Raise your hand in the air if you've ever dreamed of heading out on the open road, selling your house and possessions, and taking off on a wild adventure across North and South America? Maybe you even dream of going further yet to travel across Asia, Africa, or Europe. We all have the dream. Most of us anyway. But, how many of us have the courage to actually follow through on the dream? To actually sell or lease out our house, to box up our belongings we've bought with our hard earned money - or to even sell them!? It's easy to dream. Harder to realize these dreams. Even harder with kids in tow. Add bikes to the big adventure and a journey that's entirely pedal powered. Now, we're talking crazy. Right?
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Riding through the Arctic Tundra |
Or not. At least to the Vogel family it wasn't.
This Idaho family of four dared to ask themselves the question, "What
would you do if you were not afraid?" The answer to this question resulted
in a three year cycling road trip from the north edge of Alaska to the
southernmost tip of Argentina at Land's End - with two children who were but
ten years old when the adventure began. Changing Gears is a story of
great courage, determination, and family teamwork. From broken or stolen
bikes to sickness, injury, torrential rain, gale forced head winds, frozen
feet, and even an incident with a large black bear chasing one of the
boys, the book is full of adventure from cover to cover.
Author Nancy Sathre-Vogel had me hooked from page one where she jumps right in
with the Alaskan bear story. And at that moment, I confess - I looked up
from my book and said, "this family's crazy!"
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Heading into the Southern Hemisphere |
As it would tour out, a lot of people accused the Vogel
family of being crazy. Chapter one addresses the subject and is aptly
titled "Crazy is not necessarily a bad thing," after a student in
Nancy's class said:
"I call you my crazy teacher...Because nobody actually
does what you're doing! People talk about riding a bike around the world,
but nobody actually does it!"
The Vogels took their fair share of criticism from other
parents as well. After all, they removed their two boys from traditional
education for three years to teach them in the great school of life from the
road instead. Always a controversial subject! Some even accused
them of child abuse because clearly two pre-teen boys would prefer to be at
home playing video games and soccer with their friends instead of chasing their
parents' dreams around the world, right? To that, I'd just have to say
that these critics haven't read the book yet. I suspect Nancy and her
husband may have been tempted to throw in the towel many times if their boys
hadn't have kept pushing to finish the journey and succeed in their quest for a
world record.
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Reaching the end of the world, Argentina |
I'm merely a novice cyclist but I found Changing Gears to
be incredibly powerful and inspiring. It reaches far beyond a road biking
adventure to an epic journey with power to motivate and challenge us out of our
comfort zones. In the final chapter Nancy responds to the question,
"How did our journey change us?" She explains:
"The hardest part of the journey was in making the
decision. Committing yourself to a big goal - whatever the goal is - is
difficult. It will consume every moment of your life for years but, if
your "why" is big enough, you'll make it happen."
So, my challenge to you, my readers, is this - first, go
out and grab a copy of Nancy's book. Be inspired, soak it in, and read
about what it means to really pursue your dreams with all your heart, mind, and
soul. Second, identify what your dreams are as a family or even as an
individual. Your dreams might not involve cycling around the world with
your children. Maybe it's much more simple. Maybe you just want to
travel somewhere as a family, anywhere. Maybe you want to introduce your
children to a new family sport or activity from climbing to backpacking or
skiing. Maybe there's a trip you did back in the day that you'd
absolutely LOVE to do again - with the kids this time. We all have
dreams. What are yours? And what's stopping you from realizing
them?
First step though, pick up a copy of Nancy's book and be
inspired. Then take it from there.
Changing Gears is available in both paperback or Kindle edition on Amazon.com and Amazon.ca
To follow Nancy on her blog, go to Family on Bikes.
Love it... now I want to read the book and come up with a plan for an adventure!!
ReplyDeleteTanya, I must read this book--it sounds great from your review, and you really capture the essence of their adventure! My husband and I sold our house, my car, and a lot of our possessions to hike the Pacific Crest Trail (and prior to that had rented out our house to bike across the country on our tandem), but the Vogels took on an even more inspiring journey with two kids. Thanks for letting us know about it.
ReplyDeleteThanks Gail. The book was inspirational for me. Can't wait to read yours.
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