We’re two people from Auckland, New Zealand, who met in 2003 and have been fairly inseperable since. We both love to try new things, and so far have no dependants (yes that makes us DINKs…).
Having our careers in Auckland, and based mostly at desks, can be a pretty stifling lifestyle, so we love to get away as much as we can and the idea of an extended roadtrip is something that gets us excited.
Mike
I grew up travelling the world with my Mum in the early years, before we settled on the rugged west coast of Auckland, which is a perfect environment for a young boy! I moved further inland when I hit my teens and began my working life as an Urgent Courier, both in cars and for a couple of years on a motorcycle. This however, apart from the fantastic people I worked with and for, did little to meet my financial goals. So after six years of hard slog on the streets, I made the big jump from courier to software developer roughly nine or ten years ago. My good friend Steve W gave me the big break I needed and I will always be very thankful to him, because at the time I was looking for any out and it’s all because of him and his faith that I have been involved in some fantastic projects and great companies since.
There is the downside though. As good as the intellectual challenge of developing software is, I still find myself staring out the window at the outside world wondering if this is really the lifestyle meant for me! Since I’ve hit my early thirties the prospect of the rest of my working life being spent in an office has finally started to hit home, meaning I have several ambitions to get myself outside and out of my comfort zone as much as I can, while I can.
The best thing that ever happened to me was meeting Myra in 2003. I pretty much won the lottery on that as she literally walked into my life by working in the office next door. She really has made a huge difference in my life and with her enthusiasm and backing for every crazy whim I have I really do think I am one of the luckiest people I know. You really are on to a good thing when your partner is always positive and 100% behind every idea you have, not only encouraging you to do it but sacrificing whatever it takes to make sure you can achieve what you want, and wanting to be involved as well. She doesn’t have a negative bone in her body and I can’t wait to share some riding adventures with her!
Motorcycling around NZ for me is hopefully just the start. I’d love to see us travelling far beyond in adventure scenarios all around the world. We must start somewhere though, and what better place than our own beautiful backyard.
Myra
Well I grew up in Whangarei, not as glamorous as traveling the world like Mike, but it was a great place to grow up. I have an older brother Harley and a younger sister Jessica. We lived in a caravan (which I will always refer to as “the caravan of courage”) for a few years when I was little; we stayed out at Tamaterau and then moved to Mair Park when I started school. We moved out to Onerahi when I was 6 where Mum & Dad brought a house and are still there today. Dad had a motorbike when I was little and he would take me for rides and pick me up from school, I think he still has my little red helmet which probably only fits my elbow now. So from this small association with bikes in my childhood I now think that I’m a motorcycle passenger pro! (well I hope I am)……
I left Whangarei when I was 19 for the ‘Big Smoke”, worked as a dental assistant for a while and then got a job doing accounts work for an internet company when I was 20…..ended up working for this internet company for nearly 6 years and left in January 2006 as I’d had enough of doing a job I was not at all passionate about. I didn’t have a job to go to but had one goal in mind and that was to get in to the Music Industry. Thinking back I was extremely naive, but after 2 months of searching I ended up scoring my dream job at Universal Music, how cool is that!
But as we all know, work isn’t everything and while we’re both still young and child free we would like to get out there and enjoy life, try new things, set ourselves new goals and challenges. We’ve already scuba dived with Sharks, now it’s motorbike adventures – next, who knows but I can’t wait to find out!
Meeting Mike is the best thing that has ever happened to me (and I’m not just saying that because he did!), I definitely know I wouldn’t have achieved what I have without his love and support (big love hun xx). I know Mike has wanted a motorbike for a long time and just seeing him talk about it and how happy he is, it’s a beautiful thing!
I am really looking forward to our motorcycle expeditions, although I will only be a passenger it will certainly be a challenge for me and I can’t wait to get started.
