Vehicle Dependent Expedition Guide

An expedition can be a half day exploring a hill track, two weeks off-road in Turkey or the Pyrenees, or a major journey in Africa, but the demands are similar. Sheppard offers advice on planning, communications, equipment and navigation.

Chris Scott and his band of globetrotting contributors and specialists have put together the definitive manual for planning and undertaking a vehicle-dependent overlanding adventure across the wilds of Africa, Asia and Latin America. The Overlanders’ Handbook is written in the same entertaining yet clear jargon-free English for which Chris’s other books are known – it doesn’t assume you know your plug gap from a radiator cap. Planning – When to go; typical costs; documentation; sponsorship; early overland journeys. Vehicle choice and preparation – The Overlanders’ Handbook is the most comprehensive account in print, covering everything from adapting a cheap car to equipping a campervan or 4x4 for months on the road, or even building and outfitting your own accommodation module to mount on an all-terrain truck chassis. Life on the road – How to handle dodgy borders, haggle over a purchase, treat a dodgy stomach and cope with crazy driving conditions. Guidance on wild camping; navigation and mapping strategies; onward shipping; advice for solo women overlanders; travelling with children or with pets; vehicle repairs and troubleshooting; and off-road driving techniques. Continental route outlines – Guidelines on both popular and obscure overland routes through Africa, Asia and Latin America. Includes fuel prices, easiest borders and best seasons, visa strategies, danger zones and regional highlights. Overlanders’ Tales – Half a dozen accounts of global adventures lasting months or even years – in vans, 4x4s and all-terrain trucks – from contributors aged from 9 to 69. Supported by the online resource: www.overlanders-handbook.com

The story of a solo, off-tracks Sahara expedition where despite confiscation of his maps and satellite images mid-Sahara the author went on to complete a demanding 700-mile off-piste route to visit and photograph the extraordinary landscapes he was determined to see.