Can we Overland in the USA?

Overlanding-Can we overland in the USA?

I agree that a more epic overlanding trip would be had in Africa or a trip that travels from country to country. Most of us will never travel the back roads of Africa or ship our vehicle over to another country and take months off work to travel the back roads

from country to country. But what we can do is travel back roads the USA and explore. Explore near home or far way. We can explore from national park to national park trying to only use back roads. Here in the United States we tend to forget that we can be in the mountains and in a few hours be in the desert, oh and in a few hours be on a coast line, and I'm no even done yet. We have prairie lands, swamps, forests, canyons, and lakes. We have the ability to explore so much more in our own back yard than we would see a trip to several different countries.  We have so many different ecosystems here in the United States all within a daily drive for most places.

I understand how some say overlanding in American is not overlanding because you are never really that far from a city.  Yes we can be in a city quickly almost anywhere we go, but we can also travel backroads and on trails that keep us away from big cities. So it depends on what "overlanding" is to you, and what you want it to be.  Overlanding for so many of us is getting away from the hustle and the bustle of our everyday life.  That may be for a extended weekend, a week long adventure, or for some a multi week trip.  Very rare is a person able to be gone for months at a time.  We all long for extending trips and dream of a life where that may be possible.  So we do what we can to capture even a small part of that "overlanding" life.

I feel that some people are wanting to keep overlanding small.  Just like that local band you liked that one day got lucky and hit it big.  They where still the same band but now you call them sell outs.  "Overlanding is self-reliant adventure travel to remote destinations where the journey is the primary goal.  While expedition is defined as a journey with a purpose, overlanding sees the journey as the purpose"  Where does it say only in Africa?  Or only in other countries?  Is it that some put to much of an emphasis on the word overlanding or that others don't?  I feel that overlanding is a state of mind, a way of life, an adventure, and freedom.

Even Andrew St. Pierre White said we have been overlanding all along, we just called it something different.  So those of you that overland in the USA don't let anyone tell you that is not overlanding.  It is and I beleive it is some of the best overlanding anyone will ever experiance, anywhere.  So go out and explore see the enitre world or even just your backyard.  The point is to challenge yourself, to be outside, to live free, and TO GO ALL OVER.