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WHAT IS THE TRANS-AMERICAS JOURNEY?

Ever wanted to quit your job, hit the road and just see where it takes you? Yeah, us too. That's why we did it. In April 2006 photographer Eric Mohl and journalist Karen Catchpole hopped into a big truck and drove out of New York City leaving jobs, their apartment and a storage space full of stuff behind.

What we've steered ourselves straight into is a 5 year, 200,000 mile cross-country and cross-continental working road trip through all 23 countries in the Western Hemisphere. From the Arctic Circle to Tierra del Fuego. From Lake Tahoe to Lake Titikaka. From the Rockies to the Andes. A true Pan-American journey. We don't really have an itinerary, but we can tell you that in December of 2008 we wrapped up two years in the US and Canada and crossed the border into Mexico which we’ll explore thoroughly before heading south through the rest of Latin America all the way down to Tierra del Fuego over the next two or three years or so. Give or take.

Along the way, we're focusing as much as possible on the more than 850 national parks, state parks, preserves and wildlife sanctuaries, 136 UNESCO Biosphere Reserves and a pulse-quickening number of provincial and regional parks and reserves to be found in North America, Central America and South America.

You may not believe us, but this trip is our job too. What we discover during our journey is often turned into stories for the magazines, newspapers and web sites we regularly contribute to including Travel & Leisure, National Geographic Traveler, National Geographic Adventure, Allure, Elle, Every Day with Rachael Ray, the travel sections of the Minneapolis Star Tribune and the Dallas Morning News, www.fodors.com, www.indagare.com and www.itravelishop.com. Check out the Published Work page on this site to read everything that’s been published so far.

After six years of planning and working and waiting, this trip is a dream come true and a unique opportunity to explore and better understand our own backyard. Our goal is to make the Trans-Americas Journey nothing less than the ultimate independent overland road trip through the Americas, avoiding highways and focusing on byways and back roads to get to the people and places that make every dot on the map unique. Yes, even the dinky dots.

Read what other people have written about the Trans-Americas Journey.

WHO THE HECK ARE WE?

Journalist Karen Catchpole, 43, has spent more than 20-years as a writer, editor and TV and web producer, writing for, editing and even creating major women's magazine (including Sassy, JANE, Allure, Elle,  Self, Every Day with Rachael Ray and SHOP Etc.) and many travel magazines (including Travel & Leisure, Escape, Action Asia, Asian Geographic, Asian Diver, National Geographic Adventure and National Geographic Traveler). Her work also appears on high-end travel web sites (including www.fodors.com, www.indagare.com and www.itravelishop.com) as she’s produced shows for Lifetime Television, Oxygen Media and MTV (there's always Google if you must know more). Karen grew up in Paso Robles, California and the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains where she spent time hiking, camping, fishing, climbing, horseback riding and snowshoeing. She can kill a rattlesnake with a hoe but she’s terrified of spiders. Recently, Karen added ice climbing, freediving, kayaking and SCUBA diving to her list of favorite things to do. She's climbed as high as 18,000 ft.(in the Nepali Himalaya) and completed two 500 mile bike rides, one from Fairbanks to Anchorage, Alaska (the long way) and another from Montreal to Portland, Maine. Oh, and survived Dengue fever. She can't stand it when people ask her what her favorite country is, so don't. Now pass the DEET. Read Karen's resume here.

Photographer Eric Mohl, 43,is a former corporate lawyer (emphasis on former) who now happily specializes in travel, nature and outdoor activity photography. His work has appeared in National Geographic Adventure, Escape, Outside, JANE, Action Asia, Asian Geographic, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, The Dallas Morning News and various in-flight magazines as well as in promotional material for a high-end adventure travel company. Though born and raised in New York City, Eric was drawn to the outdoors from an early age (his application video for the first season of "Survivor" includes a squirrel hunt in Central Park). He has been an avid skier, hiker, SCUBA diver and climber all his life and has climbed to just shy of 20,000 feet (in the Nepali Himalaya) and completed two 500 mile bike rides, one from Fairbanks to Anchorage, Alaska (the long way) and another from Montreal to Portland, Maine. He was also born with a GPS in his head, which is lucky since Karen certainly was not.