American Adventures

Overland Expo West 2022

We now return to our regularly scheduled programming: Overland Expo West is back to it’s normal timing in May! But with only six-odd months having passed since the last Expo event, like many of you we had to wonder what could really be new here if anything. Cool new stuff was definitely a little harder to come by at this event (don’t worry we still found a few things) but thankfully, Overland Expo is much …
American Adventures

Stuck In The Snow

Recently, a young couple from Louisiana found themselves stuck in the snow in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado. They were miles down a closed road and completely unprepared for the situation they were in. A series of poor choices had led them to their predicament and their experience is a great reminder of how an adventure can turn into a scary suffer fest in short order. This young couple who are probably not old …
American AdventuresGear and SkillsVehicles

The International 4WD Trainers Association: Inside the Testing for Certification

This is an inside look at the I4WDTA. My goal here is to provide some level of transparency for an organization I believe in. To that end, I’d like to provide you with a glimpse inside their Testing for Certification process and the extremely diverse knowledge, skills, and aptitudes required to be successful. There were eight Candidate Trainers and a large number of I4WDTA staff present whom I will refer to here as Cadre during …
AdventureAmerican Adventures

The 2021 Mountain Rendezvous

For the past couple of years, we’ve been restricted in our day-to-day activities. With life slowly returning back to normal and our regularly scheduled programming coming back online, we collectively decided that it’s time to get our 10th Annual Mountain Rendezvous penciled in and official at our go-to MRV location: Camp Tahquitz in Angelus Oaks, CA. With the weather just passing through earlier in the week, all our Adventurists were greeted with the best weather …
AdventureAmerican AdventuresGear and SkillsVehicles

Overland Expo East 2021

This was a busy year. Overland Expo East was to be our third Overland Expo event within the space of a few weeks, and it seemed like I had just returned from Colorado when it was time to go again. Overlanding is different east of the Mississippi, and I was keen on seeing how the East Coast version of Expo was doing. As usual, I left Northwest Florida a couple days early for a bit …
AdventureAmerican AdventuresGear and SkillsVehicles

Overland Expo West 2021

For what feels like forever, Overland Expo West has been part of the calendar, like a holiday or some event that is just always in May.  It’s just always assumed that it’s going to be there, it’s just a question of which weekend in May. Then things changed, and May came and went twice without Overland Expo West.  Meanwhile, the folks at Lodestone Events persevered, and thankfully they were able to lock in dates for …
AdventureAmerican AdventuresGear and SkillsVehicles

Colorado or Bust: Overland Expo Mountain West 2021

Overland Expo Mountain West almost didn’t happen. For most of us, the last year+ was like a dystopian B movie on many levels, complete with terrible casting and an even worse plot line. Because of all that, there was an uncomfortable feeling right up until the day I drove away from Florida for Colorado that this event would somehow get derailed too. I know the event organizers likely aged a few years with worry and …
AdventureAmerican AdventuresVehicles

Jeep fires back at Ford with new JL Wrangler Xtreme Recon Package

A new Jeep® Wrangler Xtreme Recon package raises the bar for the competition while taking the brand into new territory. June 25, 2021 , Auburn Hills, Mich. – Jeep® 4×4 capability is legendary, and the brand continues its leadership position as the most capable 4×4 in the world. As the brand continues its 80th Anniversary this year, it is elevating its capability game yet again with the introduction of the new Jeep Wrangler Xtreme Recon …
American Adventures

OUR POSITION ON THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Today we’re being bombarded with reports from academia, mainstream and social media, and the government. This announcement is not intended to condense all those reports, politicize them, or provide our own set of recommendations, other than to reinforce one particularly important issue – to come together as Americans and stay home. One principle we sincerely believe in is that American Adventurist is a vehicle which allows for the individual, who shares our passion for this pastime and community of interest, to be something greater than yourself through fellowship, stewardship, and leadership. Now is the time to do just that.
American Adventures

The 2020 Desert Rendezvous

Editor’s note: Back in 2010, our “Rendezvous Conspiracy” of like minded Adventurists sat around a campfire in the Southern California desert dreaming up ideas to get out and explore more often. That quiet conversation resulted in the first Desert Rendezvous. Fast forward ten years and American Adventurist grew to tens of thousands of followers across the social media spectrum with members in all 50 states. Early on we made it our business to promote responsible …