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WHAT IS THE TRANS-AMERICAS JOURNEY?

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

What we've steered ourselves straight into is a 3 year, 100,000+ mile cross-country and cross-continental 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 we'll be in North America for the first 10 months or so, then we'll dip down into Central America and South America for the next 24 months. Give or take.

Along the way, we'll be 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 the expedition will be turned into stories for travel, outdoor adventure and women's magazines. Check out Published Work on this site to read the stories that have been published so far. Or not.

After three 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 (except when necessary to get to an In-N-Out Burger) and focusing on byways and backroads 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 has spent 20-years as a writer, editor and TV and web producer, working with many major women's magazine (including Sassy, JANE, Allure, Elle, SHOP Etc.) and many travel magazines (including Outside and National Geographic Adventure) as well as Lifetime Television, Oxygen Media and MTV (there's always google if you must know more). Karen grew up in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains (she can kill a rattlesnake with a hoe but is terrified of spiders) where she spent time hiking, camping, fishing, climbing, horseback riding and snowshoeing. She has since added ice climbing, freediving, kayaking and SCUBA diving to her list of favorite things to do. She has climbed to a max elevation of just over 18,000 ft. and completed two 400-500 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.

Photographer Eric Mohl is a former 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 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. He has reached a maximum elevation of just under 20,000 feet and completed two 400-500 mile bike rides, one from Fairbanks to Anchorage, Alaska (the long way) and another from Montreal to Portland, Maine. He was born with a GPS in his head, which is lucky since Karen certainly was not.