This last year has been so amazing. But if you had told me a year ago that I wouldn't be living on our boat in a tropical local, well I would have been really offended. I mean we worked so hard to get to that place. We had spent years and years planning and making shit happen. So, how could we NOT be 'there'.
Well, 'there' is a funny concept. For some people it's a very specific destination, be it financial, spatial or mental. For me it's been about finding myself. I am so fortunate that I get to go on the journey with my love, my partner and that we have been able to show our kid that changing your perspective really can take you places; financially, spatially and mentally.
And while the journey is never really over, it's time for this crew to put the wanderlust on the breaks for a bit. It's really hard to travel for extended period of time. Even if you take your house with you. Even if you had every intention of that destination tropical local LESS than a year ago. Especially when you sell one travel home for another. I mean we had plans. We acted on them and well... Life just says, "Try this... see what happens."
What can I say? There IS something to be said for a full size kitchen (we love to cook) and level floors with a roof (can I say Yoga!). And doors. Doors are really nice. From sea to the road... doors. Don't shut a door in your house for just one week and see how it changes you.
We are currently hanging out on the Oregon coast. We are enjoying our
freedom, but we are also ready to plant ourselves and make some roots.
Our biggest decision is deciding where we want to grow, where we want to
be. Because we are really ready to just be in one place.
Well, I'm pretty sure we've got it. We have seen enough to know where we fit, and what fits for us. And, though we put it out into the universe on a many different levels, it's not here. We found viable employment (thank you so much for the pats on the back~you know who you are). We imagined ourselves in so many different homes that were so perfect for us. Just. Just not here. We so wanted it to be. We sort of planned on it. Well, damn.... plans. Lesson learned. Again.
You can tell when you visit a place if it will work for you. You can feel it. We felt it in Morro Bay, unfortunately the amount of work to living life ratio didn't fit. Just because we want to settle down doesn't mean we want to become slaves to the man.
So, while we aren't really ready to tell the world, we have decided were we call will home.
I will say this.... we are selling our house in St. Augustine. So it's not there. But it is somewhere we have loved for a very long time.
I'm not trying to be obtuse. I am just being real... we could change our minds again. We already did 3 times this week, even after telling part of our world.
Someone (so many people) asked, "How can you guys afford to do what you are doing?"
The answer I want to give is, "How can we not?" I mean this is LIFE. I don't want to spend the time I have here on this planet slaving away and missing out. I want to see things, do things, explore, find and create. But I know that's not what he/she/soooo many people mean. So I keep that to myself. The real question (and the number one inquiry) always comes down to the money.
Well, if you know us personally you know that we are absolutely not rolling in the dough. I broke it down a little in the Crew page on the blog... but for those who want a little bit more this post is for you.
We were just like so many other people out there 10ish years ago. We had stuff. New stuff, big stuff, little stuff... we had ALL THE STUFF.
Then we had a baby. And we realized that we didn't really need all the stuff, or the bills that go with that stuff. What we wanted and needed was to give our girl (and ourselves) something MORE. Something bigger and better and unique to us as a family.
Unfortunately, we had already dug ourselves a pretty impressive hole. So, we dug our selves out. Day by day. Inch by inch. Penny by penny.
About 2 months after Coco was born we started plotting and scheming our way to a life afloat (She's 8 now). We had pictures on the fridge of the places we would go. We scoured the net for the right boat for when the time was right. We worked. We worked so much and never saw each other. We stopped buying 'things' and started paying off the things we already had. We cooked at home instead of going out to dinner. We cancelled the cable. We used the library. We skipped the mall and learned to love the thrift store. We politely declined the invite to the movie. We invited people over for coffee instead of meeting them at the coffee shop. We kept track of every single dime we spent. EVERY SINGLE DIME.
We still enjoyed the things that mattered to us. Amazing food (thank goodness Hubs is a chef), walks on the beach everyday with Coco (pays to buy before the market takes off), and living in St. Augustine we never were lacking for entertainment. We just learned how to find it. We didn't go without the things we wanted. We just took our time and made educated decisions when buying them (no more impulse buying).
It wasn't easy. It was so challenging and frustrating sometimes. But I don't remember the $5 coffee I didn't get~ ever, or the new shirt I didn't buy. I do feel grateful that our house is paid off and we saved enough that we~ CAN.JUST.GO. And there is zero guilt.
Are we living the high-life now? No. We still live on a super tight budget. And yes going back to work is on the horizon. Are we living? Hell yes! Every single day is open to what we want to do instead of what we have to do.
I remember a few years back a customer (I was tending bar at the time) said that it was all great and good now to have my toes in the sand and live a bohemian life. I bit my tongue because that's what you do, but if I could have really responded I would have said SCREW YOU! Life is too short and magnificent to not have your toes in the sand or your head in the clouds. And you can absolutely be responsible and respectable without sacrificing that. It sucks that the norm is to put your head down and follow the crowd and that is what makes you normal.
So the money thing. It's money. We need it to buy food and shelter. So we sold our 'stuff' and saved the money we did make for years and years. We live super simply with the big picture in mind every day. After making some stupid decisions for years, we started making smart ones. We caught up. We managed and now we coast. For a little longer.
We have a new page~ Galley Goddess. It is still a work in progress. But, if you want to check out the back story head on over.
Recipes and tricks along with any and all other galley type info will (eventually) find its way there.
My hope is that someone will find it helpful. I know that when I was contemplating the lifestyle it weighed heavily on me. I live for food. I am almost always hungry. I always sometimes love to cook. I am not a big fan of tons of gadgets. Give me sharp knife and a worthy cutting board and watch the magic, sometimes a lot of times mess, happen.
I love simple, quality ingredients. I want my food to be beautiful. We eat with our eyes too people!
I am not a stickler for recipes. I use them. But at my own discretion. Even when baking. And yes, this has gotten me into trouble in the baking department... but I really don't care. I figure out what works for me and go with it.
Food should be fun, and thrilling, and unexpected. Just like life. It should be elevated. There is no reason why living on a boat should change that. It will at times I begrudgingly admit. In those cases I will feast my eyes on the horizon and nourish myself and family with sunsets (and an glass of extra wine).
