ABOUT LOST IN A 4X4

We created Lost in a 4x4 to document our long-term overland journey and share the real experience of vehicle-based adventure travel across continents. As we slowly stitch a route through remote regions, border crossings, and back roads, we’re learning as we go and sharing what actually works—so long-distance travel, self-supported exploration, and full-time overlanding feel more achievable for others.

We built this website months into our journey, and our current focus is Africa overland travel, while also sharing selected stories and route documentation from our time in the United States and Europe.

We travel in a 2021 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon with a minimalist Jeep overlanding setup built for reliability, efficiency, and long-term life on the road. Over the past year, we’ve been overlanding coast to coast across the United States, crossed 18 European countries, and continued our journey through West Africa—from Morocco, Mauritania, Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and now Côte d’Ivoire.

From here, our journey continues deeper into Africa as we work our way through Central, Southern, and East Africa by 4x4. After completing the African continent, we don’t yet know where the road will take us next—and that uncertainty is part of the journey.

Here, we share detailed insights into border crossings in Africa, travel logistics, and the day-to-day realities of long-term 4x4 overland travel—from dirt roads and desert tracks to cities, ferries, and everything in between.

Follow the route, explore each country, and see where we are now → See our journey

Karla

December 15th, 1999—a date that will forever live in my heart. The day I began my very first backpacking journey around the world. The day that unknowingly set the course for my entire life.

Hi, I’m Karla. I was born and raised in Mexico, and from the time I was a little girl, I had an intense curiosity for travel. I loved flipping through the pages of travel magazines and dreaming about being there.

Just a few days after my 19th birthday, I joined a group of friends on a trip to Europe. The plan was simple: spend Christmas and New Year’s Eve in Paris to celebrate the turn of the new millennium—extra special for all of us. I had a round-trip ticket with one month between my arrival and departure.

After a few days in Paris waiting for my friends to arrive, I made a spontaneous decision: I would take a little detour and explore Europe. “I’ll be back for New Year’s,” I told them.

That “small detour” turned into an 18-month journey.

I started in Belgium, then the Netherlands… and why not ring in the new year at London Bridge? So off to England I went. By the time I made it back to Paris, my friends had already continued on their own adventure. I headed to Switzerland to visit another friend, and as my departure date approached, I made the decision to change my return ticket. I called my mom and said, “Just one more month.”

One month became many.

While traveling through Switzerland, one of my friends from Mexico, joined me. We met in Munich, explored for a few days, and then continued across Europe together. A couple of months later, we arrived in Greece—and that’s where I made one of the most important decisions of my life.

My friend wanted to continue traveling through Europe. I, on the other hand, felt an intense pull toward Egypt. The idea of stepping into a completely different culture fascinated me. So we parted ways—she flew to Spain, and I had to figure out how to reach Egypt on my own.

I knew traveling alone there wasn’t advised, so I reached out to one of my Aussie hostel friends in Greece, Damien. He agreed to join me—but first, he wanted to go to Turkey. Deal!

In Turkey, we traveled south to Olympus, where Damien ended up getting a job at one of the famous treehouse hostels. My visa was about to expire, so I had to continue without him. That’s when our Kiwi friend Ben stepped in. He agreed to go to Egypt with me—but he was also debating heading to Spain for the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona.

We set a departure date for Cairo.

The night before, we threw a farewell party with our hostel friends. The next morning, completely exhausted, and hangover, we headed out to buy our plane tickets.

And that’s when destiny stepped in.

My ATM card didn’t work. My mom couldn’t resolve it until the next business day, so our departure had to be postponed. I went back to the hostel and fell into a deep sleep after partying all night.

When I woke up later that afternoon, the room was empty—except for one guy sleeping on the top bunk to my right.

When he woke up, we invited him to join us for the day and show him around Istanbul.

And that is how Brett and I met.

He was the guy who had arrived from Sofia in the early morning hours. And this is exactly why I am a firm believer that everything truly happens for a reason.

Brett

My name is Brett, and I grew up in a small town in eastern Washington State. I started traveling in my early twenties. At the time, I had a good job—but I grew tired of the routine and wanted more out of life.

Somehow, I managed to save a small amount of money, and I kept coming back to one idea: Africa.

I finally told my friends and family that I was leaving my job to go see it for myself. To my surprise, my dad decided he wanted to come with me. I packed a backpack, put my belongings into storage, and we took off.

My father and I flew to Nairobi, Kenya, and spent two weeks traveling through Kenya and Tanzania together. We experienced the Serengeti side by side, a trip I will never forget. When the time came, I said goodbye to my dad, and he returned home.

From that point on, I had no real plan.

I traveled using Lonely Planet guidebooks, weaving my way across Africa one place at a time. When I finally reached Johannesburg, South Africa, I booked a flight to Amsterdam. From there, I decided I would continue across Europe and into Asia.

That journey eventually brought me to Istanbul, Turkey.

Where Two Journeys Become One

Brett and Karla sitting on the deck of a boat with a marina and water in the background

At a hostel in Istanbul, I met two people who would change my life—a guy named Ben and a girl named Karla. We spent our days sightseeing and our nights partying together. When Karla told me she was heading to Egypt to see the pyramids, I realized I didn’t really have a plan of my own—so I decided to go with her.

That was also the moment when our friend Ben decided to take off for Spain to run with the bulls.

We spent a full month crisscrossing Egypt, then continued on through Jordan and Syria. Somewhere along the way, our relationship began. From there, we both decided to fly to India. But Karla had a hard time convincing her mother to let her go. After a long back-and-forth of emails—full of heartfelt explanations about why India was the right choice—she finally won her over, and off to India we went. And what followed was a full year of traveling all across Asia together. At that point, we were both completely committed backpackers.

When we reached Singapore, I ran out of money and had to return home to work. Karla went to visit friends in Canada. While she was there, I brought my entire immediate family—including my grandparents—up to meet her for the first time. Not long after, Karla’s mom flew in from Mexico to meet me as well. She then continued on backpacking across the entire country while I worked.

When my seasonal job ended, I flew to Mexico, to meet her again.

After spending time with her and meeting her family, I bought a Volkswagen Bug, and we took off driving all the way to Panama City, then turning around and driving back all the way to Tijuana. We didn’t call it overlanding. We didn’t call it anything. To us, we were just traveling.

Once again, we had to part ways—Karla was able to convince her mom to let her spend three months in Canada while she prepared for her university entrance exam, which allowed me to come up and see her often in between breaks from my six-month work season back in eastern Washington, until she eventually had to return to Mexico to start college.

For the next three and a half years, we lived between two worlds: six months together traveling and studying, and six months apart while I returned to work, although I made several short trips to see her during that time.

In 2004, I asked Karla to marry me—and she said yes. We were married soon after in January of 2005.

From 2005 to 2020, we spent our winters flying to different countries and exploring each one in depth. But we always had the same long-term plan: one day, we would walk away from our jobs and hit the road again—this time for good.

In June of 2021, we bought our Jeep Wrangler Rubicon Unlimited. With that Jeep sitting in the garage, the dream became real. Over the next few years, we built it, tested it, and prepared it for the life we knew was coming.

A great job opportunity delayed our departure—but only until May of 2025, when everything finally aligned. The Jeep was finished. We were financially steady. And the timing was right.

So we did what we had always dreamed of doing.

we left.