Exhibit at Chicago Auto Show focuses on camping with just your car

(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — People looking to head off the grid on their next vacation may find inspiration inside a new exhibit at this year’s Chicago Auto Show.

It’s dedicated to the hobby called overlanding, which has seen a surge in interest over the past few years.

The centerpiece of the Overlanding Chicago exhibit is a display of SUVs and trucks owned by members of the Illinois Overlanders club.

Maurice de Lannee founded the group in 2018 as a way to meet people with similar interests in the outdoors.

“I wanted to share a passion for the outdoors with people,” he said, “so for me, it was like ‘let’s bring people together with similar interests.’”

Overlanding campers take their vehicles – usually four-wheel-drive pickups and SUVs – into remote areas to camp, usually far off the grid.

“Literally, overlanding is a fancy word for car camping,” de Lannee said, noting that the increase in interest came when many people were forced to stay inside their homes.

“So, we had COVID,” he recalled, “and if I look at that point, everybody was like stuck in your house. A lot of campgrounds had shut down, and people were looking for other things to do, and people saw there was more to the outdoors.”

The Overlanding Chicago display features a showcase of products designed to make going off the grid easier – from all-weather storage cases to built-in camp stoves to full-on platform tents that mount on a truck or SUV’s roof rack. Some of that gear can cost upward of $25,000, but de Lannee insisted it doesn’t have to be a pricey hobby.

“When you look at the videos and footage online for stuff, you get a feeling it’s expensive,” he said. “If you have a ground tent, a car with some decent tires… you can get really far. If you have a cooler, shove it in the back and go.”

The Overlanding Chicago exhibit will be on display during the Auto Show, which runs through February 17 at McCormick Place.

More information, including details about tickets and parking, can be found at on the Chicago Auto Show website and you can find out more about the Illinois Overlanders group on its Instagram page.

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