Reflection
Reflection
Reflection
Reflection
One Month In
Thursday, November 26, 2020
Thanksgiving Day | Palm Beach Motorcoach Resort, FL
ODOMETER: 80,306 | MILES TRAVELED: 2,361
by Grant
We’re just over 4 weeks into this grand adventure (or experiment) and we’ve experienced massive highs and some scary lows. But the lows have been much less impactful than the wonderful opportunities to see this amazing country, to break free of the stifling circumstances we’re all embroiled in, and bring the spirit of adventure back into our lives.
There are mixed reviews from all of us on this tiny house on wheels lifestyle, but the consensus seems to be that we made a great decision to break out and hit the road and that whatever sacrifices we make space wise are well worth it.
Our final destination a week ago was Alaska, but now Hawaii has blossomed as we brainstorm where we’re headed next. The thought is to head to Hawaii after we get back from Alaska. Maybe even get a boat and sail to Hawaii from the West Coast!? It will be interesting to review where we end up when we get to next Thanksgiving.
There are mixed reviews from all of us on this tiny house on wheels lifestyle, but the consensus seems to be that we made a great decision to break out and hit the road and that whatever sacrifices we make space wise are well worth it.
Travel with us:
Travel Diary
Travel
Sailing Tahiti to Australia | Leg 4: Fiji to Brisbane Passage
Sailing Tahiti to Australia | Leg 4: Fiji to Brisbane Passageinstagramfacebookyoutubetwitter A Long-Awaited Departure After having waited in French Polynesia for two and a half months, we excitedly sailed out of Bora Bora around 7:30 am on Saturday, September 4th....
Sailing Tahiti to Australia | Leg 3: Bora Bora to Fiji Passage
After having waited in French Polynesia for two and a half months, we excitedly sailed out of Bora Bora around 7:30 am on Saturday, September 4th. Like the rest of French Polynesia, Bora Bora was in COVID lockdown, and we had spent the last week waiting for our departure paperwork to go through all the requisite bureaucratic channels. This required multiple trips to the local gendarmerie (police station), where Grant quickly befriended the two kind and helpful officers, Alex and Bruno.
Sailing Tahiti to Australia | Leg 2: Mo’orea to Bora Bora
It took us about 24 hours to get from Mo’orea to Bora Bora on August 28 2021. Like the rest of French Polynesia, Bora Bora was in COVID lockdown, and we spent a week there waiting for our departure paperwork to go through all the requisite bureaucratic channels. This required multiple trips to the local gendarmerie (police station), where Grant quickly befriended the two kind and helpful officers, Alex and Bruno.
We made trips to get water, fuel and provisions, but apart from that we had to stay on the boat. We passed the time snorkeling (saw a giant moray eel!) and inventing new water sports.
Once we received our exit paperwork, we were finally free to leave for Fiji.
Related Articles
Related
How Big Is Too Big?
Lessons From the Road | How Big Is Too Big?instagramfacebookyoutubetwitterDoes Our Built Environment Affect Our Relationships? The “Big Mac” symbolizes the belief that more is better. If one beef patty is good, wouldn’t two beef patties be better? Similarly, the...
Lessons from the Road | Less is More: Adventure over Stuff
Lessons From the Road | Less is More: Adventure Over StuffinstagramfacebookyoutubetwitterWe have been on the road for about four months, and while that’s a relatively short time, I think that some of the big lessons happen in the initial “adjustment period” of an...
My 10 Favorite Books of 2020
My 10 Favorite Books of 2020instagramfacebookyoutubetwitterWelcome to 2021! Most of us couldn't wait to see the back of 2020, looking forward to better times with hope and anticipation. If you are at all astrologically inclined like I am, you know that on December...
After one year and ten days, we were finally reunited with our puppies, 10-year-old Labradoodles, Mackie and Paigie, and 4-year-old Great Dane, Phoebe.
2008 vs. 2022 at the Queensland Museum 💙
We are greatly enjoying regular trips to the Sunshine Coast to visit our family. The Queensland weather continues to be beautiful and allows us to spend time outside every day. The beach is always one of our favorite places, and when you see a creek running into the ocean, you have to build a dam!
This is our neighborhood in Brisbane, about 300 meters from the Brisbane River. After 5 days of sustained heavy rain, areas of Brisbane are under water. The water levels are very close to our house, but if the forecast holds we should be ok.
Ellie & Picasso at the Queensland Art Gallery on a very beautiful rainy day in Brisbane.
A rainy early morning at the iconic Bondi Beach.
Forest bathing in the middle of the city 💚🌴🌳
Our @jessalfrancis kicked butt in her criterium race in Brisbane last night. Jessa is beyond impressive. She is going to be competing in the National Championships this week and we’ll be cheering her on through the TV.
In the summer of 2020, as COVID was raging through the world, we decided to sell our home in Virginia, move into a 40-foot motorhome named "Thelma," hitch our Jeep "Louise" to her and hit the road.
We had no idea where we were going or how long we'd be traveling. Our kids, Jack, then 16, and Ellie, then 14, were doing school virtually and us parents were working remotely. Mackie, Paigie, and Phoebe had lived their whole lives on our property and we had no idea how they would fare in a "tiny house on wheels" living situation.
We traveled 10,000 miles through 21 states, visited 11 National Parks and spent 3 months over the winter living on the beach in Mexico. It was a trip of a lifetime and we loved it.
In June 2021, we sold Thelma and Louise and bought Hanavave, a 38-foot 2002 Fountaine Pajot catamaran in Tahiti. We decided to relocate our family to Australia, but at the time the only way to get there was by boat.
The puppies had to stay in Washington State and begin the long and cumbersome importation process into Australia. The minimum period is 6 months since the first test and since we had begun the process two months before, we figured that we were saying goodbye for a maximum of four months. It was a very difficult decision, but their caretaker, Colleen, is an amazing lady and we knew that she would take wonderful care of them. Saying goodbye to the puppies was one of the hardest things our family has ever had to do.
Little did we know that it would be a year and ten days before we'd see them again.
Our sailing trip was complicated by the fact that as soon as we arrived in Tahiti, all ports in the South Pacific closed due to the quickly-spreading Delta variant of COVID. This meant that instead of island hopping, we had to make long passages to Australia and there was a lot to be done on Hanavave to prepare her for that journey. We made it to Brisbane in mid-October, but it would take another 8 long months to get the puppies to Australia.
They arrived on June 1, a year to the day we left them.
📷 @jack_gamble_shoots
📷 @jack_gamble_shoots
TRAVEL WITH US!
We are currently sailing the South Pacific to Australia.
Thank you for joining us, have a great day!