If you follow me on social media or have browsed any of the driving itineraries on the site, then you’ve seen Troopy, my 2010 Land Cruiser 78.

Buying her changed my life in the best way possible. (And yes, she’s a she.)

I bought Troopy back in 2022 in Tbilisi when I was living there. She was a former NGO vehicle and was still in great condition, despite having 230,000 kilometers under her belt.

Handing over all my savings, buying her was the start of the greatest adventure I didn’t know I needed.

I would spend the next year building her into the overland beast you see today. Here’s a list of things I did:

• Removed the bench seats and replaced with Recaro seats.
• Custom-built an 88 liter stainless steel water tank.
• Hand built the backend benches, cabinets, and bed.
• Had cushions made that would convert the back bench from a comfortable seating area into a bed.
• Bought a 45 liter Alpicool car fridge/fridger.
• Bought a small Ecoflow to charge everything off of.
• Replaced the rims with better rims for off-roading and upgraded the tires to 285/75 R16 Comforser CF3000 tires.
• Custom made a bracket to carry Maxtrax recovery boards on the side of the roofrack.
• Installed a diesel heater inside the car cabin for cold nights.

At first, she was pretty basic. More of a test to see if I would actually enjoy traveling this way or if I would decide overland travel wasn’t for me.

Turns out, it 100% is. Now that I’ve started traveling this way, there is no turning back. Driving Troopy from Tbilisi to Ulaanbaatar will forever be one of the greatest adventures of my life. Not just because of the route and the challenges along the way, but because it was my first big overlanding adventure.

In the years since I drove her to Mongolia, I’ve upgraded to add:

• Replaced the Ecoflow with solar panels and a complete Victron energy setup, including an inverter to charge my camera and computer while on the road.
• Added a rear bull bumper and tire carrier.
• Changed the Comforser CF3000 tires to KO3 Bridgestone tires.
• New Old Man Emu coil springs and front shock absorbers along with new rear TJM leaf springs.
• Removed the cracked and leaking windshield and replaced it with a new one.
• Added a rear door drop down table and small door cubby.

There has been a lot of love that has gone into this car, and I’ve learned so many lessons along the way.

Before buying Troopy I had zero experience working on cars or building anything like this. Now, I feel confident and comfortable getting under the hood and fixing things on my own along the way.

Traveling and living out of Troopy is my absolute favorite way to spend my time in Mongolia and I wouldn’t have seen half of the amazing things I have without her.

If you’re comfortable driving and navigating off-road, I can’t recommend overlanding with your own vehicle or renting a car and driving Mongolia enough. Exploring this way has completely changed my life.