Someone asked: What are you guys doing in the US this winter, what are your next plans?

Sailing plans are like most of you might know written in the wind and so let's not discuss those too much as they always end up somewhere else. We'd like to sail again in the spring as soon as it gets hot enough and we're pretty certain we will do so, but to where, no one knows. It depends on how much we get done here and how far we've come on the repairs on the boat. It goes without saying that we do not spend much time repairing or fixing on the boat now that it is so cold outside. That suits us just fine though. Boat is safe in the marina, we are warm on land, and we can focus on all the other things we want and need to have done.

So what we do here this winter, is to 70% shown in this image. We hang on our computers. 

You remember we told you long time ago, that our wish was to find a calm, comfortable non tropical place in which we could collect our minds after a few years as seafarers. It seems we've moved from one place to another ever since we met each other four years ago. So we wanted a quiet spot where we could get down with all those tasks and work that we wanted to have done, but never seemed to have an opportunity to get started with while still fighting the tropical warmth, endless boat repairs and often very little electricity on the boat. 

We missed many of those things that you people on land take for granted. 

But why Massachusetts? Well because that is where our friend is from and he invited us to stay in his house for some time. Our boat is also made here in New England, and for the refit that will continue in the spring, we figured there is no better place to find spare parts that we need in order to be able to make our beautiful classic vessel shine like she deserves. Without having to ship the parts all across the world for an expensive fee.

Thinking about our current living situation, to live on land was one of our wishes for this particular period of life, so it is pretty crazy that we got not only one, but two excellent opportunities in one and the same state. Our friends house in the forest has been fantastic for us to recollect some energy and begin the administrative work of our lives that to most parts had been neglected for a few years. And now that we've moved the boat to the only good winter marina in the center of the city of Boston, we also got an opportunity to stay in this wonderful apartment in Cambridge for some time. Near the boat, right in the middle of where we spend most of our days.

Certain aspects of life always seem like mission impossibles, other things just come to you right when you need them. The timing has been perfect. And we couldn't be more thankful and happy for how it's turned out here.

Besides working on formulas, websites, registrations, images, declarations, marketing, writing, collecting information, reading, organizing paperwork and all the other administrative work that is mainly done on our two computer machines, we are also discussing and planning for our next move of course. The never-ending questions. Where is best to live? What exactly to work with and with who, where and how? To sail South in the spring or make a longer break and stay in the US? What paperwork would we need to start working here? To sail and move somewhere else for some time? Florida is warmer? What about LA? We love New York!?!

I told you that Alex had been dying to get back to music mastering, both because he loves it and it is such a fundamental part of his life that he's missed. But also because most of his old clients from Europe and Latin America have begged him to come back to business, as the specific sound that he is known to deliver, has been hard to find elsewhere. Thankfully, he's managed to find just the right kind of studio from which he is now, on a distance, helping some friends out, while having the great opportunity to analyze and contemplate if this is what he wishes to do again, right now. We're very open minded, we both can find job anywhere in the world and that has been proven time and time again. It's merely a question of making sure that we both are comfortable and happy, and being as independent and free as we can, even if we would choose to stay an additional time on land rather than setting sail again, just now. All we know is that the boat will be with us, wherever we are. She is our family member, and even if we would end up working on land for a period of time, she is still our main base and the materialistic foundation of our lifestyle. She's also the very easy escape to any place else, whenever we would wish to have one. To either live on her, or at least have her near us, offer us a sense of freedom.

Our attempt to sail around the world is not only a sailing journey in which we want to rush around the world in a specific period of time. We see this lifestyle merely as a great opportunity to figure out where to settle in the future, with all the long and short stops in the journey and life that it requires. If it would take us twenty years to get around the whole globe, it doesn't matter. Maybe we'll never get as far as the far East with the boat, who knows? What matters is that we fill our days with meaningful things that we have chosen to do because we enjoy doing them, and not because we are on a mission for someone or something else. 

Most people have a home in the city, in the countryside or the suburbs somewhere and they travel to other destinations by flight, train or car whenever they are physically and financially able to. We have brought our home with us. It is our means of transportation in between countries and we make stops on the way when and where we feel could be an interesting place to stop for either pleasure or work. 

Some blog readers have showed frustration because I share much less sailing content on the blog as of late like I was some kind of charity travel/sailing reporter or such, but like I said: we do not live our lives for someone else. We do what feels good to us. And while sometimes a stop for us means discovering new islands, fishing, diving, meeting with local cultures, it can sometimes mean just that we want to live a normal life for a change. The life that most of you lead 80% of your time, when you're not on vacation.

Damn does it feel good to have a large bed to stretch out in for a change, be able to take hot showers and actually see the clothes you own rather than having all packed very tightly in small compartments. It feels endlessly amazing to be able to sit fifteen hours in a row on my laptop, not having to think about the $2 USD an hour it sometimes costs to use wifi on the islands, or the electricity that might die any second.

So for now we're still working on getting our stuff in order, splitting our time between land and the boat, and I presume it will take us at least a couple more months or more till we are ready for the next big move. Wherever or whatever that involves, we'll have to be patient enough to figure out.