It would be safe to say that my current life phase started when Jeremy and I returned from our tour in East Timor, and feeling somewhat unsettled, managed to convince Jeremy to leave the army. There was of course a grand plan at this stage, it may not have been that apparent to anyone, including us, but we were confident that there was something out there for us to achieve. 2 years later, whilst flying back to NZ for a wedding (not ours, although I must say we were tempted by a Las Vegas wedding, which would have been a remarkably accurate summary of us) I took pause to review what on earth had just happened. We had survived the bombing of Istanbul, an avalanche in Switzerland, slept in an Ice Hotel at minus 26 degrees, brought snow to Petra, Jordan for the first time in any locals memory, rode a camel through the Sahara. (and then tried to eat it as we did our reindeer – funny how people don’t share a kiwis desire to eat everything) I think it was about the moment that the passport officer spoke in an incredibly funny accent, welcoming us home, that I realised that the adventure had only just begun. Sure, there was a brief teary moment (more so Jeremy than I, as I’m far to staunch a chick to cry) when we realised we were indeed “home” but that was quickly extinguished by the prospect of a new unknown somewhere out there for us. So, without more than a toss of a coin, and before we could unpack and perhaps change our minds, we booked a flight into our next chapter.

Stepping off the plane at Brisbane airport, we realised that coming from a mid winter Sweden, to a mid summer Australia, was a horrific mistake, and promptly melted like the disjointed snowman we’d made in the Grand Canyon. Playing it safe, we slightly altered our plans, (not hard when the plan was – “move somewhere else”) and headed down to a familiar Melbourne. Thankfully, with the help of a naive real estate agent, who misunderstood the concept of a grossly overdrawn mortgage account, thinking we were in fact rich kiwis, we moved into an apartment the next day. Well planned of course, no jobs, our possessions crammed into backpacks, no real idea! I landed on my feet, and started working as an office manager for a recruitment firm (this is actually relevant you’ll see, as all that has happened in my life is written in some script somewhere) whilst Jeremy got offered a job in the “suburbs”. He didn’t tell me until later that the place was in fact a 3-hour drive out into the country, funny how things like this get glossed over. 6 months later, when we realised that driving home after work was a little bit far for J, (seriously 6 months!) he bought a house and made me follow him out to a place that holds the title being the only village in our state. That means that we were the only ones living in our street, and that the majority of houses were holiday homes for city folk. I must say here, that fish and chips in this part of the world are more expensive than England, and just as bad. With Jeremy carrying on from where he left off in the UK, he set up a freshcut fruit process for a salad production company, and I set off following a lead from the previous owner of our house, securing a job as a recruitment consultant. After deciding that we did indeed love the area, Jeremy was allowed to buy his boat, and I got into my next challenge. I decided that we might as well have a purpose when we travel next, and it seemed appropriate to link into J’s desire to run the Saharan marathon. What started as running around the block ended up as a fantastic first ultra marathon for both of us on what is described as one of the best courses in the world. (Great Ocean Road) This has in turn mutated into preparation for Adventure Racing, with our current goal to compete in an event such as the Eco-Challenge or Primal-Quest (10 day endurance events) So, in between working and training, the odd bit of landscaping and renovations of the “manor”, we are competing in as many different styled races as possible, from racing trains, to 24 hour rogaines, not to mention my team coming second in the triathlon series. Incidentally, my capacity to absorb chocolate has become truly amazing.

As well as the Adventure Racing, there are some truly inspirational marathons out there that we want to claim, such as the Great Wall of China, or the North Pole (the only one run completely on water) or running through wild Africa – all of which we would love to extend the challenge to you all to join us.

You see, my life is only just beginning, it begins every day I wake up – the things I achieved yesterday make me want to try harder today. One thing I have learnt is that our family has so much to offer, and every individual so charged and inspirational. Maybe this is why we are spread so far around the world!

I met this most incredible 98 year old on a late night flight to the artic circle, she was bored with distributing care packages in Africa, and was off to swim with the whales in the ice pack. Maybe she had some Holloway blood in her?!