“Sponsoring yourself or being sponsored?”
As you most probably already know, here in OVERLANDDIARIES we rely exclusively on our own funds as an income to fuel our overland expeditions. No matter how much money we have available, this will be the concrete base where all our overland expeditions are built on. With that said though, we give much respect to any other alternative way that people use to fuel their overland trips. We have come across people that organise funds or start online donation campaigns. We have not attempted something like this as we could not find any reason why someone will want to support someone else who wants to go on an overland trip and does not have the money to do it on its own. However, you have nothing to lose by giving it a try and see how it goes.
The most popular way to fuel your trip is to go for sponsorships from businesses that sell part or all of your desired gear. We have met a lot of overlanders that go for this option but only some of them succeed. Most of them end up losing their sponsor half way down their trip, and at a time that they actually depend on it, as they fail to deliver what they have originally promised. Do not expect, for instance, to be able to film that extravagance footage of your sponsored winch working in Sahara or over the Andes without filming it 50 times over and over again to get it perfect. Most likely in these places it will be to hot or to rainy to shoot it more than ones if you are lucky.Your sponsor on the other hand expects to see his product under perfect professional filming as he was promised. Believe me the bottom line is that it is much easier for a company nowadays to use the social media channel and promote their products than us. Having sponsors involves hard work, commitments and time sacrifices. We have met people that were shooting images again and again until they captured that perfect scene and then spent the rest of the day in front of their computer editing, uploading and finally sending them out. Ask 
yourself if it is worth giving in, to such a responsibility just to get that fancy winch.Also consider that some of those products you are sponsored with might prove not to be reliable. You will still be obligated to write a positive review about them just because you were sponsored by it for free. Overlanding means freedom and all this seems way to narrowing from what you are out here to do.
Lastly, the trend of our times, a YouTube channel as well as a Patreon account, with many followers and subscribers, has been “the in thing to do” and is now the way people become “famous” making some good, fast cash. You think you are the only one out here overlanding? There is a lot of competition out there for the same extra fast cash so 
you need to constantly prove to your followers and subscribers that you worth keeping their subscription to you and not moving on to someone else. Let’s face it, this is not overland travel but the proper competitive job that you resigned from back home before you started traveling .
Try to get the most out of your travel not by aiming in tons of sponsors and hundreds of followers and subscribers, you are here to experience something beautiful and unique.Make sure you take advantage of every moment rather than thinking of what the others think or say about it. Your overland trip is not a show but just a personal diary that one day you will share with your friends, possibly around the campfire.[:]
