Our story begins in 2016.

Mami, a young woman from Japan, was living in Canada on a working holiday visa. She went to Canada unable to speak English and enrolled in English school while working at a Japanese restaurant in Toronto. As her visa was coming to an end, she decided to backpack around Canada to experience more of the country before traveling to South America.

Alex, a Canadian university student from Ottawa, had always dreamed of traveling across Canada and decided to hitchhike to British Columbia, over 4000 kilometers away in the spring of 2016. He left home with only a backpack full of clothes, cooking materials, a sleeping bag with a tent, and 200 dollars that his Grandma gave him before he left in hopes her grandson wouldn’t go hungry.

That’s all he brought when he left home.

It must have been fate that brought Mami and Alex together at an organic vegetable farm in the Okanagan Valley, where they were both volunteering as part of the WWOOF program. The farm provided free food and accommodations in exchange for labor, making it the perfect destination for young travelers like Mami and Alex who were on a budget. They bonded over their travels and love of new experiences, and Mami often laughed at Alex for using the icy river as a makeshift shower. As their time on the farm came to an end, Alex told Mami he liked her and wanted to meet again.

While Alex headed off toward the Rocky Mountains, Mami continued exploring Vancouver. The two stayed in touch through emails and occasional wifi spots, since Alex didn’t have a phone plan. Eventually, Mami changed her plans and decided to stay in Canada longer to spend more time with Alex. While hiking in the Rockies, Alex connected to wifi at a rural Tim Hortons and read an email from Mami saying she wanted to meet again. He immediately dropped all of his plans and prepared to hitchhike 1,000 km to Victoria the next morning, where Mami was waiting.

The two reunited and continued their journey, hitchhiking and camping around British Columbia and Vancouver Island. They camped wherever they could find a good spot and kept hunger away with Alex’s favorite cheap survival snack — peanut butter and crackers.

Mami then continued her travels to Mexico and throughout South America — visiting Mayan ruins, Machu Picchu in Peru, and even Easter Island. Meanwhile, Alex returned to Ottawa and began working in commercial duct cleaning, crawling through building vents and even taking a contract up north in Iqaluit to save money for a trip to Japan.

Later in 2016, Alex finally made it to Japan and spent two months traveling with Mami across the country from Hokkaido to Kyushu, meeting her friends and family along the way. He returned again later that year, and in September 2017, Alex officially moved to Japan and the couple got married. They spent two years living in Tokyo before eventually relocating to Mami’s hometown in Hokkaido.

In 2018, they began selling handmade soy candles.

Since then, Mami and Alex have continued walking this path together — side by side.