Travel Diary
Travel DiaryTravel
Please note that the focus of our blog is not to be a travel guide or a review site. Rather, it is a family diary of our travels accompanied by “Reflections,” which are thought pieces about our experiences.
As we are currently living on a sail boat in French Polynesia, our internet access is quite limited and we are unable to post daily diary entries. You can visit our social media channels for short updates and we will be posting recaps and reflections of longer time periods less frequently.
Thanks for traveling with us! ?✌️
Sailing Tahiti to Australia | Leg 4: Fiji to Brisbane Passage
Sailing Tahiti to Australia | Leg 4: Fiji to Brisbane Passage 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. Like the rest of French...
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.
Sailing Tahiti to Australia | Leg 1: Tahiti to Mo’orea
Mo’orea has become one of our favorite places in the world and we are forever grateful to have met her.
Sailing Tahiti to Australia | Month 2 FP
Here is what our second month living on our boat, Hanavave, in Tahiti, French Polynesia, was like.
Our trip to Australia was delayed due to port closures throughout the South Pacific. We spent the month making improvements to Hanavave so that we could make the passage to Australia with fewer stops.
Sailing Tahiti to Australia | Month 1 FP
Sailing Tahiti to Australia | Month 1 Preparations Welcome! We are a family of four: Grant (dad), Jana (mom), Jack (16) and Stella/Ellie (15). We just finished an 8-month tour of the U.S. and Mexico in Thelma & Louise, our Monaco Diplomat motorhome and Jeep...
Travel Diary
Travel
Please note that the focus of our blog is not to be a travel guide or a review site. Rather, it is a family diary of our travels accompanied by “Reflections,” which are thought pieces about our experiences.
As we are currently living on a sail boat in French Polynesia, our internet access is quite limited and we are unable to post daily diary entries. You can visit our social media channels for short updates and we will be posting recaps and reflections of longer time periods less frequently.
Thanks for traveling with us! ?✌️
Sailing Tahiti to Australia | Leg 4: Fiji to Brisbane Passage
Sailing Tahiti to Australia | Leg 4: Fiji to Brisbane Passage 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. Like the rest of French...
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.
Sailing Tahiti to Australia | Leg 1: Tahiti to Mo’orea
Mo’orea has become one of our favorite places in the world and we are forever grateful to have met her.
Sailing Tahiti to Australia | Month 2 FP
Here is what our second month living on our boat, Hanavave, in Tahiti, French Polynesia, was like.
Our trip to Australia was delayed due to port closures throughout the South Pacific. We spent the month making improvements to Hanavave so that we could make the passage to Australia with fewer stops.
Sailing Tahiti to Australia | Month 1 FP
Sailing Tahiti to Australia | Month 1 Preparations Welcome! We are a family of four: Grant (dad), Jana (mom), Jack (16) and Stella/Ellie (15). We just finished an 8-month tour of the U.S. and Mexico in Thelma & Louise, our Monaco Diplomat motorhome and Jeep...
Reflections
Reflections
Our personal reflections on some of our travel experiences.
How Big Is Too Big?
Lessons From the Road | How Big Is Too Big?Does 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 colloquialism of the “McMansion”...
Lessons from the Road | Less is More: Adventure over Stuff
Lessons From the Road | Less is More: Adventure Over StuffWe 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 experience like this. One thing is...
Places
Places
These are some of the states we have visited so far. Click here to view all.
BC
Baja, Mexico
UT
Utah
National Parks
Parks
These are some of the National Parks we have visited. Click here to view all.
AZ
Grand Canyon
UT
Arches
Our Trip
Trip
Our Trip
Trip
♥️🎈21🎈♥️
Father’s Day 2025
Mount Jerusalem National Park
Happy Birthday to My Greatest Adventure Partner!
Happy 20th Birthday, Jack!
Grant’s built homes, companies, and communities, but the most beautiful thing he’s built is the life we’ve gotten to share for more than 21 years now. It’s a life grounded in love, kindness, and deep gratitude for our family and all the experiences we get to have together, thanks to him.
I love Grant’s integrity, purpose, passion, and his heart-centered generosity of spirit — whether he’s working on visionary wellness communities or transforming an abandoned shack into our next family home.
Right now, I’m so grateful for Grant’s support during the hardest health challenge of my life, whether it be helping me walk down the stairs, dressing me, driving me to endless appointments, or reminding me of my own strength when things get scary. He holds space for all of who I am, supporting the choices I make for my healing, and supporting my dreams with unwavering belief in me, in sickness and in health.
At the same time, Grant is the best dad to Jack and Ellie. Watching him with them, celebrating their gifts, supporting their journeys, and being their safe harbor is a blessing and a joy. He parents with empathy, kindness, an open mind and endless patience, and show them, every day, what it means to be a man who leads with his heart.
At work, Grant is a force of nature. He inspires positive change, connection, and makes the world better, one project at a time. But beyond his impressive accomplishments, it’s his humility, his servant leadership, and his genuine care for people that truly set him apart. Grant doesn’t just work to improve businesses, he works to improve lives.
He’s taught me that true success is measured not by what we achieve but by how much we care. And Grant cares so much; about his family, his friends, his community, and this planet we all share.
Grantly, thank you for being wild and free, for embracing life’s chaos with open arms, and for loving me and our family unconditionally.
Happy Birthday!
Today, as you begin your twenties, we want to pause and celebrate the beautiful human you are. Your authenticity is a light, shining through in everything you do. You live your truth with a courage that inspires all of us. Your creativity is captivating, lifting the spirits of those who witness it. We admire your dedication to your own art and your profound connection to music, film and art in all forms.
Your unwavering selflessness, kindness and compassion are strengths that move quietly but profoundly, touching lives in ways you don’t always realize. The warmth and care you extend to others is a true reflection of your being. It’s a gift to watch you uplift those around you, always consciously mindful, always compassionate.
As you continue on your artistic journey, know that we are with you, supporting you always. We believe in your art, unlimited by commercial constraints and free from the mainstream’s narrow definitions of success. Your authentic vision, your voice, and your perspective are important and needed in this world.
Keep following your passions. Keep being you—because who you are is truly a gift to this world. Here’s to more years of creativity, joy, and the pure expression of your true self.
We love you so much, Jack. Happy 20th Birthday!
With all our love and admiration,
Mum & Dad
TRAVEL WITH US!
We are currently sailing the South Pacific to Australia.
Thank you for joining us, have a great day!