Wednesday, June 9

Hope You Find What You’re Looking For

It was thirteen years ago when we first “hit the road in a motorhome”. We didn’t really know what we were in search of then, we just knew there had to be a better place to raise our baby, than stuck in this daily grind, in this large city of Metropolitan Phoenix. We kind of figured we’d just hit the road in search of that perfect place to settle down…..maybe. There was a lot of fear on my part going into it, we had never heard of or known anyone to do something like this before, and the internet wasn’t like it is now where you can find hundreds of families “living on the road”. Honestly, I was just going along with Joey’s crazy idea. That was until our first night in our new home on wheels, parked beside a lake… under the stars. This was an awakening….a whole new way of life for us. A world I never knew existed.

This vagabond life has worked well for us all these years. We’ve had big dreams for our family, like traveling Australia by RV for six months, backpacking Europe, and even moving to Hawaii. We can check off moving to Hawaii now. But one far off dream that we’ve always had was living on a sailboat and cruising the World. We used to talk about how great our life was going to be once all the kids could swim. That would mean to us that they’re at an age where they’re not babies anymore, and are a little more independent,  and well, what the heck….if they fall off a boat their chances of surviving are are a little better.

We completely put that dream aside though, and I, yes, I admit it, I begrudgingly moved to Hawaii to live in a stick and mortar home. I did it because I knew if I had to live in a house, at least it was on an island. It was what Joey felt he needed to do for our family….. and I knew it would be a good thing, too. I remember when we first moved here someone left a comment saying “hope you find what you’re looking for” and it’s stuck with me. I’ve never felt like I was looking for something. I feel like I’ve always gone with the flow, but now I think that comment plays over in my head because we were searching. I knew it wasn’t a house we needed, it was just to be near the water. It’s to be in the sun, the sand, and the surf…….. That’s all we’ve ever needed. We just didn’t know how to go about making it happen.

Then last month we were walking around the harbor in Waikiki and a dream was reborn.

slr 101  I think we’ve found our next RV parkslr 118

We brought up the idea of buying a sailboat instead of land to the kids and they were one hundred percent on board. Didn’t even have to pry them away from the XBox to go boat shopping! Of course the boat they want is this huge ship they’ve dubbed The Pirate Ship.                                                                                         slr 114 We’re looking at something a little more affordable practical. We came sooo close to sealing a deal on this sailboat below, but ultimately decided against it. We were initially just thinking cheap and quick, but the more we learn, and keep finding out, about sailboats and cruising, the more decisions we have to make. I’m proud of us for not jumping on this, like we normally would have.                                                            sailboats 020

We may not know anything about sailing, but we know a lot about living in a motorhome, and a liveaboard boat is just a motorhome on water, so we’ve already won the first challenge.

And as far as what we’re searching for……I don’t think it’s anything, yet it’s everything. We simply can’t be content with just one thing…….. when there’s a huge world out there with so much to offer. It’s just every now and then a traveller needs to stop for a minute and regroup, and I see now that’s all we were doing every time we thought we needed to settle down. Life is forever evolving, and our goals and plans should be, too…..and that’s all those breaks were about, we just didn’t know it at the time. We just needed to keep evolving ourselves, but that’s hard to do when old voices in your head tell you you’re supposed to have a house, get a job with a company with benefits and stay until you retire, and THEN you get to go live your life. If we hit a hiccup in the road, that old recorder plays over and over, but I think we mayhave finally broken that record player now! ……….So bring on our next adventure!!

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 Gypsy ………..defined as "persons of nomadic habit of life, whatever their race or origin, but does not include members of an organised group of travelling showmen, or persons engaged in travelling circuses, travelling together as such."

5 comments:

gina loves vicki said...

You said a "cruise the world..". I, for a moment, read it as "crush the world". I think that's what your doing and I think it's awesome. :)

jody said...

The boat on the bottom has no lifelines. Lifelines are a must with kids. And what is that on the side that they painted over? The shrouds attach there? Glad you opted out. Lots of work there.

That pirate ship looks like a big Formosa. That much wood=D*I*V*O*R*C*E. LOL Just sort of kidding. Lots and lots of upkeep and $$$. No wood decks, and no wooden hulls for your first boat.

Tayana makes a great cruising yacht. A bit more $$ but you would have a sound vessel. Just look for one that has been redecked by a professional. Some of the older ones have wooden decks, but people tear them up and re-deck because they leak.

hope you don't mind my 2 cents.

Show Us The World said...

We recently met a full timing boating couple who is settling down on land to be full timers in an RV. We joked that we'd trade journeys with them since we want to do boating someday.

We hear the hope you find what you are looking for sometimes too. I think huh? We have found what we are looking for! Doesn't mean we aren't still looking at what else there is in life.

We want to see the world. How we do that is just part of the journey.

Anonymous said...

May you put your sails UP ! ! Enjoy what life is....

Freelylivinglife@blogspot.com

Carrie said...

LOVE this. The story, the idea, what you are doing and how you are living. Vicki this is fantastic. Have you read DOVE? Great book about a 16 year old California kid wanting to sail the world.... highly recommended

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