Resilience on the Road to Travel the Pan-American Highway

She Who Wanders

Mar 17

A Convo with Keri from Overland for Good

Meet Keri. She’s a wife, mom to two, adventurer and the inspiring creator behind the website, instagram and YouTube channel Overland for Good. There she and her husband share their family’s adventures as well as destination guides, packing lists, vanlife (now truck camper life!), their vanbuilds and so much more to help families get out and explore + adventure in the outdoors. Having set out to traverse the entire Pan American Highway back in 2020 and suddenly being forced to pivot and put it all on hold because of the pandemic, she is the real deal when it comes to resilience and being able to stay flexible with the strategy, but committed to the vision for her life. I’m continually inspired by her courage, her creativity to see and live outside-the-box, and her ability to dance with fear and forge ahead toward her dreams.

Tell us a little about you and your family like where you’re from, where you live now, how old are your kids and anything interesting or unique you’d like people to know.

I have 2 kids. Lillian 11 and Case 9! Lillian is our little artist, creator and cautious girl who keeps us all safe and honest. She is good to the core. Case is our big helper, cuddle bug, and silly guy who is always keeping us laughing with his quick wit! And Scott, where to start? He is my best friend and I wouldn’t go anywhere without him. We truly have an amazing relationship and are always trying to put the other first. It’s been working for 15 years. Bring on another 15!

Overlanding down the Pan American highway from Alaska to Argentina is a huge _ impressive life goal! How did you decide on that particular dream for your family? What drew you to it? What are you most excited for and nervous about?

I know! I am soo excited, 5 months to take off! This has been a dream in the making for years. It first began after a few 10+ day trips to Canada (BC & Banff/ Jasper Provincial Parks) back in 2016/2017. I remember driving home after spending 10+ days hiking, exploring, tent camping in the cold and as we rounded the turn to our house, all dirty, I just started crying. I didn’t want to go home. I didn’t want the adventure to end. I didn’t want to go back to work and send my kids to a sitter. My family and I thrive in the outdoors. It’s where we’re the closest and get along the best. Not that home life isn’t fun. That part of life is fun too, but when I am in the outdoors my soul soars. All of ours do, and it hit me that day. A few weeks later I was complaining to Scott about work and he was like “Keri, what if we quit our jobs and just traveled? What if we did the Pan American Highway?.” I just laughed. Quit our jobs?? We were 20K+ in debt! There was no way! We were trapped. Well that thought festered in my mind for a few weeks. I wanted it. I wanted it badly. After another stressful day at work (I ran a catering & event planning company) I came home and looked at him and said…let’s do it! Let’s make it happen. So I went to work. I am a master researcher. Okay, how much is this going to cost? What do we have to save? I figured out border crossings, gas, recreation, etc..we’re dirt bags so we don’t mind camping all the way. It came to around 40K for 18 months. + the 20k to get out of debt. Overwhelming huh? I have NEVER been set on fire about a goal in my life. We cut everything out. Haircuts, eating out, new clothes. I worked overtime when I could. Sold stuff from Thrift stores. It took 2 years to save and get out of debt, and we did it. We were only making about 70K+ together as well. It was hard, but we counted everything in tacos. We could buy that, but you know how many tacos that would buy us later? Haha

We chose the Pan American Highway because it’s the longest road in the world you can travel. It takes you through 18 countries with only 2 different languages. It is also one of the cheaper overland roads like this. We knew we wanted to drive it. Immerse ourselves in the cultures and beauty of each country. Camp and rough it along the way. There are so many places to free camp along this route. And it is a true route. There are a lot of people who had already done it that we could get inspiration and guidance from.

I am most excited about all the beautiful landscapes we’re going to see. How diverse the world is. I am excited to show my kids the love of other people and cultures that are not like our own. How much beauty the world has to offer. I am also excited to show everyone who follows us how safe it can be, and how there are good people everywhere that aren’t trying to kill you. ;)

Believe it or not, I am mostly nervous about homeschooling! I’m terrified I won't do a good job and will focus more on adventures than schooling. I know I will actually. A part of me doesn’t care, but a part of me doesn’t want to hold them back. I’m scared I'll fail them at that, but I’m still going for it.

The Great Wanderlust is all about women stepping outside of the box and diving deeper in both travel and in life! The mission is to inspire moms + families to feel fully alive through adventure and exploration! What is your great wanderlust? What most makes you come to life?? Take us back to a moment when you felt that.

Mine is for sure being in a place I have never been before taking in a new environment and beauty! Looking out and seeing yet another beautiful creation that my Father in Heaven has made for me to enjoy. To realize in that moment yet again he shows me his love by creating something that is so different and so beautiful for our enjoyment. And then to be by the people I love and see their faces and how we are all just in awe. There is a spiritual feeling that really touches deep within my soul when I marvel at my Creator’s creations. I feel his love. That is where I find Him. And that is my wanderlust.

I’ve talked to a lot of people who have wild dreams for their families, but they view them as something they could never actually do. Why do you think that is? What advice would you give to a friend who wants to make a bold move, but is too overwhelmed with the uncertainty + fear of stepping outside the box of what society sees as “normal.”

I feel people get trapped in not seeing a life out of the norm because it’s all they’ve ever known. It’s scary to think what would I do without a steady income? What would I do without health insurance? People get trapped with large mortgage payments, car payments, subscriptions. But do you really need those? If you truly look at what you value in life, is that really what you value?

Some people do and that is TOTALLY fine. I loved having a nice house and place to call home, and I will come back to that one day. But to live this dream I have to leave those behind; I can do without them for a time. I’m not leaving that life forever. There is happiness there, but I have this big dream, and I can leave the possessions behind. It is FREEING to get rid of all your possessions. If you can do it, you won’t look back. It’s contagious! Can you dare to be brave for a few years? To give up the norm just for a few years?

For now we’re putting this dream first, being in nature and with each other. We don’t need the comforts right now. We will miss them. But they’ll be there when we come back and oh how we will appreciate them sooo much more. As far as insurance goes, when we go to other countries they all have universal healthcare, so we don’t have to worry about that down there. In the US, yes. That can get expensive but once we cross the border that worry is gone.

It’s scary selling your house, quitting your job, leaving and saying I might be broke when I come back, but I had one hell of an adventure! How did I get past it? It came down to - what do I value most in life? Things? Or Time? I wanted more time with my family NOW. My kids call this trip “family days forever” What’s one thing you can never get back? Time.

What got us to that point is asking ourselves. What are we working for? We work to have a nice house to come home to, nice things in our home, nice clothes to wear, and adventuring on the weekends. I wanted more than the weekends. The Norm is for everyone to work their whole life and when you retire then travel. Why?? Your body is older - it can’t do as much. You might have health problems…you might not even live to reach retirement. We wanted to go NOW when we are fit and capable, and most importantly when our kids are with us. We love being with them; when we experience something without them it makes us sad. I want to teach them the ways of the world through experience. Not a textbook. We can always get jobs again, and we can buy another house one day. But this time when our kids are little is what matters more. We only have so many years left with them until they run off with their families, and then Scott and I will travel alone. That’s another adventure I’m excited for one day!

Van life obviously has so many perks - adventures, freedom, nature + the outdoors, family bonding, travel - just to name a few! But as with anything in life, there must be some struggles too. I would love for you to pull back the curtain a bit for those who might be interested in pursuing this type of lifestyle. What are the challenges involved - both mentally and physically?

Haha, yes there is. We actually are moving from vanlife to a truck-camper, which in the sense is the same. It’s just more capable in some ways that our 2WD van wasn’t, and less expensive than the 4WD vans. Living on the road is amazing! Especially when you have a vehicle equipped with all your needs.

One struggle we’ve experienced is training our mind to not freak out about every little sound outside. We typically don’t like paying for campsites, so we boondock 99% of the time, which puts us in remote places. No one is around us, but the first couple of weeks our subconscious minds were on high alert. After a few weeks we settled in and started relaxing. We just had to push ourselves and eventually we started sleeping better. Also, constantly searching for the next place to sleep is challenging. It is mentally toiling after a while of moving each night, especially not being remote, and all the spots being taken.

The golden rule while traveling through central and South America is never drive at night. So another challenge we’ll face is having to be at our camp spot before the sun goes down; when it comes to crossing lots of miles that will be mentally challenging.

Another struggle is that we don’t have an indoor shower or hot water on tap. We shower outside which means it isn’t always the perfect weather conditions. Sometimes it's cold, and we just have to be tough. I’ve heard this is good for your body, but I don’t see it! Haha

Lastly, we don’t have hot water in our van. Imagine just making pasta with butter and having to wash dishes in cold water only. We then have to heat up a pot of water to wash dishes. Everything takes longer. But we’re not in a rush - we’re taking our time so everything is more chill on the road. But it’s just harder (we could have hot water, but we don’t have the storage for all that that entails. so we chose to go without it).

As an adventure mom who is pushing limits, taking risks and living life outside-the-box, what are some ways you support + and take care of yourself as a person? Do you have any rituals, habits or routines that help you stay on top of your game so you can live your most vibrant life?

Yes, I have my hammock and a book:) I LOVE reading. Mostly young adult fantasy, haha. That is where I can calm my mind especially, when there is the sound of ocean waves in the background. I am also a very spiritual person. My “ritual” that gets me through my day are my prayers to my Heavenly Father throughout the day and my daily study of my scriptures. That helps me the most and grounds me. I feel His guidance and protection. I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints, and we believe in the Gift of the Holy Ghost. I rely on that comforting spirit and guide throughout my day to help me stay on top of my game and be the best version of myself.

We talk about values around here a lot because they’re the foundation and backbone of everything we do! What are your family’s top 3 values and why are they important to you?

Kindness, Service, and Gratitude

Kindness because we strive to be kind to everyone. I really try to be nice and understanding and want to shine a little light in everyone's day. And that starts with Kindness. Big smiles!

Service brings others joy and in return brings you joy. Scott and I have learned that true happiness comes through truly serving others. We have so many experiences that have brought us joy and try to teach that to our kids. We hope we can do lots of service along the Pan American Highway!

I believe that if we find something to be grateful for even when things are not going as planned you can still find happiness in life and in your situation. There is always something to be grateful for, sometimes you just have to dig deep. We have to be able to look outside of our situation and see what we have been blessed with. This goes hand-in-hand with service. Gratitude is something we practice and have come to value a lot in our family. No matter what comes our way we need to find the blessings that are there. I believe this helped us so much in 2020 when we sold our house, quit our jobs, and then the world shut down and fell apart around us while we were without a home. We tried to see the blessings in our situation and that made us focus on the positive which in turn kept us positive. There was sadness and tears - lots of tears - but we didn’t fall into depression.

Where are you off to next and what are you most looking forward to about it?

We’ll be leaving AGAIN for our big 2 year adventure in August! 3 years later, but we haven’t given up hope! That’s the big one we’re planning now. The countdown is on. Until then we’re saving money, building vans, and taking some fun Utah trips down to Southern Utah and maybe some rafting trips down the Green River.

Is there a question you wish I would have asked or anything else you’d like to share with other women relating to travel or life?

I guess the only other thing I would say is to never give up. We had saved and planned for 2.5 years to go on this big adventure, left in Feb 2020 and were then stopped a month later due to Covid. The dream still lives. It has been a struggle to keep it alive while the world heals. I would say to never give up. I had to create a HUGE map in my front room with my trip marked so I could see it every day and not give up or lose sight and let the dream slip away. The world still seems to be in chaos. I am praying World War III doesn’t break out this next time we leave. I am terrified to do this all again and get rid of everything, leave my home and to be halted again, but I’m not letting that fear stop me. Last time, I felt protected the whole time. Looking back it was a blessing the time was pushed back in so many ways. We now have a 4x4 so we can go more remote, our kids are older and better swimmers, we had time to create a website, create our van building business which we were able to use to make more money to go longer, etc. It was heartbreaking when we stopped, but in hindsight it was for the best. It was meant to be. Don’t give up if there seems to be roadblocks. Goals are dreams with deadlines. If the deadline doesn’t work, change the plan, not the goal.