When we last checked in with Eric and Christie Nelson, they were about to leave Mankato in early August to embark on a bike trip.

Mind you, this wasn’t a day trip they were taking.

They were planning to bike roughly 15,000 miles in 18 months or so to Tierra del Fuego, the southern-most tip of South America. They weren’t positive about their route, they weren’t sure where they’d be sleeping every night, and they didn’t know what they would experience along the way.

To prepare for the trip, they sold their house, quit their jobs and sold one of their cars. To the casual observer, it probably seemed like they were trying to sever all local ties for good, even though they were planning to return to Mankato eventually.

That was roughly seven months ago. It probably feels like a lot longer than that to the Nelsons. To be exact, it feels like nine countries, one hemisphere and more than 7,000 miles ago.

That’s how far they’ve traveled on their tandem bike affectionately nicknamed ‘Jojo,’ short for ‘Joy of Journeying.’

According to their latest SPOT GPS reading, the Nelsons are in Zhud, Equador — roughly 60 miles west of Guayaquil, the country’s largest city — and crossed the equator late last month. They still have roughly 8,000 to 9,000 miles to go and three or four more countries — Peru, Chile, Argentina and possibly Uruguay — to travel through. The “possibility” part in that sentence is for the fact that even after all these months of traveling, the Nelsons still like to play it by ear, they said in e-mails to The Free Press.

“We’re not really sure of our route. It’s always a work in progress,” Christie said.

Their sense of adventure has served them well so far. They’ve seen everything from Las Vegas to the Andes Mountains at this point, and many of their most memorable experiences have come from stepping out of their comfort zones. While in Mexico, a local who saw the Nelsons biking through his town befriended them, gave them a place to stay and insisted  they stay another day so that he could take them to see the ruins around Mexico City.

“There is always some level of risk when a person comes out of a crowd and offers a bed for the night,” Eric said. “But by being vulnerable, we learn to let some of our guards down and allow deeper connections in the future.”

The Nelsons believe the vulnerability that comes with traveling on a bicycle also has helped them forge a deeper connection with the places they’ve visited.

“Life on a bicycle, without windows, automatic locks or a cell phone, gives us more intimate experiences, makes us more sensitive and open to the world around us,” Christie said. “There’s also a universal understanding of the physical challenge (of biking) and respect that follows, which makes us more approachable as foreigners.”

Some familiarity has been a welcome sight for the Nelsons as well. Daily sleeping arrangements are frequently set up through Warm Showers, an international cycling community that has host families offer lodging for touring cyclists. Through Skype, an Internet application that allows users to make phone calls online, the couple also has managed to keep in touch with family and friends.

“We miss being there (with our families) for the biggies like births and holidays, but we feel like we are still in the loop,” Eric said.

The Nelsons have had to endure some hardships. Their GPS was stolen — and later replaced— in Nicaragua.  They had numerous bike issues — including their lowest two gears breaking on them in the Andes Mountains. And they’ve had to become comfortable in the same two outfits for the last seven months.

Aside from those challenges, the Nelsons also have had to face the struggles of adapting to multiple cultures along the way.

“Each time we enter a country, it takes some time to relearn how to get food, find a place to stay and pick up on the language,” Eric said.

While most of the countries in Central and South America are Spanish-speaking, the Nelsons are quick to point out the subtle language differences between countries. After they got used to finding food in Mexico, the question “How much does it cost?” in Guatamala was met with answers like “Free for a monkey” and “Free for a hand.”

“We later found out that the word libre, which means ‘free’ in Mexico, means ‘a pound’ in Guatemala. And that ‘mono,’ which can mean monkey or hand in Mexico, means ‘the amount of five’ in Guatemala,” Christie said.

As far as the rest of their trip goes, the Nelsons undoubtedly have their concerns. The rainy season in the Southern Hemisphere has been difficult for them, and there is always the concern of keeping their bike in good condition as they climb through the Andes. They also need to start figuring out their return trip once they reach Tierra del Fuego, loosely hoping to bike back into Mankato by December.

However, neither Eric or Christie is going to let those concerns dilute the very reason they set out on such a journey: to let the world impact them.

“Each day brings something different. We love the newness that surrounds each day,” Eric said. “Letting the world impact us is being open to all things that come our way.”