We are Jonathan Murphy and James MacKay, respectively.  In 2012 we completed the Mongol Rally  as 2 of the 3 members of team The Mustache Ride. We drove a Vauxhall Astra 11,000 miles from Goodwood, UK, to Ulaan Baatur, Mongolia. It was the best time of our lives. Within a few days of crossing the finish line, we began brainstorming on what massive, epic road trip to undertake next.  We looked to the Western Hemisphere.

On August 22, 2014, James left Debert, Nova Scotia to meet Jonathan in Redlands, California. After a few days of preparation, we drove south into Mexico with the ultimate goal being Ushuaia, Argentina: the southernmost city in the world, the capital of Tierra del Fuego, and a great place to catch a boat to Antarctica. In the spirit of the Mongol Rally – that is, driving a low-powered and “economical” car – we drove a vehicle grossly unsuitable for the obstacles ahead of us, a 2007 Pontiac Wave hatchback. We began this blog to describe what happened to us and our wheels along the Pan-American Roadshow of Tomfoolery (PARTy).

Toward the end of 2015 Murphy and our Associate Adventure Detectives Drisdelle and Queebs sprang into a two-week tour of Taiwan, followed by a brief excursion to Hong Kong, where they were met by MacKay.

In the fall of 2016 we all rolled into Bangkok and spent the next six weeks taking all manner of transportation throughout Southeast Asia in a vaguely counterclockwise fashion. Many beers were drunk, many illnesses were endured, many toilets were destroyed, and many bleary-eyed intoxicated sunsets were witnessed.

Besides the big trips, we’ve included dozens of articles on less epic jaunts to places like Mexico, Korea and Japan, as well as a few throwback posts telling of tales from before we started this blog.

Along with our regular blog posts here, we also post random stuff to our Instagram account, @DistanceFromNormal, our Twitter account, @DistanceFNormal, and once in a blue moon we post videos to our YouTube channel. You can reach us through email via distancefromnormal@gmail.com.