The Vogel family hardly looks like a clan of serious cyclists. In their pictures, John, Nancy and their twin 8-year-old ankle-biters Davy and Daryl are often wearing cotton, sometimes denim, and no sweat-wicking jerseys in sight ever bear so much as the oft pervasive sponsor logo. Is that what a cyclist should look like anyway?

No, not necessarily. A cyclist is someone riding a bike, end of story. If anything, the Vogel folk just look like a standard, chipper suburbanite family headed down the driveway and around the block for a Saturday afternoon of some wind in the hair.

Except they didn't go for a short spin. Instead, they threw down over 9 thousand miles on a ride across the U.S. and Mexico.

Johnny Collinson is something else. In 2009, and at a mere 17 years old, he stood atop Mt. Everest as the youngest Westerner ever to do so. Obviously, he didn't just wake up one day, roll out of a van amid a haze of smoke like Jeff Spiccoli and decide to nab that summit. He's been enjoying and accomplishing all things mountain since he was born and apparently dirtbagging it with the family all along the way. His folks raised him and his sister skiing in Utah during the winters and campervanning in the summers. As he says, "We lived out of a van or a tent in the summer until I was 14, when dad got a summer job . . ."

Remember the moment you learned that you were definitely going to be a real parent in under nine months? You saw the stick turn pink, or got word from the doc, or, like my wife said to me on the way to bed one night before letting the waterworks of happiness loose, "Well . . . you're going to be a dad." For the next 24 hours or more, it's a collision of far too many emotions to list, and plans and fears and bright ideas and joy. Or not. Depends what you went through. Eventually, though, things calm down and whether by design or nature or pressure you might start to make some decisions about the kind of parent you want to be, and the kind of contribution to humanity you want to make by raising some children.

Aamion and Daize Goodwin are on a round-the-world trip with their two little ones, Given and True, and have certainly made a conscious decision about the kind of parents they want to be.

And there's more . . .

When Stuart Wickes and Kirstie Pelling got married, they honeymooned for six months in South America. Actually they rode their bicycles through South America. Not a bad way to celebrate the blissful bells that mark the blessings of becoming ball and chain. Six months later they arrived in Tierra del Fuego. As you can imagine, this was one incredible adventure honeymoon full of sweet memories. For example, the pair took a week's work as a crew on a yacht, negotiating the fjords and island clusters of southern Chile.

It was no ordinary vessel. You could say it changed their lives  . . .

"A little about the van. He got it for a steal, but I soon found out why . . . A little electrical work here, reupholstering some seats there . . . But, the restoration wasn’t enough. The van was just the beginning, just a taste of the possibilities. Soon he was talking about traveling around the world. Yes, of course I thought he was crazy at first." - Angela Rehm

Launching a drive through South America by way of a loop around The United States in a camper van with your family - even with little ones you love so much that you ache at the idea of them growing up - is both easy and hard. Easy in this sense: all you have to do is decide, pack your junk, and go. You don't even need a plan or a map. But it's harder on the emotional side, and that's really the part that puts the brakes on for most of us. Once you start thinking about the consequences of your big trip, such as the hit to your savings account, an uncertain financial future, time away from your friends, guilt trips (lovable) from family, and all of that, out come the joyous mid-day nightmares. Right or wrong, that's just the way it is.

Hooking up with a sweet Syncro with Westfalia conversion isn't nearly as easy as it once was. John Franzen consumed three vans and a Jetta to get this one done. Here she is, all gussied up proper-like for Baja.

You don't have to be all that offbeat to appreciate a Volkswagen Bus of any species.  Just a bit.

The window from 1985 to 1992 in the life of the VW Vanagon was a particularly splendid one - coinciding with the pinnacle of popularity of the mullet, that's when Volkswagen produced the full-time 4WD Syncro version. Drool. The really really killer versions were further refined by Westfalia, a German camper conversion company that installed the pop-top camper. Let's put it all together for accuracy, posterity and blatant SEO: Volkswagen Vanagon Syncro Westfalia. All those names . . . if it weren't for the pronunciation, you'd think it was Italian.

John Franzen, a Syncro owner, has a cool story about his van....

Almost three years ago, in June of 2008, the Vogel four hopped on their bikes in Alaska and pedaled south, getting to know the nuances of a bicycle seat with, well, that part of your body you can't see. When they left, the twin boys were 10 years old. This week they're all finishing their trip at Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina. To put that in lucid reality, that's a 17,000-mile bike ride. No wonder it took them over two years. We had to catch up with the Vogels to allow them a moment to reflect on what this meant to their family, how they've changed, and what they intend to do next.

Here are seven questions and 10 photos. Check this out.

You might think that a family that chooses to live full-time in a tent in Alaska would be marshaling a flighty Walden-esque, "greener than thou" bent. For the Schneiders, the truth is far more interesting and down-to-earth than that. When they learned about yurts, they did what any of us would do and kicked the idea around with a "wouldn't it be funny if . . ." And there you have it - the family of four lives in a yurt on a choice piece of land in Alaska.

When you dig mountains, rivers, trees, and all manner of human powered adventure, you may as well raise your kids in one of these.  The downsides are few . . . And their motivation for yurt living is neither heady nor over-reaching: "We are not doing this to change the world or anything, but it has been a great lesson in how much space you need to live." Ben says.

Stop what you're doing and watch this video tour inside their home.

Yes, you're looking at two spare tires. Giant ones.  And a canoe. What the hell kind of weekend family camping trip is this, Stephens? Well, it's not.  This is what a round-the-world family camper looks like, and it'll take a little longer than a weekend.

There's just one problem with this photo . . .

AdventureParents.com is here to toast the fun parents who see value in taking their children out; whether it's around the world or around the neighborhood.  So check out Jenny and Rolf: they're going to take a year off to travel the U.S. with their 17-month old son. They say they're doing it "to bring America back to nature by using our family as a model to inspire, motivate, educate, and empower others to get out and enjoy America’s wilderness areas."

Watch their intro video for a little bit of wacky inspiration.

I think it's the universal desire of fathers of all backgrounds to overhear their sons saying to their friends, "I wanna be just like my dad." One problem with being an outdoor photographer is that it's often grueling work with long hikes, heat exposure, funky camping, and bizarre days - things surely to turn off any 11-year-old varmint in the modern era.  For Aaron Newman, the story is different. "Trevor and I both enjoy many outdoor activities including hiking, shooting guns, shooting cameras, and camping. We also enjoy playing sports such as golf and football. One of the things we both enjoy the most is getting out and exploring blue highways, dirt roads and trails anywhere we can. It can be on the way to National Parks across the United States or even just a random road in one of Arizona’s deserts."

His son enjoys picking up the camera and hanging out with dad.  Here's their cool story.

They're busy folks.  Nathan is in architecture, Marni in management of a civil engineering firm.  Both full time parents of two energetic children Trevor and Megan.  Still they find time to take memorable trips to the outdoors together, and they absolutely radiate with infectious mirth - once again I'm looking at kindred souls I wish were my very own neighbors.

Brace yourself for some big shockers here:
Trevor Woods, age 12, loves catching bugs and lizards, enjoys rocks of all sizes, and climbs everything in sight.
Megan Woods, age 8, loves playing in the dirt, collecting rocks, catching dragonflies, and sitting on Daddy’s lap and steering the Jeep while on the trail.

Put your hands together for the Woods Family.  All four participated in this one.

The first time I met Roger Moody, he was kicking around a paradisiacal grassy bluff with an arial view above the Provo River in Utah's Uinta Mountains.  It was a sunny June day and I was meeting him and his family for the first time at this far-off campsite, and we'd planned it all via the internet. For all I knew, he could have been an ax murderer with a goatee . . .