Our Story
In The Beginning:
It was 1996. Michael Ladden and Paul Shumway were riding in the back of a military Land Rover 101, somewhere along the Long Island Sound in South Eastern Connecticut. It may have been after a few beers and a night at Foxwoods Casino. The details are fuzzy but the long term goal was clear. Thus began the history of what we now call DRIVE THE GLOBE | Overland Adventures.
Our company didn't always even have a name, a web site or even any structure. It did have a passion for travel. In the beginning we called ourselves Vintage Rovers Across Africa. Our original web site was launched in late 1998 and briefly hosted by AOL, (remember AOL!?) We soon moved our web home to adventureafrica.org. It was at this new home that we would launch a new company, eventually moving most of our web presence to drivetheglobe.com in the summer of 2001. Adventureafrica.org remained, and told a story of our Trans-Africa expedition in the Spring of 2001 until it too was eventually relocated to drivetheglobe.com in the Spring of 2009. We incorporated ourselves as an adventure travel company in late 2002 and from that time forward we have become known as DRIVE THE GLOBE | Overland Adventures.
Our focus continues to be one off trips in remote places around the globe. In the future we hope to complete Stage II & III of our Africa adventure, a trans-South America and Central America journey as well as locations as diverse as Mongolia, Madagascar and Australia. These pages serve as a bit of a trip down memory lane, as well as a permanent record of what began as a dream and continues as an adventure today.
Vintage Rovers Across Africa
Vintage Rovers Across Africa is the story of our 2001 Trans-Africa Expedition. The journey was led by Michael Ladden and Paul Shumway. Additional team members were; Pat Macomber, Al Cornell, Jim Leach, Wilson Bullard, Shane Ballensky and Ed Messenger. We have attempted to preserve these pages to contain the original content that was presented during our 2001 expedition. Please note that this can mean that certain items are outdated, invalid or no longer available. While updating and relocating this site to our Drive The Globe servers in the Spring of 2009 I had to chuckle a number of times as I poured over photos, web pages and "long lost" memories from the past 10 years. Below are screen captures from this web site in the past. To the left is our original home page on AOL in August of 1998. On the right is this website circa 2002.
DRIVE THE GLOBE | Overland Adventures
Drive The Globe launched its all new website in the fall of 2001. Below are screen captures from the drivetheglobe.com website. To the left is our site at the end of 2014. On the right top is a screen capture in Fall 2003 still showing the VRAA logo. On the right bottom is the website circa 2004.
Our Company & Logos Through The Years
In the beginning we simply called ourselves Vintage Rovers Across Africa. That name evolved into VRAA Expedition Society, to better reflect the idea that we were going to be involved in other travels after our initial Trans-Africa journey. Drive The Globe Adventures marked our move away from only "vintage" "Rover" vehicles. Eventually we incorporated our company and the current name and logo were developed. Throughout our journey the symbol of the Truck and Tree has endured and represents true adventure as we first discovered back in Africa in 2001. Below are the logos as used throughout our history.
