The Year We Ruined Our Lives

Paul and his wife Rebecca had it all. Good jobs, healthy kids, their dream house, and the nagging feeling that the American Dream wasn't all it was cracked up to be. But they were still more than 20 years from retirement so there didn't seem like there was that much they could do about it. Then one day while drinking rum on the beach, they met a woman who was traveling the world for a year with her two teenage children. That chance encounter planted the seed that maybe...
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Paul and his wife Rebecca had it all. Good jobs, healthy kids, their dream house, and the nagging feeling that the American Dream wasn't all it was cracked up to be. But they were still more than 20 years from retirement so there didn't seem like there was that much they could do about it.

Then one day while drinking rum on the beach, they met a woman who was traveling the world for a year with her two teenage children. That chance encounter planted the seed that maybe Paul and Rebecca could shake things up a bit.

After years of saving and planning, they bought a classic Volkswagen Westfalia, took their 12-year old daughter and 9-year old son out of school, packed up their house, and spent a year driving through Mexico and Central America. In The Year We Ruined Our Lives, Paul takes you along for the ride in their 30-year old camper van as he and his family climb and descend tall mountains to get to some of the hottest places on earth, are relentlessly pounded by the Pacific surf while they practice falling off their surfboards, come face-to-face with a 400-year old mummy, search for waterfalls and other mostly safe places to jump from, make chocolate and sell it to naked people, and begin their never-ending hunt for the best grilled meat.

Yet, despite all their preparation for the family road trip of a lifetime, Paul and Rebecca failed to take into account one important thing. That after having exchanged the daily eat-sleep-work lifestyle for complete freedom with their time and energy, they might not want to go back home.

Part travel memoir, part how-to-guide for planning your own family overland adventure (including tips on outfitting the van, road safety, homeschooling, packing, travel apps, navigation techniques, essential gear, traversing the Panama Canal for free, and crossing borders), The Year We Ruined Our Lives is also fun and thought-provoking, as Paul ponders questions that he never had to consider in his law practice; "Why are sea turtles endangered?" "What to do about homeschooling when your students think you are a bad teacher?" "How often do sloths pee?" "Why does the world's longest road, the Pan-American Highway, often resemble a disused road to nowhere?" and finally, "How will we go back to the lives we left behind?"

Winner! First Place for Travel Memoir in the Fall 2022 BookFest Awards.