Changing Gears, Conquering Your Fears and Taking on the Impossible

Nancy Sathre-Vogel is an inspiration. She’s one of the few people in this world who knows what conquering your fears and living your dreams is all about. Nancy is one of the first women I encountered in the blogosphere and has been a continual source of motivation and a shoulder to cry on when things go wrong. She’s powerful, strong and a brilliant writer. Last year while backpacking around Asia I read a copy of her book “Twenty Miles Per Cookie: 9000 Miles of Kid-Powered Adventures” – an entertaining tale of the family’s bike tour around North America. But… this is not what Nancy is known for.

Nancy has just published a new book on their three year journey from the top of Alaska to the tip of Argentina. Changing Gears: A Family Odyssey to the End of the World chronicles the Vogel family’s incredible 17,000 mile voyage overland through no less than 15 countries. Sounds like an impossible feat, no? Consider that the Vogels undertook this with their twin boys, 10 years old at the start of the journey. Sounds even more impossible? Get this – the Vogel family undertook this mean feat not by plane, car or public transport but… by bicycle. Yes really. Eight legs, four people, three bikes and 17,000 miles of open road. You get now why I consider Nancy a great inspiration.

Changing Gears is the story of their journey but it’s also a glimpse into the mind of a Mom who wants to instill a sense of adventure, self confidence and gratitude into her children. Nancy’s family stripped back their lives to the bare minimum – literally what they could carry on their bikes. Enough food for the moment, a roof over their heads (albeit temporary), a world to travel in. Nancy’s story is one of an epic odysessy sure but it’s deeper than that. Read the book, visit her site, watch her TedX talk and you will find out what I mean.

If you’re an armchair traveler who enjoys unbelievable tales from the road – this is the book for you. If you’re looking for a little encouragement to move beyond your comfort zone – this is the book for you. If your family is stuck in a rut, looking for a change and wanting to break out of the ordinary – this is the book for you, your husband and your kids.

Order the book. Get inspired. Conquer your fears. Take on the impossible.

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Featured image used with permission by FamilyonBikes.org.