We were a couple of self-styled espresso aficionados in our mid-70’s, based in Victoria, Canada. Paul Gully is a retired public health physician. Lois Leslie, a human rights lawyer, was retired from paid employment but enthusiastically engaged in pro-bono international human rights research and writing. When not working or adventure-seeking, we loved to spend time with our family in Victoria and Ottawa.

We became hooked on cycle-touring when cycling across Canada, in 2013. Since then, we have cycled from Vancouver to Monterey, California and from Lands End, England to John O’Groats, Scotland. Between March 2017 and September 2018, we travelled by bicycle, foot and public transportation In Europe, Asia and Australasia, (Lisbon to Auckland), using the trip to draw attention to and raise funds for Parkinson’s Disease, Shifting Gears for Parkinson’s.

In September 2018, we completed our Shifting Gears for Parkinson’s trip, returning to Victoria to settle into our new condo, community and city, which we are finding pleasantly cycle-friendly. Our travels were largely suspended for a time, partly as a result of the Covid 19 pandemic, but also after Lois was diagnosed in early 2020 with  advanced metastatic ovarian cancer.  (Lois’ experience with Ovarian Cancer is described on her Ovarian Cancer Canada Walk of Hope page.)

Thankfully, Lois responded well to chemotherapy and surgery and remained cancer-free for 3 years, allowing us to set off in the spring of 2023 to walk part of the Via Francigena.  We were forced to shorten that walk, however, when Lois began to experience symptoms indicating a possible recurrence of Ovarian Cancer. A CT scan on our return confirmed our suspicions and Lois underwent another 6 months of chemotherapy. Unfortunately, the treatment was less effective this time, consistent with the present trajectory of this disease. So, recognizing we are on borrowed time, we are off on another adventure! In late February, 2024, we headed off to Morocco and then to Spain, England, Ireland and Scotland, in search of sun, healing and the joy of new experiences.

Later in 2024 we travelled to Paris and the Loire Valley.

In February 2025 Lois asked her oncologist for a referral to  palliative care and we then went on a week-long yoga/meditation and learning retreat hosted by Dori Howard in the idyllic premises of the Yandara Yoga School on the white sandy beaches of the Pacific Coast of Baja Sur, and made plans for a short holiday in the Baja following.  Both Paul and Lois left feeling unexpectedly renewed, peaceful and grateful for the new friendships we had formed.  It didn’t hurt that the afternoons included sitting on the beach watching dozens of humpback whales breaching close to shore! The remainder of our time in beautiful Baja was spent exploring the southern half of the peninsula, including the capital, La Paz, eating amazing food and sampling tequilas (Lois).

Lois was under the Vancouver Island Health Authority/ Victoria Hospice Palliative Care program from mid -2025. She died in the Victoria Hospice on February 17, 2026.

Paul will resume travelling at some time with Lois accompanying him in his heart.