Before (Cirrus 820)
After (Lance 830)
Curious about a previous ten-year chapter in our nomadic lives, which includes eight years aboard a 35-foot sailboat in the tropics, check out the travel/adventure/personal memoir I wrote:
Roaming About
A Life Less Ordinary
Category: Then and Now (page 1 of 2)
Today, I would like to introduce you to an incredible couple, who we are happy to call close friends. Some of our best friends are the ones we met when living on the road or on the water; there’s nothing like hanging out with kindred spirits, or visiting them again during our travels.
Our first “international” party on Irie happened in Green Turtle Cay, Abacos, Bahamas
It’s here that we met Tom
Irie anchored in Green Turtle Cay in 2008
Cute settlement of Green Turtle
Mark and I met Tom in Green Turtle Cay in the Bahamas, in 2008. He was sailing his sturdy little Ellida and would meet up with his girlfriend further down the Caribbean island chain. In St. Martin, we caught up with him and Karmen, who is a chiropractor and aspiring photographer. Her traits came in handy, as Mark was suffering from a bad back one year and he and I had a romantic plan the next year. Continue reading
“My parents are selling their house and moving to a one-bedroom flat. They’re kicking me out,” I whined to Mark a few months ago.
“Your mom and dad aren’t kicking you out,” he responded. “Besides, be happy you managed to stay there and use their address as your Belgian residency all those years. I don’t know any other 42-year-old who still lives with her parents…”
Of course, I don’t really live with my parents in Belgium anymore, but my childhood home has been a safe, familiar, and reliable haven during the last 15 years of my travels. I grew up here, made friends, played volleyball as a teenager, enjoyed long walks in nature a couple of blocks away, and happily returned a few weeks of almost every year. While never a vacation, I did soak up the attention and care I received from friends and family, eager to see me, and ready to spoil me with home-cooked meals, a car to use, and laundry services.
Goodbye, childhood home!
A few years ago, I would have never thought to dedicate a blog post to friendship. After all, we had many friends we stayed in touch with over email, fellow cruisers we ran into again, and new people we met in different harbors. As I have alluded to in previous blogs, the one fallback about house and pet sitting – and being on the move from one more or less isolated home to the next – is that Mark and I lack social interaction. It was an important fact I pointed out in my recent interview with Kristin of Wayward Home. Sure, we sometimes meet neighbors and might nod our heads at one another. Recently, we were even invited to dinner at the house across the street in Albuquerque. A first! It was a nice surprise and evening. But, all our current friendships are treasured via the internet. Outlook, Facebook, blog comments, Skype calls; that’s where my social life happens. Mark, who isn’t on social media, has even less interactions.
BFFs on my bachelorette party in SXM
Luckily, most of our friends are travelers. This means they might find themselves in the same area where we secured a house sit. When that happens, good times are had. New life directions are exchanged in person and wonderful memories are shared! Those are the best times, and I’m grateful for them. Continue reading
When I grew up in Belgium, New Year’s Day was more important than Christmas. Yes, we had a live Christmas tree with colorful balls and twinkling lights in the living room, but the presents underneath would be distributed on the first day of the new year. On Christmas Eve, my brother and I would have a quiet dinner at home with my parents. Sometimes, my dear oma would join us. My dad retrieved the “gourmet set” from the cellar and my mom picked up trays of bite-sized, raw meat and vegetables (and not to forget, pancake dough) at the butcher. For hours, we would each cook our own dinner in tiny pans and on top of the “communal” electric grill plate in the middle of the table. This food experience was called “gourmetten”. We all loved it and finished the meal off with mini-crepes. Then, we would play board games until bedtime. Continue reading
This is my last “Then and Now” post for the time being, and I think it is perfect for Wordless Wednesday as well! 🙂
Then – San Blas Islands, Panama, 2012
My favorite yoga spot of all times – Good Morning, East Lemmons!
Looking up from my towel
East Lemmon Cays
Here is another topic for my “Then and Now” series. This festive time of the year has been different for us, over the years, as my article “Caribbean Christmas Afloat” in All At Sea magazine partly depicts. Underneath is a glimpse into our Christmases then (mostly during the time we lived and sailed on Irie) and now, at our current house sit.
2008 – Culebra, Puerto Rico
Mark, Darwin, Kali and I were ready to explore the real Caribbean in our 35′ sailboat. Unfortunately, the day after Christmas, our sweet girl Kali passed away and nothing would ever be the same anymore.
A special breakfast with bacon grease for Kali and Darwin
2009 – St. Pierre, Martinique
One of the most beautiful anchorages in the Caribbean was our location on Christmas in 2009. It was just the three of us enjoying a quiet day of giving Darwin a bath and exploring the town.
A bath for Darwin
2010 – Bequia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines Continue reading
I am sticking with my Friday “Then and Now” theme for a few more weeks, since I am having fun with it. I wonder whether these amazing and interesting skies would fit into Cee’s Odd Ball category for photography? While sunsets are beautiful, they do create some odd shapes and colors into the sky. 🙂
When you live on the water for eight years, there are numerous sunsets to enjoy. The best of them occur when there is a clear view of the horizon, in my opinion. In October, I posted one of my favorite sunset photos and here is another small selection of the – yes, you can believe it – hundreds of sunset photos I took or witnessed over the years.
Grenada, Caribbean – 2009-2011
Martinique, Caribbean – 2010 Continue reading
I am a couple of days late for my Wordless Wednesday post and WordPress photo theme of the week, which was “relax“. The reason: my first Wednesday of every month is devoted to a writing update as part of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group. The advantage of my delay is that I can add this theme to my Friday “Then and Now” series, and that the weekend is already upon us; time to relax!
Samara, Costa Rica, 2006
Luperon, Dominican Republic, 2008
British Virgin Islands, 2009 Continue reading
Last week, Donna from Retirement Reflections suggested I do a “Then and Now” post about my birthday. While the thought had crossed my mind, I was hesitant to pursue it, because I thought I could do something bigger with that topic than “just” a blog post. See, a little while back, I played with the brief idea to make my variety of birthdays a thread in the memoir I am writing, or at least incorporate my last decade into an article, “Sailing through My Thirties” or something like that. As always with most of my genius ideas, not much ever happens with them. So, why not turn the thought into a blog? Some parts will still make it into my book, so I can’t reveal any juicy details or you won’t buy it. 🙂 The photos will not be able to make it into the memoir, so… here are some birthday galleries!
30 – Monterrey, California, USA
My birthday in 2005 was a bit stressful and exciting at the same time, since our sailboat F/Our Choice/s (on which we were living) was getting hauled out of the water in the morning and undergoing an inspection to be sold. Or not… We spent part of the afternoon in the amazing aquarium and went out to dinner. We both love Monterrey, especially the wildlife, like sea otters swimming by the boat.
31 – Belize, Central America
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