August 24: Behind the Scenes Partners

Having been as far north as the Arctic Ocean and as far east as Cape Spear on the Canadian island of Newfoundland, I can safely say this summer’s trip was the most adventurous and logistically involved of my three solo journeys so far. Although my ongoing escapades and mishaps were visible via my daily blog, what many readers might not know is that a large part of my accomplishments this summer were facilitated by the behind-the-scenes support and encouragement of two close friends, Grant Myers and Kathy Nesper.

Grant and Kathy have been with me from the beginnings of my first trip alone, when Kathy agreed to do a nightly check-in with me for safety purposes and Grant offered to provide support on an ongoing basis by telephone.

Things have evolved since then and on this last journey Kathy and Grant tracked me every ten minutes using my Garmin Mini In-Reach. I touched bases with them every night to let them know I was in for the evening, and all was well. If I were to have a medical emergency, they would have been contacted along with medical personnel when I hit my “SOS” button. I could also have sent them a pre-set message at any time to ask them to contact AAA on my behalf if I encountered mechanical problems and was out of cell service.

There were many logistical issues involved with a trip of this magnitude and occasionally time or circumstances made it difficult for me to get the information I needed on my own in a timely manner. In that case, Grant or Kathy stepped in.

For example, after my ride through torrential rains in Newfoundland I could not charge my phone and was worried that without an alarm I wouldn’t wake up in time to catch the ferry to the French island of St. Pierre. Kathy coached me on how to set up an alarm on my computer instead so that I could be sure to be ready in time to make that important trip.

Grant has a remarkable ability to get just about any kind of information quickly and reliably on his computer and helped me with a variety of last-minute requests – the schedule of an obscure ferry in another country, hourly weather conditions all over the place, and Amazon links for important items that needed to be replaced ASAP.

I have gotten so much wonderful help and advice from many Facebook friends and other supporters around the country. But now that I am safely home, I thought it would be appropriate to single out Grant and Kathy for their ongoing daily support through a variety of inspiring and challenging times during what turned out to be a substantial journey.