My last day of work was July 18, 2014. Somehow I hoped it would include sleeping in, coffee on my deck with a book overlooking the beauty of the Burrard Inlet in Vancouver. I’d follow this up with practicing some yoga and maybe a good workout at the gym. The reality is however that I would be bored out of my tree and I’ve got a lot to do to get ready for this amazing adventure we are about to embark upon.
Yoga in the park.
The last couple of weeks have been so incredibly frantic, busy, exhausting and overwhelming. And while this has been harder than any job I’ve ever had; the rewards are beginning to come to life. We experienced support and kind words from friends, family and the bicycle community. With the help of this amazing thing called social media, our exposure online has blossomed. It’s been so exciting to see and a realization that we really are accomplishing what we want to be; inspiring to others!
We’ve still had our big days of planning and organizing but with the support and help of those around us, it’s all coming together. Today was proof of that. We started the day with picking up our boxed up bikes from our local bike shop. Then we picked our meat and trail mix from Black Tusk Jerky, from Dave, who really helped us out with picking the right product to help us on those long pedal days. Next we then headed over to our local butcher we’ve had for years at All Natural & Exotic Meats. Dennis and Sheree hooked us up with the best meats to last for the first part of our trip where we can’t buy food. I’ll miss the banter of the Yankees and Canucks with them. We’ve exchanged a few beers on lost bets on games with them over the years too.
While we were packing up the car Andrew got a call from the local TV station GlobalTV. They heard about our upcoming adventure and were interested in having us in for an interview. Andrew asked them to call him back so he could discuss this with me. When he got off the phone we talked about stress levels and how this may impact things. We are trying to be very careful to not take on too much. And while just adding more things to the list is stressful, having the opportunity to share our story and inspire others is precisely what we want to do! And so we thought this is an awesome opportunity to invite others to join us on our journey and pause to give thought to what is important to them. GlobalTV called back and we confirmed we’d be delighted to share our story. We were asked to bring our bikes or something as a prop but had to laugh a little as we were in the process of shipping everything at that moment.
If only GlobalTV had called yesterday when we still had everything unpacked. It took up the entire dining room AND the living room!
Then we raced back home and packed up the rest of the gear and put it in boxes. We loaded the car that our friend loaned to us to head to the airport. Enroute we met my sister and niece and nephews for a nice sushi lunch. This is the last time I’ll see her and my niece for some time and that was hard. Earlier this year I won two tickets to the Katy Perry concert from Sonic Radio in Vancouver. For my nieces 12th birthday in April I gave her the tickets with the intention of taking her. As a child I have vivid memories of concerts and I was looking so very forward to sharing this with her. Not to mention I’m a huge Katy Perry fan. The challenge is that when you’re traveling by bike it’s not so easy to get back to Vancouver. So today I gave both tickets to my niece and asked her to call me from the concert and tell me how it is. It’s a special day and I wish I could be there with her, but more importantly I hope she enjoys it. And so with a few pictures and a few tears I said farewell to my sister just two days after I did the same with my other sister, niece and my Mom.
A last lunch with Amanda’s sister and family.
Finally, with emotions running high, we set off toward the airport to meet the team at Air North. And this is where for the first time in a while we were able to relax. Air North has been so supportive and interested in our journey. We’ve been chatting with the team at Air North and they knew we were coming and helped us finish packing up the boxes, loaded them into the cargo area and we’re enthusiastic about it. They really put us as ease as they took over our belongings for the next ten years. It was the first time in a while that I was able to take a deep breath and exhale.
Giving everything we own to Air North.
Confident that everything will be in one piece upon arrival in Inuvik, NWT.
I’m so grateful for the opportunity to share our passion with others. We’ve been working so hard to prepare our new journey and wrap up things in Vancouver. This opportunity with Global TV has been a good exercise for us to go through to remind ourselves why we are doing this. If just one person stops for a moment to ask themselves what makes them happy as a result of watching Global TV, then I’m being true to my purpose of inspiring others.
New to cycling, Amanda helped Ling get accustomed to riding in Vancouver. Who knows where her bicycle will take her next!?
I’m so pumped up now! I have so many more experiences to share and will need to create time to do so in the near future. Things like my company had a nice retirement cake for me and my colleagues were so thoughtful; I’m going to miss them. We’ve also had going away parties with friends, dinners with others, bike rides with more, some video footage that we recorded that I need to edit about our preparations and some discussion about our TEFL certification we achieved to teach English. Stay tuned for more updates and blog posts about what we’ve been doing for the last month preparing for the rest of our lives!