In just over five years, a Polish couple has challenged their endurance as they cycled through sand storms, traversed extreme climate ranges and braved startling mountain elevations, all in an epic adventure to travel the world by bike.
Now they're passing through Prince George, midway through a 10-year trip that has them reflecting less on the stunning landscapes or the odd encounter with wild things (like the time they witnessed a crocodile dragging a baby elephant into the water) and more on the lessons learned when embedded in a new culture.
"This trip is more about people than nature," said Adela Tarkowska of Warsaw, Poland.
She and Kris Jozefowski have traveled more than 44,000 kilometres in 31 countries over four continents. In that time they've spent more than three years in Latin America, 15 months in Africa and seven months in the Middle East.
They share stories along the way in photo presentations like the one held at ArtSpace Friday night.
"We want to inspire people to make their dreams true and not necessarily cycling the world, but everybody has his hidden dreams, bigger or smaller and we wait and very often postpone them forever," Tarkowska said.
"We realize that for many people they need this one drop to make the glass full," she said, recounting the people along the way who wistfully wished they had been so bold.
Perhaps their story could be that one drop pushing someone along the way to leap at that dream.
"They just need this one sparkle," she said.
The couple, both 32, weren't expert cyclists before they embarked from Turkey in 2010. In fact they weren't even in a relationship and consider day one of their trip their anniversary.
Jozefowski was a commuting cyclist and Tarkowska doubts she'd travelled farther than 20 kilometres on two wheels.
But they figure biking is the best way to see the world.
"I think it's really, slow enough to see everything, like to smell everything, to watch, to observe, to pass, but quick enough to visit from all the world," Jozefowski said. "I have this feeling that we are not missing anything."
The couple carries all the camping and cooking gear they need, alongside clothes for hot and cool climates, about a combined 60 kilograms.
"On bike we live every metre of the trip," Tarkowska added. "We are in the place, in the time. There is no future or past. We are just right now."
They acknowledge it can be at times exhausting, but they are careful with their bodies and allow time to rest rather than rush their travel.
Biking also means they are closer to the people and that leads to better understanding.
"We have many prejudices," said Tarkowska, recounting friends who warned them from Arabic countries, where it turned out they experienced the best hospitality.
In Syria, people were constantly inviting the couple into their homes for meals.
"At some points we were even trying to hide from people because I had such a stomach ache from eating like five big meals a day," she said.
That time, a man on a motorbike found them tucked away in an olive grove.
"He said 'What are you doing here, my wife is waiting for you," she remembered with a laugh.
"These things you will never hear in the news. One guy who comes with a bomb or something can ruin the picture of so many millions who are living in the country."
And there was the time in Egypt, where the couple was camped in the desert, already preparing their meal when locals happened upon them, promptly asking that they stay in the village. Already settled, they refused.
"They went away and 30 minutes later they came back with guns and teapot and wood and blankets and they said. 'If you don't want to come in, we will guard you all night.'" she said.
"We were sleeping in our tent and they were all night drinking tea around the fire guarding us."
Funding the dream hasn't been a particularly expensive exercise, either. They had some savings to start the trip, but have stopped for work in places like Cyprus (part of the European Union) for four months.
That funded the 15-month trip to Africa, she said. Roughly, she estimates they each spend $300 a month, though it varies wildly from country to country, where some spots can cost only $2 a day.
Being vegetarian is nice on the wallet, they always ask for local food preferences and rarely pay for lodging. They have numerous stories of good hospitality (like staying in Prince George Cycling Club president Heather Sapergia's home) and preferring odd spots in a farmer's field (with permission) to a paid campsite.
Their next stop is Alaska, then Asia, but their stay in Canada has been pleasant.
"It feels that Canadians they still have trust in people, so they are not afraid of a stranger which is really great."
The best moments, for Tarkowska, have all been connected to human kindness.
One wintry day in Patagonia, Tarkowska recalled struggling to move, her fingers so frozen she was shifting gears with her elbow.
A man invited them into his home, warm with the fire of a wood stove and the smell of their next meal.
"He had a big pot of hot soup and I will never forget this feeling of a bowl of hot soup in my frozen hands," she said. "This moment was so heartwarming."
"(It's) the small things, not the biggest falls in the world, or not the most famous jungle, but just the small gestures from people."
