FAQ: Do you two ever get tired of traveling?

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passages  

We're asked quite regularly if we're tired of traveling after all these years aboard. Let's think about that for a nanosecond … NO! I guess I could end it there, but would make for a very short blog. I guess I should elaborate because there are some caveats to that unequivocal “no”.

I'd say we don't tire of traveling, but we do tire of some trips, some locations and some situations. It's more like getting antzy to move on or conversely, looking forward to staying somewhere for awhile. When we're in an anchorage and the weather prevents us from going ashore, for instance, we don't like that aspect of things much. When we sailed for 30 days from Easter Island to Ecuador having to hand-steer because the autopilot was broken (and so was the back-up!), the starter motor crapped out so no engine, the head wasn't working and the list goes on … I'd say we were pretty tired of that trip by the time we reached Ecuador. But tired of traveling in general? No way.

I require some nesting time every few months … a chance to collect myself, put down some temporary roots and get cleaned up and organized after a long passage or even lots of day trips between ports of call. This “nesting time”, as we call it, usually figures well into the schedule because by the time I need to stop for a bit, David has a long list of things to fix on the boat, needs parts and a place to make repairs. It doesn't have to be long … a couple of weeks, maybe, and then I'm good to go. In fact, usually anxious to go.

We figured that the travel bug would have run its course after 14 years, but it really hasn't. Every time we arrive at a place, we're anxious to explore, but at the same time, we have the travel guides out figuring what's next, what's down the road, where to now? The lure of the next place.

I'm thinking that sitting in our rocking chairs at home knitting mittens or whittling little wooden animals is never going to be enough for us. For now, at least, wanderlust is still strong. If you want a look at where we've traveled thus far, check out the Passages link above, and for more photos and insight into our travels check out our website.