Welcome to Northeast Overland Company!

By Kay Nutter

Overlanding means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. There are the purists out there who believe it’s weeks-long expeditions devoid of civilization or pavement. And others who think overlanding is just fancy, expensive vehicle camping. For us, it’s somewhere in between. There’s no denying that building a rig is an investment, but the freedom and flexibility it gives us to just pick up and take off is invaluable. Likewise, as much as we would like to take off for weeks-long adventures, we have three young kids and so are currently operating as weekend warriors. What it comes down to is for us, overlanding has opened up the ability to travel and spend more time outdoors, spend more time as a family, and take advantage of opportunities we might otherwise not be able to. We believe there is room for everyone in the overland community – hardcore adventurers and weekend warriors – and that everyone’s rig should be tailored to meet their unique overlanding goals. 

How It All Began

I grew up camping and hiking in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. From the time I was a baby, our family’s summer vacation was a trip to Russell Pond campground. As the oldest of three kids, it was the most inexpensive way for my parents to take us on vacation and allow us to experience all the staples of the Whites (circa 1996) – Whale’s Tale Waterpark, Six Gun City, Story Land, Santa’s Village, hiking the Flume. While there were practical reasons for choosing camping, I also just loved it. Spending time in the woods, swimming in lakes and rivers, sitting around the campfire roasting marshmallows, and I never sleep better than in a tent in the woods. But along with the serenity of hanging out in a hammock comes the not-so-glamorous side of camping: set-up and breakdown of camp. Both of my parents worked full-time, so our camping trips were often 4, maybe 5 days total. We would spend nearly the entire first day setting up tents, hanging tarps, setting up the kitchen, hanging clothes lines, and the entire last day was spent breaking it all down and packing it up again to head home. 

When we had our kids, we took them camping. And I can tell you, it’s so much more work as a mom! (Sorry, mom!) While it was a lot of work, I still loved it. And I wanted to be able to do it more than once a year. But to make it more practical, it needed to be easier. Enter the rooftop tent. From there, it was down the Overlanding rabbit hole. 

Dave didn’t grow up camping. In fact, he thought I was nuts for loving it so much when we first got together. But what he did love was motorcycles. At 19, he started working for Harley Davidson in the wash bay, washing and detailing bikes. He quickly worked his way up to the Fixed Operations Manager by the time he was 30. What he excelled at, and had a passion for, was helping people build their dream bike. He would tell you that he’s just good at spending other people’s money. But the truth is, he got good at getting to know his customers and learning their needs and their goals. He discovered what they wanted to do with their bike and was adept at finding the right parts and products to make that dream come true. 

And don’t worry, I eventually wore him down on the camping thing. He thinks I tried to kill him on our honeymoon, but now camping and hiking are our favorite activities, and what we spend most of our time doing. From about 2017 on, we’ve owned and modified various vehicles for camping and overlanding, from a Jeep Wrangler to a couple of Toyota Tacomas, and a couple of 4Runners. Now we’re working on a new Tacoma build, and we plan to share our journey with the community.

In 2023 (around the time we discovered rooftop tents), Dave transitioned to the car world. As we were building our first real overlanding rig – 2024 4Runner TRD Offroad – he realized he could take the same skills he was using at Harley, helping people customize their bikes, to help people build and customize their overlanding rigs. Like motorcycles, no two overlanding rigs are the same because no two adventurers have the same goal. He started giving recommendations to people who came into the shop with trucks built or partially built for overlanding. And so, Northeast Overland was born. 

Purpose Built 

When we decided to start Northeast Overland, we knew we wanted to be more than just a retailer for overlanding and camping gear. Anyone can run a website that will sell you parts. What we want is to add a layer of personalization that Dave spent over a decade cultivating at Harley. Your rig should be built to suit your overlanding needs, and our goal is to help you do it. We recognize that the Northeast is a unique area for off-roading, and a lot of the websites out there aren’t tailored to this terrain. Overlanding started overseas and out west, but we’re working hard to grow and expand the community here in the east. We offer one-on-one build consultations where we’ll learn more about you and what you hope to do with your rig so we can make personalized recommendations. Not only does it help you build the rig of your dreams, but helps us continue to curate our site for what Northeast adventurers are looking for! 

These consultations are no cost, and you don’t need to buy anything from us. Drop us a line today to set up your free call!