Originally an Australian term, overlanding means 'droving of livestock' over long distances to open up new country for grazing or to take them to far marketplaces.
In today's world, it's a self reliant way of traveling to remote places over land. The destination isn't important, but the journey and the experiences.
To get started, the right mindset and the 'spirit of adventure' is the most important criteria. A high clearance, preferably an AWD/4WD vehicle does help. Make some investment in camping options, storage, safety/emergency gears, navigation and communication, and you are pretty much set.
My Subaru Outback has been a solid partner in many of my adventures and obviously it was a no brainer to deck it up. I built a bed platform which served as a storage compartment as well. The Subaru's has a legendary All-Wheel drive capability in almost any condition, so the upgraded A/T tires were a bonus. Spent some nominal money on communication (GMRS), LTE signal boost (WeBoost), emergency gear (full size tire, inflator, jump starter) and first aid. Not absolutely necessary, but depending on your trip, it's a good idea to carry a satellite messenger for emergency SOS. Some people invest on external lights but I decided to keep the stock. That's about it!!!
Since the 'shelter in place' enforced in mid March, California has relaxed outdoor recreation a bit more, and hence quite a few public and primitive campgrounds has been opened to the public. The latter was obviously the choice to stay away from the crowd, and be inline with the spirit of 'social distancing'.
Hence, with all the new bells and whistles, the plan was to head out to something easy or moderate and leverage the BLM land available for dispersed camping. Weekend well spent high in the Eastern Sierras, in great company, good food and in the midst of nature. Looking forward to many more trips!!!
