Till Bluff Do Us Part

Till Bluff do us part.

Or at least that’s what I thought the other day. Sounded better than the idea of being committed till “death.” Regardless, the entire idea just makes it sound like Alex and I are married. And really – when one thinks of it with all those legal issues and controversies aside – we are. Or at least at this point I suppose you could consider us “common-law.”

Living in our pea pod of a tent for nearly a month now, things have come to a relative rhythm of life. Though Alex and I have only known each other since June and most of our friendship has been so focused on preparing for this trek that we didn’t even know how many siblings each other has until we were couple weeks in Auckland.

And looking ahead, we have five more months within our pea pod. Five months of being the primary person the other sees every day. Five months of sleeping so close that when sleep on our side we have the choice of having our face pressed against the side of the tent or against the other person’s feet. Five months of ups and downs where there is only each other to celebrate and mourn. Sure, there will be people we meet along the way and there is all the people who have supported us and will continue to support us as we go – but at the base of everything, there is simply us.

With our marriage of sorts there is the stress of the relationship ebbing and flowing, rising and falling. Communication will be a big part of that and has been up until this point. Alex and I are set and determined to be as open with each other as possible. To nip issues in the bud that is yet to be. And to date it seems to be okay. But to this day we have yet to actually start our journey across New Zealand.

What will be neither one of us can fathom in our heads. Trying to picture what life will be like for us for five months is like a newlywed couple trying to picture what life will be like celebrating a 25 year anniversary. So – to keep it simple – we have taken on a one day at a time philosophy. One day at a time, but our eye forever on the goal of making it to the other side.

We are committed. Committed to each other. Committed to these five months. We have voluntary chosen to put ourselves in a tight relationship without a clue of how the outcome will be. We have chosen our pea pod as a home. We have made it our home – already knowing which side of the tent the other sleeps on – regardless of where we pitch it. The commitment and understanding is there.

And the ironic part of it all is that through this friendship I have committed to something more long-term and intimate than any family, friend or boyfriend relationship that I have ever been in. Even to live in a small dorm room with another person, as I have done before, will not nearly be as intense as what Alex and I will have to go through. Alex and I have to rely on each other and trust each other essentially with our lives. It is a relationship made with “we” to the point that sometimes it feels as though we are not even individuals in our own right anymore.

But that is not even really a bad thing. Through being us – being friends – being teammates in this adventure of a life time – we have accomplished so much in so little time. We have gotten sponsorship. We have gotten the support of friends and family. We have built our websites and have uploaded photos and video. We have attended our first aid course and have continuously been chipping away at reaching our goal for Indigo Foundation. And the other day we even got word from Tourism New Zealand – otherwise known as 100% Pure New Zealand – of whom has offered to help us with the PR portion of our adventure. They have been following our preparation journey to date and think that what we are doing is worth passing the word along. Alex and I have always said we hoped to have someone like this come on board with us, but never really believed it could be. But it is. Check out the press release on their site that can be found at: 100% New Zealand

The interesting part? That is now. Heaven knows what we will be like five months from now when we are done. Because that is the finish line – that is as far as we have committed and then from then on, the door is wide open with possibilities of what could be. Until that comes, we are married to each other – till Bluff do us part.



You can now view our video from our first aid training below thanks to YouTube. Enjoy!

FIRST AID TRAINING