Yikes! We Bought a House

Talk about land anchors, we've got a big one now. Yes, the Nine of Cups crew just bought a house … in the middle of the Mojave Desert, no less. You can't get much further away from the sea unless you're talking man-made Lake Mead or the pre-historic North American Inland Sea. We've even got a giant cactus in the front yard … how desert-y is that?

Though Nine of Cups is still home, we've been thinking about and looking for a part-time place to leave our souvenirs and Las Vegas seemed as good a place as any since we have family here. We'll be sharing our new digs with David's sibs, so the house will be occupied when we're not around, but we'll always have a room (and clothes and a car) to call our own and waiting for us whenever we turn up. It's roomy enough for all with enough hideaway spots for everyone to enjoy their own space whenever they want to.

Since we're in a desert, we were looking for a small, xeriscaped yard and found one. It's will be a pleasant place to enjoy morning coffee on the patio without worrying about supplemental watering or much ongoing maintenance.

I was planning to write a blog on the “tiny house movement” soon … living aboard a sailboat qualifies, for sure. This house, however, is as far away from the “tiny house movement” and living aboard a sailboat as you can get. In fact, we all refer to it as “the big house”. The sibs of the Lynn clan haven't all lived together for over 60 years. It'll take some getting used to and we all realize it won't be Utopia. With some reasonable compromise, however, it might be close though.

The closing isn't scheduled till early March, but there's plenty to do in the meantime to prepare. Honestly, though we've purchased several houses in the past, after nearly 20 years without a house or a mortgage, the current process has been like slaying a new dragon, only this one's on land. We're wielding our swords one day at a time.

All Quiet on the Homefront

 

After a rocky few days, all is quiet on the homefront … at least for now. Once again, we swooped in, did little to change an uncontrollable situation and will swoop out again to head back to Nine of Cups in Durban. Let's face it … we're swoopers.

Rather than bore you with the details, suffice it to say, things worked out in the best possible way and we're hoping they'll remain positive for at least the near future. We don't even dare to venture thinking about long term … too many variables.

It's amazing just how wonderful it feels to be all together. David and his three sibs haven't all been together for nearly 15 years. It was a short, but fine reunion. After this unexpected, but reassuring family visit, we're ready to head back from Vegas to LAX and board that return Emirates flight via Dubai to Durban. Africa's “wild coast” awaits us and hopefully a reasonable weather window.

Cruising Life Guilties

One of the harsh realities of the full-time cruising life is dealing with the guilt associated with not being around for family. Choosing an alternative lifestyle such as ours, seems like an easy course. Sail around the world. Experience new countries and cultures. Send postcards to family and e-mail greetings on birthdays and holidays. Post blogs and photos to let everyone know what we're doing.  But obviously, as we've traveled around the world over the past 15 years, we've escaped many of the day-to-day worries and trials concerning aging parents that our sibs have had to deal with. We've missed grandchildren's recitals and school plays. We've not had to deal with family matters or make some of the hard decisions that would have consumed much of our time had led a more traditional life. When something catastrophic happens, we do our best to get home when necessary. There's always a subtle feeling of resentment when we swoop in after a long absence and try to make things better. We overcompensate sometimes to make up for all the time away.

Some readers have commented that they enjoy reading about the real aspects of the cruising life, not just the fun parts. If you're thinking about the cruising life, this is something you should keep in mind. It's not always as easy as you might imagine to stay in touch and participate. It's hard to face the trips home when you're feeling like perhaps you should have stayed around in the first place to help, instead of being on a perpetual vacation.

We've known lots of cruisers who cruise half time and spend the other half at home to be with family. We've known others who have swallowed the anchor in favor of being closer to family full time.

Do we regret our cruising lifestyle? No. It's not that we don't love our family, we do. It's that we've chosen to enjoy our lives in a non-traditional manner which doesn't necessarily allow for lots of family time. Our family is so spread out over the USA … Las Vegas, Denver, Washington, DC, Boston … that even if we were resident in the USA, we probably would not spend as much time with all of them as we think we would.

Have we heard lots of complaints from them? No. After 15 years, our family is pretty much resigned to the fact that we're not around most of the time. There's much to be said for teleportation.