be doing some online research this winter for additional quiet destinations I can go to for various overlanding experiences.
The past few weeks I have started watching a YouTuber who moved out of his apartment and does overlanding full time. It is an interesting channel to watch and I’ve learned a lot. If curious to see what I am talking about, check out VENTURE4WD.
TD
