Before BLeaves Farms, There Was a Road to Panama

If you’ve followed BLeaves Farms for any length of time, you know we’re about much more than growing food.

We’re about slowing down, building something meaningful, connecting with people, choosing adventure, and remembering that the best things in life are almost always the simplest.

That’s why I wanted to share something that’s incredibly personal with our farm family.

After nearly twenty years, I finally published my first book.

Where the Road Ends

In 2008, my best friend, Jonathan Manley, and I loaded everything we owned onto two bicycles and set off from Arizona with one goal. To ride nearly 5,000 miles through eight countries to the Panama Canal.

We weren’t professional athletes, we didn’t have a support vehicle, and we didn’t know exactly what we were doing.

What we did have was a map, a pair of bicycles, an unreasonable amount of optimism, and a desire to raise money for The 100 Club of Arizona, an incredible organization that supports the families of Arizona’s fallen police officers and firefighters.

Over the next four months, we crossed deserts, jungles, volcanoes, mountain ranges, and international borders. We pedaled through tiny villages, slept wherever people offered us a place to stay, and discovered that the world was far kinder than we had ever been led to believe.

The journey changed my life forever.

Why I Finally Wrote It

For sixteen years, the journals from that adventure sat quietly while life moved on. Jonathan became an attorney, I built a career, and life became busy. We always assumed we’d tell the story someday.

Then, in 2024, Jonathan was tragically killed in a hang gliding accident.

Suddenly, those old journals became something entirely different. They became one of the few places where I could still hear my best friend’s voice. Writing this book became my way of taking one last journey with him.

I laughed with him again, I climbed impossible mountains with him again, I remembered conversations I had forgotten, and I rediscovered just how extraordinary ordinary moments become once they’re gone.

Why I Think Our Farm Community Will Love It

At first glance, this may seem like a book about riding bicycles across Latin America.

It is.

But it isn’t.

If you enjoy BLeaves Farms because you appreciate simple living, meaningful work, kindness, animals, gardening, family, and finding joy in life’s everyday adventures, I think you’ll feel right at home in these pages.

This isn’t a story about racing from one destination to the next. It’s about slowing down enough to discover that the greatest adventures are almost always about people.

It’s about strangers who became family, resilience, friendship, and choosing courage and dreams over comfort. It’s about appreciating the people riding beside us before we realize one day we’ve shared our last ordinary moment together.

Those are the same values that inspired BLeaves Farms.

How You Can Help

Publishing a first book is both exciting and a little terrifying. Unlike large publishing houses with marketing teams and national advertising budgets, independent authors succeed because of something far more powerful. People sharing stories they believe in.

If this story sounds like something you’d enjoy, I’d be incredibly honored if you’d consider reading it.

And if you do:

Please leave an honest Amazon review. Reviews help other readers discover the book more than almost anything else.

• Share it with a friend or family member who loves travel, adventure, memoirs, or stories about friendship.
• If it moves you, tell someone about it. Word of mouth is the greatest gift you can give an independent author.

Every purchase, every review, every share, and every recommendation helps this story reach someone new.

Thank You

Our BLeaves Farms community has supported us through growing seasons, new animals, recipes, homesteading adventures, and countless dreams. Now I’m asking you to help support one more.

Thank you for believing in what we’re building. Not just here on the farm, but in every new adventure life brings.

I truly hope “Where the Road Ends” inspires you to chase a dream you’ve been putting off, call an old friend, take the scenic route home, or simply appreciate the people you love a little more today.

Because we never know which ordinary moment will someday become one of our most treasured memories.

Thank you for being part of this journey.

With gratitude,

Britney Brimhall
Founder, BLeaves Farms

Get your copy of “Where the Road Ends”:

If the book speaks to you, I’d be incredibly grateful if you’d leave an honest review on Amazon and share it with someone else who might enjoy the journey. Those small acts make an enormous difference for an independent author, and you’ll have the satisfaction of helping a story about friendship, courage, and kindness reach readers all over the world.