My affliction began gradually, and in retrospect at an age too young to be considered a mid-life crisis. First came BMX bikes, then mountain bikes, then rock-climbing, then kayaking—really, anything outdoors would do. I had a serious allergy to pavement.

Then, while driving back to college in 1994, I passed the Land Rover dealership in Santa Barbara and spotted a vehicle unlike any other, slowly revolving on a rotating display. Even from my fleeting vantage point on Highway 101, I could tell that it was overbuilt. Boxy in shape, it was not for everyone, but it was for me.

Over the next 13 years I graduated college, secured and quit my first real job, enrolled at medical school, moved to Oregon for my residency program, got married, and bought a house. But my disease was never in remission, only barely under control. I explored remote parts of Oregon from the saddle of a BMW 650GS dual sport bike. I found off-road motorbiking a solitary sport; I could not share it with friends, including my wife, Jessie. Then, in the summer of ’07, while riding the BMW down fire roads in the Mt. Hood National Forest, I passed a soft-top Defender. Inside sat a family, including a dog, whizzing by me with wide grins and waving hands. With visions of that boxy car from ’94 spinning through my mind, my disease resurfaced in a full-blown relapse.

Story by Hallie Vail / Photos by Michael L. Palmieri Photography [Hallie Vail, Springfield, MA, mixes graduate studies in education with Land Rover studies in off-roading. She took to the woods this fall and had a ball –ed.] Graduate studies can tie you to the library and really sap your energy. A few New England [...]

By Jeffrey B. Aronson A fisherman friend came up to me in our island’s village parking lot, a wharf on the edge of the main harbor. “You know, Jeff,” he said, “You can actually buy cars made after 1980.” He then touched the door handle on his family minivan and watched the door slide open [...]

Story & Photos By Robbie Basaras [Robbie Basaras is a 27-year old electrician from South Woodham Ferrers, outside of Chelmsford, in England. He loved “taking things apart as a child” which led to a fondness for Land Rover and Triumph automobiles. He shares an adventuresome side with his girlfriend, Rachel, a schoolteacher. Here’s their adventure [...]

Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip arrived in Virgina for the 400th anniversary of the Jamestown colony and the 133rd running of the Kentucky Derby. Before they left Great Britain I requested that they include a 2007 Defender in the royal baggage. Their last trip was in 1991; within two years, we had the Defender 110 [...]

Story by: Hallie Vail / Photos by Graham Letorney Last year, I spoke of Winter Romp and its excessive extracurricular activities. There’s no need to speak of them this year but I must first off clear my name to anyone who was in the side room at Big G’s Sunday morning. Contrary to John Cranfield’s [...]