Expedition Portal & Overland journal (2005), deep-dive into the history

Trend Snapshot: What Overlanders Are Talking About Right Now

1. Expo Overcrowding & Venue Strain
From Expedition Portal forums:

The crowding is not just anecdotal—three pages in, users are advising arriving early, planning escapes for fire risk, and complaining the site’s capacity has stretched thin.

2. Vendor & Gear Buzz at Overland Expo 2025
From a Reddit thread discussing standout exhibitors at OE West 2025:

This suggests smaller vendors with modular, lightweight, or serviceable designs are getting attention on the expo floor—often more so than legacy brands in crowded booths.

3. Skepticism Over “Social Media Overlanding”
From a Jeep/overlanding forum:

Two sides of the same coin: some argue social media hype is fading; others say the core culture is still strong—even in real rigs, not just content.

4. New Product Showcases & Gear Demos Go Viral
From YouTube coverage of OE 2025:

These videos are heavily commented and shared, especially around modular solar rigs, integrated RTTs, new fridge setups, and smart accessories. The trend: gear demos are content now—brands exhibiting must plan to show off in video and social, not just static displays.

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Overland Journal & Expedition Portal: How a Passion Project Became the Voice of an Industry

If you’ve been anywhere near the modern overlanding scene, you’ve heard of Overland Journal and its sister platform, Expedition Portal. Together they’ve become the voice of this industry: testing gear, defining the culture, and even shaping how people talk about overlanding.

What makes them fascinating from a business perspective isn’t just the glossy magazine or the active online forum. It’s how a small group of enthusiasts, led by Scott Brady, turned a personal obsession into a media company that helped build an entire category. I absolutely love this story…

The Founder’s Backstory

Scott Brady didn’t start out in publishing. Before he became synonymous with overlanding media, he worked in tech and finance, building a career as an executive while spending every spare moment outdoors.

By the early 2000s, he was driving Land Cruisers and Defenders across deserts and mountains, and realizing something: in North America, unlike Australia or South Africa, the “overlanding” culture barely existed. People were into Jeep crawling or casual camping, but long-range, self-sustained, international vehicle travel? That was fringe.

Brady saw an opportunity. Frustrated by the lack of reliable resources on vehicles, gear, and technique, he launched Expedition Portal in 2005 as an online forum and community. It quickly became the place where enthusiasts compared builds, shared trip reports, and swapped advice. By 2009, it had expanded into daily editorial content.

Just a year later, in 2006, Brady founded Overland Journal, with its first issue published in 2007. Unlike ad-heavy automotive magazines, OJ was printed on thick paper, featured long-form journalism, and carried only carefully selected advertising. It was built to sit on a coffee table next to National Geographic, not just in a shop waiting room.

Brady’s thesis was bold: if overlanding was to become a recognized lifestyle in North America, it needed a voice, an identity, and a professional-grade platform.

Building Media with Integrity

From day one, Overland Journal differentiated itself by emphasizing credibility. Gear reviews weren’t short blurbs; they were exhaustive, often running for months or years of testing. Travel features weren’t rehashed blog posts—they were detailed, narrative-driven pieces backed by professional photography.

This credibility became the brand’s moat. In an industry where safety and reliability matter, readers trusted Overland Journal to separate hype from real performance.

Growing the Ecosystem

The combination of Expedition Portal and Overland Journal turned into a powerful ecosystem.

• Expedition Portal drew in hundreds of thousands of forum members and readers who debated tire choices, compared recovery gear, and shared knowledge.

• Overland Journal became the curated, polished counterpart—the magazine of record for the industry, and the one advertisers wanted to be in.

One was grassroots conversation; the other was cultural authority. Together, they reinforced each other and gave overlanding in North America a voice.

M&A and the Overland Collective

For years, Overland Journal and Expedition Portal stood apart from the wave of consolidation that swept through outdoor and overlanding events and gear companies. While Overland Expo changed hands twice (from its founders to Lodestone, then to Emerald Expositions), OJ and the Portal remained fiercely independent.

That changed in spring 2025, when XOVERLAND—founded and owned by Clay and Rachelle Croft—acquired both platforms and rolled them into the new Overland Collective.

The Collective now includes:

• Overland Journal – the premium print magazine.

• Expedition Portal – the long-standing community and editorial hub.

• XOVERLAND – the expedition film and content arm.

• XOVERLAND Ranch – the physical HQ and event property in Montana.

The deal wasn’t a hostile takeover—it was more of a strategic partnership. Scott Brady remains Publisher & Chairman, and the editorial identity of both OJ and the Portal stays intact. What the Crofts bring is scale: video production expertise, broader distribution, and a strong digital storytelling engine.

For the industry, this is a signal: overlanding media is consolidating just like the gear and events side. Owning multiple channels—print, digital, community, and video—is the new play.

Current Leadership

Today, the combined Overland Collective is run by a lean but experienced leadership team:

• Scott Brady – Publisher & Chairman

• Tena Overacker – Editor in Chief

• Ashley Giordano – Senior Editor

• Graeme Bell – 4WD Senior Editor

• Stephan Edwards – Associate Editor

• Brian McVickers – Chief Business Development Officer

• Andre Racine – CFO

• Christian Pelletier – CTO

And while Chris Cordes was a key editorial voice for years, he’s now with onX. He still contributes occasionally as a guest, a reminder of the strong alumni network tied to the brand.

Scale & Monetization

Overland Journal and Expedition Portal don’t publish financials. What they do share is scale: their media kit cites 4.3 million+ audience engagements per month across print, web, email, podcast, video, events, and social.

Revenue comes from:

• Subscriptions – loyal readers paying premium rates for Overland Journal.

• Advertising & partnerships – a small number of aligned, high-end brands.

• Events & sponsorships – through collaborations and Collective initiatives.

• Consulting & content services – leveraging expertise to help brands build better gear and tell better stories.

For context, while actual revenues aren’t public, industry estimates suggest a mid-single-digit millions annual scale—a healthy figure for a niche, premium media brand.

Why It Worked

Looking at the trajectory, a few reasons stand out:

1. Credibility is currency.
By refusing to chase ad volume or publish fluff, OJ positioned itself as the most reliable source in the category.

2. Premium over volume.
They embraced being small but high-value, cultivating a loyal base of readers and advertisers.

3. Ecosystem thinking.
Expedition Portal created grassroots conversation; Overland Journal distilled it into authoritative storytelling. Together, they shaped the culture.

4. Founder authenticity.
Scott Brady and the Crofts embody the overlanding lifestyle, lending authenticity to everything they publish.

Challenges Ahead

• Print fragility: Rising costs make print a tough business, even with premium positioning.

• Community migration: Forums aren’t what they once were—much of the conversation has moved to Instagram, YouTube, and Discord.

• Competition: Influencers and YouTubers are flooding the space, changing how enthusiasts consume content.

But there are also opportunities:

• Expanding digital subscriptions and premium video content.

• Leveraging the Overland Collective to build multi-platform partnerships.

• Continuing to serve as the bridge between brands and serious enthusiasts.

Lessons for the Industry

• Authenticity can’t be faked. Brands that live their ethos last.

• Niche doesn’t mean small. Done right, niche markets wield outsized influence.

• Control your ecosystem. Don’t just push content—own the conversation across platforms.

• Strategic partnerships matter. Independence worked for 18 years, but pairing with the right ally (the Crofts and XOVERLAND) adds resources without diluting identity.

The Bottom Line

Overland Journal and Expedition Portal are more than a magazine and a forum. They became the narrative engine of the overlanding movement in North America.

From Scott Brady’s early frustrations with the lack of resources, to a thriving media ecosystem now part of the Overland Collective, their journey has been one of focus, credibility, and passion.

For B2B readers, the lesson is simple: in niche industries, being trusted is more powerful than being the biggest. And for nearly two decades, trust has been Overland Journal’s real product.