About The Wandering Nomads

We are a young couple living the life of our dreams as we cycle around the world, enjoying our simplistic way of life with everything we need on our bike and our tent to call home. Take a seat, stay a while, and read about the diverse cultures we encounter, the unimaginable hospitality we have been shown, and just how wonderful life in the saddle has turned out to be.

A Surprise Return Home

Posted on August 6, 2015 by The Wandering Nomads

July 21st, 2015

In half an hour Kevin and I will be boarding a plane which will take us to Eugene, OR where my brother will pick us up in order for us to surprise my parents. Though we had planned to cycle for a few more months, after a week on the divide Kevin decided that he no longer wanted to cycle tour. He had reached his saturation point; where a mountain was just another mountain, and a village just another village, and though we were about to enter into what most people describe as the most beautiful part of South America (and possibly the world), his heart just wasn’t in it. This wasn’t the first time he had brought up the fact that he wanted to go home either. During our travels we have met many different people with different “saturation” points, basically different amounts of time that they can truly appreciate the place they are in, and though I feel as if I could happily continue traveling, in reality we hit Kevin’s end point months ago. Though I was extremely angry and disappointed – I’d been looking forward to the divide and then northern Peru since since we landed in Ushuaia six months ago – after a few rough days I too realized that forcing the rest of the trip would only make Kevin dislike cycle touring, and that it would be better to save Peru for another trip; a trip we will both appreciate even more given the chance to return with fresh eyes, and happy hearts.

Commencing the Great Peruvian Divide

Posted on July 21, 2015 by The Wandering Nomads

As we stopped to eat lunch at the top of our third and hardest pass yet we saw a few cows as well as a smiling traditionally dressed lady in her thirties coming up and over the other side. She was obviously surprised to see us “gringos” on this rarely used rocky mountainous road, and animatedly began asking us questions in Qetchwa. Once we explained that we only spoke Spanish, she smiled and then waved us over, motioning for us to bring over one of our plates to where she was opening up the large colorful blanket she carries as a bag on her back. She then scooped three huge scoops of, well, who knows what, from a steaming bucket full of white potato/quinoa/unknown grain/milk mush into our bowl before swinging her blanket back over her back in order to follow her cows back down the mountainside. Welcome to the Great Peruvian Divide; a network of small rocky roads which connect rural villages throughout the Andes where smiling toothless villagers stop to encourage you along your way as you fight for every kilometer as it’s always uphill.

The Story Behind the Photo: Nights on the Road

Posted on July 19, 2015 by The Wandering Nomads

Sleeping in a cave in the middle of Turkey.

I’ve decided to take a few of our favorite camping photos from pre-South America and tell a little story about each one. Though the photo sometimes captures the natural beauty of a place, it never really gives the whole story.

Embarking on the Peruvian Divide: 1,500km of Mountainous Fun

Posted on July 15, 2015 by The Wandering Nomads

After leaving Cusco, Kevin and I will embark on what is sure to be the most challenging, yet in all likelihood, the most rewarding part of our whole trip; The Great Peruvian Divide. I’ve been anxiously awaiting the beginning of this 35,000m elevation gain route – that’s like climbing Everest four and a half times from sea level to the top – since we first read about it on the Pikes on Bikes site. This route will take us up and over almost thirty high altitude pass (all around 5,000m) along a road which doesn’t appear on a single map (nor Google maps). We will pass through extremely rural villages where Quetcha, not Spanish, is the norm, and we will climb and descend passes which aren’t even possible for most cars.

Three Kids, A Fifty Dollar Bike, and A Week Amongst Inspiring Two-Wheelers

Posted on July 12, 2015 by The Wandering Nomads

Let me introduce to you my newest idols; A French family who has cycle toured for a month or two every year from Norway to Morocco to Kyrgyzstan, as well as mountain biked, trekked, and skiied, through various mountain ranges around the world for the last decade as a family, ever since their oldest child was just a few months old. When we met them in Cusco they were one month into a three month tour with their eleven year old boy (who rides his own bike with two panniers), their eight year old girl (who rides with mom on the tandem), and their four year old boy who usually rides in the trailer (though he is jealous of his cycling siblings and is therefore allowed to cycle, on his own tiny running push bike, at least a few kilometers everyday as well). I spent most of my waking hours with these awesome kids and was extremely impressed at how well behaved they were, how well they played together, and how knowledgeable they were about the world. These are kids who will happily tell you about the monasteries they visited during a remote trek they did in Nepal, about the time a truck followed them for an hour during the night in Peru to protect them from speeding cars, and about the friendly people throughout the whole of Kyrgyzstan, all the while drawing, laughing, and running around like any normal kid would.

Fallin’ in Love With Peru: 20,000km and Counting

Posted on July 8, 2015 by The Wandering Nomads

This past week of cycling has been awful. We have been riding along the nicely paved, often shoulder-less highway which is a far cry from the quiet rough country roads we are use to. Nevertheless, from within a kilometer of crossing the border into Peru, we noticed how much more outgoing and smiley the people here are, something we have really enjoyed. We had plenty of children and adults alike waving to us, or asking us where we were going, and whenever we asked a local for water or directions, they gave it to us with a huge grin and a wish of good luck.

A Complete Guide to Cycle Touring

Posted on July 5, 2015 by The Wandering Nomads

How To Begin

1) Buy (or acquire) a bike.
2) Pick a direction.
3) Go.

It’s as simple as that. You will figure out what foods work best for you once you hit the road, just as you will figure out how amazing people are once you experience your first homestay with a stranger. Cycle touring is one of those things which you just can’t plan, because any plan you make is sure to change a hundred times over. Go out with a sense of openness and adventure, ready to wake up in a new place everyday, and I promise you that everything will work out. Don’t listen to the voices in your head (or the voices of those around you) telling you that you can’t do it, because it’s only impossible to those who have never tried.

Seven Lessons From Cycling Around the World: Two Years and Counting

Posted on July 1, 2015 by The Wandering Nomads

It’s been two years to the day since I left my life back in Oregon to embark on a lifestyle which has taken me from the highest passes in the Himalayas down to the Amazonian jungle. Though what I’ve seen and experienced has been amazing – from the rushing colorful rivers in Patagonia to homestays with friendly people in the rural villages of Nepal – more than anything else, the things that I will remember for the rest of my life have nothing to do (directly) with the bike; they are the lifestyle lessons I’ve learned from meeting and befriending so many people from such different walks of life.

South America in Money: Cycling the Andes for 15$/Day

Posted on June 30, 2015 by The Wandering Nomads

Time and money is what stops most people from traveling, and though I can’t help you find the time – except to remind you that whatever you wish to do needs to become your very number one priority – I can give you concrete proof that cycle touring doesn’t have to be expensive. Though I kept very careful track of our spending during the first eighteen months of our trip (check out our money page for more about that) here in South America, we haven’t been so concerned about money as we know that we are on the last leg of our trip, and that even if we enjoy a few more luxuries, we will still make it home.

Cycling Through Bolivia: A Photographic Journey

Posted on June 27, 2015 by The Wandering Nomads

Though we only spent six weeks in Bolivia, it has easily become one of our favorite countries as the people are friendly, the food is cheap, and the cycling is absolutely spectacular. We cycled up a dozen or so 4,000-5,000m passes, camped in the -20C chilly high altiplano, and passed through and stayed in a multitude of small villages. We struggled across frozen streams, survived steep climbs in the humid and hot Yungas region, and ate the typical “lunch,” and “dinner,” of soup plus a plate of potatoes, rice, and meat whenever we passed through towns. We also got to do a little mountaineering when we climbed Huyana Potosi (6,000m). Without further ado, here it is; Bolivia through the lens.

The Wandering Nomads

Two bikes, one life, and the whole world to see

Author Archives: The Wandering Nomads

About The Wandering Nomads

A Surprise Return Home

Commencing the Great Peruvian Divide

The Story Behind the Photo: Nights on the Road

Embarking on the Peruvian Divide: 1,500km of Mountainous Fun

Three Kids, A Fifty Dollar Bike, and A Week Amongst Inspiring Two-Wheelers

Fallin’ in Love With Peru: 20,000km and Counting

A Complete Guide to Cycle Touring

Seven Lessons From Cycling Around the World: Two Years and Counting

South America in Money: Cycling the Andes for 15$/Day

Cycling Through Bolivia: A Photographic Journey