California
Newlyweds whose romance started online. Erin: Love is putting the other person first.
A honeymoon adventure
How do people stay together for life?
Mike and Alanna Clear married at the end of 2008, three years after a blind date. Instead of a wedding list, they asked friends to help send them on an adventure, and gave it a purpose.
In June 2009 they put their new marriage to the test in the lab. Scientists examined their relationship and made a prediction: would they stay together for life? Then they took that prediction in a sealed envelope to Alaska, and rode a motorbike and sidecar 20,000 miles down the Pan-American Highway to the tip of Argentina.
On the way they interviewed more than 120 couples and asked each of them for their advice on going the distance.
Would the newlyweds go the distance themselves?
- Dr Helen Fisherinterview and brain scan
- Eric HolzleDNA test
- Terry Sterrenbergcompatibility testing
- Dr John Gottman, Seattleworkshop weekend
The trailer
Not loading? Watch it on YouTube.
From Alaska to Argentina, as it happened
The blog
233 entries written on the road, mostly by Alanna, with photos from the trip. Open a stop to read it.
Last night in the UK, at a wedding.
The science: a brain scan, a DNA test and a workshop weekend with Dr John Gottman.
Anchorage, the Girdwood Forest Fair, Russian Old Believers, Fairbanks and the Top of the World Highway.
Dawson City, the Yukon, Prince Rupert, a wedding on De Courcy Island and Vancouver.
Washington, Oregon, Utah, Arizona, Nevada and California: polygamists, porn stars, therapists and an Elvis chapel.
Luchadores, tequila makers and a bishop.
Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama.
Bogotá, Cali, Quito and Cuenca.
Lima, Chincha, Nazca, Arequipa and Puno.
La Paz, the salt flats, Potosí, Sucre and Santa Cruz.
Salta, Córdoba, Patagonia and Ushuaia, where the envelope was opened.
A second brain scan, and the flight home.
Love lessons from the road
The couples
Every couple got the same five questions: their names, how long they'd been together, how they met, their advice, and what love is.
Peru
Tayo: Giving is everything. If she asks you for something, then you give it to her, because she is part of your body.
Colombia
They met in a choir, and both had to get over their shyness to fall in love.
Mexico
A Mexican farm girl and a California surfer, married 41 years. Greg: It was one thing 20 years ago, but now it's something else.
Germany & Peru
A biker couple who met in a club in Peru. For Ingo, love is two people living as one.
Cuba
Their rule: it takes two people to fight, and the important thing is to talk it through.
Utah
A polygamist family with ten children. For Enoch, love is a house: the foundations are companionship, the walls are trust.
California
Adult film performers, married 11 years. Josh: Ask yourself what you've done for them today to deserve their love.
Vancouver
Together ten years. Jeff: You're going down the same road, so make sure you stay on the same road.
More than 120 couples to come.
As seen in
In the papers
On air and online
- CBS News 13, Alaska
- KFBX, Fairbanks
- Movin 104.9 FM, Anchorage
- CBC, Canada
- Prensa Libre, Guatemala City
- Margarita te voy a contar, Nicaragua
- BBC Radio Worcester
- ABC News and China Daily
2028
Twenty years on
We're going back through the footage: the couples, the places and the stories that didn't make the film. From November 2028 we'll share them here, and then follow the journey again, day by day, twenty years later.