Thoughts Entries
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Things We Don't Know
Monday, August 23rd, 2010Two years ago, the sheer number of unknowns regarding this adventure were mind blowing. We had no first-hand knowledge, no experience, and honestly, for all of our preparation, no idea what we were ...
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On Running, Rest & Routines
Sunday, June 27th, 2010What started as a simple desire to move my body, is slowly transforming into something much larger. I've decided that I want to love running. More to the point: I want it to be one enjoyable part o...
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On Driving
Friday, June 25th, 2010After more than a year spent living out of a bicycle (and writing about the experience nearly every day) many aspects of my worldview have changed so dramatically that I often find it difficult to re...
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Why Are You in a Car?
Monday, June 21st, 2010The shortest answer to this question is: to drive across Russia! Here is the long answer: In the broadest terms, our plan for this adventure was to travel from Scotland to Malaysia by land and sea. ...
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Just a Bike Ride
Wednesday, June 9th, 2010For the last few days, we've been taking some much needed rest. For us, this means cooking less, eating out more, "staying in", and leaving the camera behind when we go out. This welcome change of ...
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Something's Got to Give
Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010Tyler: We couldn't bear to leave our tent this morning. Safe and warm in our secluded forest free camp, listening to the constant patter of water pelting our rain fly, all motivation to start the da...
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The Finisher Finishes
Tuesday, April 13th, 2010While we've been waiting in Belgrade for our replacement sleeping mat, I've been working on a baby hoodie for our new little nephew, Elijah. Tyler, as usual, has been programming for his clients. W...
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Welcome to the World!
Tuesday, April 6th, 2010Our thoughts are with Amanda and Paul (Tyler's older sister and her husband) today as we celebrate the birth of Elijah Paul Noskowiak. We wish we could be there with you! All our love from Serbi...
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One
Friday, April 2nd, 2010Wow. I cannot believe we have been gone a year! This time last year we were just arriving in Scotland, and I remember thinking to myself as we put our bicycles together in the airport, "what the he...
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On Finishing Things
Sunday, March 21st, 2010For the past few months I've been working on a baby cardigan for Tyler's sister, Amanda. I rarely follow patterns but I decided it would be best to have one for this project if I wanted it to be rea...
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Family Remedy
Saturday, February 20th, 2010Last night I went to bed with a hurty, swollen feeling on the left side of my neck, but I didn't think much of it. When I awoke this morning, I felt wretched. When I tried to talk, it sounded as if...
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Settled in Rethymnon
Friday, February 19th, 2010Our ride yesterday was a quick 20km jaunt into a ferocious headwind. Knowing we only had a short way to go made the wall we were riding into mostly a non-issue. The brief struggle ended, quite plea...
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It's All Greek to Me
Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010Tara is unofficially our designated communicator when it comes to foreign languages. That isn't to say that I don't speak; in fact, I try really hard! I'm not shy about using the phrases I know, bu...
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Sick Day Observations
Thursday, January 28th, 2010Though I woke up feeling a lot better than I had last night, Tyler insisted we take a day of rest so I could fully recover. We passed the morning and afternoon laying together in our tiny, smaller-t...
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Birthday Success
Monday, January 25th, 2010Yesterday, I made a list of all the things I wanted to do on my birthday. While the best parts of the day weren't even on it (an early morning phone call from my brother, Lian, the sweetest voice-ma...
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Control
Friday, January 1st, 2010I am by nature, a planner. This at times clashes with the fact that there are ceaselessly a multitude of "loose ends" and unknowns before us as we travel. Improving my ability to relinquish control...
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On Home
Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009...while going to sleep in our haunted hotel room: Me: "Do you miss Kerkennah a little?" Tara: "Yeah." Me: "Me too." Despite a rough week of feeling cooped up and generally stuck in "waiting mode",...
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Stranded on a Desert Island
Monday, December 21st, 2009We just found out our wheels have been sitting in New Jersey for the last twelve days. Nice work US Postal Service. We've now been on Kerkannah for more than two weeks. The first week was very enj...
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Why We Are Here
Thursday, December 17th, 2009Tara and I recently re-watched Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boormans', Long Way Down. It was both exciting and rewarding to see again. Having now traveled through many of the places they did, we were ...
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Happy Thanksgiving
Thursday, November 26th, 2009Tara Sometimes it seems odd that we should be out in the world going ever onwards, when my instincts tell me it is time to hole up for the season and hibernate. The coming winter and approaching hol...
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Touched
Saturday, November 21st, 2009Most days the first thing Tyler does is check our email. This normally mundane task of ensuring that nothing has blown up at work has now become the highlight of our morning! As kind words pour in ...
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Changes
Sunday, October 11th, 2009Since our last really crappy cycling day (on Elba), we have thought and talked a LOT about what we need to ensure our trip stays enjoyable rather than devolving into ceaseless hard work. What it rea...
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Thank You
Tuesday, May 19th, 2009We often forget that people actually read our journal (outside of family anyway). We're really just trying to document the physical and emotional journey we are taking together. After a rough coupl...
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Quick Update
Sunday, April 19th, 2009We're just north of Hexham camping. Everything is wonderful! We are still journalling every night. We have loads of pictures and stories to post but no viable internet connection with which to do so...
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How We Did It
Wednesday, April 1st, 2009I wanted to sit down with Tara and document how we got where we are today before it became a distant memory. As it turns out this was a great idea; it was incredibly difficult to remember accurately...
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Room to Breathe
Saturday, March 28th, 2009For the past month or so, Tyler and I have taken turns having breakdowns and then supporting and encouraging each other through them. Tyler mainly worries about the massive workload he has to compl...
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Reflection
Thursday, March 12th, 2009Before planning this journey a year seemed like a long time. It isn't. As the days and months fly by I have really come to realize what a short time we have here (on earth). There is so much that ...
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Around the World in 80 Days
Saturday, January 10th, 2009Icannot believe our trip is only 80 days away. Sometimes I think about this whole process as being similar to pushing a boulder (not sure why you'd need to push a rock, but whatever...) It felt for...
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Gardening on the Road?
Tuesday, December 16th, 2008Right before I moved to Minnesota, I started growing potted plants and was pretty fiercely bitten by the gardening bug. (just a little advice for anyone thinking of moving in the near future: I sugg...
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Going Slowly: Biking & Baking
Sunday, November 23rd, 2008When Tyler suggested we change the name of our website from "advriding" to "goingslowly," I heartily agreed. Going Slowly fits our trip much better than Adventure Riding does. For me, this trip is ...