FLAGSTAFF, AZ (AZFamily) — For 16 years, Overland Expo in Flagstaff has brought together the car camping and overlanding communities. With over 400 vendors and tens of thousands of people attending this year, it’s bigger and better than ever.
From rooftop campers to everything you need to stay out in the wilderness, Overland Expo in Flagstaff has it all. Matt Feldermann has been attending the event since 2012 and said a lot has changed.
“The difference between camping and overlanding is that overlanding is mostly vehicle dependent, and it’s also often longer periods of time,” Feldermann said.
Feldermann has been overlanding for over two decades and now works for one of the vendors. He said starting overlanding changed his life.
“Every day I get to do what I love,” he said. “I mean that’s the ultimate goal, right? It’s really allowed me to see places that I otherwise would have never seen.”
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This event draws about 30,000 people from all over the country. Visitors can check out the newest overlanding equipment and even gear that has yet to be released.
Steve Sharples has been working on a new rooftop tent idea for Jeep for years. “So I came up with this idea that we could put a specialized rooftop tent specific for Wrangler that’s different than everything else on the market,” he said.
This year, the prototype was unveiled at the expo, and they will get feedback from attendees to use towards the final product. “To see your baby get revealed and I’m getting and my phones are ringing off the hook now,” Sharples said. “So it’s really cool.”
So, whether you’re new to overlanding or have been doing it for years, there’s something here for everyone. “It goes so much deeper than just seeing the cool parts, the cool vehicle,” Feldermann said. “The biggest element of community out of any of the events that I go to.”
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