The world from the stoker seat.
Just keep pedaling...we're not lost.
Eric and Christie in Minneapolis on our trip from Mankato to Duluth, summer 2008
The Goods:
What- Tandem bike trip Mankato, Minnesota to Tierro Del Fuego, Argentina
When- Start time: July 2009, Stop time: around November 2010
Who- Married couple, Eric and Christie Nelson, 31 year old Minnesotans, Christians, Servants, Dream-seekers, High-school sweet hearts, Engineer, Nurse, Environmentalists, Organic Gardeners, and as many of our family and friends say…”Crazy.”
How- quit our jobs, sell or rent out our duplex/house, sell our vehicles, and have a mighty garage sale, then generally pedal in the southerly direction on our tandem bike named Jo-Jo with our single wheel trailer, seeking a 7x6 foot area to tent nightly
Why- We don’t want to live with forehead slapping regrets based on fear of the unknown… read on…
Words to live by- “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.”-Unknown source
We welcome you to join us on our journey from Mankato, Minnesota to the southern most point of the Americas-Tierro Del Fuego, Argentina- via our tandem bike starting in July 2009. We don’t assert to know exactly what we are doing, but that’s the fun of it and where faith falls.
A little about us. Eric and I, were high school sweethearts… awahhh…and have been married for 8 years. Eric graduated in 2000 with a degree in Metallurgical Engineering (I explain it as “metal stuff”…he explains it in words uncomprehendable to most humans) from South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. I graduated in 2000 from Concordia College in Moorhead, MN-go Cobbers- with a BA in Biology and Environmental Studies degree and at age 30, graduated…again…as an RN and work at a hospital. After college, we committed 2 years to learning how to speak Pigeon English, be minorities, understand black magic/sorcery, and make laplap in the Peace Corps. We were stationed as teachers on a tiny speck of a volcanic island, Ambrym, in the South Pacific country of Vanuatu. Living without roads, vehicles, lights, refrigerator, running water, carpet, couches, mirrors or make-up opened our eyes to the world beyond our Midwest security blanket. It was an experience that will change who we are and how we live our lives forever. After returning to the states, we hiked the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine the summer of 2003-another incredible experience.
(This is the “WHY” of Why are you doing this?!) Eric and I refuse to be complacent in this world that is crying. We call on direction from our Creator and Savior as to how to work, where to go, what to say, and think. “God’s love has freed us to be the persons we are without having to become more attractive, more intelligent, more popular. God’s love frees us to live in confidence, not needing to be self-absorbed, but ready to listen and to hear the stories of others. God’s love frees us to take risks, to surprise even ourselves with courage, sometimes to fall flat on our faces – but always to more onward with the knowledge that God is encouraging us. God’s love frees us to view the world not from the standpoint of wealth gained or ambition achieved, but from the perspective of relationships lived and human love shared”-unknown source. So we set out to escape routine, what is safe, and what is known in order to grow as individuals, as a couple, and to serve where we are called along the way. We are addicted to God’s mysterious, omnipotent, creative, and many times humorous paths He paves. We have learned, in order to receive that, completely, we need to feel uncomfortable, live with intention, walk on the edge, we need to let go, we need to be vulnerable, and humbled. We don’t want to live with forehead slapping regrets based on fear of the unknown. We just want to go…and be…and experience a new culture…a new people…and learn, grow, pray, play, sweat, laugh, love, question, listen, help, serve, appreciate someone who is different than us, gain understanding, and be a friend in this hurting world.
