What next?

When I finished Joy Ride by Kristen Jokinen, that was my question.

She met Finnish native Ville Jokinen on a scuba diving boat in Vietnam. Back home in the USA, she had to see if the spark between them would endure, so she booked a flight to Finland. They were soon married and within a few years, walked 2,653 miles on the Pacific Crest Trail.

They craved more adventure. What next?

In 2016, they headed for Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, for a trip south, as far as they could go, to Ushuaia, Argentina. Their first road was the Dalton Highway, a 414-mile, mostly unpaved drive that tests those in four-wheel drive vehicles. But caution was not part of their plan; they rode one-wheel-drive bicycles that they had not even broken in.

I doubt anyone would blame them if they had quit after the first day. Bikes laden with heavy gear, Kristen’s knees ached from the first mile. Her new leather seat felt like a rock. Ice-cold rain pelted her face, trickled inside her rain jacket and down her back. She was exasperated. “What the hell was I thinking when I signed up for this?”

They finally stopped at midnight when the sun was still up, but low on the horizon, when Ville asked, “Are you ready to camp? I can’t feel my toes.” Too tired to cook, their first meal was Snickers bars.

What next?

Over the next 20 months, they rode more than 18,000 miles, enduring wind so fierce they had to push their bikes. Dog attacks, injuries (she broke her tailbone, for one), bloody falls, relentless rain, punishing cold and heat. They were blown off the road by passing trucks and longed for elusive hot showers.

Quit? What’s that? They found kindness around many turns, kindness from people who took them into their homes, fed them, and peppered them with questions about their improbable choice to ride the length of the Americas. For its kind people, Mexico was their favorite country. For scenery, Peru won hands down. They lived on $800 month, the rent they received for their Bend, Oregon home.

After choosing a light-colored stone in the Beagle Channel at the tip of South America, Kristen paired it with the black stone she had pulled from the Arctic Circle, symbolizing the end of the journey. They traveled (not by bicycle) back to Bend, where they endured “a horrible adjustment,” even worse than they one after their PCT trek.

The question returned.

In 2019, they rode bikes from Helsinki, Finland to Split Croatia, 2,000 miles. Then during the 2021-22 winter, they explored the Andalucia region of Spain, again on bikes.

What next? Maybe the question will follow them for the rest of their lives. I eagerly anticipate more of Kristen Jokinen’s writing about their adventures.