Young Carmel couple lives for adventure, helping others.

A question led Quinn Vandenberg and Jonathon Button to the edge of a volcano in the Nicaraguan jungle, where Vandenberg felt very, very sick. And that turned out to be a really good thing. The question: What is success?

Vandenberg and Button, both 27, met in Carmel in 2011. She was planning special events for the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance; he was moving antique cars for an international shipping company. A few months later they were dating. They were young, had stable jobs and a blossoming romance – but they still weren’t completely happy.

“A lot of our time was working in front of computers,” Vandenberg says.

“Working for someone else’s dream,” Button chips in.

“We want to work for ourselves, on something we created,” Vandenberg says.

That led them to wonder: What is success? Is it money? A cushy job? A suitable partner? Or something more?

“We wanted to wake up excited every day,” Button says, “doing what we were looking forward to.”

So began Life Out of the Box, a socially conscience start-up that sells handmade bracelets, key chains and headbands made by indigenous artists throughout the world. The “LOOTB” sells for $10-$50 each and funds the couple’s trips to deliver school supplies.

Button says the majority of LOOTB’s revenue goes into their travel, not the supplies (which they buy in the children’s countries). He likens the for-profit social venture to TOMS, the company that donates a pair of shoes for every pair purchased. In LOOTB’s case, a $10 purchase might fund the donation of one notebook, while a $40 purchase might buy four notebooks, pencils and a ruler.

While delivering the supplies, Button and Vandenberg interview each child and take a photo. On the website, each product is linked to the story of a kid who’s benefitted from the sales.

Before starting the business, Vandenberg and Button had nothing but desire: to see the world, to chase their dreams, to help others. To be successful.

“We wanted to get out of our box and our comfort zone,” Vandenberg says.

So in January 2012, Vandenberg pulled out a globe and they started considering their first destination. That February, they chose Nicaragua. In March they told their families. In April they quit their jobs. In May they left.

They landed in San Juan del Sur, an expat beach town, and walked around until they found an apartment for rent. Their host family introduced them to the San Juan del Sur Mobile Library, where Vandenberg and Button started volunteering. They went to schools in rural areas, talked to teachers and students.

Then Vandenberg came down with dengue fever, a mosquito-borne tropical virus. “You feel like your bones are crushing within you,” she says. “I kept passing out.”

Neither of them knew what was wrong. From the volcano, one of their local friends drove them to an emergency room, where Vandenberg was put on an IV. “It was one of those moments when you get really sick, and you think, ‘What am I doing with my life?’” she says.

A few weeks later, she had recovered enough to start designing an online store, while Button made connections with leather workers who would become their first artisan partners.

Since then, the pair has traveled to Guatemala, Mexico and Morocco. They’ve sold about 2,000 products, and they plan on revisiting Mexico soon.

When they’re not abroad, they’re usually in Vandenberg’s home town of Carmel. They stay with her mother and work out of coffee shops or a room donated by the Concours d’Elegance. The profits, Button says, are reinvested into the business.

“We’re not in a situation where we have to be asking our parents for loans or anything,” Button says. “But we’re extremely far from the definition of rich – or even financially satisfied.”

Last fall, they started touring California colleges to talk about their business. “We’ve never had guest speakers as young and so ambitious,” says Charn Singh, president of CSU Monterey Bay’s Rotaract Club. “We were so in awe of them.”

Vandenberg remains friends with her former boss, now a mentor to the young entrepreneurs. “When I first met [Vandenberg], she wanted to save the world,” remembers Judith Ann Raible, director of operations for Concours. “She always had a vision that there was something bigger she could engage in.”

The next step,Vandenberg says, is spreading the word. “We’re focusing on our target market here in America,” she says. “We hope it’ll bring more awareness about what we’re doing, and encourage people to see they can go out there and make a difference.”

To learn more about Life Out of the Box, visit www.lifeoutofthebox.com