Best Gifts for the Outdoor Lover 2020
Being outside, surrounded by nature, is our happy place. Most of our travels center around overlanding – in our Land Cruiser Troopy, on motorcyles, or by bike – which for us means camping most nights and playing outside during the day – hiking, trail running, kayaking, skiing….you get the idea. We live to be outside. … Read More
Best 4 Season Tent: Hilleberg Keron 3 GT Review
An excellent choice for a wide range of uses from mountaineering to adventure motorcycling, the Hilleberg Keron 3 GT is a robust, livable, and versatile 4 season tent designed for heavy use in all conditions Introduction Welcome to Wanderlibre.com and our review of the versatile Hilleberg Keron 3 GT – our go-to 4 seasons tent … Read More
Best Packable Backpacks & Accessories 2021: Hyperlite, Grayl, and More
Introduction In this post, we discuss lightweight packable backpacks and useful pack accessories, an ultralight and portable way to add a versatile daypack to any travel packing system. Below we explain what a packable backpack is, why they’re ideal for a wide range of travel and outdoor adventures, and how to evaluate which packable backpack … Read More
Minimalist Living: Living With Less to Travel More
Adventures in Downsizing Are we living a minimalist lifestyle? Maybe? Honestly, I’m not 100% sure. Achieving our goal of Freedom of Choice wasn’t meant to be about minimalist living, and we’re not really following the minimalism trend that’s become so popular. But, while we don’t think of ourselves as minimalist, our travel-based lifestyle strives for … Read More
Front Runner Chair Review 2020
Introduction When preparing for our most recent overland trip through Africa and South America, we were looking to upgrade some of our overland gear. A key priority was finding new folding camping chairs to replace the worn-out travel chairs we used on previous overland trips. But finding a fold-up camping chair that strikes the right balance between comfort, ease of use, durability, and packability … Read More
Lifestyle Design: 3 Steps to a Life of Freedom
Lifestyle Design: An Intro to Our Approach In a recent post, we shared some insight into How We Fund Our Travels. But financial independence is just one piece of a larger puzzle we think of as ‘Freedom of Choice.’ Freedom of Choice is the label we put on our lifestyle design blueprint. A basic road map we set in … Read More
How We Fund a Life of Travel
How We Fund a Life of Travel The question we’re asked most often is “How do you fund your travels?” Every time someone asks, I want to reply with a story about how we made a fortune trading pork futures or timed the late 90’s dot-com bubble perfectly to cash-in on stamps.com. In truth, … Read More
Overland Vehicle Security: 5 Common-Sense Tips to Reduce Your Theft Risk
Let me start with a quick story. Back in 2007, our friends were camping in their rooftop tent on a beach in Mozambique when their Land Cruiser was broken into. Sometime during the night, a team of enterprising thieves quietly went about cutting through the seals around one of the Land Cruiser’s rear cargo windows … Read More
Overland Gear Guide: 12 Overland Essentials We Won’t Leave Home Without
Since publishing our Land Cruiser Troopy Camper Conversion 4-Part series, we’ve received questions regarding what we consider to be essential overlanding gear. With that in mind, we’ve put together a list of some of our favorite items that we use heavily. To be clear, this isn’t a complete packing list. Nor is it a guide … Read More
A Comprehensive Pictorial and Specs for Our Surly ECR Bikepacking Setup
We didn’t start out looking for Surly ECR’s for our touring bike setup. Quite the opposite. Having heard great things about Surly bikes, we were looking at road touring bikes, like the Surly Long Haul Trucker. That’s before a trip to Tapanga Creek Outpost, outside LA, shifted our focus to bikepacking and sensible off-road mules … Read More
Complete Bikepacking Gear List 2021: Tools, Camping, Clothes, and More
Bikepacking Gear List for Six Months in Europe When compared to our past experience, selecting gear for a bikepacking trip feels a little like a cross between packing for a dual-sport motorcycle trip and ultra-light backpacking. Put simply, the less we carry, the greater our freedom to explore and the more enjoyable the ride. It’s … Read More
Land Cruiser Troopy Camper Conversion: Part 4 of 4
Custom Land Cruiser Conversion Welcome to the fourth and final installment of our custom Land Cruiser Camper Conversion. In Part 4, Sheri and I return to Cape Town to oversee completion of our build and prepare for departure. During the final two months, it’s all hands on deck as we work with Paul and the … Read More
Land Cruiser Troopy Camper Conversion: Part 3 of 4
Custom Land Cruiser Conversion Welcome to the third installment in our four-part series Land Cruiser Troopy Camper Conversion. If you’re new to the series and want to start from the beginning, click here for Part 1. In Part 3, we take a trip to Southeast Asia, while Alu-Cab installs a custom pop-top roof and R&D … Read More
Land Cruiser Troopy Camper Conversion: Part 2 of 4
Custom Land Cruiser Conversion Welcome to Part 2 of our four-part series – Land Cruiser Troopy Camper Conversion. (To read Part 1, click here.) In Part 2, we pick up the story in Cape Town, South Africa, as we kick-off fitment and begin working with Paul and the teams at R&D Offroad and Alu-Cab to … Read More
Land Cruiser Troopy Camper Conversion: Part 1 of 4
Custom Land Cruiser Conversion As I write this post, it’s been almost a year since we completed our camper conversion of Maggie, the Land Cruiser 78 Series Troop Carrier we’re currently using to explore the world overland. There are many reasons we enjoy overland travel, and we dreamed about the Troop Carrier for years to … Read More
Ultimate Beginner’s Guide on How to Photograph the Stars and Night Sky
Recently we posted a photo on Facebook and Instagram that shows our campsite under a brilliant canopy of stars in Chile’s Elqui Valley. Stargazing in the Elqui Valley was a highlight of our travels in Chile, which also presented a perfect opportunity to try out night sky photography – a first for me. Since posting … Read More