Thursday afternoon Passport Control in rural Oxfordshire? Well sort of: we have just arrived at the Overland Event. Due to my lack of social media exposure, I was not aware of the Overland Event’s existence until Anne suggested attending so have no idea what to expect.

At “Passport Control”, we are swiftly registered, gain multi coloured wrist bands and follow then back on the bikes, follow the signs “Motorcycles only” to a large camping area where a multitude of different coloured tents are being busily erected. With rain forecast, we quickly get our faithful Jack Wolfskin tent up and all our gear stowed inside out of the rain.

The Overland Event has been held annually since 2015, except for 2024 to allow the organiser time to take his own trip, a gathering of like minded motorcycle travellers, sharing knowledge and experiences while camping out for three days. Only 500 tickets are made available so the numbers are not overwhelming as can be the case at similar events. Up to three streams of presentations, stands and famous motorcycles on exhibit will keep us fully occupied.

A number of adventure rider luminaries will be here, including Ted Simon, Sam Manicon, Tiffany Coates, Michelle Lamphere and Kinga Tanajewska (from On Her Bike). The first three we have met before at Overland Expo West in Arizona in 2017. Others Anne has been in contact with over the years but never met in person.

As we walk towards the main precinct we note styles of tents range from one man bivouacs to palatial mansion sized tents that require their own sidecar to transport them. While many of the motorcycles were BMW GS’s I only noticed two identical tents.

While the hardier amongst us had their own stoves for cooking, various tasty food trucks and variety of on tap beers and ciders were more than enough for me.

The opening welcome was quite a clever icebreaker, people had been asked to send in interesting motorcycling photos and then explain them to the audience in a few minutes. A good variety, great stories involved everything from cranes and winches to dead badgers!

How did the three days go? Friday morning was raining and few stirred early, us included. Coffee and breakfast dragged us from the tent and then off to explore.

I had expected to spend my time in presentations, but kept meeting people, got talking and time just flew by. Nigel who camped next to us had just finished a RTW which had seen him in Kashmir when Pakistan and India squared off recently.

Noel had ridden from India via Iran, but tourist rule changes after the Israeli attacks make the return home to India more problematic. Chloe had problems shipping her small Honda back so dismantled it in her hotel room and packed it into three suitcases. So many great stories and inspirational riders.

Saturday morning the sun was out and we were awake early, seems we were giving a presentation! Somehow Anne’s offer to present if they had a cancellation and our recent visit to Algeria gained the organisers’ attention and so we are up at 9:00am. We had only finished the powerpoint slides the night before but were unsure of who our audience would be and how to pitch the presentation. We knew that at least three people we had met the day before would turn up, but were pleased to have a fairly full room. Positive comments afterwards allayed our fears and we hope that some may one day visit Algeria and enjoy the same hospitality that we did.

There is a great community spirit at this event, well known presenters can be found making breakfast rolls. People are happy to share their knowledge and experiences with others. We even had a Singaporean couple who had ridden to the event from home taking 15 months and covering 55,000 miles / 80,000 km. Sadly one rider coming from India had his motorbike and all possessions stolen near Nottingham two days previously. The motorcycle community rallied and he immediately got several offers of loan bikes, new gear etc. He was eventually gifted a brand new KTM by The Off Road Centre store. What a fabulous community.

Sunday we packed up and the motorcycling adventures will pause for a little while. I am glad we attended the Overland Event and certainly would again.

– Anthony