What is overlanding?
Let’s start by defining the term “overlanding,” as it’s not quite the same as “camping.” I view “camping” as a blanket term: You can camp in a parking lot, on a beach, in a resort—you get the gist. “Overlanding is where you travel to a place off the grid while being entirely self-sufficient. Yes, they intermingle, but the idea behind overlanding is a construct that people visualize differently than camping.
It doesn’t mean that you need a rig that costs as much as a house (although that’s pretty popular nowadays). You can have a sleeping bag, a backpack, and a bike, and still qualify as an overlander as long as you are off the grid, and, usually, in the wild. If you’re in a location where no one can reach you on your cell phone, you’re doing it right.
The 2025 Overland Expo SoCal
There are five Overland Expos throughout the United States: the West, Pacific Northwest, Mountain West, East, and now Southern California (SoCal). The SoCal event celebrated its inaugural showing at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa, CA, from Saturday, March 16th, to Sunday, March 17th, which is a little smaller than other venues.
Despite its smaller size, the Overland Expo SoCal is jam-packed with just about everything outdoor enthusiasts, overlanders, campers, and the curious could want. There are a variety of overlanding workshops covering just about every base. Not only are there overlanding rigs everywhere, but automakers like Subaru and Honda have set up interactive booths as well.
You must be logged in to post a comment.