Overlanding Tips for Road Trips Abroad

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Dan Grec is an overland travel enthusiast who has driven the Pan-American Highway from Alaska to Chile and most recently lived in his Jeep for three years while circumnavigating Africa. In this episode of the 101, Bryan Rogala talks with Grec about some of the lessons he’s learned over the years on his various international road trips. Keep an eye out for a full tour of Grec’s Jeep in the next episode.

Edited and Produced by Bryan Rogala

Jan 7, 2020

Video Transcript

BRYAN ROGALA: Hey, everybody. Bryan Rogala here for Outside. This is "The 101." Today, we're hanging out with Dan Grec. Dan has traveled extensively in the Jeep Wrangler that you see behind me. We've got a full tour of that. But right now, I want to get Dan's tips on international overland travel.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

Most of the people that we've talked to on this series are usually driving for a few weeks at a time, maybe some smaller trips. But you've lived out of your Jeep-- for three years, most recently-- long periods of time. So what are your top tips for anybody who's going to go on a long expedition and travel internationally with your vehicle.

DAN GREC: Bryan, I'd say number one is the world is a lot safer and friendlier than you think, you know, than the media shows us. So get out there. Go and have an adventure. Don't be afraid of the big, bad world.

I'd say number two for me is stop focusing on the gear and the toys and all of the accessories and remember that this is all about adventure. And it's OK to have gear that's got duct tape on it because it means you had big adventures, and that's what it's all about.

BRYAN ROGALA: And you could spend more money on the trip than the actual toys.

DAN GREC: Right, gassing the tank's got to be the point of it all. I'd say eat some street food along the way. People cook delicious spicy food, and you want to sample as much of it as you can.

And I'd also say learn some local language. You're going to have a lot more fun interacting with people and bantering and joking around when you can actually talk to them, and they'll really appreciate that you've tried to interact with them.

But most of all, I'd say, just go for it. That's the number one advice. Have adventures. Go and have fun.

BRYAN ROGALA: And I think that's an important one because a lot of times it's easy to get caught up in the planning and thinking, oh my gosh, I could never do something like that. But as you've proven, you can actually do it. It's not that difficult to do.

DAN GREC: That's right.

BRYAN ROGALA: Cool. Well, if you enjoyed this video and you want to see more, make sure you subscribe to our YouTube channel. Watch for the full tour with Dan's Jeep. And we'll see you next time.