Q&A with a Traveling Mama – Nancy Sathre-Vogel

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Talk about a Traveling Mama Extraordinaire! In 2006 and into 2007, Nancy Sathre-Vogel, her husband John and their two then-eight-year-old sons bicycled across the country, from their home in Idaho west to Washington, south to Mazatlan, and all the way to Connecticut, over the course of 12 months and 9,300 miles. Amazing!

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And the Vogel family isn’t stopping with this incredible adventure under their belts. They are up for more more! This June, they’ll depart on a cycling trip all the way from Alaska to Argentina! They plan on 30 months of travel over 20,000 miles. Twin sons Davy and Daryl will mark their 11th, 12th and 13th birthdays on the trip, and when they complete the journey, they’ll be in the Guinness Book of World Records as the youngest people ever to cycle the Pan-American Highway.

The family plans to use two single bikes and a tandem bike, with the young boys taking turns cycling behind Dad. For their first trip, dad John and the boys were on a triple the entire way.

Mom Nancy is a special education teacher and freelance writer, dad John is also an educator, and the boys go to elementary school in Boise when they aren’t on the road (and then, they are homeschooled to keep up with their studies — what an education in geography, cultures, and, well, LIFE, they are receiving from their adventurous parents).

So curious about the Vogel family’s activities, I asked Nancy a few questions about the first cycling trip and their plans for the next one:

1. Why a cross-country bike trip? I mean, aren’t there other, less-ambitious ways you can enjoy “quality family time” together?

I do understand that a bicycle tour, for most people, seems kind of “out there,” but for us it really isn’t. John and I met on a one-year bike tour of the Indian subcontinent, and have toured in many other countries since then. Even though I hadn’t toured since before I got pregnant (John had done a couple tours in that time), the idea was there in the back of our minds. When we decided to go, there was no question that it would be on bikes.

2. A year is a looooong time to spend traveling with the whole family. Did you ever crave “alone time” just for you? Did you ever get it?

There were times when I wanted to be alone, and I was able to get that time on the bike. John, however, had a much harder time in that department – he was joined at the hip with the boys. All I had to do was drop back away from the triple and I was in my own little world. Sure, I could still see my family, but for all practical purposes I was alone.

3. How did you handle homeschooling on the road? Did you have a curriculum to follow?

One would think our years in the classroom would lead us to favor a more traditional approach, but it’s actually convinced us of the value of “unschooling.” We’ve seen, time and time again, that kids have a natural desire to make sense of their world. They want to learn, and they will learn if they are provided opportunities to do so. Our journey provided those opportunities. We took advantage of educational opportunities wherever we found them (national parks, state parks, etc.) and we made sure to read to the boys and have them write in their journals. But mostly we let Mother Nature be their teacher.

4. You updated a website with diary entries along the way. I’m assuming you brought a laptop and hit wi-fi cafes?

No. We were constantly on the prowl for internet access. We stopped at public libraries and internet cafes. We also utilized the computers at the countless number of houses we were invited into.

5. What was the most surprising thing you learned on your trip?

The idea that eight-year-old boys don’t need a bunch of toys! Before we left, we designated a small bag on the bike for each boy – that was their space and anything they took with them had to fit in that bag. At the beginning of the journey the kids dragged miniature plastic aliens out of their bag at each break. Their aliens fought battles and conquered new lands. By the next day rocks and sticks had become spaceships and distant planets which their aliens controlled. Within a few days, the aliens had been forgotten and their playthings were solely of the natural variety: rocks, sticks, leaves, and pinecones.

6. What was your favorite locale or destination?

Each part of the journey was so different and there were things we enjoyed about them all. But if I had to choose one locale, I would have to say “The West” (as opposed to the “The East”). Cycling through the deserts in the western part of the USA and Baja was wonderful in that we could camp anywhere. All four of us loved our time out in the desert beneath towering saguaro or cardon cacti.

7. What will you do differently for this next, more ambitious trip?

Not much. The major change is the basic configuration of bikes. We will travel with a tandem and two singles on our next trip. John will captain the tandem, I’ll still have my single, and the kids will switch between the stoker seat and their single. There are a number of reasons for that change – the kids will have more freedom, John won’t be quite so exhausted, and it’ll be a lot easier to get the bikes in hotel rooms.

8. What are you most looking forward to for the Alaska-Argentina adventure?

Time. Time with the kids. Time to play. Time to explore. Time to grow. Oh yeah – and the freedom of the road. I can’t wait to feel the wind blowing through my hair, my legs pumping, my heart pounding, and my lungs struggling to catch every breath they can. In short? Freedom. That’s what I crave.

 

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February 5, 2008 | Filed Under Adventure Travel, Family Travel, Mama Interviews 

Comments

7 Responses to “Q&A with a Traveling Mama – Nancy Sathre-Vogel”

  1. Kathy Sena says:
    February 5, 2008 at

    Hey MountainMama!

    Love this post. OK, it makes me feel like our recent family trip to Yosemite wasn’t all that adventurous… :)

    But I’m definitely inspired! To do all this with two eight-year-olds is really something. What a childhood memory for those boys and what a great family experience that will be talked about for years to come. Thanks for sharing their story!

  2. Nancy Sathre-Vogel says:
    February 5, 2008 at

    Thanks for writing this up! You did a great job – and managed to make me sound at least semi-literate!!

    Happy Travels!
    Nancy

  3. I’m a Traveling Mama! says:
    February 5, 2008 at

    [...] – I’m a Traveling Mama Extraordinaire!  (According to the original Traveling Mamas that is!)  Kara Williams (Mountain Mama) contacted me a while ago about the possibility of an [...]

  4. CajunMama says:
    February 6, 2008 at

    Wow. Nancy is quite a Traveling Mama. What a brave woman!

  5. JHS says:
    February 17, 2008 at

    Thanks for contributing this post to this week’s Carnival of Family Life, hosted at Modern Sage — Practical Living Blog. The Carnival will be live tomorrow, so please stop by and peruse all of the wonderful articles submitted this week!

  6. Modern Sage Online: New Traditions for Living Well - **Women’s Health and Wellness Online Community** » Welcome to the Carnival of Family Life says:
    February 17, 2008 at

    [...] Williams presents Q&A with a Traveling Mama – Nancy Sathre-Vogel posted at Traveling Mamas, saying, “Read how two parents cycled across the country with their [...]

  7. Al Steuter says:
    September 10, 2008 at

    We will be traveling from Nebraska to visit our son’s family in Virginia and would like to bring them a cooler of frozen beef cuts raised on our ranch and custom processed. We will be traveling on United Airlines and will be keeping the total cooler weight under 50 lb. Our name/contact info will be on the cooler and the lid will be held closed with a bunge strap. Do you forsee any problems being able to take this cooler with us as checked baggage?

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