This is a thread that I see on another forum I frequent - it is a combination of news about the forum subject (in the other forum's case scuba diving) and also news that makes people laugh - normally it seems to be court cases where someone has been really dumb.

A report from the BBC about Overland Expo - West giving a pretty good write up of what it is about:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-48405631

I agree with the old man. Although I must say, being of the current generation also means that the home situation has also been easier (higher income, better understanding of community at home) so that the likelihood of us going to travel was also bigger.

I don't like the whole American thing where it became a marketing term which allows companies to sell lots of stuff that people barely need.
Especially in the US it is so simple, just buy one of the many available 4x4s, sleep in the back or buy a rooftent, and just go.

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2011 Overland from Amsterdam to Nepal and back
2018 Overland from Amsterdam to Tokyo via Central Asia and Mongolia

Something to do on your travels:

https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/africa/111199741/whale-almost-eats-diver-off-south-africa-coast

Something to see in Barcelona now has a building permit. Only 137 years late.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-48571086

This whole business of what I suppose you could call 'corporate overlanding' has been exercising my mind for some time now and the more events like Overland Expo I visit the more uneasy about it all I become. The obvious answer is to stop going to them but if overland travel is in your blood (like it is with me) then it is a bit like giving up smoking - the spirit may be be willing but the flesh becomes weak very quickly.

I can understand why they've become so popular in recent years - they're a kind of wish list door out of the rat race with many people muttering 'one day, one day' as they stare at the rows of quasi military turnkey travel 'solutions', but for me the expos and the whole world of overland businesses have an element of corporate flypaper about them. If you buzz around the travel world for long enough then sooner or later you'll stick to it. When travel is reduced to merely flitting from one overland event to another it really has lost its point.

It also ties in to the other thread about how much you would spend on an Overland Special version of your bike. As times goes on I am happier with the decision I made some time ago to prepare my own bike for my trip so that I get to know it better, the weak points etc so that I can address them before the trip (eg make my own panniers to allow me to fit a small solar panel to each one etc). Your comments pretty well reflect my own.

What I don't understand is - why does it bother you that someone else is having a different experience? :P

Yeah, much of the branded overland stuff is unneccessary. So don't use it. Grab your Sports Direct discount tent, go out and have an adventure, enjoy your own life, don't worry about someone else ruining the "purity" of what you think is Your Thing.

No it is not "my" thing. And if the publicity gets people to step out of the rat race and enjoy travelling, that is great.
However, I feel like it is just another rat race if you only take it out for the weekends or small holidays, spent your money on a 4x4 but then spend even more on the stuff you put on it. For all of that, you need to make more money or at least keep working just as hard as you did before getting into this hobby of overlanding :P
I guess for many it becomes like a bucket list thing (so far not a problem) that is another expensive hobby that they are trying to squeeze into a working life. In small parts. Doing it in small parts with expensive trucks with expensive goodies makes it very expensive.

Let me be clear that I'm jealous of the awesome nature that is for many Americans their backyard so to speak. Here in Western Europe, it is not so much raw nature, and if it is present, you can't go wheeling through it. So I always need to travel at least 1000km for some nice offroading in the mountains or so.

Let me also be clear, that to me overlanding is something else than having a overprepared 4x4 and basically just going offroading and camping for short holidays.
To me, it seems just like offroading and camping trips, nothing more.

Anyway, it is also a commercial event. I prefer the meetings that we have locally, that are not commercial at all. Then you can tell people the opposite. As in, that your old simple beat up van is already good enough for most of the roads in Asia for example. (I had this discussion recently, somebody thought he needed a really good 4x4 with all the costs etc)

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2011 Overland from Amsterdam to Nepal and back
2018 Overland from Amsterdam to Tokyo via Central Asia and Mongolia

Fresh from News Thump.

https://elpais.com/elpais/2019/06/26/inenglish/1561561148_759643.html
Sometimes people don’t think through their actions.

Too hot to handle

https://metro.co.uk/2019/06/26/naked...-hot-10077649/

Where is "AutoTune" when you need it?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-48783913

We are all tourists. Sitting in a fully loaded 4x4, on a bike or on your rucksack in a bus station

Riding group in Kenya.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-49036017

Nothing needs to be said except "where is your helmet sir?"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgH6...cMgvyrq7o5AYlg