So we've done two videos already in which we've discussed how Martina suffers from
Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, EDS type three, and how she suffers with chronic pain
every day in her life. You might have seen this pop up in a couple of videos in
which she has a knee brace on or some arm slings on, and at those times we do
our best to try to push through Martina's pain and film videos and have fun.
However, we're getting to the point now in which we can't really avoid it anymore.
Martina's condition is getting significantly worse, and she's getting to
the point now in which she's kind of losing the freedom to walk.
It's not every day; there are some days where I'm still able to be active and there are other days where I
need to have crutches to get around the house. I'd say this started to get
significantly worse since like last October, Christmas time. [S] Over the past year, it's started getting a lot worse. [M] Yeah.
We've been changing our lifestyle, we've been visiting lots of doctors and speaking
with lots of different specialists from around the world as well, but we don't
really have any answer, so I think it's time for us to make some big decisions
Okay, alright, okay. You're sounding really dramatic, and you're terrifying everybody at home...
[S] *laughs* Okay. Right. [M] Okay?
I'm not dying. [S] You're not dying.
I'm not dying yet, still got lots of good years in me. [S] Yes, you do. Yes, you do.
[M] Alright? Simon's been buffing up and going to the gym because I've been kinda like
falling a lot lately, so... [S] I've been able to carry you around a lot more lately.
Yeah, so Simon's been making lifestyle changes too, to help out with me, but the big decision
we're talking about is that we've decided it's time for us to move to Japan.
Now this probably is not a shock for those of you that have been following us for a while,
because our original plan was to come to Korea for a year, then we were going to
move to Japan, then we were gonna move to another country... We were supposed to have
this kind of like, exploration 'rout', but we got really comfortable in Korea and kind of set up our 'rout'. [S] Right.
However, I really want to continue with my life plan of exploring Japan while I can
still walk around freely; like, it's really getting to the point now where
I'm struggling with basic things like stairs, and hills, and I'm pretty sure
that I can almost never see a temple in Japan that's, like... you know the ones where
you have to like climb a distance. The point is is that I, you know, have become really comfortable
in Korea; it's, you know, become our home, we've spent our entire married life here. [S] Just about.
[M] More than a year in Korea, we've spent more time here. [S] Uh-huh.
And you know we have the studio space, and we have our home, and we have our
pets, and our friends, but I really want to follow this dream; there could be
a point where I end up in a wheelchair. [S] Right. [M] And I won't be as easy to travel-- I'll still want to travel.
[S] Of course. [M] In my hot pink wheelchair with my Hello Kitty bedazzled...
Hello Kitty wheelchair, with a little horn that goes, "Meeoow." [M] *laughs* Exactly.
I still don't want this to be a determining factor for stopping my life-goal dreams,
but we do have to make this big decision and push ourselves.
This decision is not an easy one for us to make, considering how when we first came here,
we just started doing videos for fun, but now YouTube has become a full-time
thing for us and we have a studio, and we have people working with us, and we have
a coffee shop, and we've done so many things around the world as well, but now
it's kind of getting to the point that we have to hurry up with our life goals
and, while we still can, pursue those. This is really tough for us, and it's really
really scary, but we've realized that we can't wait around for Martina's
condition to get better because it probably won't, so we have to kind of
pursue our dreams while we still have good days ahead of us.
It feels like one of those slogans, like, "Pursue your dreams! ...While you still can!"
The second really big decision that we have to make is that we have to close down the Eat Your Kimchi studio,
and we love this space, we've been here for three years now,
it's totally me, we've filmed so many great memories,
we've had so many friends here;
the big problem though is that it's on the top of the fourth floor, and we don't have an
elevator here, and there are many days that Martina can't make it up the stairs.
Yeah. It's like a mountain. [S] Yeah, I know. [M] I like, look up and I'm like, "I... can't make it up these stairs today."
Seriously, there are a lot of-- like, you might notice us filming more videos at home
because Martina just can't get to the studio anymore, it's just not possible. [M] Yeah.
Now, just because we're closing the studio space does not mean we're gonna stop making videos. [S] Of course not.
Absolutely not. We're in the process of filing paperwork to move to Japan, but in the meantime we're
still living in Korea and we're still doing our normal segments. [S] Right!
Only this time, I can take the elevator places. [S] Elevators!
building on the 4th floor there is no elevator I'm not coming so there it is
So there it is. It's a really scary and really big decision, but it's something we're very
excited about, and I'm ultra excited to go somewhere new and to be ultra confused again,
'cause I remember when we first came to Korea and we didn't know how to read anything
and we didn't know how to order anything... Those memories of not knowing how to
wash our clothes, and smelling really bad as a result, and not knowing how to throw out our garbage
and being yelled at for that as well,
like, these experiences are really special to us, and I feel like now that we're so
comfortable in Korea, I kind of miss that, so I'm really excited to go
somewhere new and to be confused all over again. [M] For you to be lost in
translation. If only there was-- [Both] a movie...
Now, I know you might have some questions about this as well, and we haven't covered everything about the
studio and the EatYourKimchi team, so if you want to read more about it we're gonna answer it
in our blog post: click here, and we'll have more information there as well.
*Spudgy voice* I'm excited to be the center of attention, because Japan loves Pekingese doggies!
We've seen SO many Pekingese posts in Japan, Spudgy's gonna be a superstar there!
Yeah, my Instagram feed is pretty much filled with pigs, Pekes, and pugs,
and all the Pekingese and the pugs live in Japan, and they have parties,
and they push them around in, um, baby carriages that are made for dogs.
Spudgy's going back to his people.
I mean, frankly we're really honored that you guys have followed us crazy Canadians.
For over seven years you've seen us come to Korea, be confused, learn about it and grow...
My hair changed so much!
...and travel. I grew a beard! [M] Yep. [S] And, I hope that you still want to follow us
and all the weird things that we're gonna do around the world. [M] Yeah.
I feel like there's also some new people here as well, who are like, "What are you guys even talking about?
And we're like, "Okay! Come with us! [S] Hello, new viewers!
And, hello old viewers, and hello all you Nasties, thank you for being so lovely. [M] Yeah.