My experience at OvEx West was, let’s say, considerably more relaxed than Tim’s.
First off, I arrived early on Thursday afternoon after a quick two-day Interstate blast through Montana, Idaho, and Utah (I’ll have another post on the trip itself coming up). The vast majority of the 200 or so vendors hadn’t even set up yet, and I snagged a pretty great camping spot in the designated OvEx instructor/staff/volunteer camping area.
I soon discovered the defining characteristic of this venue - it is gigantic. From my campground on the western end of Ft. Tuthill County Park, to the attendees’ campground on the far northeastern end (where the only showers were located) was a 30 minute walk. I deeply regretted not bringing my bike, which several folks on the forums had recommended. Let’s just say I put a lot of miles on my Salewas over two days, which wasn’t all bad.
The weather Thursday through Saturday was Arizona-spiffy. There were a large variety of food trucks to sample, a cheerful al fresco bar selling local Flagstaff beer and spirits, of course, a dizzying array of rigs of all shapes and sizes, and more overlanding kit than you could shake a stick at. Organizers were planning on 12,000 people over the course of the weekend, which I don’t doubt, but the sheer size of Ft. Tuthill meant it never really felt all that crowded (except at happy hour!).
I taught two classes on self-drive safari in southern Africa (similar to what we taught at OvEx East), and I was a panelist on one Africa travel roundtable. So, my schedule was exponentially less busy than Tim’s. I had plenty of time to wander through the parking lots and vendor areas, meet some of the world travelers who populated the “Special Vehicles” area, and just generally chill with lots of neat folks.
A few open-ended thoughts before we move on to the photographs - sadly all taken on my iPotato with my wall-eyed sense of framing, light, and composition (Julie’s the photographer in the family):
- My Africa courses were pretty well-attended (a good 35 or so on Friday, and a little fewer on Saturday). We had probably 20 for the round-table. I would say interest in Africa travel is increasing as folks get more heavily invested in overlanding and its accompanying lifestyle(s). This year I talked to a lot more people over the weekend who were actively planning, or had already booked a trip to the continent, than I did at OvEx last fall. My students were much more informed - that might be a function of having a different audience than we did in Asheville, too.
- Regarding that “lifestyle” thing - like many leisure pursuits, the growth in overlanding and adventure travel has spawned a category of consumers that specialized manufacturers and retailers are desperate to woo. And I think all of them were populating the vendor areas. I must have seen 15 different skottle and portable grill companies. There were foldable kayaks, tents of all designs, dehydrated foods, Hi-Lift accessories, bumpers, winches, solar systems, tires, entire engines, campers, not to mention all the firms that build overlanding rigs from the ground up like EarthCruiser and EarthRoamer.
How much of this avalanche of stuff helps people actually get out into the woods and see interesting things, and how much of it ends up simply as new and shiny ways to say to the world “Hey! I’ve got a whoooooole lot of money”, I’m not entirely certain. Without a doubt, one of the reasons we enjoy this kind of travel, and invest time and money into it, is our love of gear and trucks. But, like Pat articulated so well in his podcast appearance with the Untitled Car Show, what’s the ultimate end? Epic drone footage and Beef Wellington on the tailgate? (I mostly ate Cup Noodles on this trip.) Or an opportunity to actually be in a particular place, at a particular time, with nothing but you, your friends and family, and the wilderness?
It can probably be both at the same time - those ends aren’t mutually exclusive - but the Expo concentrates the consumer aspects of overlanding like no other experience (I mean, that’s part of the point, right?). After a while, the vendor area just became one big blur, and I found myself actually avoiding it on my treks across Ft. Tuthill. - People: this is why I love the Expo. Just a couple of snapshots here - I had a chance to connect with Alex and Michaela, of Greeting the World. They are doing a trans-global trip in their Delica from Australia, and I reached out to them on Facebook to encourage them to come to OvEx while they were in the US. They were open, friendly, and deeply enthusiastic (which you need to be on an around-the-world expedition), I felt like I knew them for years. Tiffany Coates and Sam Manicom sat on my Africa travel panel. Tiffany spent two years GPS-mapping Madagascar on her 250cc bike single-handed for Tracks4Africa, not to mention her two ‘round-the-world trips. Sam is a legend in the overland moto community, and possibly the nicest guy on the face of the planet. They both were extra generous with their time and knowledge. Oh, and I finally met Kelsey and that Tim guy. Even though we only had a short time to chat, you can tell why everyone wants to be his friend. Plus one more celebrity you’ll see below.
I left on Saturday afternoon.
My teaching commitments at an end, sufficiently inspired to find some dirt, and with Utah a stone throw’s away, but Montana not so much, it was time. Not to mention the couple in the campsite next to mine seemed to spend the whole weekend actively breaking off their engagement - and that was a real downer.
A word about Andrew St. Pierre White - what a cool guy! He is, as far as I can tell, the same in person as he is on YouTube. We chatted for about 40 minutes on Saturday morning. He’s like a juke-box - drop a dime and he will go on and on. He told me all (and I do mean all) about the plans for the electrical system in his new Troopy to the point where I was well and thoroughly lost, and his daughter Kate was rolling her eyes right onto the ground. But he also listened carefully to my advice about traveling in Montana; he offered to put me in touch with a couple of his friends in Botswana; and had a couple of contacts who can aid in the development of the Pajero, should I need it. I’m going to try to connect with him on the ground again when he returns to Africa next year for more filming.
