Overlanding with a Truck

Overlanding with a truck is not your standard group tour for many obvious reasons. Overlanding means travelling between different countries crossing borders overland. No flights, no boats, no luxury buses, no air-conditioning. These can be longer vacations / expeditions with overnight stay in tents and self-prepared food. Hotels and restaurants may be visited occasionally.



Overlanding tours can last several months and will create memories for a life-time. It is not only the destination that counts, but also how you get there, what you do along the way and who you meet. These trips are more adventurous than luxurious and really quite affordable. Outdoor toilets as well as campfires with guitar can be part of the experience. All participants are actively involved in daily operations like shopping (at local markets), cooking (for the group) and cleaning. Anyone who feels flexible and energetic enough can join.

Three main routes exist:

1. ASIA: overland from London (England) to Sydney (Australia), either via the North route (Uzbekistan & China) or the South route (Turkey and India)
2. AFRICA: overland from London (or Paris), via Morocco and South-Africa to Cairo (Egypt).
3. AMERICAS: overland from Alaska, via Mexico, Peru and Ushuaia (Argentina) to Rio de Janeiro (Brasil). The Darien Gap (between Colombia and Panama) may be excluded.

The itinerary is not 100% fix and can vary depending on weather, road conditions, borders or other circumstances. It is generally possible to do the complete tour in either direction (duration up to 10 months), or to do shorter parts thereof (duration 1 month or more). There are also possibilities to experience an Overlanding tour in one country or region only (e.g. Tanzania, Peru or China).


Following three travel companies are specialised in overlanding:

1. Dragoman Overland, since 1981
2. Madventure Overland, since approx. 2000
3. Oasis Overland, since approx. 2000

Some other tour operators also conduct tours with truck and camping, especially in Africa. Besides this they may offer regular tours, active vacations, expeditions and even cruises. This includes following tour operators:

1. G Adventures
2. Intrepid Travel
3. Exodus Adventure Travel
4. On-The-Go Tours
5. Explore!

Paul van Schaik, the CEO of ToursOnTheWeb, travelled with Encounter Overland (now Dragoman) three times and it was life changing for him. He can certainly recommend Overlanding, especially when you are new to travel, or you want to see the world on a small budget, or you like camping and the outdoors, or you just like to make international friends. Paul’s memories include camping on the Serengeti, where zebras walked in between the tents at night, doing laundry under the Kilimanjaro and visiting the Maasai people. All quite different from his home country, The Netherlands.