We truly believe that the key to happiness lies in spending our time and money on experiencing life.
You only live once and there are no guarantees as to how long you live. Many of us spend a good portion of our lives working towards retirement when we are older. What if you don’t make it to ‘older’? What if you’re not strong enough to do what you had hoped to do? Well there are too many unknowns for us. We are strong enough and we are mentally ready to go. We love riding bikes so much and we want to see the world! Share our adventure with us and follow our blog.
When we first started talking about riding our bikes around the world in 2011, it was something that seemed so far off in the future, yet close enough that maybe we could make it a reality. Our plans quickly gained momentum; what seemed like light years away quickly became years, maybe months, perhaps just days away. We sold everything we owned and left Vancouver in August 2014. Our plan is to take 10 years “off”, now, while we have the energy and desire to travel and inspire. We want to learn more about the way of life in other countries, and spread our joy and enthusiasm for biking to every corner of the earth.
Our first leg started in August 2014, as we flew to one of the Northern most points of Canada by plane; Inuvik, North West Territories (NWT). We had planned to ride through the NWT, Yukon, BC and Alberta for a month or two passing through the Arctic Circle. After that we had planned to pass through the United States and plan to be in Mexico for Christmas. While our plans changed slightly in BC in September after Amanda’s brother died suddenly, we are still travelling and as of January 2015 we are close to the original plan. After spending a couple of months in Mexico we will spend the winter in Central America, riding through through Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama before setting sail (literally) for Colombia. Our ride will continue south through the Andes mountains of Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia. Come with us through the Carreterra Austral in Chile, south through Patagonia across Argentina’s pampas until we reach Ushuaia. Then we set our sights north as we cycle and surf along the coast to Rio Di Janiero, Brazil in time to volunteer at the 2016 Olympic Games. If we’re lucky perhaps we’ll venture to the Antarctic Circle to see how it compares to the Arctic Circle where we started. One continent down, five (maybe six!?) to go!
The second leg (start date undetermined) will start from Cape Town, South Africa as we ride north through Africa towards Egypt, before making a left at Turkey and cycling the coast of Europe until we reach London, England.
On the third leg of our journey, we will start in Reykjavik, Iceland, and cycle through Northern Europe and Russia, before crossing Eurasia until we reach the Pacific Ocean and Japan. Along the way we hope to volunteer at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Our ride will continue south into Indonesia and will include a crossing of Australia, and circumnavigation of New Zealand.
The final leg of our trip will see us head back through Indonesia, into Nepal and across India, into the Middle East and back through Turkey into Europe. After crossing the Atlantic into Montreal, we will set our sights on a northern crossing of Canada until we again reach the Pacific before riding south to Vancouver.
And as we learned in the first two months of our trip, plans change. So while this is a blue print … it is likely to change. We’re not in a rush, we are more keen to enjoy.
Prior to our departure in August 2014, both Amanda and Andrew were active in strengthening their physical fitness, survival skills, and most importantly endurance. Our intent is to be completely self-propelled and self-reliant during our bicycle trip. We expect to find ourselves often in remote areas of the world, with our only contact being via satellite radio and the odd Internet café. Preparations for this trip include the experience gained over the last 7 years with multiple tours including riding from Vancouver, Canada to Tijuana, Mexico in 2007 (2,900km over 40 days) and from Amsterdam, Netherlands to Toulouse, France in 2011 (1,500km over 32 days). The previously scheduled “shakedown” ride in August 2014, of a week-long ride on the West Coast of Vancouver Island has been replaced with our actual departure date. We departed in the summer of 2014 and as of January 2015 are currently enjoying traveling.
Enjoying Life 80%
Loving Each Other 100%
Being Authentic 85%
Staying in Touch with Friends/Family 75%
Riding Bikes 100%
Sharing New Experiences 90%
Tony Codispoti
Aug 20, 2015 -
Much love you two. Jake and I wish you well always. You two are real and see the world through the eyes of us which seek out joy with purity and love. My condolences on the loss of your brother Amanda. I know you are well with Andrew by your side. All good on our end. Work is good and Jake is entering third year civil engineering technology after working as a junior inspector for an engineering firm in Kingston Ontario. He has a great girl and she has his promise ring. It’s real love and for that Wendi and I are elated. All the best always and we are richer for knowing you two. Keep the wind to your back and the pavement under you
Megan
Aug 22, 2016 -
Hey I’m Megan Rumsey, mgn rmz on facebook. I’m sitting here with Casey Cox, we just finished some spa treatments in my little spa. we’re talking about riding bikes.pp (well she’s moving around) looking at your blog, she says hi!!! It looks like you are a little behind Scott Pauker http://spokeandwords.com/. If you see him say HELLO! I can’t believe he is still going and that you are both still on the move..
If you all meet up somewhere in the big wide world let us know. We are living vicariously through you and loving the synchronicity
We’re sending a duplicate message to Scott.
KEEP ON PEDAL ‘N!!!!!
Grant
Dec 7, 2017 -
Hey Amanda, do recall being on the Baja heading north just before taking the ferry over to the mainland. I took you out in my boat to get you ready for the trip over! You were so excited to catch some fish! All the while Andrew was working on our internet system (as I have been doing as of late) Hope your both well and thanks again for your help.