OverlandSphere » Ruined Adventures

365 Days On The Road!

Ruined Adventures — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 20:53:00 +0000

Remember when we used to write a blog? Oh you forgot about our blog. That’s cool, so did we… Well much has happened since Guatemala and our last blog post. As a matter of fact, we’ve officially been on the road for over 365 days now. Yep, that’s right. We recently celebrated the 1 year anniversary of our nomadic lifestyle…

Volcano climbs and eruptions

Ruined Adventures — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 02:27:00 +0000

After our last wedding guests left town we still had some time to kill while the 4Runner was getting some surgery. We met a couple of fun German backpackers, Fabian and Puck, while hostel-hopping and they had convinced us to tag-along on a day-trip to climb Volcan Pacaya. It was less than $9 usd per person, and we were tired…

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Ruined Adventures — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 01:14:00 +0000

Another month has passed along with another long period of silence on our end. We’ve since crossed several borders and it’s hard to believe how much has happened since we left our little bubble of peace in Lake Atitlan. For the sake of consistency, our story will pick up where our last broadcast left off, but in regards to our…

Fellow Travelers

Ruined Adventures — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 22:11:00 +0000

Once we started searching, it was amazing how many similar stories we discovered online. We're obviously not the only folks who decided it would be fun to drive the Americas… We have found so much inspiration through their stories. Facing their fears and leaving it all behind, they've found the courage to explore the darkest corners of the earth and…

Our Wedding Day

Ruined Adventures — Sun, 16 Sep 2012 16:06:00 +0000

We’re married! Even though we had been engaged for a year, we didn’t actually decide where our wedding was going to be until about three months before the actual event. After seeing photographs of Lake Atitlan and getting confirmation from several other about how amazing the lake was, the decision was made to have our wedding there. We decided to…

Overland Advice: To Drive, Or Not To Drive

Ruined Adventures — Sun, 19 Aug 2012 23:14:00 +0000

This post is the first in a series of advice, geared towards those of you who are preparing to embark on your first big trip. There’s obviously more than one way to see the world and I won’t pretend we know much regarding each option but we’ll do our best to touch bases. We invite our friends in the overland…

Fast Forward: bribes, counterfeits, and dysentary

Ruined Adventures — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 20:35:00 +0000

Our current view in Antigua First of all I’d like to formally apologize to our readers, all five of you, for the serious lack of updates we’ve had over the past few months. I hadn’t realized how far behind we were until we won the award for “Most Slackerest-Ass Blog” (new word courtesy of James at Home On The Highway). …

Guanajuato Fred

Ruined Adventures — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 19:53:00 +0000

Chances are, if you’ve spent any amount of time in Guanajuato, Mexico you’ve probably met our dear friend Fred. You may not have realized it, and you probably don’t even remember it, but I’m willing to bet you’ve bumped into him…it’s possible he’s even saved your life without your knowledge. Fred is the rare breed that you hear about in…

First Taste of the Mainland

Ruined Adventures — Sun, 27 May 2012 17:57:00 +0000

We arrived in Mazatlan early the next morning and spent about half a day exploring the city before heading south to San Blas, Nayarit. It was nice to finally make it to mainland Mexico and switch from desert to lush coastline. San Blas was one of Brenton’s favorite places from when he and his sister backpacked Mexico in 2004 and…

Heading to the Mainland

Ruined Adventures — Thu, 24 May 2012 20:06:00 +0000

Maybe it’ll be my job (Shannon) to bring the audience up to speed when we’ve had a lack of blog writing. It’s been a while so I’ll have to thumb through some pictures and journal entries to remember it all. Fellow travelers mentioned that when you’re on a trip like this, time really slows down. Sure, I thought, I can…

Mexico Campsites

Ruined Adventures — Sat, 19 May 2012 20:15:00 +0000

Rooftop camping on top of a hostel We have published a Google map showing all of our campsites to date. We will try to keep it updated as we continue. Please feel free to use the information, but don’t forget to credit the source. Many of these campsites can be found in the Traveler’s Guide to Mexican Camping by Mike…

Gettin’ Raw On Baja

Ruined Adventures — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 07:59:00 +0000

After getting our fix of sand and sun, we decided our best bet for avoiding the Semana Santa crowds was to head inland. We’d heard really good things about Loreto and it sounded right up our alley. While trying to find a place to camp we got lost for a minute, but eventually we found a good spot close to…

Bay of Conception?

Ruined Adventures — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 22:57:00 +0000

“Grade to Hell” On our way to Mulegé, we passed thru Santa Rosalia which has a unique history. This place is very different from any other town you might see in Baja, thanks to a French company that built a copper mine in the 1800′s. Many of the houses are covered with brightly colored clap-board siding, looking more like they…

San Ignacio, Baja Sur

Ruined Adventures — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 04:21:00 +0000

After relaxing in Laguna Ojo de Liebre for a couple days we headed inland through Southern Baja. As the sun was quickly dropping beyond the horizon, we rounded a bend and approached the charming small town of San Ignacio. A welcome sight on a desolate drive, San Ignacio is a palm oasis that sprouts from a small valley in the…

Shifting gears in Baja Sur

Ruined Adventures — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 19:02:00 +0000

After 6 kilometers of slow paced driving across vast salt flats and hard-packed, corrugated sand roads, we finally reach Laguna Ojo de Liebre. We idle up to the kiosk and pay the security guard 65 pesos ($5 US dollars) for our entrance fee, as Shannon mutters something about “I guess things have changed here”, noting that our Church’s guide said…

What about Shady???

Ruined Adventures — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 01:41:00 +0000

You might be asking at this point what happened to our dog. Well we did not quarter her into lean tacos and she has thankfully not yet succumbed to a tennis ball-induced heart-attack (not that we know of at least). As you may have guessed, we have decided to leave our beloved mascot within the safe and predictable lines that…

Shannon’s Two Cents

Ruined Adventures — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 01:43:00 +0000

Brenton is usually the one writing the blog updates, and that's fine with me, but I figure every now and then I'll throw in my two cents and let you know what I'm thinking about this epic adventure of ours. Our drive down the Pacific Coast was beautiful. I have come to the conclusion that when it comes to which…

The Last Straw

Ruined Adventures — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 06:09:00 +0000

How we’ve been feeling lately Technically we were on the road, but we still felt completely unorganized and overpacked. Thankfully, my brother cleared out his garage for us. Finally ANOTHER chance to re-organize, de-clutter, do some work and get rid of unnecessary stuff. This was round two, three, or seven (I lost count), of our version of Hoarders. We’ll…

Wrong turn at Albuquerque

Ruined Adventures — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 20:50:00 +0000

Finally hitting the road, we decided to make a drastic detour. Due to the unexpected arrival of Brenton’s sister back to the US and the fact that his best friend, Jordan, was getting married in one week, we decided to drive 2,000 miles north to the beautiful state of Washington. We were a little worried about Shady though…how would she…

Watch that first step…

Ruined Adventures — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 10:31:00 +0000

Holy smokes the past two weeks have been rough. Roughly twelve months ago, we decided that we would hit the road approximately January 29th, 2012. Oh, that's cute…well it's nice to have goals, isn't it? Read more »…

How did I get so lucky?

Ruined Adventures — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 18:17:00 +0000

Traveler in training A common question has been "how do you find such a cool chick to travel and camp with you?" Well that's a question that I often find myself asking…"self, how did you get so lucky with this girl you've found?" We've been hanging out in North Carolina for the past week, spending time with Shannon's parents and…

Suspension Attention

Ruined Adventures — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 04:08:00 +0000

WARNING: this post will be long, boring, and possibly confusing…This is for the nerds out there that enjoy the vehicle specifics of trip preparation. Proceed with caution. When I originally bought the 4runner it was in surprisingly great shape for a 24 year old 4wd. It was garage kept and the previous 2 owners were meticulous about maintenance. The suspension…

How Can You Help?

Ruined Adventures — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 17:18:00 +0000

We've had several friends ask how they can help us prepare for our trip and keep us traveling. We're not asking for handouts or sponsorships but we've come up with a few options if you really want to help. Buy limited edition 'Ruined Adventures' gear We have made some "koozies" for a fun way to celebrate our trip and upcoming…

Our dirty little secret…

Ruined Adventures — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 17:11:00 +0000

It's official, we're leaving Texas and we will be moving in January. There, I've said it out loud and it feels pretty good to get that off my chest. Today I turned in my official letter of resignation and it's very hard to express my thoughts and feelings. I'm excited but terrified, petrified with fear and anxious about what life…

Voting has ended for the "I Love My GoPro" contest!

Ruined Adventures — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 21:21:00 +0000

Thanks to everyone who voted for us in the “I Love my GoPro” contest! Our entry didn’t win, but it’s okay because we still feel like we won the life lottery…being able to go on a self-supported adventure like this is an amazing accomplishment to us. Even though we didn’t win, we went ahead and purchased a GoPro camera so…

Vaccinations: Our Visit with Rebecca

Ruined Adventures — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 00:04:00 +0000

Brenton and I have done our research. We knew which vaccinations we wanted for the trip, what medications we want to bring and what medical supplies we'd like to take for an emergency. About a week ago, we finally made the appointment to get our immunizations. I had spent a couple of days calling different clinics and doctor's offices to…

When’s the Date?

Ruined Adventures — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 23:42:00 +0000

I can't tell you how many times I've been asked this question. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind at all. Problem was, I didn't have an answer. Until now…sort of. After several ideas and fun talks about where and when we want to get married, we've come to a decision. We're doing it alone, when we find somewhere beautiful…

Bargain Hunting at REI

Ruined Adventures — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 02:12:00 +0000

Hello my name is Brenton, and I'm a gear-aholic…. I like to walk around REI aimlessly looking at what's the latest camping gizmo. The next thing I know, I'm at home testing out the new stove that I didn't know I needed (I currently own 5 stoves), with really no recollection of how my checking account is missing a Benjamin…

Portland vs. Asheville…ready, fight!

Ruined Adventures — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 02:04:00 +0000

Which city is the best choice for Shannon & Brenton? The winner will be our new home after our trip to South America. Please feel free to chime in with facts about either city, to convince us why one is better than the other. Please refrain from any biased comments such as "because your family lives here" or "that town…

We’re Engaged!

Ruined Adventures — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 01:35:00 +0000

For a mintute there I was worried that I’d have to get down on one knee and propose in the Austin airport. Fortunately for me, airport security did not seem to care about the fact that I had a diamond ring stashed inside of a tiny dental floss container. That’s right, a dental floss container. I had to keep it…