Expeditions West, Overland Journal, and Overland Training have been featured in the new ExOfficio newsletter. Check it out here and don’t forget to subscribe.
- Chuck
Over on ExpeditionPortal, a recent thread posed this question for forum members: “how many countries have you visited?” There are a ton of interesting responses - with one member having visited 80+ countries in his lifetime. Very impressive.
Here’s my list:
North America:
Bahamas
Canada
Mexico
Turks and Caicos
USA (I’ve been to 26 states, mostly out west.)
Central America
Belize
Costa Rica
Guatemala
Honduras
Nicaragua
Panama
South America
Brazil
Ecuador
Europe
UK
France
Switzerland
Germany
Denmark
Sweden
Finland
Norway
Estonia
Czech Republic
Netherlands
Poland
Hungary
Slovakia
Italy
Netherlands
Belgium
Spain
Oceania
New Zealand
If my arithmetic is correct, that puts me at 34 countries. Not bad considering I just celebrated my 24th birthday? Head on over and make your own contribution here.
- Chuck
Scott, Jeremy and Nathan just completed another section of the Arizona Traverse project. They traveled from Wickenburg to Prescott on zero miles of pavement - 100 miles of dirt!
Here are some photos of them setting off on their expedition:
You can view more photos over at ExpeditionPortal. I hope everyone is having a good Friday - enjoy the weekend!
- Chuck
Canon is marketing it’s new D-10 as an adventure camera. It’s waterproof, freezeproof, and shockproof. It looks like a pretty nice value at roughly $300.00. The styling leaves a little to be desired but it looks like Canon paid attention to the most two most important factors: functionality and durability.
Engadget has nothing but good things to say about the camera. The camera was put through the ringer on a Central American vacation - a few of the same areas Scott visited on his Ends of the Earth expedition. A few minor quibbles aside, it looks like a solid buy. They mention that their camera shipped with the accessory kit. Unfortunately for us regular joes, the accessory kit looks like it will set you back a cool $100 bucks.
Anyways, here is the link to the review. It’s also on sale over at Amazon - it’s on sale for $286.00
Pangea Expeditions has posted an article offering a look at AEV’s J8 Milspec:
“While in Prescott for the Overland Expo, we had the opportunity to get a sneak peek of the upcoming American Expedition Vehicles (AEV) J8 MILSPEC. At first glance, this vehicle looks like a stock Jeep JK Unlimited, but the similarities end with the body shape. The vehicle is similar to the J8 “Sarge” truck that made the rounds at auto shows in 2008. The J8 MILSPEC is built as a CKD (Complete Knockdown Kit, ie kit car) from a MIL-spec heavy-duty Egyptian Jeep Wrangler LWB. The vehicle is delivered to the customer as a rolling chassis, with drivetrain installation done by the end user. Engine choices are either a 5.7L HEMI gas engine or a 2.8L common-rail Turbo Diesel engine.” Check out the rest of the article and a photo gallery here.
Sagen Media and Expedition Pictures have produced a video of the J8 Milspec in action. The video features EW’s Scott Brady behind the wheel. View it here.
Great looking vehicle!
- Chuck
Two new adventure articles have been uploaded to the EW website. Check out these links:
Enjoy the articles.
- Chuck
Maintaining an internet connection in the field is a pain - especially when traveling internationally. Not all cell phone networks are created equally and having the right data plan is a pain.
Verizon is looking to be your one stop global data shop. Tomorrow, Verizon is rolling out a global laptop data plan. Verizon’s new Novatel-sourced USB modem features EV-DO Rev. A for domestic use plus triband HSPA when you’re roaming around the globe.
This will be a serious boon to overlanders who need to maintain an internet connection at home.
Read more here: http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/18/verizon-rolls-out-global-laptop-data-with-usb1000-stick/
- Chuck
Expeditions West has had a second segment air on Mobil1’s The Grid. Don’t worry - if your cable or satellite provider doesn’t carry the Speed Channel you can watch it online here: http://www.grid1.tv/#browse/media_vault/tribes?id=1
This video clip details another segment of Scott Brady’s Ends of the Earth expedition - the Central American jungle.
Enjoy!
- Chuck
In my last post, I linked to some leaked information concerning a new camera from Olympus. Since then, the camera has been officially announced and it’s safe to say everyone here at the EW office is salivating over it’s retro looks and very capable feature set.
More info here: http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/16/olympus-e-p1-digital-pen-gets-official-so-does-our-lust/
-Chuck
Here are a couple of news stories that caught my eye recently:
That’s it for today - I’ll try and post more overlanding related news stories in the near future.
-Chuck