Shoutout: Horizons Unlimited Travellers Meetings

Looking for some overland inspiration?  Be sure to check out the many events that Horizons Unlimited (@horizonsUnlimit) will be hosting throughout the year, including a four new events for 2014.

Google Image Search: Horizons Unlimited Travellers Meeting

Link to the website: http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/events

HU Events

I was hoping to be able to attend the inaugural Australian NSW event taking place in November but unfortunately I will be exploring Fraser Island for the first time.  Perhaps next year!

The Commercial GPS turns 25 years old!

Twenty-five years ago, the first Magellan GPS unit were shipped to retailers for the average consumer to purchase.  The release of this military grade equipment quickly gained adoption as navigation devices in light aircraft, vehicles and adventure travel.  This single technology, coupled with mobile technology, has impacted overland travel more than any other device.

Mashable highlights a few memorable moments throughout Commercial GPS history:

While GPS proved invaluable to the coalition forces, it could prove equally valuable for the enemy. So the government introduced "selective availability" (SA) — errors added to reduce accuracy in civilian GPS receivers.

President Clinton turned off SA on May 1, 2000, which improved consumer device accuracy to 15 meters, coincidentally around the same time the first handheld units with included city street maps became available, such as the first full-color GPS handheld, the Magellan Meridian Color Handheld GPS Navigator, in 2002.

After the success of the [Magellan] NAV 1000 and the publicity generated by the Gulf War, the GPS floodgates opened. A variety of GPS devices from other companies such as Garmin (1989), TomTom (1991) and Mio (2002), hit the market using maps and navigation software from a variety of suppliers such as Navteq (1987), Navigon (1991), SiRF (1995) and TeleNav (1999).

Africa Overland: The Solo Scooterist (Michael Strauss)

Why take a heavy overland prepped motorcycle when you can complete a Trans-Africa overland adventure on a Vespa!  Introducing Michael Strauss and his Vespa named Victoria.

Michael Strauss - Solo Scooterist

Michael departed Johannesburg on the 1st May 2014 and is heading North.  His website is active with a good mix of content and photos.

Box It: a recommendation for Wolf Boxes

Box it, pack it, store it - how do you pack your overland prepared vehicle to ensure the items are accessible, secure and dust/water proof.   Recently FunRover uploaded a video comparing the Wolf Box vs the Really Useful Box.  The video takes a light-hearted approach to the topic of expedition boxes, durability and capacity but gets the point across on purchasing the right storage solution for overland travel.

I have used Wolf Boxes for over a decade of independent travel, in various types of overland prepped vehicles, and find them very practical, with the right balance of internal storage capacity vs physical dimensions.  The option to use a high-lid or standard-lid enable right-sizing of the packing solution.  They do have limitations, as the FunRover video highlighted: dust and water ingress plus the lid retaining clips have a very bad habit of snapping!

Google Image Sarch: Wolf Box