Our latest Community Spotlight features Keith McAdams, a veteran Overland Expo team member who’s been with us for nearly ten years. Keith is essential to every Overland Expo, and it’s always great to catch up on his latest adventures, get recommendations on must-see camping spots, and just catch up with a truly wonderful person. We’re also excited about his big adventure that’s getting closer every day, but more on that later.
Overland Expo: How did you initially become involved in Overland Expo?
Keith McAdams: I started as a volunteer at the East event. Worked as a volunteer in 2017 & 2018, and after listening to the other volunteers, I made the trek to Flagstaff, and at that point I was “hooked”. I have worked every show since 2021 and have now moved to seasonal staff.
OE: That’s a lot of Overland Expos! How have you seen it change over the years?
Read More: A Newcomer’s Guide to Overland Expo – East 2026 Edition
KA: It has grown both in vendors and attendance. I have said many times to folks I meet, I go to Overland Expo to be with 20-30K of my closest friends. And it’s true!
OE: That is true; you’ve definitely made a lot of friends over the years. Tell us a little bit about your overland rigs. You’ve got a lot of nights in, and your setups are always dialed in.
KA: I have been camping/overlanding and traveling most of my life. Back then, it was just called “camping”. After my divorce, I started camping in a ground tent as a means to come back to my roots. Through watching the XOverland guys, my camping was now called overlanding! From that, I built my first overland rig based on a M101A1 trailer with a rooftop tent. Over 4 years, I slowly added “stuff”…Water tank, batteries, on-demand water heater, 270 awning, basically, everything you can think of. I had this for about 9 years and spent MANY nights in the Washington and Jefferson National Forests in VA, BLM and public lands in the Southwest. I started looking forward to future trips and realized that I wanted to eventually go to Alaska.
Because of this, I upgraded to an Arctic Fox truck camper. I have loved this upgrade and have taken it on many more trips. So far, I have seen 43 of the National Parks and have a goal of visiting all 63. I’ve spent 40+ years in the IT field and will be retiring in 2027, and that is when the REAL adventures will start!
OE: What is one piece of gear you can not live without?
KA: My Starlink. I work from the road in the IT field and this has allowed me to go into some wide out of the way places and still work.
OE: If you had one piece of advice for someone getting started, what would it be?
Don’t wait! Grab the adventure NOW because you are NOT promised tomorrow. I have friends who wanted to wait, and unfortunately, they passed before they began traveling and actually started living.
