Kira: Before we left on this trip I had never really thought about how demanding this journey would be on our relationship. I mean, in just the past four years of our nine years together we had planned a wedding, bought a house, started a business, closed a business, and had a long distance relationship for 2 months somewhere in between all that. These are all really exciting life achievements, but they were also really stressful. Then, add seven deaths in the family, all three of our Moms fighting (and beating) cancer, and a few family feuds and other illnesses …. you’re probably starting to understand why we fled to the mountains so often. I thought, compared to these crazy few years, this would be a breeze. Of course, all these things were still hard on our relationship, but not quite as much as it was on us personally.

Bren: During the planning and at the beginning of this trip, one thing I did not consider is how significant an impact spending every minute of every day together would have on us. We are both undergoing a major life change, and we had to not only adapt to the differences within ourselves, but also within each other. There is a whole host of positive, and “yet to be positive” aspects. But, even from the beginning, there has been no doubt in my mind we would come out of this as an unbreakable team. This is becoming the reality, but not in the way a bond is made by holding hands and dancing through a field of flowers. More akin to the way steal is forged into a sword. Heated almost to melting, then beat with a hammer. Then cooled, and the process repeated.

Day 31: September 23, 2017 – Finch Rinch, Pemberton, British Columbia, Canada

Kira: Last year, three friends, all on separate occasions, asked me if Brendon and I ever fought. Of course we did! It was just rarely about mundane things. I think that we had so much going on that we just didn’t have the energy for it. That being said, it was only a few weeks into the trip that we started to point small issues at each other for no rational reason. I quickly realized I was wrong, as my younger self usually is, about this being a cakewalk. Now I understand that all those things previously mentioned would not make things easier in comparison, but had built a solid foundation to support the weight of the endless stream of challenges that would await us – both internal and external. This foundation is one built of love, trust, compassion, patience, and understanding.

Bren: One of the daily struggles is maintaining personal freedom on a combined time schedule. We need to grant each other the time to fulfill personal obligations. Or rather I need to give Kira more time to fulfill her personal obligations. I have realized on this trip that I am a restless individual. Sitting still is a work in progress for me, while Kira is very productive with her chill time. There is only so much bike maintenance or pannier organizing I can do. At home, I had endless amounts of projects to keep me busy. I can see that my buzzing around Kira because there is no wood to chop, or a shop to clean, is bad for business. Foul moods can happen, and much like a tornado or an earthquake, early detection of impending disaster goes a long way to mitigate damages. We are learning everyday how to recognize the precursors of a foul mood and act in a preventative fashion.

Day 97: November 28, 2017 – Puerto Escondido, Mexico

Kira: Sometimes the difference between a good day and a bad day can be the inner workings of the person having it. Often the day slips away and it is late in the afternoon and we have not had lunch. Not a great scenario, because I have a tendency to get hangry. Thinking on it now I find it funny…..but I have had breakfast today. The computer might well be thrown into the ocean if I was writing this at 3 in the afternoon with no lunch. All jokes aside, planning and prioritizing our new daily schedule took some time to sort out. At first we spent more time focusing on the trip as a whole instead of taking it one day at a time. Prioritizing a few things throughout the day like:  drinking enough water, waking up early to beat the afternoon heat, and pre-planning our routes – with breaks, are just a few of the small things that make a big difference to our well-being, which in turn enables us to function better as team.

Bren: We also have to be okay with our plan falling to pieces and making a new one on the fly, this happens often. Regardless, bad days still happen, but the issues are generally resolved quickly. They must be when you ride on the same motorcycle and sleep in the same hammock.. We have come to love how random a day can become, if our minds are open to it.

Day 143: January 13, 2018 – Watching Fuego erupt from Acatenango, Guatemala

Kira: Another responsibility we make a top priority is the one we have as husband and wife. In one of the books I read they talked about relationships being no different than bank accounts. If you don’t consistently make deposits, eventually the account will be overdrawn. If there is a healthy balance in the account, when someone makes a withdrawal it is hardly noticed. But if the account is at zero any request is a problem. Thus, we make a conscientious effort to make regular deposits (into our relationship) so when times get tough we are not against each other.

Bren: Most of the time it is the small gestures that have the biggest impacts. This can be as simple as carrying her bag, picking a wildflower for her, or when Kira secretly buys me my favourite snack. I have to admit though that some of the time I am cheap, and fit in a “dual purpose” good deed. Kira either knows and doesn’t care, or she has found this out now. I like to light a romantic candle at dinner, but the hidden agenda here is that it is a citronella candle to keep the mosquitos away. I also like to give Kira regular back massages. She has had a sore shoulder lately, and I want to help. Also though, this is out of fear she may go and pay someone else to do it.

Day 157: January 27, 2018 – Placencia, Belize

Kira & Bren: We share not only in the hardships, but also the joys. Whether this is silently watching new scenery go by, and knowing each others happiness only through the feel of body language, or laughing together following an extremely obscure situation we had just navigated ourselves through. Every new experience is significantly better because we get to experience it together. We often sit down and have what we have dubbed “power talks”. These are not planned, they start up and flow out, usually flowing with some form of alcohol. These are the nebulas where stars are born. We discuss past issues and how to deal with future repeats. We outline plans for the future, discuss our dreams and goals. Also where and how we can improve the current program. Mutual plans and aspirations come forward in a way neither of us could imagine while thinking on our own. The journey we are now on is the product of a long past “power talk”. We will encounter many more surprises or bumps in the road but it is together that we will get around them.

24/7

No look goes unseen,
No mood goes unfelt,
No comment goes unheard,
No fart goes unsmelt.

A Poem by Brendon Hak

Day 174: February 13, 2018 – Mizata, El Salvador