The XOVERLAND Podcast

Eldest son to Clay and Rachelle Croft, at seventeen, Cyrus Croft is the youngest member of the Expedition Overland team. First joining an expedition as a full XO team member for the filming of Alaska: The Last Frontier in the summer of 2021, Cyrus returned to join the team this past summer to head to Europe to shoot The Nordic Series.Traveling for Nordic marked Cyrus’s first international experience as an overlander and expanded upon his team roles as driver, production assistant, and talent.For a seventeen-year-old junior in high school, an 8-week long overlanding odyssey through Scandinavia is certainly a departure from the norm, and playing a key role on an XO production crew is a large responsibility. Join us for the discussion, as Cyrus shares his rare perspective as a teenage overlander, what it’s like to manage school while overlanding abroad, his life within the Croft family, and his own hopes and dreams as a young overlander. Read the full show notes here!

Join Clay and Jimmy as they have the privilege to sit down with Mike Glover, former Special Forces soldier and C.I.A. operative, and owner of Fieldcraft Survival. When it comes to vehicle-based adventure travel and overlanding, we want to have fun while keeping ourselves and our fellow travelers safe. Whether we are traveling solo, with a partner, as a family, or as a highly capable team, best practices for staying safe and secure are presented here.Mike is owner/founder of Fieldcraft Survival, a business built off of the expertise and copious experience Mike gained in his 18 years in the U.S. military. The mission of Field Craft Survival is to provide training, education, and high-quality gear to equip average citizens to be prepared in the face of a worst-case scenario involving any sort of human or naturally caused disaster.In this episode of the X Overland Podcast, join Mike and Clay as the two discuss best practices for staying safe while overlanding. Learn how to select a safe campsite, listen to your intuition, prepare for and educate yourself about where you will be going, and avoid conflicts while traveling.Read the full show notes here!Watch this podcast here!

Want to know what it’s like to go overlanding in Europe? Scandinavia? Norway? Fresh off the plane and back home from filming Expedition Overland’s Nordic Series, Rachelle Croft sits down to share her experiences. Listen in as Rachelle explains the Scandinavian concept of “right-to-roam” and “off-pavement” vs. “off-road.” Learn the basics of overlanding in Europe and how the experience differs from overlanding in the U.S. and in less developed countries around the world.Learn about how and where to camp in Scandinavia, plus, hear why Rachelle has her heart set on returning to Norway!Watch the podcast here!Read the show notes here!

Host, Jimmy Lewis, sits down for a conversation with Expedition Overland’s own Tanner Johnson before he heads to Iceland to meet the team to film Season 5, the Nordic Series! Tanner joined XOverland in 2019 with a background in photography and a love of mechanics, truck-building, and overlanding. Highly talented and versatile, Tanner often runs lead on photography and cinematography while serving as talent on our global expeditions. At our headquarters in Bozeman, Tanner holds the vital role of Shop Manager for all of our XOverland vehicle builds. Along with learning more about everything Tanner does for the Expedition Overland team, discover his own backstory, interests and passions beyond the hangar by joining us for this inspiring conversation with a man who has become well-known and loved by XO fans!This episode is brought to you by onX Offroad. Use the most trusted off-roading app, onX Offroad, to discover nearby trails, plan and track your trips, share waypoints with friends, and get home safely. Get 20% off your subscription with code 'XOVERLAND'.Read the full show notes here!Watch this podcast here!

Have you wondered how a family of five could transition from a conventional life in the suburbs to living life as full-time overlanders? The van Stralen family of Epic Family Road Trip provides an honest portrait of exactly what such a shift looks like. Join host, Jimmy Lewis, as he sits down with Peter and Carol van Stralen to discuss their extraordinary life story that lead to their becoming the parents of an overlanding family raising their kids on the road.Peter’s background in business, Carol’s experiences as an overlanding mother, the unique education of the van Stralen children–Caroline, Pete Jr., and Dan–is all explored in this in-depth, honest, and insightful look at the family behind EFRT (Epic Family Road Trip).This episode is brought to you by onX Offroad. Use the most trusted off-roading app, onX Offroad, to discover nearby trails, plan and track your trips, share waypoints with friends, and get home safely. Get 20% off your subscription with code 'XOVERLAND'.Read the full show notes here!Watch the podcast here!

Clay sits down for a conversation with a mentor of his own, Overland Journal and expeditionportal.com founder and CEO, Scott Brady. Join the discussion, as Scott Brady shares his own start in adventure travel and overlanding along with his current travel philosophy and approach to building overland vehicles.Clay and Scott additionally enjoy discussing their shared traveling experiences while on expedition together in Greenland and on the E7 (Expeditions 7) expedition across all seven of the earth’s continents. Finally, the two share an intimate discussion about living one’s life with an open mind and the need to appreciate differences to nurture a supportive community in any space, physical or digital. This unique episode provides a rare look into the minds of two celebrated men who have worked hard to bring the joy of overlanding into the lives of many while continuing to explore their own vision within the world of adventure travel. This episode is brought to you by onX Offroad. Use the most trusted off-roading app, onX Offroad, to discover nearby trails, plan and track your trips, share waypoints with friends, and get home safely. Get 20% off your subscription with code 'XOVERLAND'.Read the full show notes here!Watch the video version of this podcast here!

Episode Description:What is a “Power Management System” and why is it helpful (some might say essential) to have in an overland vehicle? How do you set up a power management system in your overland vehicle and how do you use it?Here at Expedition Overland, we have used REDARC Power Management Systems for years. As a team that films our overland adventures, a capable and reliable power management system in our vehicles is essential to our work. That’s why we are proud to be partnered with REDARC Electronics and grateful for the exceptional quality of their products.If you’re like a lot of people who may be new to the overlanding space, you have probably heard the brand name “REDARC” used on multiple occasions and may have even seen a REDARC monitor in an overland vehicle. Perhaps you’ve even seen someone controlling their vehicle’s lighting and electronic devices from an app on their phone and wondered how they did that. You may be wondering what a REDARC system is exactly, why it’s important, and how you use it.Simply put, a REDARC system is a power management system for an overland vehicle.Join X Overland Podcast host, Jimmy Lewis, as he sits down with REDARC brand representative, John Brothers, at Expo West 2022 in an attempt to answer these questions and to address everything you need to know to develop an understanding of electronic power management systems in overland vehicles.This episode is brought to you by onX Offroad. Use the most trusted off-roading app, onX Offroad, to discover nearby trails, plan and track your trips, and get home safely. Get 20% off your subscription with code 'XOVERLAND'.Read the full show notes here!

Episode DescriptionBuying a vehicle with plans to set it up for overlanding adventure? Already own a vehicle you’re ready to start building into an overlanding rig? Whether you’re buying new or used, you will gain a lot of useful ideas by hearing Clay and Rachelle’s take on the Top Ten Modifications for your overland vehicle. In this episode of the X Overland Podcast, Clay, Rachelle, and host, Jimmy Lewis, share their opinions on the Top-Ten modifications to equip a vehicle for overland travel. Winch or roof rack? 33” tires or 37s? Roof-mounted lightbar or S.A.E. fog lights? This discussion will provide you with useful answers to these questions and more of the knowledge you need to confidently and effectively modify your overland vehicle with a best-practices approach that is cost-effective and fulfilling.This episode is brought to you by onX Offroad. Use the most trusted off-roading app, onX Offroad, to discover nearby trails, plan and track your trips, share waypoints with friends, and get home safely. Get 20% off your subscription with code 'XOVERLAND'.Read the full show notes here!

Join the conversation with friendly and charming Canadian overlanding couple Richard and Ashley Giordano of Desk to Glory as the two share their origin story as an overlanding couple. Richard and Ashley’s experience will inspire anyone interested in getting started in overlanding, whether as a couple or solo. Learn how to have big fun overlanding on a small budget and what it looks like to travel the Pan-American Highway, the Arctic Circle in winter, and many places in between!This episode is brought to you by onX Offroad. Use the most trusted off-roading app, onX Offroad, to discover nearby trails, plan and track your trips, share waypoints with friends, and get home safely. Get 20% off your subscription with code 'XOVERLAND'.Read the full show notes here!

Tanner and Clay share all aspects of building out X Overland’s newest vehicle: 2022 3rd Generation Toyota Tundra, “Orion.” Orion is the flagship vehicle for our new Nordic Series and has been built for comfortable long-distance overland travel. This truck is an all-new Toyota platform, which made for an exciting build process for our team. Join the discussion as we share our experience in building out this awesome new Toyota platform!Read the full show notes here!This episode is brought to you by onX Offroad. Use the most trusted off-roading app, onX Offroad, to discover nearby trails, plan and track your trips, share waypoints with friends, and get home safely. Get 20% off your subscription with code 'XOVERLAND'.