Adventure Overland 2018

Just back from another successful Adventure Overland show held over the weekend of 28-29 April in Stratford-Upon-Avon, UK. Despite the weather being less than ideal (cold, wet and grey) the show was a success with a pretty good turn out of overlanders, clubs, traders and presenters. 

I presented again, as I usually do on personal security on the road...always well attended and topical, as it is something everyone planning a trip worries about at least a little bit. Given that I am a global security advisor for humanitarian NGO's in my day job, much of that knowledge transfers easily to the adventure travel sector. 

I also had a fun presentation titled: "The Benefits of Traveling Light" on the Sunday where I got to poke a bit of fun at those overlanders who try to cram every shiny, expensive accessory onto their trucks...a personal pet peev of mine obviously. But the session went over well and I saw quite a few nodding heads as our messaging about looking at how successful motorcycle travellers are travelling around the world with virtually no gear came through. So, if they can do it with just a couple of side panniers why do 4x4-based overlanders feel they need so much gear?

Met some cool people and enjoyed the event immensely. Looking forward to the fall show on 22-23 September from which we will then set off on our next Morocco trip.

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Welcome to the PPE News and Blog section!

Well, this is the first post on our new website, so welcome! I am writing in the expectation that at some point someone might actually stumble upon this site and stay long enough to find something interesting. We don't really expect many people out there will ever decide to take up the open-top overland lifestyle but even if we only reach a small community then we will consider it worth the effort. So what are we hoping to achieve here?

  • First and foremost, pay tribute to the memory of Popski's Private Army, that little-known band of WWII adventurers who accomplished amazing deeds while living and operating out of their stripped-down jeeps. 
  • Find others who might enjoy an open top adventure or link up with others who may be doing this kind of thing now.
  • Offer seats in our vehicles for those who would love to experience this kind of adventure but don't want to build their own open top overland vehicle.
  • Promote safe adventure travel through delivering personal travel security training.
  • Have fun and document our travels!

So, over the comings weeks, months and years I will be posting articles about our previous trips and upcoming expedition plans, how we modified our vehicles, issues affecting the overland community and anything else that strikes us as interesting. 

So, we hope you join us and enjoy what the PPE has to offer!