Making the Leap: The Decision to Take on the Pan-American
Day Dream to Decision
Who would’ve thought a campfire conversation could turn into nine months of thrilling adventure and 25,000 miles of conquered terrain. We’d spent the last two years scurrying off to the mountains and desert as often as we could, “escaping” the ever-popular vacation destination of Orange County, California for somewhere wilder and a little less trodden. Away from the city, with more room to breath, we always found ourselves dreaming up the “one day” trip we’d take. We’d talk about it in great detail as we bobbed and weaved through the trails of Joshua Tree, or Big Bear, or Utah. Wherever we went, it seemed that dream trip conversation always found its way into the vehicle with us, and with each weekend trip away it continued to get more vivid and detailed. Until one day, over dinner at our favorite little taco joint Andy looked over at me and said “We should do this”. I laughed nervously, and tried to figure out if he was serious...His visa was due to run out in a few months, so conversations of what to do next were frequent but I hadn’t ever really considered doing a long-term overlanding trip as an actual option. I immediately rattled off a list of 50 reasons why it wasn’t feasible - money, career, and time being the top of the list…but, I knew although he had positioned it as a hypothetical, he had already made the decision to go. He was going to make this dream a reality and now I needed to decide if I would cling on to comfort, or plunge into the unknown.
The Plunge
I would be lying if I said I was quick to come around to the idea. We’d dreamed up this entire trip together, but for some reason I couldn't pull the trigger on it. Fears flooded my mind. Would I be able to walk away from this perfect little life we had built in sunny California for something far less “comfortable”? Would I be able to put my career on hold, something I had always put so much importance around? Would my family support the decision, knowing the risks associated with a journey like this? Would I even want to put my family/friends through that?
With each excuse, there was one resounding question that overpowered the others - would I be able to watch Andy live our dream trip, the trip we had spent years unknowingly “planning” on our weekend trips away, without me in it? The answer, quite simply, was “no”. It seemed like everything in our lives had been leading up to this pivotal moment and I was certain I would regret it for the rest of my life if I watched this dream unfold without me in it. So as we drew nearer to the departure date, I made the decision, put in my notice at work, put our apartment up for rent on AirBnb, and began whole-heartedly planning this soon-to-be new reality.
Making it a Reality
Like most things in life, when all your energy is being poured, whole-heartedly, into something you’re like an unstoppable train, barreling down the tracks towards the final destination. We made the decision and fully committed to it. Mind you, most people would likely commit to something like this a year or so in advance, we had a mere 4 months from once we both decided to pull the trigger to when we set off. Regardless, we were determined and willing to get creative to make it happen.
For the next 4 months we worked our tails off. Converting our Land Rovers to expedition-ready rigs (read more about the builds in our Pan-American Build-Out Blog Post), setting up a business to run from the road, and converting our home into a rental-friendly property.
The weeks flew by, and before we knew it it was December. On December 2nd, we rolled out of our driveway in SoCal, loaded down and ready, eyes set on Argentina - ready for the adventure of a lifetime.
