About Us
Hi, that’s me Simon on the left. I guess we all at some stage in our lives, stop and wonder what it would be like to simply escape and go on a trip of a lifetime. Well, I haven’t stopped thinking about this for as long as I can remember.
Back in 2004 I was lucky enough to do exactly this and escape on a trip ‘TransAmerica’, where I cycled 4500 miles from the east to west across north America. However, one trip of a lifetime has grown to become too limiting and now both myself and Jen, my gorgeous girlfriend are planning another epic cycling adventure through South America.
This site is intended to keep family and friends updated on where we are and what we’re doing over the course of this fantastic journey, not to mention a resource for others planning a similar trip…
So, where do we start? Whenever I (Jen on the right) stumble accross a story of life and adventure, or great achievement I am always very much intrigued to know more about the people and characters behind it. The tales and the tribulations that have brought one person, or in our case two, to say “Stop! I want to get off!”. To start living the journey and to stop concentrating on the destination. To enjoy life, to embrace it and to say “Enough!” of existing, lets just get on with it. As Simon constantly says “…when we are lying on our death bed (hopefully together as we have both discussed how horrendous it would be to leave the other behind) .. we are not going to say…gee I am so glad we didn’t take those 8 months off life back in 2007 to cycle around South America!”. No, we envisage this trip as one of those once in a lifetime, mind alltering, grounding, bonding eternal experiences that shape your thoughts and clarify your hopes and dreams. An experience to allow you the time and space to believe in your dreams and to grab life by the horns…remembering to hold on tight!
Jen: I am a thirty-something Australian, born in Bangkok living in the South of England working as a Flight Attendnat for Air New Zealand. I am honestly not as complicated as that may sound, but gee it does appear to be a little mixed up when seen in writing!
Unlike most Aussies who travel to the UK looking for that “OE” (overseas experience) and end up living in Ealing or Acton surrounded by other Aussies to help them feel more at home (therefore in effect creating their own anti-OE), I decided to live on Englands’ South Coast. The thought of living in one of the biggest city’s in the world surrounded by people, noise, and pollution with a 3 hour travel time to the nearest glimpse of ocean simply did not appeal.
I grew up in Tasmania, the little island (comparitively speaking of course - as it is probably about the size fo the south of England) south of Victoria. My mum couldn’t quite understand me not wanting to live in Central London - “Oh, but Jen the shopping, the restaurants, the social life..” - and I can fully appreciate those who choose that kind of lifestyle. Afterall if you are going to travel to the UK to live, why not experience London and all it has to offer. But that is not me. I need the coast. I need the big sky, the sand and the slower pace of life. Dont get me wrong, I do love to shop and shoes are a particular favourite (my prized Jimmy Choos standing proudly at the top of the heap) but being close to the ocean and the “lazy days” lifestyle a coastal exisistence can afford, is more me. And I think has become more me the older, and the wiser I have become. Maybe it is just the older one becomes, and the more experiences one has, the more comfortable you become in your skin and the more you understand yourself and listen to where you come from….?
It is as this point that I came across Simon…Oh Gorgeous One. Since moving to Bournemouth and meeting some lovley girlfriends, I have overcome a lot of personal heartache and insecurity within myself. Nothing can help to heal a broken heart like understanding friends having lots of fun! Being so far away from my family yet feeling accepted and that I belonged meant so much to me, and I will be for ever greatful for that time.
But as much contentment as I may have felt, there were still moments of waiting…waiting for something to happen…treading water…not quite sure where I was heading. Wanting something substantial in my life, wanting to challenge and prove myself. Not content with just going with the flow. I needed, wanted something to happen to make me stand up and say hey I know who I am and what I am capable of. I have always felt that I have needed an event, or a time in my life to take me out of my comfort zone. To show me who I am and what I am capable of achieving.
After meeting Simon, I was so enthralled with his tale of cyclying across America. I passionately admire people who have get and up go. People who walk the walk when we are constantly meeting people who just talk and do nothing about it. He is one of those unassuming characters who just gets on with it. He is interesting yet interested, and just so completely sexy. He is thoughtful and giving and caring beyond belief. He is always there for you and no task is too big of an ask for him. A gentleman, a listener, an observer. Yet at the same time a bit of an endearing larrikin who sometimes takes the world on his shoulders and can’t stop thinking, analysing, trying to understand better (a trait we all know can be a burden). He is a truly wonderful, good man who has certainly inspired me.
Upon getting to know Gorgeous One, I felt like I was coming home. He was the first person I had met since moving to the UK who was like me, my family, and my good friends at home. I took him as real, and grounded and not out to play games. Such a refreshing, attractive person to be with. The more time I spent getting to know him, the more I needed to spend with him. All I knew was that I loved to be around him, near him, listening to him, talking with him, sharing with him. Our love grew from a very pure, real, grounded place in the knowledge that we were meant to come into eachothers’ life. Meant to complete eachother and round eachother off.
And it is from that point we talked about our need to live life and not just exist in it and from that was born the idea of our trip. A trip to expand the mind, to learn to know and accept ourselves. Simon is one of these very rare individuals that you come accross every once in a while who really know themselves. He has had experiences in his life that have lead him to reach down and to find out who he is and what makes him tick. From that he has become very intuitive. He is fortunate that he has so much understanding of himself and others, and such an admirable quality that he has garnished from knowing he can achieve. I am hoping that through the physical and mental challenges I envisage us facing on our trip that I too will gain this clarity, this focus on what makes me me. It is an experience such as this that I believe will help us to realise what it is in life that we need to make us really happy. To strip back all the fuzzy wuzzies and get down to the bare essentials….to learn to appreciate these and not forget their importance in love, life and happiness.
It will be this supportive self discovery that will enable Simon and I to find ourselves with eachother. To grow together and to know eachother. We are giving ourselves the opportunity as a couple to find our true selves. To bare our souls in a completely open, heart to heart, challenging environment without life getting in the way. We will live life together without the burden of existing day to day, Monday to Friday, nine to five. It will be tough, soul seeking, and seem down right impossible at times (I am known to throw many a toy out of the pram) but ultimately I am hoping the experience will ground us in concrete completely as a couple and completey as two people meant to be.
