To begin, begin.

Cabalgata del Cielo Rojo is a project born of the desire to travel the American continents on horseback. The first expedition is set to take place in Argentina beginning in November 2019 and will cover 2500 miles through Argentina from the town El Calafate in the south to Salta city in the north. My friend and I, with four Argentine horses, will travel through pampas, steppe, Patagonia, and the Andes. My goal with this blog is to share our stories from the trail, offer my experience for those interested in similar adventures, and inspire others to follow their dreams.

I am not sure if I can define the exact moment that the Cabalgata del Cielo Rojo project began. Did it start the moment it had a name? The moment I decided to act? The moment I dared to dream about a horseback adventure that covered thousands of miles?

My experience beginning this dream was one of self realization. On one hand, I have always done what I "should" do. I have always had a job, I studied at and graduated from university, and I have participated in the consumerism of our culture that insists we keep up with each new technology and trend as it is released. On the other hand, I have been fortunate enough to always pursue my passions. Riding and working with horses has been an enormous part of my life since I was a young girl and now that I am older I am constantly grateful for this life changing opportunity. Beyond horses, I have always been called to the wilderness. I was doubly fortunate to grow up in Northern Colorado, where the outdoors is our primary past-time and we have numerous opportunities to hike, bike, paddle, and ride. You can always find a friend who is up to go backpacking for a weekend or to climb on a lazy Sunday afternoon. I pursued sports whole-heartedly, learned backcountry skills, and spent what time I could in the wild.

Younger me with my horse Oscar.

Horses and wilderness are an unrivaled combination, and I soon began spending summers working as a trail guide leading horse rides in the national forests. This was the first taste I experienced of a passion-lead life, as I spent long days working and enjoyed every single minute of it. I found myself asking for more hours working and took few days off, and although many days I worked from sunrise to sunset I always woke each day eager to begin my work.

Another life-altering decision came when I decided to travel after having graduated from university. I sold my car and bought a ticket to Buenos Aires, Argentina, thinking I would backpack South America for 6 months and return to the United States to continue higher education with a masters in agricultural and resource economics. My "plan" was quickly dissolved as I realized that my budget was stretched thin, even for an on-a-shoestring backpacker and student loans threatened my horizon. I began the search for job opportunities abroad. A stroke of fortune landed me a job at Estancia La Margarita as the horse manager and trail ride guide. It was a perfect fit for my skills and needs, and my 6 month agreement turned into a year, which turned into three. Looking back at my life since I have relocated to Argentina I can see that this job has allowed me to grow into a bilingual and multi-cultural woman and I have connected with so many different people from all corners of the globe just by sharing horse rides through the countryside. This is another opportunity that I am so grateful came into my life.

Picara and me at Criollos Tapalque 2017. Tapalque, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

So what about my dream?

A fantasy that had always lingered in the back of my mind was the idea of traveling from the United States to South America, be in by car or bike or horse. I had heard of the Pan-American highway and knew this type of journey was possible, but it was hardly something I recognized as a realistic possibility. Once I started to live in Argentina, I began to hear the stories of a man who had traveled from Buenos Aires to New York from 1925 to 1928, covering more than 10,000 miles with his two Argentine horses. Again, this idea tickled my adventurous spirit and ignited many daydreams and although I began to speak about the journey as my dream it remained intangible and out of reach. I continued to live in Argentina where I learned the language, trained in a different style of horsemanship, connected with people all over the country, and the dream continued to grow.

Aime Tschiffley with Gato and Mancha, his two criollo horses who traveled from Buenos Aires, Argentina to New York, USA.

I believe the final breakthrough that led to the beginning of Cabalgata del Cielo Rojo came with the realization that I am capable. I will repeat that again, because I believe most of us do not tell ourselves this enough: I AM CAPABLE. While I am not the best adventurer, the most experienced traveler, or the perfect horsewoman, I am still capable of pursuing my dream. This has become a powerful affirmation in my life. Waiting until I was "good enough" was actually leading me nowhere. I realized that my dream was right there and if I did not fearlessly pursue it I would miss my chance. So I decided that I want to ride across the Americas on horseback and I was going to figure out how to take the first step. I needed to cross the first country: Argentina.

What follows is the many preparations, logistical planning, learning new skills, and life lessons that are necessary to make a dream into reality, all of which I will share through this page. However I would like to dedicate this post to the beginning, because in my experience the beginning was actually a lot scarier than the things that come after. I have decided that the only failure would be not doing everything within my power to pursue my dream. And I have learned that dreams change and grow, and we must adapt with them to continue to chase them wholeheartedly.

Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe said:

Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back. The moment one definitely commits oneself then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would otherwise never occurred. Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.

So here it is: The imperfect, scary, powerful, magical beginning. I am so happy to share my Cabalgata del Cielo Rojo journey with you.