Today my guest is Nancy Sathre-Vogel.

This woman is a legend. An inspiration.

I remember where I was when I first heard about this woman -- when she and her family first came across my radar screen. It was about ten years ago -- and I was trying to figure out my life  -- which I guess is a theme. And I heard that this family had just completed a bike ride from Alaska to Argentina.

I heard that and I was like, man, I can do anything.

Like, seriously. It was a big moment for me. And I figured if Nancy and her family could do that, I could design any kind of life I’d like too.

After 21 years in a classroom teaching other people’s kids, Nancy Sathre-Vogel decided to throw caution to the wind and head out with her own children. Together with her husband and 8 – year-old twin sons, she spent a year biking around the USA and Mexico. Flushed with success from that experience, the family decided they wanted more – which lead to a jaunt from Alaska to Argentina. After cycling 17,285 miles through 15 countries in 33 months, the boys had earned the distinction of being the youngest people to cycle the length of the Americas.

Nancy and her family made their home in Boise, Idaho after their adventures where they enjoyed the simple things in life – like turning a handle and having water magically appear. They continued with their atypical education until entering university in 2016. Now, Nancy owns her own small metalsmithing business, making and selling jewelry made from recycled copper.

After being online friends for a while -- a few years ago I got to finally meet Nancy in person. I was in Boise on business and got to hang out with Nancy at one of those community events where artisans set up.

What I appreciated about the interview:

Nancy is clearly a high capacity person who could be successful in multiple paths. She chose family and adventure over career. She’s 59 and has no regrets.

She did not maximize her “earning potential” or feel like she needed to fulfill society’s expectations. She chose a different path. It was good for me to hear, at 59, that she still does not regret this.

This is an important message for me. I am asking, “Should I be spending more time on my career? Will I regret not doing so?” Nancy seems to think no.

I loved her push back to the idea that bigger is better -- that we need to follow-up doing something amazing with doing something more amazing. After she finished riding her bike from Alaska to Argentina, she didn’t go on a bigger bike ride. She went to Boise and started making jewelry.

She was able to call herself a success at different times in life while doing different things as her definition of success changed.

Her children were born, her father died, and her mother was diagnosed with cancer all within a very short period of time. This seems to have had a huge impact on her and how she arranged her life.

Find Nancy at http://nancysathrevogel.com/ on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/nsathrevogeljewelry/ and on Twitter @familyonbikes.