Drive Nacho Drive

by Brad Van Orden, Sheena Van Orden

On an afternoon just like many before it, Brad Van Orden sat at his desk. When a coworker meandered past his window, Brad succumbed to an impulse and blurted out the most outlandish thing he could think of—"Hey Steve, let's drive your hippie bus to Tierra del Fuego." This prompted Steve's halfhearted response: "I don't think so." But this got Brad thinking. What if we just dropped everything and left? Isn't there more to life than this? He messaged his wife with a question: "Want to do this?", to which she immediately responded: "Yes!" They clearly had no idea what they were getting themselves into. Drive Nacho Drive tells the hilarious and sometimes harrowing story of what happens when Brad and Sheena Van Orden trade in the American Dream for a year on the roads of Central and South America aboard "Nacho", their quirky and somewhat temperamental Volkswagen van. As a result of questionable decision-making skills and intermittent bad luck, Brad and Sheena repeatedly find themselves in over their heads. Whether negotiating cliff-hanging roads in rebel territory, getting caught illegally smuggling a transmission in a suitcase over international lines, mounting a stealth mission to steal Nacho back from a deranged Colombian auto dismantler, or clinging to the side of a vegetable truck while descending a 16,000 foot Andean pass, there seems to be no limit to the predicaments that these two can get themselves into. With Drive Nacho Drive, the Van Ordens deliver a thoughtful, hilarious, and mouthwatering depiction of adventure and misadventure on the Pan-American highway—one that will leave you simultaneously shaking your head and holding your sides, while asking yourself, isn't there more to life than this?

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, Adventure, Travelogue, Memoir

334 pages, Paperback

First published July 31, 2013

Reviews

[Luciano Villegas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brad and Sheena's first book of traversing the Americans is funny, honest, and colorful. Their detailed journey and humor through every event has you wanting to embark on your own adventure. No great adventure was had without a little detour along the way.. highly recommend if you like adventure and humor in the every day.

[Kinyorda Sliwiak · Rating 2 out of 5]

The idea of taking a year to drive across Central and South America in an RV is terrifying. But I was intrigued to read about how someone else would fare on the journey. Unfortunately I found the couple to be unlikable as I got deeper in the book. I don't know if I wanted them to be more traditional RVers, worldlier world travelers or what. It just wasn't what I expected. While I did find some of their adventures enjoyable, there was a lot of repetition from chapter to chapter. They had the essentially the same adventures/misadventures in every country. They would be great guests on a podcast but just for one episode.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Drive Nacho Drive is the tale of VW bus "Nacho," its passengers Brad and Sheena, and their sojourn from Arizona to Argentina. Brad and Sheena, tired of their conventional lives, quit their jobs in order to drive around the world. This book is the story of the first year or so of their endeavor. It is a fast-paced tale, full of fun and colorful anecdotes about the people, places, food, and sights encountered along the way.

The story took a little while to get going. But once Nacho got on the road, author Brad found his stride. (Sheena writes in along the way with her own chapters, but Brad authored the bulk of the book.) It's obvious that Brad isn't a writer, and that bothered me at first, like when he used the word "scalded" when he meant "scolded." Ultimately, the story was so good, I was able to overlook the lack of proofreading.

Much of the the book's first half centers around the trio's auto-repair woes. Brad is an engineer, and I was amused at the detailed way in which he describes Nacho's many problems. Later, however, following a hilarious and ultimately successful attempt to smuggle illegal VW parts into Colombia, Brad eventually is able to fix Nacho properly. Car repairs are mercifully missing from the second half of the book.

Brad and Sheena obviously spend lots of time driving, but they travel slowly enough to get a feel for each country they visit, whether it's witnessing bizarre local festivals or just taking time to stop at food stands and farmers' markets. Brad's chapters are often funny and even a little manic (some of his encounters with cops along the way made me laugh out loud). Sheena's infrequent contributions are an excellent counterpoint -- slower-paced and reflective. I enjoyed her vignettes about the food, people, and cultures they encountered.

If I had to choose a favorite part of the book, it was reading about Brad and Sheena's adventures in Peru. I had not realized what varied terrain and experiences Peru had to offer. Now I have to put another destination on my "someday travel" list.

I found Drive Nacho Drive to be quite the page-turner. Reading it was kind of like eating candy. The chapters are short and snappy, so "just one more" was my mantra. So if you are in the mood for fast-paced, adventurous, travel-porn brain candy, this most certainly is the book you need to read. I eagerly await their second book.

[Alejandro · Rating 3 out of 5]

I felt that the book was written by people who traveled, but somehow did not fully bond with the world that they traveled through. There were instances in which they could have dug deeper and explained the economics of the places that they visited and even listed statistics to create a much deeper understanding. They, however, avoided doing this for the most part and instead focused on the traditional travel log style of writing. I think that there were some pretty memorable moments, but they are also hampered by slow monotonous talk. The author had a fascinating struggle with fishing, but never once thought to interact with locals on a deeper level regarding the matter. The book is also heavily written by the male traveler Brad and seems to include Shana (I believe that's her name) sparingly. I am curious to see what things they do on the next leg of their trip, but cannot help shaking the feeling that this is a very forgettable book in the long term.

[Janell · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was a recommendation from a friend and although I was excited to read- I grew tired of the endless car repairs. Only fun to read as the couple is from Flagstaff - local author.

[Doug · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting challenge the author(s) gave themselves. The travel diary is not all that interesting and I tired of it soon on.

[Jon Mills · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excitement around each bend of the journey. I found myself following the trip on Google maps and wanting to visit many of the locations.

[Nicole McIntyre · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of my uncles, an engineer by trade, once completely disassembled the dash of my parents' van to see if he could adjust the time on the clock. Famously, he also once shipped half our order of perishable homemade bread by UPS and the other half by USPS to see which would get here first. I say all this to help you understand the mind of the male narrator of this book, who is also an engineer. Leaving behind the conventional 9-to-5, traveling at his leisure through parts of the world most of us will never get to see, he has the opportunity to paint interesting pictures of new people, cuisines, and landscapes...and yet he spends countless paragraphs describing, in operator manual-esque detail, the numerous mechanical problems their van had and how he fixed them. I would have liked more details about the food and friends and less on the mechanics of rebuilding a transmission on the side of the road.

[Jace · Rating 3 out of 5]

While not the best book out there about the Pan-American highway, and no where near as detailed as their website, Brad and Sheena give a good overview of some of the motivations and frustrations of driving a van through the Americas.
Brad seems to have a fetish for explaining van maintenance in excruciating detail, listing every part that was touched in a repair it seems. Sheena likes her food.
The rest of the book is a good collection of their tales, but wasnt exactly as helpful or inspiring as I hoped. Their website is a great source for information, but the book tends to gloss over things and introduce new people without much context. It gets confusing at times.
Overall, its alright and worth the read, but definitely is not the book to give to someone you are hoping to convince to travel around the world with you.

[Gordon Gravley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the memoir of a couple's drive from Arizona to the southern-most tip of South America in their VW van, which they named Nacho. All the while you're reading, you wonder what they could have possibly been thinking to take on such an endeavor. But in the end, their reasoning becomes as clear as a Patagonia lake.

The self-publisher in me only gives this book 2 stars. It is loaded with typos, and missteps of grammar and syntax greatly in need of an editor. As a writer/reader, however, I give it 6 stars. (Which makes it a 4-Star book; I did that in my head.) It's an engaging, funny, and poignant adventure shared by real people. You'd be remiss not to get to know them.

[Candorman · Rating 2 out of 5]

This travel book is not for me as one who enjoys learning about people and places visited other than the authors, their friends, and their biographies. I prefer travel books that teach me about people and places I most likely won't have the pleasure of meeting. Also, I do not have any interest in a plot line that is pretty much how to repair a VW bus in a foreign land. In short, this would have pleased me if it had been more about the people and places visited than the authors and their vehicle. Just my opinion to be taken for what it may or may not be worth.

[Gregory · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like other readers, I admire the authors' spirit and sense of adventure, but the book would be much more interesting if it dug deep into layers of exposition on the peoples, economies, politics, and culture of the places they visited.

Plus, it really needed proofreading and editing. As a linguist by training, I have a pretty high tolerance for informal registers, especially in a memoir like this. Vulgarities, slang, colloquialisms--none of that stuff bothers me, but the wordiness, reduancies, and general lack of care really undermined the book for me.

[Jackie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The best part about this book was to have a list of potential scout out locations for future travels. However, it lacked depth and was focused a bit too much on the mechanical problems versus supplying actual insights into the journey (besides trials which can be expected) or really anything amazing that happened. Also, the chapters which were written by Sheena just seemed a bit of a random toss in. Think I’m done reading travel books for awhile now.

[🏳️‍🌈🐻🧔‍♂️🐻🏳️‍🌈 B · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. I am a bit confused by some of the reviews saying that they didn’t go into enough detail about the places they went. But I didn’t go into this thinking it was going to be a Lonely Planet guide. It was the story of Brad and Sheena - and I loved their story. It’s funny and engaging. The way Brad writes is quite appealing to me and very human. I would not recommend this as a travel guide. But I would recommend it for anyone wanting to go along for an adventure. I loved it and dove straight into the second book immediately. Thank you Brad and Sheena.

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great insight into how people "manage" in foreign lands. It's about travel, finding your way, getting off the beaten path . . . far off, in some cases, and being open enough to see that you don't have to have a lot of stuff to enjoy life. Oh, and the food. Love their adventures in the world of food. You don't need to have a Vanagon to enjoy this read, but it doesn't hurt.

[Carol Rode · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story.

Really well written and seeing all the troubles they had I would have probably quit and returned home. All the work he put o. Nacho, I was surprised it still kept going. All in all it was a very interesting book and now I can't wait to start his other book to end it all if it does.

[Doug Parker · Rating 5 out of 5]

A better than... Most Excellent Adventure!!!

Immensely enjoyed every inch of the way. Written in a style that made me feel like I was riding along in Nacho too, for this journey of epic proportions.

This is something I've long felt I wanted to do. Now, thanks to Brad and Sheena, there is no doubt. With the exception of vehicle selection. 🤠
👍👍👊🤙🤙

[Deborah L. Foltz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, what an adventure!

You both are so brave! What a cool thing to do. I love your adventure spirit. Glad you have had safe travels. Can’t wait to read the next book. Thanks for sharing!

[Gregory Cain · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written travelogue

What an epic journey Brad and Sheena made. Great ambassadors, wonderful writers, and cool and composed problem solvers. Brad’s also quite the mechanic. Looking forward to "927 Days of Summer"!

[Kathy Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

While the idea of driving from AZ through South American sounded interesting, the book was more like a short review of places; where they stayed, what they ate rather than a more developed story. After a while the ongoing car troubles while relevant to them, weren’t all that interesting.

[Jesse R Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. Made me envious of the couple in the book. What a great adventure. Good read.

[Brenda Wyss · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved the book, loved the story, loved the idea, just wish he had focused more on the places they went rather than the details of the car troubles they had.

[Gino Caligiuri · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rough.

[Christopher Hachet · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is worth your time.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This travelog was very entertaining, but I would have enjoyed it more if I cared about car parts more. And some parts were hard to follow, and I was ready for the adventure to be over.

[Yvonne Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book...looking forward to part 2

[Chuck · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is quite a book. A young couple quits their job and decides to travel from their home in Arizona to the southern tip of the Americas, Tierra del Fuego. This adventure is done in their vehicle that they named Ignacio or as close personal friends call "Nacho". The adventure begins in the U.S. and wanders through Mexico, Belize, Guatamala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Bolivia, Argentina and ends at the end of the world in Tierra del Fuego. This adventure meant more to me because I could relive my experiences in many of the places that they visited, however, I got there by much more coventional means. The book has chapters written by both authors, namely Brad and Sheena. Brad spends a great deal of time centering on his mechanical throes with "Nacho" and Sheena loves to write about food which gives a good balance. Brad's writing is often hysterical due to his youth, his nerve and his cleverness. The people and the places that he encounters are all covered well and thoroughly. If you are interested in finding unusual food, drink, scenery, auto parts, bus drivers, friendly natives and police and officials with their hands out, this is the book for you. Truly a travel adventure. The book has no photos, however there is a website that has a few pictures. I was unable to locate the one mentioned in the book.

[Dylan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Don't read this book if you're looking for a literary masterpiece. Read this book if you're looking for adventure. I'm not sure about other editions, but in the edition I was reading, typos and the like were abundant. There were a few parts where it was obvious the text had simply been copied and pasted from the blog (it's rare that the words "click here" appear in print, but in my edition, they did materialize at least a couple of times.) But in the end, I enjoyed the book for the story and information. Drive Nacho Drive is more like a dinnertime conversation than something completely serious, and I liked that for this book. I've been wanting to make this journey for years, and hope to one day follow in the footsteps of Nacho. For now, I am satisfied by living vicariously through the story of Brad and Sheena. I actually hadn't heard of their blog before reading the book, but I'll certainly be checking it out now, and will be eagerly awaiting the second part of this tale.

[Mimi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Brad and Sheena drove a VW Vanagon from Arizona to the tip of South America. While they were on the trip, they blogged about it. This is a self-published collection of their blog posts, and as such there are editing and spelling errors galore.
A pleasant travelogue, they are foodies so lots of discussion is had about what they ate along the way, and they are honest about some of their poor decisions. It'll be a fun Book Club discussion.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was okay, but not great. The writing is mediocre, and they needed a proofreader/editor. Some of the places they visited were interesting, and some of it was funny, but I'm not sure I would bother with their follow up unless they made some changes to their writing style. (Sheena's chapters were way better than Brad's.)