Fair play mate. And, yes, I think you may be right, in that I need to harden up. Are you a veteran of overland expeditions, yourself? I am genuinely interested in your experiences.

Thanks, Chris. As you say, creative means!!

Personally I do a lot more of Overlanding since the pandemic situation did start.

Mostly because it is something we can do without special restrictions like "vaccinated and tested" or so called 2g+ or other local limitations like meetup with people out of just "2 households".

Yes, it isnt a transafrica nor the panamericana nor the planned longterm silkroad journey we did wanted to start in 2021. But we do a lot of microadventures, trips for 1-2-3 nights, always with our loved overlanding car, campfire and cooking our own food.

As we all can see in the web - more spontaneous travellers was able to start their journey at 2021, I did follow travellers on their transafrica over the west (!), travellers who was able to enter Russia, Lybia and Iran.

My fiancée and i both work for different employers and need a lead time to get out of our commitments - but it was possible to start at least a transsibiria easily at 2021.

All who means they want to start at 2022 -we all know from the past that there is a timeframe between Jun-August where the (c)ovid situation is more relaxed.

Probably it makes sence to do overlanding more intense and with less milage, travelling less countrys and use less border crossings.

Like as example doing the blue transibiria line instead the red silkroad options - for those who have to eat miles to get their fullfillment...



Overlanding means not to do usual package tourism stuff, is about nature, landscape, about discovering remote areas - what is still possible.

For Overlanding in Germany or Turkey or Iran in all beautiful details and areas you need months, similar to any country in that size, to bring an example

There it dosnt hurt when you have todo an PCR Test even if you are triple vaccinated to visit a restaurant - you can live the overlanding live with cooking your own meal.

Those who decide to stay at home, dont try to find apologies for yourself. It was still a decision....

Surfy

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About Overlanding, Travelogues, Equipment
Trans-Africa over the west coast

I am very sad to see that you don't subscribe to 'Leave no Trace'...

and why is your snorkel pointing the wrong way?

You are the one who did it wrong with the snorkel. But dont be sad. 60% of the swiss cars with a snorkel did (or had too do) the same mistake.

The Snorkel leads in Switzerland into the direction that the MFK/TÜV wants it.

In Switzerland you see them 40% like showed above 60% had them with the head looking backwards. Changing the city can lead to another direction.

But: Like showed it is the correct way to fit a snorkel.

Probably you may think you know it better - but I would say the correct setting should be defined by the manufacturer:

https://www.the4wdshed.com/assets/fi...ta-install.pdf or too https://www.safari4x4.com.au/

If you still feels unsafe about - why you dont use a cyclon head? A Cyclon head on top of the snorkel is harder to fit it the wrong way.

Leave no trace? Why do you point to the fire at the picture? The iPad at the ground is probably more something to discuss than the fire itself?

Surfy

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About Overlanding, Travelogues, Equipment
Trans-Africa over the west coast

Maybe I missed something but for most people "Leave No Trace" is self explanatory"

The ipad isn't likely to leave an impression on the ground but alas, your unnecessary large fire will.

@TheWarden: Obviously not that particular Swiss person!

@Surfy
Yes, I do have a cyclonic which I fit for high dust areas (Africa mostly)
Rear facing snorkel for times when heavy rains, water crossings and snowfall (don't you get any of that in die Schweiz?) are likely- seasonal changes means you adjust the direction of the head.


Next, you'll be telling us you absolutely cannot overland without a V8 ...

I thought that too, but now I`m unshure.

Puhh, really - do we like this style of discussion?

But back to the snorkel: I didnt turn them, not at rain, not at water crossings.

Surfy

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About Overlanding, Travelogues, Equipment
Trans-Africa over the west coast

The wrong way? Almost all snorkels I have seen are placed like that.

In my opinion it doesn´t matter how much a mess it is at someones campsite. The important thing is how the place looks like when they leave the place. I thought that was the meaning of leave no trace, but I could be wrong, english is not my mother tongue.

I don´t want to point this thread in another direction but the term ¨overlanding¨ is something that can be discussed for long times. Personally I wouldn´t call extended weekend trips or even ¨normal¨ holiday trips overlanding. But If someone wants to discuss this, please make another thread.

To the OP´s question:
I don´t think it´s the end. I think the time has come that the goverments stop panicking and find a way to live with this disease like we live with other diseases. Then the borders will open again. Remember the WHO didn´t advice border closures, they even said closing borders did not work in former pandemics and won´t work in this one either.


Rögnvaldur

Please, no, not another discussion on who's a 'real' overlander. They always end up as:

I overland on tough hidden trails that only the locals know, and live on tree bark

You do two day trips to tourist beaches and live on alcohol and ice cream

He rides his GS to Starbucks and comes home with a caffeine headache.

As for covid and its consequences marking the end of 'overlanding'; perleeeze - the words 'get a grip + some patience' come to mind.

At the start of 2020 when I decided to postpone my trans-Asia trip to 2022 people were telling me to "just go". Well if lockdown hadn't got me the virus could have, pre vaccination, so I'm glad I ignored that advice. I still want to go in 2022, and being fully vaccinated I'm reasonably confident of my health, but the border crossing and potential lockdown issues in various countries make me wonder if it still isn't more trouble then it's worth. I certainly don't want to blast across in a couple of months or shorten the trip, that defeats the object of the exercise. And sadly at this moment I can't see 2022 being very different from this year. But I do think that sooner or later the virus and various political instability issues along the way will improve... just wish I knew when.

I don`t see any end of overlanding for the future but I don`t have a clue when this future will take part. Maybe when science will be able to respond detailed to the unanswered question of the expiration date of the term "being fully vaccinated".

Sadly this question is actual truth because having 2 shots and a booster jab are nothing more than a nice to have but still without any evidence of a vaccination protection against Omicron.

In July 2021, long time before Omicron was found, german Robert Koch Institute officially stated that booster jabs against Delta will be necessary in autumn/winter to reach a valid period of vaccination protection.

Regardless how the actual virus variant is named it is still the same problem for me: I know I have a time limited protection against a severe course of the disease with Delta. This and all unknown about Omicron will be my first handicap and my main reason for running into other problems when I start overlanding now or in the next 6 months.

So some months more time for me to dream on and to enjoy the deep hidden wisdom of the HUBB.

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I'm sitting in Turkey having just driven from the UK across Europe (Netherlands - Germany - Austria - Hungary - Serbia - Bulgaria - Turkey) in a few days. I had to show a covid negative lab test to get on the ferry off Brexit Island, since landing in Hook of Holland not a single person at any border has asked for anything related to covid.

In the coming weeks I plan to cross into Iran and then loop back through the Middle East and eventually back to Turkey. All borders in the region are currently open (from a covid point of view, the Turkey - Syria border for example remains closed due to conflict).

To take your two trips that you mention so far as examples, I'm not sure if you could make it to India right now, but I suspect the Iran - Pakistan border is open. And Pakistan is far nicer to travel in than India in my opinion (having spent several months in India and a year in Pakistan). You couldn't get to Timbuktu, but then you couldn't do that before covid due to the insurgency there.

SE Asia is still off the radar, but then the Burmese coup will probably see the border closed for some time so that is not entirely due to covid from an overlanding point of view. Russia and Kazakhstan are closed which cuts off much of central Asia and Mongolia - that is a big loss in my opinion but it will open up sooner or later again.

Africa is closed on the east side due to conflict, nothing to do with covid (directly at least). West side I think has recently reopened, at least as far as Sengal I believe but Im not keeping much of an eye on it.

Americas I think are open, if that is of interest to you.

So in short I think covid has currently fairly little direct influence on most parts of the world.

Are you sure you are not looking for an excuse not to do the trip? If the time is right, just go.

EO

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EurasiaOverland a memoir of one quarter of a million kilometres by road through all of the Former USSR, Western and Southern Asia.