Our List of Agreements For A Two Year Bike Trip Around The World

Bike touring is a full-on experience for a couple. It can be stressful and frustrating. You have to make hundreds of decisions together per week. You have to compromise… a lot.

You’re also spending 24/7 in each other’s company!

Kat and I have a great relationship and we’ve done bike touring before. But by discussing our limitations before we leave, we hope to have a better understanding of how to work through any problems that might arise.

Here is our list of agreements that will hopefully get us through the next few years of bike travel.

Riding

• We take 2-3 days off the bike per week (when it permits).
• We need to speak loudly while we’re riding so we can properly hear each other.
• If one of us has a cycling injury, we stop to see if it can be treated immediately and take as many rest days as necessary.

Accommodation & Food

• Two nights per week must be spent sleeping somewhere other than in the tent (when it permits).
• We eat at restaurants once or twice per week (minimum).

Decision Making

• Our tent is a conflict-free zone (no fighting).
• We both have to have an opinion when we’re deciding where we go (“I don’t care” is not an option).
• When we’re both indecisive, one person has to give three good options, and the other person chooses one.
• When cooking, setting up camp or packing up, we need to make it clear what jobs we’d like to do.
• We must talk about whatever is bothering us (about each other) on the day it occurs.
• If we break up, we must help each other arrange the logistics over a generous period of time.

Daily Tasks

• We have the option to spend a few hours by ourselves one day per week.
• We must have a good idea of what food we’re buying prior to shopping for ingredients (so we don’t wander about the supermarket tired and hungry).
• We share the asking of directions, checking into hotels, asking for drinking water etc.
• One person looks after our bike whilst the other person shops (to prevent theft).
• No more than one hour of wasting time on our iPads per day (to be present in our relationship).