OVERLAND JOURNAL FALL 201914
In the springof 2014,HeatherLea thought
her boyfriend’ssuggestionto ride around
the worldtogetheron motorcycleswas a
fantasticidea.Littledid she knowshe was
agreeingto nefariousactivitiessuchas
blowingup her underwearand lettinga dead
toe touchher lips. Or the blood,sweat,and
tearsof breakinga bone,ridingin sand,and
mechanicallytrashingher G 650 GS so ba-
dly, she’dneedto use mostof her trip money
to replaceit with anotherbike moreup to
the task.Heather’sgoal in life has always
beento travelthrough50 countriesby age- Mongoliawas her 51st country,and she
is nowherenear50 yearsold, though closer
than she’d like to admit.
HEATHERLEA
Johnspokehis first wordswhilesquashed
betweenhis parentsin a 1948CJ2AWillys
Jeepand spentmuchof his formativeyears
on familytrips,campingon beachesin Mo-
zambique,and learninglife lessonsfrom
breakdownsin the Botswanabush.After
completinga geologydegree,he spentse-
veralyearsworkingas a remoteexploration
geologistin Africa.Duringtheseyears,John
practicallylivedout of a LandCruiser70-
Seriespickupand developeda stronglove
affairwith them.He has spenttime hitchhiking
in the USAand buildingaquaponicfarmsin
Vietnambut is alwaysinevitablypulledback
to the yard of WillysJeepsat his family home
in Eshowe, South Africa.JOHNGAISFORD
Garyand MonikaWescotthavespentthe last
45 yearsglobetrottingaroundthe world,from
theariddesertof Turkmenistan,following
the Silk Road,to the junglesof the Amazon,
and acrossSiberiain the deadof winter.The
couple’straveladventureshavebeenpub-
lishedin 10 countriesand eightlanguages.
Theirin-depthknowledgeof the problems
and joys of overlandtravelin remoteareasis
incomparable.Garyand Monika’smeticulously
preparedtravel/researchtrucks,fromtheir
originalLandRoverto the currentFordF-550,
The TurtleV, havebeenan inspirationfor many.
Theirexperienceand photographyencompass
whatOverlandJournalis all about.Fromthe
beginning,The TurtleExpedition’smottohas
been, “Don’t take the trip. Let the trip take you.”GARY AND MONIKAWESCOTT
CONTRIBUTORS FALL 2019ALEXPFLAUM
Bornin HongKongonly to departfor New
Zealanda few shortweekslater,Alex Pflaum
grewup on the moveand neverstopped.
Nowa professionalphotographer,writer,
andoutdoorenthusiast,hesethissightson
CentralAsia two yearsago with absolutely
no planson turningback.Alex recentlypub-
lisheda largeformatphotographybookabout
the regionand the historicSilk Road.His next
step is to moveinto the area full time in order
to uncovermuchof the unknownthat still
surroundsthis land that was onceat the
very centerof the world.You can find much
of Alex’s work on his website or Instagram.EMMAROGERS
Emmais a freelancegraphicdesignerand
keenphotographerwho is mostat homein the
mountains.Any of her free momentsare spent
traveling,hiking,and adventuring.Emmaand
her partner,Ben,spentthreeyearsdrivinga
Toyota4RunnerfromDeadhorse,Alaska,to
Ushuaia,Argentina.On the way,they collected
Kaylee(a Guatemalanstreetdog)and a lot of
roadstories.Nowall threeare backin New
Zealand,savingand preparingfor the next big
overlandjourney.In the meantime,thereare
plentyof wild placesto explorecloseto home.
Witha mixtureof localalpineadventuresand
shortoverseastripsplanned,the camera
won’t have time to gather dust.