Overland Tech and Travel
Advice from the world's
most experienced overlanders
tests, reviews, opinion, and more
First Exploration Quarterly Field Camp Report
Our exploration community came together last week for four days of exploring, training, and best of all, camaraderie in southern Arizona’s beautiful Aravaipa Canyon. Forty explorers joined us and our sponsors—Graham Jackson’s Overland Passage, Goose Gear, Exploro, Swarovski Optik, and Sonoran Rovers—arriving as strangers and departing as friends.
With smaller numbers we were able to host overland training workshops with experts Graham Jackson, Jim West, and Jonathan Hanson in winching, non-winch recovery, and a morning drive up into the woodlands above the ranch. We had a pop-up training opportunity to work as a team to get a 12-foot-tall Bliss Mobil rig into the venue through a creek crossing with lots of low-hanging trees without tearing up the trees or the beautiful new rig.
Brian Fulton with Goose-Gear and Graham talked about storage solutions, Marcus Whittaker of Sonoran Rovers talked about the ins and outs of purchasing classic Land Rovers, Jonathan gave his popular toolkit and bushcraft knife talks, and Roseann lead a group on a beginner’s field sketching and journaling walk.
We enjoyed a panel discussion of Exploration Quarterly contributors, and a hosted dinner (catered by Oracle Patio Cafe) with an agave spirits tasting courtesy Sonoran Rovers. Ecologist and EQ contributor Ben Wilder gave a talk on agave cultivation and spirit production. Each evening we enjoyed movie screenings, including Graham Jackson’s Camp 6 Road, and two vintage overland films: Tom Sheppard’s Widest Beach in the World, and Rough Road to Panama and its sequel Rugged Road to Cape Horn by Sullivan C. Richardson (thank you René and Mike Van Pelt of GXV - Storyteller Overland for the tip!). A campfire, lively discussions, and more spirits followed.
We were sad for the four days to come to an end, but look forward to future Field Camps. We are looking at venues in Maine, the Pacific Northwest, and the Midwest. Send us suggestions of private venues in beautiful, wild places. We hope to see you soon.
First Exploration Quarterly Field Camp – April 5-8, 2025
First Exploration Quarterly Field Camp – Arizona, USA – April 5–8, 2025 at the beautiful and private Aravaipa Canyon Ranch.
Registration is open. Space will be limited.
Enjoy camaraderie with a small group of fellow overlanders, explorers, naturalists, and outdoor enthusiasts
Sunday dinner and drinks, with live music
EQ writers and photographers panels (Q&A)
Enjoy quality time with other explorers around campfires and cocktail hours; have fun with scheduled cook-offs and camp “home tours”
View and test gear up-close with Sponsors
Mini skills clinics every day: overlanding, field arts, victualling, equipment setup and use—the topics are nearly endless.
Pricing begins at just $395
For details and pricing, view our events shop.
Exploration Quarterly Vol. 1, No. 3
Number 3 is at the printer and will be mailing out in mid- and late-January. And we are really pleased with the content. It’s packed full of adventure, equipment, history, field arts, and much more. And there is a slight nautical theme as well. Below is a sneak-preview of some of the content.
A reminder of our publication schedule:
July (print issue with digital version)
October (all-online content)
January (print issue with digital version)
April (all-online content)
If you subscribe now, your subscription will begin with the October online-only issue, Vol. 1, No. 2 (but you will have digital access to No. 1 as well, so it’s a nice bonus).
All-digital subscriptions are $39, and 2 print + 2 online are $49 (we also offer international rates).
Join us today, and never cease exploring.
A family sets sail around the world thirty years (and on the same boat) after their first circumnavigation—this time with the third generation in tow. (Dito Abbot)
Seeking sunken treasure in Dorset. (Roseann Hanson)
Why is Jonathan tossing a ship’s biscuit?
Which is the best portable water container?
Announcing Exploration Quarterly
Can we see a preview?
Yes! We’ve posted a few pages below, and more on the website here. The standard subscription includes two beautiful printed issues per year, and two online issues featuring long-form articles and reviews, plus video content. All-digital subscriptions available as well.
Come explore with us.
I can confidently say you've never seen a magazine quite like this before. Exploration Quarterly will bring to life the passion for all types of exploration and the huge range of interests shared by Roseann and me and several close friends such as Graham Jackson—passions I know are also shared by many reading this because we’ve heard from you over the years. Our explorations might be conducted from the cab of a Land Rover, or they might be purely cerebral as we investigate a 200-year-old chart or a vacuum-tube shortwave radio or a method for making ink from oak galls. We’ll have in-depth equipment reviews not dictated by ad revenue, and long-form white papers investigating dozens of topics from optics to knives to vehicle preparation. Please join us!
When does the first issue drop?
The first print issue (also available digitally) will print and mail in July. We are taking Subscriptions now.
We’re excited to launch this beautiful new magazine, and thank you again for your support. Enjoy the preview and we hope you will join us.
Announcing Exploration Quarterly Magazine
We are pleased to announce a forthcoming new magazine, Exploration Quarterly — For those who do not cease to BE CURIOUS . . . to LEARN . . . to EXPLORE . . .
For details, click >HERE<
VDEG sale . . .
A revised edition of the overland bible, the Vehicle-dependent Expedition Guide, is in the pipeline. We don’t know when it will arrive; we do know it will be slightly larger in format, lightly updated, and for the first time in half a decade will have a higher cover price. In the meantime, we’ve reduced the price of our remaining copies of the current edition to just $60. Among the dozens of emails I’ve received from previous buyers of VDEG, not one has said, “Not worth the price.” The universal reaction is exactly the opposite—this 600-plus page book includes everything you need to know for a three-day weekend exploration of a nearby park, or a three-month scientific expedition in the Sahara. If you’ve been looking for a perfect holiday gift for an overlander you know, this is it.
New Clayton T. Porter short story—free to subscribers
Already read Trail of the Jaguar? How about a free prequel short story, The Poacher Affair?
Sign up for Jonathan’s author e-news to receive the free download link instantly for this fun e-book story with many of the characters you love from the original novel.
https://jonathanhansonauthor.com
Signup link is at the top. Enjoy!
Trail of the Jaguar now available in audio and e-book versions
We heard from fans that audiobook and e-book formats would be most appreciated—and so we are happy to announce that you can purchase directly from us either format for immediate download. Want both? We bundled them together in a discounted package as well!
Hint: When using “Search,” if nothing comes up, reload the page, this usually works. Also, our “Comment” button is on strike thanks to Squarespace, which is proving to be difficult to use! Please email me with comments!
Overland Tech & Travel brings you in-depth overland equipment tests, reviews, news, travel tips, & stories from the best overlanding experts on the planet. Follow or subscribe (below) to keep up to date.
Have a question for Jonathan? Send him an email [click here].
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CLICK HERE to subscribe to Jonathan’s email list; we send once or twice a month, usually Sunday morning for your weekend reading pleasure.
Overland Tech and Travel is curated by Jonathan Hanson, co-founder and former co-owner of the Overland Expo. Jonathan segued from a misspent youth almost directly into a misspent adulthood, cleverly sidestepping any chance of a normal career track or a secure retirement by becoming a freelance writer, working for Outside, National Geographic Adventure, and nearly two dozen other publications. He co-founded Overland Journal in 2007 and was its executive editor until 2011, when he left and sold his shares in the company. His travels encompass explorations on land and sea on six continents, by foot, bicycle, sea kayak, motorcycle, and four-wheel-drive vehicle. He has published a dozen books, several with his wife, Roseann Hanson, gaining several obscure non-cash awards along the way, and is the co-author of the fourth edition of Tom Sheppard's overlanding bible, the Vehicle-dependent Expedition Guide.