From Breakdowns to Breakthroughs: An Overlanding Family’s Amazing 4 Year Story

Wondering what it’s like to be an overlanding family? You’re in the right place!

In this article, we highlight the best features of our podcast on this very topic as well as offer the podcast links for your listening enjoyment. So let’s jump in!

For the full inspiring account of family adventure on the road less traveled, have a listen to this globe-trotting episode! Have a listen to Season 1, episode [#11 ] of Our Offbeat Life! Listen on iTunes and Spotify, or watch on YouTube.

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Travel Journey Overview

Starting in Phoenix, they purchased a truck and spent 1.5 years overlanding across the U.S. before continuing through Mexico and Central America. Now in Chile, it’s their 13th country after 4 years on the road.

• Detained for 2 days at U.S./Mexico border when officials didn’t believe their visa extension status
• Changed original plans to go to Canada/Alaska due to pandemic border closures
• Spent 3 months in Baja California, Mexico without getting proper paperwork but eventually obtained
• Crossed through Mexico and Central America into South America

This is our 13th country on this trip. So we’re pretty slow.

Ritchie Gubler

Top Memorable Destinations

One of their favorite destinations was Antigua, Guatemala where they formed strong local bonds.

They also loved the desert landscapes and ocean life of Baja, California; the rugged western U.S. states; diverse Nicaragua; and Bolivia’s dramatic salt flats high up in the Andes mountains.

Antigua, Guatemala

• Fascinating colonial town surrounded by epic volcanoes
• Formed close bonds with locals over their 5 months there
• Threw big goodbye party with whole roasted pig when they left

Baja California, Mexico

• Ruggedly beautiful desert landscapes meet ocean
• Highlights included swimming with whale sharks and sea life
• Richie loves the desert landscapes and taking photos there

U.S. States Like Idaho & Arizona

• Beautiful scenery and nature that Richie fell for
• Richie bought his fly fishing rod in Idaho

Nicaragua

• Adventure activities like volcano sandboarding
• Surprisingly diverse landscapes across the small country

Bolivia

• Epic salt flats and Andean altiplano landscapes
• Telegraph cables and city views in La Paz

Bolivia! Oh yeah, as a photographer, absolutely Bolivia. With the Salar de Uyuni and, you know, the lagunas, the Altiplano. It was, I mean, those landscapes, unbelievable.

Ritchie Gubler

Key Memorable Food Experiences

Richie and his family embrace adventurous eating of local delicacies like grilled guinea pig, alpaca, frog legs, jungle grilled maggots, and opossums during their journey across the Americas.

Richie also enjoys cooking meat in creative ways like wrapping pork in his engine bay while driving to make pulled pork.

Mamones. They’re like maggots. They’re like big, huge, giant maggots from the jungle. They put them on a skewer and grilled them. I wouldn’t call this meat, but, it was surprisingly good.

Ritchie Gubler

• Grilled guinea pig – Delicious when cooked right, such as chive-stuffed style in Ecuador
• Frog legs – Just as tasty as the French style ones
• Whole roasted pigs – Richie loves roasting pigs, they’ve done 3 whole ones on their journey
• Maguey worms – Surprisingly tasty big grilled jungle maggots
• Alpaca meat – Can vary a lot depending on preparation
• Opossum – Not enough meat to be worth the effort

Tips from an Overlanding Family

Their tips for families wanting to try overlanding include just going for it rather than listening to doubters, budgeting smartly by camping and cooking your own food, and not waiting until retirement or later in life to have the adventure.

Don’t wait till your kids have gone to university because you know, this is the time to actually not miss out on those milestones.

Abigail Gubler

Just go for it rather than listening to skeptics – have faith in your dream and vision. If overlanding is your passion, make it happen.

It can be cheaper than regular life through work/house tradeoffs. Budget smartly.

Best family timing is before kids reach university years – don’t miss these formative years.

It’s safer than perceived – be prudent but don’t buy into overhyped media fears.

Have an emergency fund – unexpected problems can happen like major breakdowns.

Get proper paperwork to avoid immigration issues if possible.

Conclusion

Richie and Abigail’s 4 years (and counting) overlanding family trip around the Americas with their daughter Zoe shows both the challenges and amazing rewards of full-time family travel.

By immersing themselves in local cultures, forming meaningful connections with locals, and giving their daughter a one-of-a-kind globetrotting education, they’ve woven once-in-a-lifetime experiences into their family fabric.

While overlanding isn’t for everyone, families with a sense of adventure, grit through adversity, and desire to show their kids the world should listen to Richie’s simple advice – buy a truck and go!

With smart planning, budgeting, and embracing the unknown, overlanding can transform family travel dreams into extraordinary long-term reality.

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✔️ Click this link: Leave a review on Apple Podcasts
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Key Takeaways and Timestamps

• [00:03:44] Sold everything and set out overlanding around the Americas with their 6-month-old daughter
• [00:04:08] Traveled slowly, taking 4 years to make it from the U.S. to Chile
• [00:12:31] Faced challenges like pandemic restrictions and getting detained at the U.S./Mexico border
• [00:19:27] Gave their daughter Zoe a unique culturally-immersive education
• [00:46:52] Formed strong connections with locals through shared meals and adventures
• [00:53:37] Emphasize ignoring the negative voices and following your overlanding dreams

Transcript

[00:00:00] Ritchie: and then, half an hour later I was in handcuffs, man. And we couldn’t even call anybody. It was, it was bad. It was, it went from, all bright and sunshine to, oh man, that, that, that day went, went sour real quick.

[00:00:13] David: Hello and welcome adventurers! Welcome back to another exciting episode of the podcast. today we’re going to be journeying with Richie and Abigail on the road less traveled. they’re part of Meats Around the World. Richie and his family are living the dream that many of us might have pondered.

[00:00:43] David: They bought a truck camper. And decided to explore the world with a young child in tow. So they’ve turned their love of travel and food into an extraordinary lifestyle. And today they’re here to share their stories, experiences, and practical advice with us. So buckle up as we delve into their thrilling journey.

[00:01:05] David: Welcome Richie and Abigail. How are you today?

[00:01:08] Abigale: Great.

[00:01:09] Ritchie: Thanks for having us here. Hi, David. Thank you for having us.

[00:01:12] David: You’re welcome. Well, it’s been a while since you and I actually saw each other. but to our listeners out there, can you start by telling us a little about your family and what inspired you really to buy a camper and travel around the world?

[00:01:30] Ritchie: All right, you want me to take this? Okay. It was Richie’s idea to begin with. It was my crazy idea, of course, yeah. I’ve always had a bit of a sense of, adventure and, ever since Boy Scout, if you will. But, you know. Once I saw, The Long Way Around with Ewan McGregor and Charlie Borman, and, Long Way Down, and, and, I was, like, inspired, like, I wanted to travel around the world with lots of adventure, and, yeah, and, we started camping, around Europe, like, I don’t know, maybe

[00:02:01] Ritchie: 10, 12 years ago with the trailer and, we loved it so much and it was a natural progression, I guess, for me. And, yeah, the only thing that was left to do was quit our jobs and up and go. Or maybe convince Abigail a little bit here and there.

[00:02:19] Abigale: We were on a We were on a plane back from Hawaii. because I’m a teacher and I would have three weeks vacation and Richie would have six weeks vacation around Christmas.

[00:02:31] Abigale: So we would always go somewhere exciting. And on the way back, he says, I don’t want to do this anymore. I don’t want to go back to work. let’s, let’s do overlanding. Let’s just quit our jobs. And I’m like, and he just didn’t stop for about three months solid going on and on and on. Cause when he has an idea, he becomes obsessed.

[00:02:49] Abigale: So, and then I just said to him, well, I have a dream too. I would like to try for a baby. Can we not do both? So,

[00:02:58] Ritchie: well, I was very fast to agree to that.

[00:03:01] David: Well, for our, our listeners out there, some of them listening, some of them watching us. where are you both from?

[00:03:08] Abigale: I’m from England and Richie’s from Switzerland and we met in New Zealand.

[00:03:15] Ritchie: Got married in London. Yeah.

[00:03:18] David: So you’re an international couple as it is.

[00:03:21] Ritchie: Yeah.

[00:03:23] David: Where have you all been traveling so far?

[00:03:25] Ritchie: Well, on this trip, we started out in the U. S. in Phoenix, Arizona. That’s where we bought the vehicle, like a year and a half before we started the trip. my best friend lives in Phoenix, so, we stored the camper there, went, at Christmas for a little vacation and kitted it out, and then went back home to Switzerland where we lived.

[00:03:44] Ritchie: And, quit our jobs, sold everything, moved out into our trailer for the last three months and, and came back. Oh, and with Zoe in tow, of course, she was six months old at the time. and then we, we started like it’s now four years ago, October 19.

[00:04:00] Abigale: We’re now in Chile. San Pedro de Atacama deserts and it has taken us nearly four years to get here.

[00:04:06] Abigale: Yeah. Most people do that in a year.

[00:04:08] Ritchie: This is our 13th country on this trip. So we’re pretty slow.

[00:04:12] David: Hey, we love slow travel. I mean, we’re a little faster than you guys.

[00:04:15] Ritchie: Oh, absolutely.

[00:04:17] David: but it took us a year and a half to get there.

[00:04:19] Ritchie: the best.

[00:04:20] Abigale: Yeah. Yes. Exactly. Yeah.

[00:04:22] David: do a lot of camping, before this switch to this lifestyle, in Switzerland? Is that a big thing, camping?

[00:04:30] Abigale: Yes. Not wild camping. We had a, what we call in England, a caravan, I think you guys call it a trailer and, we bought it. Sort of about as Ritchie said 10 years prior to our trip and we used to just go to campgrounds In Switzerland, it’s very beautiful, but I don’t think I don’t know how well camping

[00:04:52] Ritchie: is out there No, we did a bit of I mean we sometimes we would even Pull our trailer to a campsite nearby and went went to work from there.

[00:05:01] Ritchie: You know, it felt like vacation.

[00:05:03] Abigale: So We just loved the idea of living outdoors. Basically, we fell in love with that lifestyle

[00:05:10] Ritchie: Well, I remember it started with us being a little Fed up with eating out in our vacation. So we wanted to cook our own, meals, like grill foremost, grill our own steaks, you know, because we’re, we’re, meat lovers and, I would always in a foreign country would always go to the meat aisle in the supermarket and check out their meats.

[00:05:31] Ritchie: And, and I was super bummed not to be able to buy the steaks and put them on the grill. Right. So, so yeah, that was kind of, you know, the idea behind it and we started camping, but we did. We did, pull our trailer to Scotland, to England, to Spain, southern Spain, from Switzerland, to Austria, Germany, France, Holland.

[00:05:52] Ritchie: Oh yeah, we did, we did a few, great trips in those 10 years and, we loved it. And, As I said, this is a natural progression. And now with four wheel drive and, go anywhere, uh, beautiful.

[00:06:04] David: Yes. And you mentioned, uh, was it The Long Way, Around or The Long Way Up that inspired you?

[00:06:10] Ritchie: It was The Long Way Around. That was the first, film or season they made. Yeah, that was like 20 years ago, I think.

[00:06:19] David: Yeah. My favorite was The Long Way Up inspired us for this, this trip, except we’re going

[00:06:25] Ritchie: The opposite. That was the latest. Yeah,

[00:06:28] Ritchie: It came out on Apple TV when we were already on the road in the States and I watched that was with the electric bikes. Right?

[00:06:37] David: Yeah, totally different. Yeah, totally different thing with those bikes.

[00:06:41] Ritchie: Yeah.

[00:06:42] David: A lot of problems.

[00:06:43] Ritchie: yeah. Well, they had a good support team.

[00:06:48] David: yes, yeah, they did. So, Richie, how did you go about preparing for for this change, kitting out the vehicle, doing all that, making sure that it was the it was what you wanted. It was going to sustain the way you wanted to live

[00:07:07] Ritchie: All right, well, that was, I, I have very fond memories at that time, you know, like three years prior to the whole expedition and, looking on the internet, reading through all the blogs and, Expedition portal and looking at the classifieds and, you know, I mean, it was like my obsession as Abigail calls it and, yeah, I knew I wanted four by four.

[00:07:33] Ritchie: I, wanted, to go anywhere and, you know. I was, I was watching the expedition portal, classifieds. And, and one day there was, my Dodge Ram that I’ve always wanted anyway. a diesel, Cummins diesel and with the camper on the back, all aluminum. And, yeah, so, and it was in Phoenix. It was as if.

[00:07:54] Ritchie: You know, I was like, okay, Oh yeah. And I called, called up my buddy Roland and said, and asked him to go and check it out. And, he, he gave me the go ahead and we wired the money unseen. And

[00:08:08] Abigale: what he’s not telling you is that this was.

[00:08:11] Abigale: 18 months before we were starting our trip and I thought, you’re mad, you’re crazy.

[00:08:17] Abigale: How can we possibly do this? But, you know, it’s blind faith and, oh

[00:08:22] Ritchie: yeah, you gotta, we just

[00:08:24] Abigale: did it. Yeah, we did it. The very first time we saw it, I was pregnant with Zoe and I was kind of like going through the nesting period and getting it ready cause that was going to be our new home. So yeah.

[00:08:36] Ritchie: Yeah. That was exciting, very exciting.

[00:08:39] Ritchie: we had a long list of things, you know, we wanted to change and, and, and, upgrade and all. And, yeah, so we did it and, it was all about this trip from then on out.

[00:08:50] David: that’s so cool. Abigail, you mentioned nesting upgrades. What did you end up doing that, you think that was influenced by you being pregnant at the time?

[00:08:59] Abigale: Well, yeah, I remember very clearly it was Christmas day. I woke up at six o’clock in the morning and I just went in with a bucket of soapy water because it was, the previous owner had left it in such a mess. He had his own dogs and there was dog hair everywhere and I was like. I cannot live here. I have to clean this up.

[00:09:18] Abigale: And we started making plans to change our interior. And, yeah, so, I mean, that was a vivid memory for me. And then, obviously, we went back to Switzerland for the next sort of 10 months to have Zoe. And, You know, my baby shower list was like a foldable bathtub, a clip on high chair, you know, just that sort of thing.

[00:09:44] David: yes, yes. The, the, the must haves, I get

[00:09:48] Abigale: Yes.

[00:09:48] David: so then what is, a typical day on the road? Like, especially with the slow travel,

[00:09:55] Ritchie: All right, well, typical days, getting up not too early, I did that for too many years. I never liked it. So I get up at eight or nine, depending on, it’s between eight and nine, let’s see. Yeah. Anyway, and then we have our two coffees and get breakfast and, yeah, the mornings are usually very slow and we enjoy the mornings.

[00:10:19] Ritchie: I might do a bit of work I’m a photographer. So I always have a bunch of photos to edit. And, Abigail plays with Zoe, and, around midday, if we have a driving day, if we don’t stay the day, we drive off to our next destination, maybe at one o’clock or so, and, yeah.

[00:10:37] Abigale: I think the reason why we started to do 12 o’clock sort of departure time, was because Zoe has never really enjoyed driving. Ever since she was a newborn, she’s hated being trapped in the car seat. So we would always sort of time our drives in the early days with her nap.

[00:10:56] Abigale: She would be asleep for say two hours and then, and then the entertainment would begin. So we kind of, that’s just sort of directed our daily rhythm to this

[00:11:05] Ritchie: day, right?

[00:11:06] Ritchie: Yeah, and it worked out well with my photography because then we would drive and, The light becomes nice and soft after four and I would, take pictures from four till six or seven.

[00:11:18] Ritchie: We oftentimes we arrive at dark and, and set up camp on driving days. And, yeah, that’s kind of my, my workflow with, with the photography too. And I like that because if you drive off

[00:11:30] Ritchie: 10 in the morning, you hit the hard slide around midday and, yeah, that doesn’t make the good photos.

[00:11:39] David: I know even we stop every once in a while because the scenery is just outstanding but as a Photographer, do you have any of those moments where you just stop you and you stop everything stop the car and just take photos?

[00:11:54] Ritchie: Oh, I stop, I stop all the time. I like, yeah, that’s it. Oh yeah, we stop a lot and, take my, grab my camera and, take pictures and we drive off again and stop again and yeah.

[00:12:09] Abigale: And every time he stops, Zoe goes, can I get out of my chair? Like, no,

[00:12:16] David: Now we know why it’s taken four years to get to Bolivia

[00:12:20] Ritchie: you go. Exactly. Exactly. Yeah.

[00:12:22] David: Awesome. Awesome. Okay So then, how about initial challenges along this journey? Have you had any hiccups?

[00:12:31] Ritchie: Oh, we had a few hiccups. I mean, I mean, there was the pandemic like three months after, we set off, which was a huge hiccup. Of course, we, we initially wanted to go to Canada and Alaska too, but that was kind of out of the picture by then. So we had to change that plan and, noticed that, you know, we Plans never really work out.

[00:12:54] Ritchie: So we’re just go with the flow. Anyway, it worked out well. We stayed about a year and almost a half in the States. we extended the visa, officially for the States because initially they gave us a year and then we went to Phoenix to my buddy, Roland. And, and, extended on a, on a, official office, you know, and, it was pending.

[00:13:15] Ritchie: And then we went to Mexico eventually, like a year, year and five months later. And on the border, the U S, a border patrol put us in jail for two days because they, they thought we, we overstayed and almost. Deported us and took away our truck. And it was like, it was, that was the biggest hiccup.

[00:13:34] Ritchie: That was the biggest hiccup of our lives, I guess. That was not fun, but, we made it out there and we’re still on the road, so all is well.

[00:13:43] David: Yes, yeah. Talk about a

[00:13:45] Ritchie: Uh, yeah, exactly. Everything else was

[00:13:50] David: No, I, that’s one of my, that’s one of my biggest fears. Yeah, that’s one of my biggest fears is having a border issue

[00:13:56] Ritchie: Oh yeah.

[00:13:57] David: Turns into like, jail time or, or whatever the situation is. I’m sure some, some listeners right now are like, I want to hear that story. Do you, do you feel comfortable talking about that story a bit?

[00:14:08] Ritchie: Sure. Yeah, sure. well, the issue was. You know, I mean, it was not all okay. It was Southern California, Mexicali, well, Calexico. So we went over the border and went straight to the Mexican side because you don’t really have that’s not like all the other. boarders in the U. S. you just drive over the out of the country and then you go to the Mexican side and get your visa there.

[00:14:37] Ritchie: Anyway, we did that and then the Mexicans didn’t want to give us a tip a temporary import for the truck because they said well We have a three and a half ton limit here for for for vehicles because we’re not an rv We’re a pickup truck with a with a truck camper. So they they didn’t want to give us a tip So they said to us well, maybe if you take the other port of entry, out of town.

[00:14:59] Ritchie: you might get a tip because that’s where the trucks go. So they send us back. They turn us around and send us back into the U. S. And you know, we didn’t really think on the spot. It was covid. It was our visa that was still pending and all and they send us back and we Kind of, it dawned on us or yeah, when we were queuing up on the other side again, and, to go back into the U S and, and then the border officers, they just, couldn’t find the visas, the stamps, and they saw how long, and they didn’t believe our story, whatever.

[00:15:32] Ritchie: And then, you know, half an hour later I was in handcuffs, man. And we couldn’t even call anybody. It was, it was bad. It was, it went from, all. Bright and sunshine to, oh man, that, that, that day went, went sour real quick.

[00:15:49] David: Yeah, I bet. Wow. And how long did it take to get it all resolved and,

[00:15:54] David: and moving

[00:15:55] Ritchie: 52 hours, seven minutes and 40 seconds. I count them, you know, man, it was like . Worst time of my life. Yeah. ,

[00:16:04] Abigale: I mean, if we have some advice,

[00:16:07] Abigale: listeners, , it’s like, just get things written down on paper, because we had done everything officially to get our extension. Um, granted, but nothing was delivered to us in writing, actually until we got into Mexico.

[00:16:25] Abigale: So just, you get things in paper when it’s involves the USA,

[00:16:31] Ritchie: you know, it’s, it’s like their system is in shambles, of course. I mean, why would they leave us, in, in, in limbo for such, such a long time? And they, you know, they had to admit that eventually that, that was still pending and, and, you know, We got it granted like maybe a month after we got released in Mexico.

[00:16:49] Ritchie: They said, yeah, you’re, you’re fine. Even though we only asked for like a half, a half, a six month more. And they, they granted it like eight months later. So

[00:16:58] Abigale: it’s a shambles don’t apply for an

[00:17:01] Ritchie: extension.

[00:17:02] Ritchie: No,

[00:17:02] Ritchie: it was. It was, it was bad. It was really bad because we almost lost the camper and they deported us.

[00:17:08] Ritchie: They said to us at one point, well, it’s either we pay the ticket, the air tickets for you or we, or you, and, and, and you got to fly wherever you want, but you got to get out of this country. And, and then I asked them, well, what’s going to happen to the vehicle? And they said, well, you’re not going to see that again.

[00:17:25] Ritchie: So that was the option. I said, well, that’s, that’s not what we’re, no, no, no. And so, yeah, I kind of, we have a blog. So I, eventually I said to the guy behind the counter, well, how about you look at our, because they didn’t believe our story, you know. They really thought we were illegal immigrants. So I said to him, watch, take a look at our website.

[00:17:46] Ritchie: we’re travelers. We’re, you know, and, and that, that guy wasn’t the meanest of them all. The other guys were all very mean. They were not nice people. so he started to believe our story a little bit and, yeah, from then on, it went a little better, but, yeah, we really had to put our foot down and tell them,

[00:18:03] David: So the blog saved you.

[00:18:05] Ritchie: Yeah, the blog saved us

[00:18:09] David: So, travelers out there, think about this. Document your travels. A travel blog can save you in different ways than just, than just financially. Ha, ha, ha, ha. Wow. That is that is crazy. I’m sure I’m sure there’s so much more you could unpack there. You could probably write a whole book about that whole incident.

[00:18:29] Ritchie: Yeah, well, it’s been published on the

[00:18:31] Ritchie: Overland Journal. It’s been printed. and, that story

[00:18:35] Abigale: and you can find it on expedition portals.

[00:18:37] Ritchie: Yes, exactly. Yeah. So, but anyway, that was, that was probably the biggest hiccup.

[00:18:44] David: wow. So yeah, anybody wanting to hear the whole story, read about the whole story, check out expedition journal and the overland. You said the overland journal or overland. What was it?

[00:18:53] Abigale: Overland Journal and Expedition Portal. They’re the same family, the same.

[00:18:59] Ritchie: Well, one is printed, the printed magazine and the other one’s the online version.

[00:19:03] David: There we go. Very good. Alright, well, let’s, let’s pivot to hopefully something a little bit more fun then.

[00:19:11] Abigale: Of course.

[00:19:12] David: you’ve got the young one in tow. You’ve got the young one in tow. So, how do we, how do you school, homeschool, world school? I know you guys like to call it road schooling. It can be daunting. So can you talk to us a little bit about that?

[00:19:27] Abigale: Yeah, well, Zoe is now four and a half, so we’re not giving her books or anything, but I’m a primary school teacher and I have, expertise in the early years, so it comes natural to me, so I’m very lucky. but I started an account on Instagram called road school around the world because I thought Whoa, she’s learning so much by traveling on the road.

[00:19:51] Abigale: So I’m just gonna show the world whoever’s interested how she learns that way So it can be from like when you have your photo Taken by the 70th sign by those letters, you know, there’s like I think there’s one of David right in Panama You know, she’s recognizing letters you’re saying which letter you’re gonna stand by just things like that Yeah, we’re on the beach and we’re doing maths with hermit crabs, you know, because she’s trying to collect them all and make a house But then three of them crawl away and it’s like okay, you had six take away three How many of you got left?

[00:20:29] Abigale: It just comes naturally and right now We’re doing a big huge thing on dinosaurs because we went to see the longest track of footprints at the Parque Cretaceo in In Bolivia, in Sucre. And it’s transformed her world, hasn’t

[00:20:47] Ritchie: it? She’s just like… Oh, she’s the biggest dino fan in the world now.

[00:20:50] Abigale: I never imagined a girly girl who’s into princesses could be, could know what a Pteranodon is.

[00:21:00] Abigale: And how long a T Rex is, and so we’ve been doing lots of math activities, actually getting the measuring tape out and the, we call it gaffer tape, what’s it called in American English? You know, just big tape and measuring how long a T Rex is. We’re making rock sculptures of a T Rex’s head, and I’m getting her to use little tiny rocks to, for teeth.

[00:21:22] Abigale: And I’m saying, well, a T Rex has 60 teeth, let’s count 60 teeth on there, you know? It’s just, it’s fun, I’m really enjoying it.

[00:21:30] David: that’s awesome. Yes, kids, kids learn in so many different ways. I’m always in amaze, in amazement about these Worldschool, these road school kids and how much that they know compared to just people who are in a normal, lifestyle that are learning the standard curriculum. They, they know a lot, but they don’t know a lot about all these other subjects, such as, I mean, seeing those tracks right up front in person must be amazing.

[00:22:02] Ritchie: Yeah,

[00:22:02] Abigale: yeah. Footprints fossilized.

[00:22:04] David: I bet Richie, I bet you’ve got a ton of photographs.

[00:22:07] Ritchie: Oh, yeah. No, I, I, I believe that kids learn, learn so much more from the real world and, you know, traveling and I’ve met that. I, I’ve, I’ve seen that firsthand with, friends, kids, you know, after. Two years of traveling with a sailboat, they came back to Switzerland and, you know, re entered the school.

[00:22:28] Ritchie: They were way ahead. They were really, like, they spoke two languages fluently and, it was like, transformable. Well, it was really, eye opening, really. Yeah.

[00:22:38] Abigale: These kids that Richie’s talking about, in Switzerland, you have to take an entry exam if you’ve been away and they were way higher. Oh yeah.

[00:22:47] Abigale: Their results were way higher.

[00:22:49] Ritchie: No, and it’s, it’s, I mean, it makes sense, right? Living proof.

[00:22:53] Abigale: Yeah.

[00:22:54] David: Yeah, yeah, makes sense. So you’re living on a sailboat like they were. You learn a lot. You have to grow up a lot too, I’m sure.

[00:23:03] Ritchie: hmm. Oh, absolutely. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:23:05] David: very, very cool. Well, another question that comes up often with people traveling is, Finances. So how do you fund this lifestyle?

[00:23:18] Ritchie: Okay, well, we have saved up and we’re still living off our savings, which will come to an end, in about, maybe a year or so. We are looking to make some money on the road. It’s not that easy for us. I don’t know. We’re we’ve not had jobs before like digital nomad jobs, you know, creating websites and whatnot.

[00:23:43] Ritchie: I was a photographer on the side. I have my own studio, but you still, you know, if you have a studio and make portrait photography, you can’t do that on the road so easily. You got to sell your landscapes and that’s not easy. So, yeah, we’re, we’re struggling a little bit with that. But, you know, if it’s five years in total, and then we have to find another way of, another lifestyle, that’s cool too.

[00:24:07] Ritchie: And, if we make it work, and keep on traveling, that’s cool. And, we could see, I mean, we have some ideas and, Maybe that might not keep us on the road for a while, but maybe we find a job in, in, in a different city in South America. Abigail was a teacher in international schools in New Zealand, in London, in Switzerland.

[00:24:30] Ritchie: So, she might. She might get a job in Buenos Aires or somewhere else. And, we might do a year or so there and then, you know, I don’t think we’re going to go back to the same old, you know, lifestyle we have before. I cannot imagine that.

[00:24:45] Abigale: So we’re seeing this trip as an investment, exactly. We have ideas.

[00:24:51] Abigale: Like I would like to write a road school around the world book, but you know, full time mom with Zoe, it’s going very slow. I just think, you know, at the end of our trip, we can put all this in. To reality and I guess it makes some money

[00:25:08] Ritchie: from it. I guess it isn’t or wasn’t until now so much about, being able to work and make it sustainable on this trip.

[00:25:16] Ritchie: It was more about the trip itself and, make this trip a trip of a lifetime. And, me with my photography, I, I always. Take pictures and edit them. We have a small YouTube channel and we, we’re always busy doing something, but it’s about the trip. And if somebody invites us to go fishing, we, we always say yes.

[00:25:35] Ritchie: And we always, you know, we love a good party and meet up with other people. So that always comes first. And,

[00:25:42] Abigale: so that’s the skills that you’re, you, you’re learning as an adult along the way. Oh,

[00:25:48] Ritchie: absolutely. We, we learned, we learned a little bit of Spanish. Yeah.

[00:25:54] David: So how many languages do you guys know now?

[00:25:58] Abigale: Well, Richie knows a heck lot more than I do. I, I’m on like two and a half.

[00:26:04] Ritchie: Well, I, I speak, German. Yeah. I speak German, English. I, speak a little bit of French that we had to learn that in school in Switzerland. I understand Italian and now I speak, He speaks very

[00:26:17] Abigale: good Spanish.

[00:26:18] Ritchie: I speak a little bit of Spanish.

[00:26:19] Ritchie: Yes, exactly.

[00:26:24] David: the the americans listening are like Blown away is you know, the majority of americans only speak english Even though we learn another language in school. It’s very difficult to retain it because we don’t use it very often type

[00:26:38] Ritchie: It’s such a big country. Yeah. Mm hmm.

[00:26:41] Abigale: But the Brits, the Brits are like that too. They’re, I say that they’re lazy, you know, cause you can get away with just using English all around the world. Yeah. You don’t have to. It’s a universal language. So why would you need to learn a language?

[00:26:55] Ritchie: Exactly. In Switzerland, you drive for an hour and a half and they speak French or Italian.

[00:27:00] David: you gotta pick it up quick where you, yeah, in Switzerland, for

[00:27:03] Ritchie: Yeah. You have coworkers in your company that speak another language. So yeah, you have to. Mm. Yeah.

[00:27:09] David: Yeah. Yeah, definitely. Well, what, what, what are some of your biggest tips, strategies, things like that, that might help some of these families who are considering doing what you’re doing? Overlanding.

[00:27:24] Ritchie: Okay. Well, do it. Yeah, just do it. You know, that’s, that’s, it sounds simple, but you know, if, by buying our vehicle unseen, you know, you just gotta put faith in your, in your dream and your vision, not be crazy, but you know, just Do, do your first step, you know, maybe set a date or whatever, live your dream eventually.

[00:27:47] Ritchie: And, and, and don’t care so much about your retirement fund and what, what not, the government tells you, you know, just, just live your life. here and there, right? And if this is your dream, traveling like it is for us, then go for it.

[00:28:03] Abigale: And we can do this on our savings, you know, like you, you find ways to be frugal.

[00:28:10] Abigale: You go and wild camp. You camp where you don’t have to pay any fees. You have your solar panels. So you can pay for your electricity. You know, you go to the gas station when you gas up, you say, can I have water for my tank, please? And you know, you just sure it doesn’t have to be expensive. Well,

[00:28:31] Ritchie: it’s not a cheap venture.

[00:28:32] Ritchie: If, I mean, we drive a big truck and, it’s not like. But it’s, it’s definitely cheaper than, living at home. That’s for sure. You don’t pay rent or all these insurances or whatnot. And you don’t fly out on vacation every year once, for like, I don’t know how many thousands of dollars. yeah, it is cheaper, but still you need a bit of money.

[00:28:54] Ritchie: Yeah, that’s savings. Yeah, exactly. But it’s a good investment.

[00:29:00] David: So yeah, you take that saving, take the savings, use it on, use it to invest in yourself. I mean, I like what you’re getting at there. I mean, when you have your retirement, you’re going to be old and hopefully. Hopefully your back still works, but I don’t know

[00:29:14] Ritchie: exactly.

[00:29:15] David: I, I have, I have mornings where I wake up too stiff.

[00:29:19] Ritchie: Yeah, no, that, that, that is, probably also the, one of the, the best advice, I mean. Don’t wait until you’re retired because I’m, I don’t know, not probably not most people, but many people, you know, can’t do it anymore when they’re like 65 or seventy years old and it’s probably not going to be the same experience.

[00:29:42] Ritchie: it, it’s, yeah, I think you’d rather do that. A little earlier in your life, if you can, everybody’s lives are different,

[00:29:52] Abigale: but don’t wait till your kids have gone to university because you know, this is the time to actually not miss out on those milestones.

[00:30:01] Ritchie: I think that’s even, that’s one, that’s probably the best time to do it even.

[00:30:07] Ritchie: Yeah, it’s, it’s really cool to see your kids grow up and especially as a dad, that’s, that’s phenomenal as you well know.

[00:30:15] Abigale: And we’ve not had to pay for childcare. No, I’ve not had to send Zoe to daycare, to go to work, to earn money. We just get to enjoy every minute with her and watch her grow and not have to pay someone else to do that.

[00:30:30] Ritchie: And we bond. Yeah. It’s, it’s wonderful. wonderful. Yeah, absolutely. Perfect time.

[00:30:37] David: Yeah, the family bonds in an overlanding vehicle have to be Pretty tight. I mean you’re in a close space for most of the time

[00:30:45] David: do you do you ever feel like you have to have some alone time? I know you’re sitting next to her right now

[00:30:55] Ritchie: Now, of course, of course.

[00:30:57] David: There yeah, there you

[00:30:58] Ritchie: it happens, but, but you know, it’s like sometimes you meet up with other travelers and then the boys go out for a drink or. It’s healthy, it’s good, but it doesn’t happen that much and, but it’s okay. I’m, I’m fine with it. And sometimes Abigail’s playing with Zoe outside and in the river and I’m inside and doing my own stuff on the computer.

[00:31:21] Ritchie: And, yeah, but you know,

[00:31:22] Abigale: I think our routine, as we mentioned earlier, helps that We’ll get up, we’ll have breakfast, but then Zoe and I will tend to just leave the camper and we’re just outdoors and we’re doing our learning. And Richie’s sat in, editing his photos, doing the YouTube videos, and that helps.

[00:31:39] Abigale: as Richie says, there are times when we meet other travelers and that’s really lovely because then we can sort of go off and socialize with other people. Or locals. Yeah. Or locals. Yep. Yep.

[00:31:53] David: Yeah, I mean, that’s, that’s interesting because yeah, meeting people from all around the world, whether it’s a local or another traveler from another land. I mean, that’s how we met each other in the first place. It makes for some, makes for interesting friendships from people on different cultural backgrounds.

[00:32:11] Ritchie: Yeah, it’s wonderful and you keep in touch, even though you don’t see each other for maybe a year or two, but you keep in touch and it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s beautiful. We actually

[00:32:23] Abigale: met up with a guy in Costa Rica who has half a home in Costa Rica and half a home in Lima. And so we were able to go visit

[00:32:31] Ritchie: him again.

[00:32:32] Ritchie: Oh yeah, we have many of these stories. Absolutely.

[00:32:34] David: Now, every country seems to have its own unique charm and you said you’ve been to what 16 now

[00:32:40] Ritchie: 13 in on this trip. Mm-hmm. ? Yeah.

[00:32:44] David: 13 on this 13 on this trip Can you tell me like what are your top five places that you’ve visited on this journey and why they make your top five?

[00:32:55] Ritchie: Okay. Start with Antigua.

[00:32:57] Abigale: Yeah.

[00:32:58] Ritchie: Guatemala. Guatemala. Yeah. Antigua, Guatemala was one of our favorite cities.

[00:33:04] Abigale: Yeah, because, um, I, I’m guessing you’ve been to Antigua and Guatemala. Yeah. So you’ve got this lovely.

[00:33:12] Abigale: old colonial town with ruins from earthquakes. You’ve got four volcanoes that surround it, where you can hike up one, sleep up there and watch its neighbor erupt every 15 minutes, that’s Acatenango.

[00:33:27] Abigale: And then you, you can melt marshmallows, toast marshmallows on another volcano. so yeah, that is definitely, we stayed in Guatemala for five months because we loved it so much. Yeah. We made. Friends. Oh yeah. So we went to daycare in Antigua and yeah, that just was definitely

[00:33:47] Ritchie: number one. We had a good bye party with 35 people, 35 locals and a whole hog on the spit so yeah.

[00:33:57] Abigale: Kind of felt like home. Yeah. And of course the rest of Guatemala with Tikal and

[00:34:04] Ritchie: the Mayan ruins. It was a special country. Yeah. Very good.

[00:34:07] Abigale: And beautiful lakes. Yeah. And the seaside. Yep.

[00:34:12] Ritchie: Well,

[00:34:12] Ritchie: number two would be the Baja California.

[00:34:15] David: Okay. I’ve never been. Tell me about Baja. Why?

[00:34:18] Abigale: Desert, sea life, um, once Ritchie crashed his drone in the sea, in the sea of Cortez and which was very unfortunate, but as I was trying to find it, two schools of dolphins were swimming under and over me, some pilot whales. It was just incredible. Like that is what you see. Looking for a drone and all this wildlife comes.

[00:34:45] Abigale: Fishing is great. We touched grey whales, didn’t we, on

[00:34:49] Ritchie: a boat tour. We did. Yeah. In a little nutshell, out on the ocean and these big, huge whales coming up to your boat. oh. Performing their tricks. Yeah. No, it was, we spent three months on the Baja, California. It was, it was great. It was really beautiful.

[00:35:06] Abigale: And Richie really likes deserts and cacti and dry climates.

[00:35:11] Abigale: And there’s a lot of that on the north. Yeah.

[00:35:13] Ritchie: Well, the whole of the peninsula. We made friends in La Paz and, it was, it was a absolute, one of my favorite. Yeah. And it’s, it’s, it’s pretty unique. yeah, in the world, and not too many people go there. I mean, there’s lots of Americans and Canadians, but from Europe, it’s pretty unknown, really.

[00:35:31] David: That is interesting. Okay, so that’s number two. What do we have for three?

[00:35:35] Ritchie: What do we have for three? Well, you know, I like the Wild West, in the States, of course. my favorite, my favorite state is Idaho, and then Arizona, and, yeah. So, I love, I love it there, and…

[00:35:48] David: Idaho is my hometown.

[00:35:50] Ritchie: Oh, beautiful. I love Idaho.

[00:35:53] Abigale: Great. Yeah.

[00:35:55] David: Yes

[00:35:55] David: fishing I think you’ll ever find is in Idaho

[00:35:58] Ritchie: Oh, yeah, I, I bought my fly fishing rod in Boise.

[00:36:02] David: Yeah, my dad was huge into fly fishing I didn’t do fly fishing I could never get into it I’m a spinner guy but

[00:36:09] Ritchie: Yeah. It’s hard, right? Like my, my buddy, my buddy in Idaho, he, when we go fishing, he says, well, that’s like shooting with blanks, man. And then he pulls out a big bass

[00:36:21] David: analogy. All right.

[00:36:23] Ritchie: Yeah. So he proved his point.

[00:36:26] David: Number four. What do we have for number four then?

[00:36:29] Abigale: I really liked Nicaragua. We were only there for two weeks. Yeah. We sand boarding on the ser Negro volcano. We saw like a Messiah, the, uh, devil’s Cauldron or whatever it was, like. The lava. Yeah, the lava. Granada was cool. And just

[00:36:54] Ritchie: the lake. It was just so much different. You know, like.

[00:36:56] Abigale: Diverse. In two weeks you just

[00:36:58] Ritchie: see so much.

[00:36:59] Ritchie: And in some parts like thrown back like 50 or more years. you know, like oxen cart, cart. And you know, it was, it was, it was pretty cool.

[00:37:08] Abigale: Can we say Bolivia

[00:37:10] Ritchie: for number five?

[00:37:11] Ritchie: Bolivia! Oh yeah, as a photographer, absolutely Bolivia. With the Salar de Uyuni and, you know, the lagunas, the Altiplano. It was, I mean, those landscapes, unbelievable.

[00:37:23] Abigale: The cable car system, the Teleferico in La Paz, amazing! And then you’ve got the jungle in Trinidad where you’re seeing alligators and crocodiles and caimans. And monkeys, yeah. And monkeys. And you’re painting yourself with mud.

[00:37:39] Ritchie: Yeah. Oh, you know, there’s, I mean, we loved Columbia too. I think our greatest adventure was in Columbia.

[00:37:45] Ritchie: we drove all the way to the Venezuelan border to the Orinoco river. And the Orinoco river was, was, I mean, that’s probably my number one favorite spot to go fishing. And, it was, it was a real adventure. it was a thousand miles of adventure on, on like. on the worst roads possible and over locked bridges and, communicating with, with indigenous people that sold you like a bow and arrow and guided you the way to, it was, it was phenomenal.

[00:38:15] Ritchie: Three weeks.

[00:38:17] David: that sounds phenomenal. So then what would you say then is the country that surprised you the most?

[00:38:26] Ritchie: Hmm.

[00:38:27] Abigale: Probably Bolivia, right? Well, something you don’t really hear of. I didn’t.

[00:38:33] Ritchie: Well, I knew about the Salar de Uyuni and I have always wanted to go there and it was like, yeah, a big dream coming through for me, surprising. I think the food in, in Peru was to me, a surprise, a good, I mean, a very good surprise.

[00:38:48] Ritchie: I loved it. I, I ate like, every, every other day I had to eat ceviche. It was, it’s my favorite ceviche and I’m a meat kind of guy. But that. That ceviche is, is, is really good. Yeah. And, El Salvador, I guess was a surprise.

[00:39:06] Abigale: Everyone told us not to go there because it’s dangerous and with

[00:39:09] Ritchie: it’s wonderful people, wonderful.

[00:39:12] Ritchie: Yeah. They would stop in the middle of, of, of, of a big city and, honk and wave and give, invite you for dinner. It was wonderful.

[00:39:22] David: Wow. That’s pretty cool. Yeah, so El Salvador was surprising for us as well that people say don’t go, but it was just amazing. People were great. Yeah,

[00:39:32] Ritchie: Yeah. Amazing.

[00:39:33] David: Well, on the flip side, have there been any any difficult or challenging experiences other than crossing back into the U. S. Border?

[00:39:41] Ritchie: Oh yeah, sure. Of course. I mean, not every day is, unicorns and rainbows or

[00:39:48] Abigale: being stuck in the Canyon, right in Peru.

[00:39:51] Ritchie: Yeah, we had one breakdown and we’re stuck for a week in the desert and low on everything. But, you know, it’s the beauty of, hospitality, people would help us. The mayor of the nearest town showed up and said, I have trucks, so I’ll pull you out a few days later.

[00:40:09] Ritchie: And he did. And, you know, I probably struggled the most during the pandemic. It, it just didn’t really sit well with me. I, then we were crossing into Mexico, got, got detained. And, we, we, when we got released, we didn’t even, Say that, the next time we crossed the border into Mexico, we didn’t even ask for a tip.

[00:40:31] Ritchie: We just wanted to go away from that border. So we drove all the way to, to San Felipe, on the Sea of Cortez on the Baja California without a tip, which is legal for an American vehicle on the Baja. Only On the Baja. Mm-hmm. But we wanted it for, for the mainland. You needed, so we, so we didn’t even know whether we can.

[00:40:49] Ritchie: We can cross into mainland and get a tip in La Paz. So those three months were a little, you know, on, I mean, we started looking for real estate and thought maybe we have to settle here now. Yeah, that was a bit of a strange time. but then we picked up, once we were in mainland Mexico, it was all good.

[00:41:10] Ritchie: And then I had a bit of a hard time in Ecuador for, you know, I don’t know, it wasn’t bad, but, it was raining a lot. I had high altitude, sickness, I didn’t like it, in Quito, it was too high for me. Yeah, you know, but that’s minor, that just, wasn’t my favorite country, but, we had wonderful experiences in the jungle, but…

[00:41:32] Ritchie: But yeah, yeah, what about you?

[00:41:37] Abigale: I think you’ve just sort of said them all really. I mean

[00:41:40] Ritchie: like… Yeah, there’s not much really. We enjoy every country. We had wonderful time and made friends everywhere. but if, yeah, that’s

[00:41:48] Abigale: about it. There are times when you’re naturally low.

[00:41:50] Ritchie: Oh, I guess I got a good one. Abigail gets homesick sometimes.

[00:41:55] Ritchie: So she had to go back after two years. we were in Mexico, Mexico City. they’re about and, so Abigail and Zoe went home to England for two weeks and I stayed behind. I don’t suffer from home, homesickness, but, but Abigail does every now and then. So,

[00:42:14] Abigale: yeah, that’s, it’s normal, I think as a mother as well.

[00:42:19] David: It happens sometimes. Yeah. And I mean, thankfully, we have planes and ways of moving around and traveling. So

[00:42:28] Ritchie: Sure.

[00:42:29] David: Well now, you’ve mentioned this several times about your blog, so as it, Meats Around the World, as the name suggests, you are quite the foodie, especially when it comes to meat.

[00:42:39] Ritchie: Yeah, we love food.

[00:42:41] David: can you share some of your unique culinary experiences that you’ve had with your travels?

[00:42:47] Abigale: Well, mostly in Ecuador. Sure. The one that surprised him.

[00:42:52] Ritchie: Well, yeah, I mean, if you mean those, what was it? Mamones. They’re like maggots. They’re like big, huge, giant maggots from the jungle. They put them on a skewer and grilled them. I wouldn’t call this meat, but, it was surprisingly good. So we eat everything that comes our way and that local traditions are.

[00:43:11] Ritchie: And we always ask for the, for, you know, local cuisine. And, in Columbia we ate like, what was it? in Antioquia, the, the gut, the intestines, uh, cow intestines and. grilled, and, and we’ve tried blood sausages and, Guinea pig. We’ve done Oh, Guinea pig. We’ve done about twice. Um, Zoe loves it.

[00:43:32] Ritchie: Does she?

[00:43:33] Ritchie: yeah. Yeah. She loves that too. She’s a meat eater too. She, she loves it.

[00:43:36] David: but, it was thin and hard to eat.

[00:43:39] Ritchie: Well, the thing is you just didn’t have it cooked, right? Yeah. So mm-hmm. in, Ecuador, in the Andes, we had it, grilled. And that was good. That was really good.

[00:43:48] Abigale: And they stuffed it with chives. Yeah. And it was really delicious.

[00:43:51] Ritchie: And then in Peru we had it again, but it was fried. And I didn’t like it so much fried because it kind of had that rodent kind of, it wasn’t not, it was not very nice, but, but grilled is nice.

[00:44:03] Ritchie: It’s got like a, it’s like a little. Pig, you know, it’s got a got a a crackling, skin. It’s that was good. So yeah, that was guinea pig what else did we have?

[00:44:13] Abigale: We tried alpaca.

[00:44:17] David: Yeah,

[00:44:17] Abigale: That was not very nice. Well, no.

[00:44:19] David: we, we pulled over at the side of the road, 4, 000 meters, above sea level in the Andes mountains in Peru.

[00:44:25] Ritchie: And there was these, guys sharing, alpacas, the whole family. And, I took pictures, asked if I can take pictures. And we stuck around for maybe an hour or so, talked with them. And, and then it was lunchtime and they invited us for, for, for lunch. And they gave us each plate. And, it was, It was a mixture with rice and vegetables and some alpaca meat, but the alpaca meat was a bit, I don’t know, strange, strange in a way.

[00:44:52] Ritchie: I don’t know what it was, which part of the animal. I had it again, I had it again in Aguas Calientes where Machu Picchu is in a, in a restaurant and that on a pizza and it was good. That was good, good meat. So yeah. Alpaca. oh, we had frog legs in, in Ecuador. They were delicious. Oh, yeah, they were delicious

[00:45:13] Ritchie: how’d they compare to France? Did you have, did you ever have them in France?

[00:45:17] David: yeah,

[00:45:17] Ritchie: I did. I did. Yes, of course,

[00:45:19] David: So how’d they compare?

[00:45:20] Ritchie: Well, you know, similar. it’s, it’s It’s, it’s like a chicken, it’s like chicken wings, but, but, softer, like, suave, tender, more tender.

[00:45:31] Abigale: And Zoey loved those too.

[00:45:32] Ritchie: Oh, they were really good. Yeah. So that, in Guatemala, we had, a possum.

[00:45:37] Ritchie: Yeah. We grilled an opossum. With a local. Yeah. Because that’s what they do there. sometimes. and, that was just, for me, I wouldn’t do it again because, there was not. Enough meat on the bone. It was just a bit too skinny, but it was fun. We had a party Yeah, what else did we bring stuff?

[00:45:58] Abigale: Ritchie cooks meat in his engine bay.

[00:46:01] Ritchie: Oh, yeah all the time, you know I wrap up a big piece of pork and I tie it to the engine then we drive 10 hours and then I pull it It’s a pulled pork. Oh, yeah, it works Did that a few times or ribs.

[00:46:15] Abigale: Yeah. He’s currently making beef jerky on the roof.

[00:46:19] Ritchie: Yeah. As we speak, making beef jerky on the rooftop.

[00:46:22] Ritchie: We’re in the Atacama desert, driest place on earth. So I thought, why not? I did it again. I did it before in Arizona. what else? Oh, in Guatemala, we actually. We grilled three whole hogs in those five months and two of which we, my buddy and me, we went to, the local butcher in a, in a town in the jungle and asked for like live pigs, you know, and then we were scouting every farm in the region to get two little, piglets, bought them alive.

[00:46:52] Ritchie: And then we, we, we, you know, we slaughtered them on the campsite and, and, we fed a Guatemalan village. And we fed a whole Guatemalan village. It’s 50, 60

[00:47:02] Abigale: feet. For a charity. Yeah. Yeah. So. Mountaintop Promises

[00:47:05] Ritchie: was the charity. Yeah. Oh, that was, that was a, a fun event. Yeah. Yeah. Stuff like that.

[00:47:13] Abigale: As you do.

[00:47:14] David: yeah, as you do. sounds like you have a lot of fun,adventures with locals while you travel.

[00:47:21] Ritchie: Yes, we do. Yeah. Yeah. That’s

[00:47:23] Abigale: true. Yeah.

[00:47:23] David: Do you actively seek out, those types of adventures with locals or is it something you just… Find yourself stumbling upon because you’re driving.

[00:47:34] Ritchie: Yeah, it comes very natural. We’re all, outgoing people here in this family and, you know, sometimes you, you just see somebody roll down the window and greet and, you know,

[00:47:44] Abigale: we’re not, we’re not very stealth, like our camper stands out,

[00:47:48] Ritchie: people approaches, and, no,

[00:47:50] Abigale: it’s, we have Meat Around The World.

[00:47:52] Abigale: plastered on our camper. So people are naturally very curious. for example, with the charity work, two girls, we met two girls in a supermarket, they’d seen our camper, and then they started saying, Oh, maybe you’d like to grill for, Our project, you know, for the malnourished families that we work with.

[00:48:10] Abigale: And we’re like, okay.

[00:48:12] Ritchie: Well, you know, two months later we went back there and they said, let’s do it. And, yeah, so yeah, of course, we love it. We love people. It’s meat around the world is kind of a play with words too. We love meat, but we also love to meet people.

[00:48:26] Abigale: And, yeah. And Richie will always have the grill on.

[00:48:28] Abigale: So. Oh yeah. We share meat. Share meat with locals. He’ll just say, Hey, you

[00:48:33] Ritchie: Sure. You know, like the Mexicans say, sharing food, makes it even better.

[00:48:37] David: I love that approach too. Because, you know, it is. It’s that family style and I love it.

[00:48:43] Ritchie: Yeah. Yeah. We got invited so many times, it’s, it’s wonderful.

[00:48:47] Abigale: And you mentioned family, like Zoe, just going back to traveling with a kid, you know, growing up on the road, being a baby, they are icebreakers, especially in Mexico, families dote on young children, so they would just go up to her, they’d give her cookies and you know, they just, and then you.

[00:49:05] Abigale: We end up making new friends. You make new friends.

[00:49:08] Ritchie: Yeah. And now Zoe, she approaches every stranger she sees. She just runs off and just greets them.

[00:49:14] David: That’s what you want, right?

[00:49:18] Ritchie: Yeah. That’s, that’s why it took us four years to get here.

[00:49:22] David: All right, now I thought we’d have a fun little lightning round. So you can both answer individually. Let’s see how

[00:49:28] Ritchie: right. Fire away.

[00:49:30] David: Coffee or tea?

[00:49:32] Ritchie: Coffee, coffee.

[00:49:33] David: Cat or dog?

[00:49:35] Ritchie: None.

[00:49:39] Abigale: We don’t really have any pets so.

[00:49:44] Ritchie: I eat my animals.

[00:49:46] David: Animals beware, stay away from the truck. Pool or beach?

[00:49:54] Ritchie: Beach, Yeah, we love water. Absolutely. We love the beach. Every, every, I don’t know how, every month or so we’re, we’re hanging out in the insane mountains and it was like, we got to go to the beach. And then after a week we go, Oh, I’m, I’m done with the humidity, with the heat, with the mosquitoes.

[00:50:09] Ritchie: Let’s go. But it always draws us back.

[00:50:12] David: And now you’re in the driest place on the

[00:50:13] David: planet.

[00:50:14] Ritchie: Oh yeah.

[00:50:14] David: Yeah. Stay hydrated, trust me, I couldn’t get enough water

[00:50:17] Ritchie: Yeah. It’s true. Oh yeah.

[00:50:20] David: Alright, would you rather be able to understand and speak every language in the world, or be able to teleport anywhere at any time?

[00:50:29] Ritchie: Oh, that’s a tough one.

[00:50:31] Abigale: I think for me, it’s the language one because I’m a bit of a control freak, a perfectionist. I want to be able to speak before I dare speak, but probably for you, which is the opposite to me. So you probably say…

[00:50:45] Ritchie: Well, but you know, it’s a, that question, of course, I love languages. So I’m probably in the same camp.

[00:50:51] Ritchie: I’d love to speak every language. I believe it’s about… Around 4000 these days. Yeah. Yeah. I love languages.

[00:51:00] David: so many languages. Alright, now, imagine this. You get off the plane at your next destination, and you arrive into the zombie apocalypse. You’re able to get to your, your bags. What’s the first thing you would grab and why?

[00:51:18] Abigale: Probably my, my old iPhone six because it’s, it’s like my computer. It’s everything. Like I do everything on it. So without that, I’m stuck.

[00:51:30] Ritchie: All right. For me, it’d be my camera. That’s a, it’s a no brainer.

[00:51:35] David: All right. All right. Cool. Now let’s do a little travel trivia to finish things up for today. You guys, you guys have a little bit of an advantage of this having two brains.

[00:51:46] Abigale: You could just do Richie if you like.

[00:51:50] David: What Central American country is known as the land of lakes and volcanoes?

[00:51:58] Abigale: Well, I thought El Salvador was the land of volcanoes.

[00:52:02] Ritchie: But they… But it probably will be Nicaragua, right? Yeah. Yeah.

[00:52:08] David: Got it. Nicaragua. Yes. It’s got the dramatic terrains, lakes, volcanoes, and beaches. Love it. Love it. Yeah. All right. Can you name the ancient Mayan city located in modern day Guatemala, which was one of the largest urban centers of the Mayan civilization?

[00:52:28] Ritchie: Tikal.

[00:52:29] David: Yes, Tikal. Alright. What is the official language of Belize?

[00:52:38] Abigale: Tikal. Yeah. English. Not that we’ve been there. We’ve not

[00:52:40] David: That makes it so much easier.

[00:52:42] David: Yeah, it’s a bit expensive. It’s got some nice beaches, but yeah, we found it a bit expensive at times. All right, so which Costa Rican term translates to pure life?

[00:52:54] Abigale: Pura Vida.

[00:52:57] Ritchie: Pura Vida. Yeah, they say that every, every, after

[00:53:00] David: plastered everywhere

[00:53:01] Abigale: No, it’s like they say it seven times in a sentence. Yeah.

[00:53:07] Ritchie: Stands for everything.

[00:53:08] David: But I love that saying.

[00:53:09] Ritchie: Sure. Yep. Yep.

[00:53:10] David: All right. And last one. What is the name of the world’s highest navigatable lake located at the border of Peru and Bolivia?

[00:53:19] Ritchie: Lake Titicaca

[00:53:21] Abigale: means gray puma.

[00:53:24] Ritchie: Yeah, it means great. Great Puma.

[00:53:26] David: grey puma.

[00:53:27] Ritchie: Lake Titicaca.

[00:53:28] Abigale: Do we get a bonus point for that?

[00:53:32] David: all right. Bonus point. There you go.

[00:53:35] Ritchie: point

[00:53:37] David: Love it. Love it. So yeah, you’ve been a lot of places so far. So, on our way out, what is the last piece of advice you would give to families who are thinking of embarking on a similar journey overlanding across Americas?

[00:53:51] Ritchie: Okay, buy a truck and go.

[00:53:56] Abigale: Don’t listen to the negative. Yeah. Yeah. Some people will say, what? You’re traveling with a baby?

[00:54:03] Ritchie: Oh, yeah. We had to hear a lot of, you know, if we’re crazy and whatnot,

[00:54:07] Abigale: but… As Richie always says, there are kids all over. And with the kids, yeah.

[00:54:13] Ritchie: What have you got to fear? There, there is, always some, many reasons why not to do it.

[00:54:18] Ritchie: But, You know, if you want to do something like that. Do it, plan it and, make it work. Don’t listen

[00:54:24] Abigale: to the media. Yep. It’s, you know, it’s a lot safer than people think.

[00:54:29] Ritchie: Oh, yeah, that too. Yeah, that too. I mean, even people here, we arrived, in every country, people go, where have you been? And then you tell them and they go.

[00:54:38] Ritchie: You drove through Central America and, yeah, of course it was no problem. How was Mexico? It was, we, we had a wonderful time in Mexico. Sure. It’s, I mean, if you, if you run the wrong spot in the wrong time, even at home, yeah, bad luck, but, but, actually it’s safer than you think.

[00:54:56] David: Yeah, I think overlanders can bust a lot of myths people generally hear in the media. cause, yeah, it’s not always, you’re not gonna get kidnapped. You haven’t

[00:55:08] Ritchie: No, well, by the government, yeah.

[00:55:10] David: oh yeah, you got the one time, yeah, yeah, the one time there, but that’s not what you’d hear in the, that’s not what you would hear in the media, so stop it.

[00:55:17] Ritchie: exactly.

[00:55:18] David: but no. So yeah, that’s great piece of advice. I mean, don’t listen to all the hype out there. Go and do it. Buy yourself a truck and just get out on the road.

[00:55:27] David: I love it.

[00:55:28] Ritchie: you can do smaller

[00:55:29] David: Thank

[00:55:29] David: Yeah, small strips. Yeah, small trips are great too. You don’t have to be crazy like the like the three of us here and drive the entire of Americas.

[00:55:38] Ritchie: And then on to Africa.

[00:55:41] David: Yeah, is that the next

[00:55:41] Ritchie: Well, that’s my next, my next dream. Yeah, of course. Yeah.

[00:55:45] David: I mean, I do know one person who’s planning on doing that drive going from the south of Africa up. I think it would be cool, but I don’t know. The logistics

[00:55:53] Ritchie: Yeah, it’s, it’s, it’s harder, but doable. Yeah.

[00:55:57] Abigale: People are doing it.

[00:55:59] David: It’s doable. It’s definitely doable. Yes, they are. Very cool. Well, I appreciate both of you all being here again.

[00:56:06] Ritchie: thank you so much for having us.

[00:56:08] David: So, thank you very much for giving us an inside look as to what it looks like on, uh, life on the road. From the ups to the downs, back and forth, the, the financial part of the traveling, homeschooling, road schooling as you call it.

[00:56:22] David: Thank you. these types of experiences are very important for folks out there to hear as they make their decision whether or not they’re going to do it or some people who might be listening that are on the road right now feeling down and wanting and wanting that piece of advice. You guys have been doing it for four years are inspiration to people that are looking to do this type of thing, that it can be done and you can continue to do it.

[00:56:47] David: So, to those listening out there, remember the world is really, it’s a

[00:56:51] Abigale: Yeah, it is.

[00:56:52] David: and those who do not travel only read one page of that book as a, as the saying

[00:56:56] David: goes

[00:56:56] David: that.

[00:56:57] Ritchie: Yeah, that’s true.

[00:56:58] David: So until next time, everybody keep exploring, stay curious, tune into the next episode for conversations with other folks here on this podcast.

[00:57:07] Ritchie: Mm hmm.

[00:57:08] David: Safe travels, everyone. Richie, Abby, have a very safe travel and, I’m sure we’ll be

[00:57:13] Ritchie: Absolutely, thank you, likewise, yeah. Say hi to everyone.

[00:57:17] Abigale: Thanks

[00:57:20] David: bye bye.

[00:57:21] David: Hey, before you go, can you do us a huge favor? If you enjoyed today’s episode, please rate and review us on Apple Podcasts and drop a comment on our YouTube channel. Your feedback helps us create more content that you love. Thank you for your support