Hi, it's Alex. I have heard that many of you want me to write some more in this blog. That's very nice of you. There are basically three reasons to why I haven't done it so much :

1. I have a life. A real life outside of this blog. You maybe think that we live only what is written and seen here, but the truth is that this is only maybe 10% of our reality. Taru much of the time lives in between the real world and the online world, but I prefer to live my life totally IRL. But of course, I am not a photographer who has a passion for sharing my art. And for me personally I see not much value in writing. I don't have this need or urge or whatever you call it.

2. And the writing part. I am French, and I lack of some words in English, so for you to be able to understand a shit of what I'm saying in text, there are a lot of editing needed. This takes time, both mine and Tarus. And time is very precious to me. There are many things I much rather do than write, I am sure you understand. 

3. Like earlier mentioned, I have no real interest in writing. Also no time. Or let's say it is not my priority. So it is very simple to us. Taru runs this website as much or as little as she wants and I do my stuff in the world outside of this online thing. I work on the boat, I fish, read, sometimes I work on projects on other boats like that one above, I must also take care of my woman, have a good time with her and all of that. Listen, I don't even have a Facebook account, I rarely check my email and even less I answer any of them and now you ask me to write a blog? Come on. I appreciate the comments from you all that I read and I admire the quality of work which my baby has put into this website, but I personally have not had time to get myself involved too much. It is very distant to me. 

So I hear that some of you would like to read more about mechanical and technical things and my point of view when it comes to boat stuff in general, sounds good, but at the same time I have understood that most people here seem to appreciate reading about hair colors, high heels, fitness advice and whatever else, and this I don't know too much about, so: I will give it a try, but don't expect too much now, I will try to post sometimes. But the question is: What are you interested in reading about? I know Taru makes a great job with her stories and images but what do you want to know from my view? Is it my work done on the boat that is of interest or do you want me to share with you some secrets about Taru or what? If you can be so nice to guide me a little bit I would appreciate it. 

I will get back to you when I find the time. Thanks. Alex

That's the only right thing to do in this heat..
And who cares if it's in the dirty waters of the harbor area, at least it's refreshing!

It's 6.30 and we're sitting here planning for the nearest future. Lots on our mind. The new boat. When should we leave. What about the hurricanes. Where should we go after Antigua. When will we be done with what has to get done on Caos. What is the plan when we get South. The new boat again. Is it a good choice. What are the benefits with such a drastic change of boat/home/vehicle and so on... You might think that we are on a permanent vacation of some sort, but this life is also very much our normal life. We have everyday things to deal with even though we might have chosen to call the world our home instead of having a fixed land based house or an apartment. We also have a future to plan for and we want to make sure that we take the right decisions and make the right moves, you know all those questions that most of us have to deal with in this world. Ok I can admit that the majority of things are easier to handle when you are not forced to work 9-5 and instead you're able to take those life decisions while surrounded by beaches and palm trees and beautiful nature, but still, this is our life and no matter how the layout of it looks, we want to make sure we do the things right. One thing that is really really annoying right now though, call it a luxe problem if you want, but the temperature and the humidity is almost unbearable here in the Caribbean at the moment. And when you are not on the beach or swimming, it is a joke to try to be fresh when sweat is constantly pouring down your skin. That's one of those problems we have to deal with over here..

Have a great Thursday you all. /T

It's not everyday you have to collect a fishing lure from the spinning wind generator while underway. A large barracuda made sure to get released by jumping around and desperately pulling the line several times. His last jump was so powerful that the whole line snapped off and got tangled in the AeroGen. That fish was just not meant to get caught.. /T

We had a loooong walk to the neighbor town tonight. Was really nice although the massive rain hit us just before we arrived into a safe and dry restaurant by the road. And lucky us to find out that buses were still running in between villages after 8.30 pm so we didn't have to walk all that long way back home again. /T

And as for Alex you ask? He doesn't need anything but natural physical work to keep himself in good shape. He has that sexy toned muscular street fighter kind of look on his body no matter what he does or eats. Very annoying.

Gaah! Two of my very favorite girls in the whole wide world are together in Paris. And not only for a weekends vacation: they LIVE together in Paris from this day onwards. C'mon, you can't do that without me!!

Luckily I have Skype so I can get a piece of their existence delivered straight from the screen whenever the longing is too hard. Hopefully they'll be visiting us here in the Caribbean when the summer is over in Europe. Gros Bisous mina fina älsklingar, vi hörs snart igen. /T

Hello, Ms carrot head here. Just wanted to wish you all a wonderful weekend, cause that's some sort of a tradition we established here on the blog isn't it. It is weekend almost every day in our lives nowadays and a Friday and Saturday doesn't actually differ much from a Monday and Tuesday. Kind of amazing when you think about it. We've been away from home now for nine months and in spite the hard work we had/still have on the boat, we are now more free than ever. Of course it can be hard in small doses every now and then when we miss our families and friends, but over all this is totally the way we always somehow dreamed of living. Free, unbound, attached to nothing, no obligations to have to deal with, no stress that makes ones life miserable, no greater burdens on our shoulders than perhaps that pile of dishes that we've left too long, the dinghy which should get cleaned once and for all or that laundry bag which we continue to neglect, but other than that - life is good. And I get a feeling that it is like this the life is supposed to be. Were we really born to do anything else than this? 

Can you for a second imagine the feeling of being completely totally free? I'm not sure that all of you can, but if you ever get the chance to release yourself from the rat-race, say goodbye and see you never again to things that disturbs you and to be able to completely immerse yourself in peace and harmony away from mental stress and obligations even if only for a while, take it, it will fill your heart with such appreciation for life that you didn't knew one could feel. And you would be able to create feelings and thoughts that you never had time for in the past. You will start to appreciate the smallest details in life and your eyes will begin to recognize things which you never would have noticed before.

I don't know really how to tell you all of this without sounding like a religious freak, but my soul has definitely opened in a way I never experienced before, and for that I can only thank myself. And Alex of course. I'm so thankful for the day we decided to take the step out and make reality of this dream. This dream, our life, has done more good for our hearts than we could have ever imagined beforehand. And still there is more than 100 countries left out there to discover, a couple of more oceans to cross and thousands of more interesting people and beautiful places to visit before we're done with this journey around the world that we've embarked on. If we ever get done and ready, that is. 

So have a great weekend you all wherever you are in the world. And promise me you will try to make reality of all those dreams you have deep inside. No one will ever thank you nor remember you for the things you always dreamed of but never made reality of, try to remember that. My thoughts are especially with my best friend today who are just about to move to the other side of Europe to throw herself into new dreams and a new life far from the expected.

Cheers to all of you out there who are brave enough to break the rules and taking advantage of what this beautiful, magical life has on offer, I'll have a sweet mango cocktail for all of you tonight. 

Essentials in the Caribbean: Ice-cold water. A handful of mango fruits. Ray Ban shades. Can't fail with that combo accompanied by sunshine, love, beach and the sea. 

Homemade bread, a cup of espresso and a glass of fresh mango juice, a check of the battery monitor to realize that the wind has been charging our batteries well all night, sun is shining, a day on the beach is planned = what better way there is to begin the day in the Caribbean...

Thank you all, when I ask you for something, you always deliver. We have some great stuff to read up on now, hours and hours of inspiration. And don't worry, this blog will not change in any direction due to any other website or inspiration out there, but for future projects it is always great to know what is going on around you, and what our dear readers do and read when they are not hanging out here. If you are still holding on to some amazing online secrets, please add them here or on the post below. Thanks so much! /T

We have so much fun and interesting things happening for the future of this blog and things in relation to it which I hope to be able to share with you all later on. My days consists therefore right now of trying to find inspiration in all of the most interesting areas in life. Areas which are very much included in this blog already, such as: photography, travel, culture, lifestyle, sailing, nature, sea/beach-life, food, wine and a bit of fashion to top it all up in style. Because as much as this blog might have originally started out as a sailing/cruising blog, it has with time developed into so much more than only that. In my personal opinion, it goes much more under the epithet of travel, photography and lifestyle blog or something like real life stories from the sea and beyond.

So basically I would love to find websites/blogs which are pretty close in style to ours but that seem to be a hard task as there aren't much people out there doing what we are doing, in the way we're doing it. And since I haven't been very active online with much else than this blog for the past 12 months as we've been sailing across the world, I don't really know where to begin my research either. I'm sure there are loads of interesting things out there though that you guys might be aware of? If you have some online favorites where any or all of those categories are included, that you think I/we would enjoy having a look at, please send a link to them in the comments or by email. 

Here are some of my own favorites in a few of those individual categories like travel, photography, sailing, food, fashion and lifestyle. Please share your first choices in the comments, I thank you very much in advance. /T

And indeed also last nights dinner.. Sunset and sunrise are the best times of the day to get fish, as I've learnt from my fisherman. Yesterday Alex caught three barracudas in the short period of 40 minutes. The two first ones were too big and I asked him to let them go (greater risk of having to encounter ciguatera, remember?), while the last one was this tiny little baby barracuda, perfect in size for a dinner for us two. Was delicious with garlic and coriander gravy served with oven roasted potatoes. Sorry no picture taken of the meal as the light went out of this place. Here's instead one barracuda meal I made one summer in Sardinia, Italy, if you remember? /T

By the way, we have just edited "our route" post, check it out here.

So here it is, the new instrument panel in mahogany. Isn't it beautiful? I don't think you can see it fully through this image, but this is like a piece of art. Created from a raw mahogany plank. If you look closely you'd be able to see the fine sharp cuts, the handmade curves, the fine fine corners, all cut and sawed and carved millimeter by millimeter to fit in the corner of the chart table, close to the hull where nothing is symmetrical. Alex is so incredibly detail-oriented and he can work for hours with one line, one cut - just to make it looking as perfect as possible. He's with fine wood and musical productions what I am with my photography. Trying to find the ultimate perfection in every little detail and he's never fully satisfied, because he believes there could have been something made just a little bit better. A little bit finer. I can't wait for the day when he's given the challenge to build our own little land based home on some beautiful island, somewhere in the world. It will obviously be made with utter perfection.

This beautiful mahogany thing isn't finished yet as you might understand, I will show you the final product when it is completed, varnished and mounted. All to fit the original wood of the boats interior. /T

Let's round this day off with one slow mode favorite. good night. 

When the dough has rested, divide the dough into two equal parts. Knead them lightly on floured counter until smooth and shiny. Roll each half of dough into rectangles. Flat and nice. Now brush the rectangles with butter and sprinkle it all with cinnamon and sugar. If you feel like adding a nutty twist to it all, add some ground almonds. Now you roll it all up into two cylinders. Nice and tight. Then take a sharp knife and slice the cylinders into rolls. Put them on a baking tray covered with baking paper or put each of them into paper cupcake wrappers. Then leave it all to rest again, another 30 minutes would do them good, maybe an hour if you got the time.

When they've rested and chilled out under the kitchen towel, you should go ahead and brush the risen buns with egg wash and then sprinkle some pearl sugar on top.

Put to oven, bake for 7-9 minutes. Make sure they don't get too much baked, dry buns are never ever a good thing. If you followed my advice you should have some absolutely divine little buns ready in just a short while. They're delicious. Wonderful. Especially are they scrumptious when enjoyed with a glass of ice cold milk. Enjoy! And please give me your version of cinnamon rolls if you use other interesting fillings or topping. Sometimes I made them the pizza version, I would cut out the sugar from the dough and fill the buns with tomato sauce, ground beef, onion and so on... but that's another story for another time.. 

Happy weekend. Again. It feels like it was yesterday I wished you the same last time. Time flies fast when you're having fun, no? I have by the way started to accept my new blonde hair. Never though I would say this but I could even go as far as saying that I love it. I've definitely always seen myself as a true brunette and had really hard to imagine being able to keep up a classy appearance with lighter hair, but obviously it works pretty well, this too. Who knows how long this love will last, but at least my hair feels much better now than when treated with chocolate colored dye every second month. The less beauty maintenance here on the seas, the better. Just need to find the energy and will one day to bleach a bit more on the ends to be able to remove the orange hue and then we're all set.

Well that's all for today. The weekend is here and I've dressed up in my new tropical dress to go out for some curry conch and jerk chicken with my man. Simple Caribbean food at its best. Hasta luego amigos and have a great weekend wherever you are in the world. /T

Don't forget to add us on Facebook if you want to see more of our photos. Not everything will have the space in this blog, so much of the rest ends up over there. Our Twitter updates does also end up on our Facebook wall, in case you'd like to know what's going on in our life when we're not posting on the blog. You're also welcome to check out my Flickr page for photos from our world tour and also some of my earlier shots. / T

After questions about our camera equipment, training and fitness seem to be the most frequent subject of emails and inquiries we receive from you dear readers. Mostly it is other women who ask me: "how can you stay fit when living aboard a small sailboat?" or "please tell me your daily fitness routines?"

So to give you some hints on what works for me, I've listed the top five most important things that has been implemented into my everyday life. It might not be the right way to go for you, but it is no secret that my body is in its best shape ever, because of these following factors:

1. I don't drink much alcohol. Or at least far from how much I use to consume in my previous life. The life before Alex and the sea that is. It took me around one year to fully appreciate the fact that I had met a man who doesn't drink alcohol. Or let's say, a man who drinks alcohol only on very rare occasions, once per month at the max. I definitely thought it was quite boring in the beginning, who would I now go wild and crazy with? But after a while I realized how extremely good it was for me. Not only for my body, but also for my mind and my soul. Instead of waking up with a hang over 2-3 times per week, I am now able to use that energy for other, much more important things in life. And I guess you all know it, but you do definitely get a greater appetite for life in general, food, sex and basically everything when your body is feeling good and doesn't have to fight to burn toxins out of your system. My skin too, has gotten much better by decreasing my alcohol intake and my skin is a very tricky and sensitive chapter let me tell you. I used to drink 2-3 bottles of wine per week. Nowadays I drink only 2-3 glasses during the same time and this is the greatest reason why my body is responding so well to my minimal exercise efforts. 

2. I am genuinely happy. I have much love in my life. And I try to surround myself only with what will bring joy into my life. This is such a cliché, but that is the truth. When you have cut off the things in life which bothers you, stresses you, makes your life only one step heavier than it is meant to be and you focus only on what really matters - your body will react in the same harmonic way that your mind. I can't enough talk about the importance of making yourself the happy and fulfilled person you want to become and I know that most people know what would or could make them happy, but few has the guts, the strength or the tools to fully apply it. Don't lie to me now, but I am absolutely convinced that you have a couple of things in life that really bothers and stresses you, right? Busy and stressful work, some annoying colleagues, an old friend that is in your life because it just is like that but you can barely stand him/her, annoying neighbors, narrow-minded people in your town etc etc. God knows how many fake, jealous, destructive and energy sucking people I have kicked out of my life in my past, just because I believe that is ones own duty to make sure that you stay happy and that you can put all of your energy on the things and the people who really deserves your time. People who makes you happy, who understands who you are and shows you the respect that you fully deserve = these are the only ones who should be able to get into your private sphere in life.

Health is the state of complete harmony and balance between your mind, your body and your spirit, and when your mind is constantly working against something that stresses you or something which doesn't make you genuinely happy, your body will automatically begin to defend this mood first. It is your body that carries the burden of your mind in the end, and if you are not in balance mentally, it is hard to achieve miracles with your body. One of my greatest advice both when it comes to exercise of your body and life in general, is that you really should try to do the best you can to make yourself a happy person. It is your human right to be a fulfilled, content and happy human being. You don't have to deal with people that disturbs you, sucks all of your energy, who are fake and abusive, or people who doesn't show you the respect you wish, there are other partners and friends to make. You don't have to let your body and mind suffer from a stressful and destructive career, there are other ways to go. You don't have to live in a society/city/community where people are narrow-minded, boring, selfish or whatever it might be that disturbs you, you do have a choice. It is when you get rid of mental distractions that your soul fully opens, and when that happens, you will be able to move mountains, please believe me on this one. 

3. I drink a lot of water. Well another cliche, but a true one as well. We have all learnt since we practically were babies, that water is the key to health. It will make our skin glow, it will help to burn toxins out of our system and it is vital for the overall performance of your body. Here in the tropics it is easy to always have a bottle of water on hand as you desperately need it, but don't wait till you're thirsty to grab a glass of H2O. Try making it a natural routine to always have a bottle of fresh water close at hand. Water is life in so many senses, and it takes such a small effort from your side to refresh yourself with it. 

4. I cook and eat healthy food. Well most of the times. Here in the tropics there are always easy ways to get a hold on fresh fruits and vegetables. I make sure to concoct our meals with as much vitamins and proteins as we possibly can get into a meal. And this ain't no boring food, mind you. It's very old fashioned to believe that healthy food is boring food, as there are so many variations and options out there. I have also decreased my consumption of chocolate, unhealthy snacks and candy, because I have understood that every time I eat something or every time I'm about to put something into my mouth, I have a direct choice in going towards the right direction of getting to my dream body, or working against it. I most of the times elect to go towards what will make my body happy. 

5. Natural exercise. When living on a boat and traveling by the sea, it's very far between proper gyms'. In the beginning it might have been frustrating to find out that there aren't any spinning bikes to get a hold on on most of our destinations across the world, but I have instead developed my own type of exercise that works good for me. Swimming is one, can't tell you enough how good it is for you. Your body will be happy with it when all of your muscles are working in great symbiosis. Your mind will feel good about it, because again, you are in connection to water, and water is life as far as I know of it. It is in water that I feel harmony, where I relax my mind and my soul and to be in touch with water gives me some kind of mystical strength and a greater appreciation for life. Added to my water training, I do sit-ups every second day to keep my abs in shape, I also make sure to give my ass some good training with classical donkey kicks and lunges, every second day or so. We are also out on excursions in the nature quite often, and walking and climbing are some of the best natural ways to keep your muscles in shape. 

Like earlier mentioned, these are only my own guidelines which are normal in my world, they might work for you or they might not, but perhaps it can give you some ideas of how to begin thinking when it comes to training and how your body reflects the state of your mind. Everyone of us can make at least some smaller improvements in their everyday routines of life, and almost every single one of us are the masters of our own mind, body and soul - remember that. Take advantage of that. And make the best out of what you have in your hands. We don't have to be extremely fit all of us, but at least we can make the best in making ourselves healthy and happy human beings. 

It seems like we finally will have some of our beloved parents, sisters and brothers visiting in the next couple of months, not a day too late! The only problem with a journey of a lifetime like this one, is that you are so friggin' far away from the rest of the people you love. But missing is also a great part of life, isn't it? Just like pain and sorrow and disappointments are. These are the things one never can hide from, and shouldn't, in order to become a complete, independent and strong human being. It would be an absurd shame to stay at home, desperately holding on to the safety net, just because one might have to face the risk of suffering from one or more of those things.

To dare is to live, and to let go frees you to be able to grow and develop yourself into the person you want to become. And would we have stayed home close to all of the people we love, we would never been able to take part of all of these wonderful times and happenings at sea, all of the new personal insights we've developed, the inspiring people we met and the amazing places we get the chance to visit. Or all the other beautiful, inspiring, fulfilling things we've come across and have learnt during our many earlier years abroad and while independently traveling the world.

But right now, the joy for today, is the fact that some of the most important people of our lives seem to be on their way to share a couple of moments with us in our new life here in the Caribbean and we can't wait for July, August and September to arrive so we can share it all with them for a change.

Here's one of my new friends. I was lucky enough to meet a guy the other week who offered me the opportunity to ride his racehorse whenever I wanted to, for no cost, just because he doesn't have enough time for it himself. Now "my" horse had just lost one of his shoes so there was no riding opportunity this time, but at least I got introduced to the horses at the ranch and hopefully the farrier will have the new shoes fixed soon after the holidays so I can get back to the stable and get out riding in just a few days. I haven't been in the saddle since I was in Bahrain last time, and that must have been at least two years ago now. Can't wait to get out in the woods with big red, as is the throughbred racehorse's name (it is not the horse in this pic though, will introduce you to him a bit later).