Most couples look forward to a relaxing honeymoon on a tropical beach or a visit to a romantic city like Paris or Venice. There are, however, no rules when it comes to your special trip and so you can head off anywhere that takes your fancy but would you choose a 2 year expedition across the world by pedal power?

Seeing the World

One British couple decided to take the idea of seeing the wold to an extreme and after their wedding took off to New Zealand in the hope of cycling all the way home. 20,000 miles is a long way to cycle even if you are used to a bike but the bride had never ridden a bike at all before she climbed aboard “Hooch” the couple’s trusty tandem. I bet she had a sore behind!

Three Continents

Kat and Steve Turner from London set off to cycle across three continents, a journey which would take two years and require them to tackle climbs the equivalent of 28 Mount Everests. They travelled through mountains, deserts, rainforests and floods and even experienced an Earthquake in China. The epic tour took them through New Zealand, Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, China, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Turkey, Greece, Italy and France. They confess to not having heard of Kyrgyzstan before planning the tour but it turned out to be the highlight of their trip.

A Good Cause

The couple finally made it home after 674 days and spent their elongated honeymoon not in luxury hotels but in a small two man tent. Their possessions were stored in plastic bags. In addition to seeing the world they were also raising money for the development charity Practical Action. The journey didn’t always go smoothly as Steve suffered appalling heat exhaustion in Cambodia and Kat fractured her knee-cap after hitting a railway track in Australia, as you do!

The Evidence

This is a duo who must have plenty of amazing honeymoon pictures to show off but I don’t think they will prove to have started a new trend. We all have dreams of visiting exotic places but perhaps not all at once and certainly not on a bicycle. There is also the small problem of the two years away from home and work. Most people would find it difficult if not impossible to leave their lives behind for that long, much as they might like to.

Most couples will have to confine themselves to one or two weeks in the sun but that doesn’t mean the honeymoon has to be run of the mill. It is easy to incorporate some special adventures and experiences into any holiday and doing something truly memorable is especially important when it is your honeymoon. It is an occasion worthy of an amazing highlight which could be anything from paragliding in the Alps to climbing the Sydney Harbour Bridge. It might not be possible to see the world but you can certainly make sure that you see at least one special place.

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Article by Sally Stacey