THIS is what we have been waiting for! Cruising around downtown, the financial district and its busy city center, over to warm and inviting paradise beaches, the fancy Bal Harbour and back home to the boat that is anchored in a very calm and serene place, with a safe and free bike/car parking right outside. As for living situation of two ocean nomads, it can almost not get better than this. 

Let us compare the current life situation with two of our most recent other: New England in the North where we lived for almost 1,5 years. And the Caribbean/South America in the South, where we stayed for 2,5 years.

Weather: New England certainly was the coldest and looking at it from that perspective, there's nothing that could have us move back to such a freezing climate with the boat again. It taught us things and made us stronger I suppose, but speaking of life quality, it is in sun and warmth we feel right at home. Caribbean, on the other hand, was hot, and a few months a year it was a little too hot. I remember we complained a bit on the heat, but never to the extent we complained about the cold in Boston. We have always said that something in between would be good. The Mediterranean sea is therefore still our most ideal as far as climate goes. It has just the right balance with not too hot summers and very mild/warm winters.

South Beach a week ago. I've put myself on a healthy workout regimen since then as I'm trying to get rid of the (too many) comfortable winter layers of chocolate and beer. It is so much easier to find pleasure in exercising in warmer climate. As much as it is easier to hide a lazy body full of comfort food under layers of thick winter clothes. I know both sides very well but also which I don't like to belong to.

I think we arrived here in Miami at the right time of the year. The slightly chillier temperatures of December/January makes for an easy transition back to the heat and so far so good. There's really nothing negative to say about the 27 C / 80 F we have here currently. With the right set of awnings and wind scoops on the boat, it still hasn't become unbearable and I'm thinking it still will be slightly cooler than the Caribbean islands also during summer? Regardless, this climate is much better than what we just came from up in the North.

Independence to move around: We have still not lived long enough in any one place during this sailing life we started five years ago, that we have concluded we would be in need of a car. The bike was the first thing we decided to invest in though as we got our new American Visas sorted last summer. We had and still have a dream of crossing the US on motorcycle. Time will tell if we'll ever make that happen but it's good to know that we can if we would ever find the time. Being now based in Miami which we have plans to keep as our home base for at least the next couple of years, we will eventually need a car too.  Going to look into getting my American drivers license asap.

A couple alligators we ran across in Everglades a few days ago.

Being in the Caribbean islands where we were for more than two years, a dinghy definitely gave you some sort of freedom to move around on the water side of life at least. But on land without your own vehicle, we were always depending on buses, taxis and sometimes we hitched a ride. Alex missed his bikes very much and it sure would have been awesome to explore the Caribbean with a motorcycle. So being here in Florida, in a similarly beautiful climate but which also offer so much more than only that, it is extremely convenient and enjoyable with both a dinghy and a bike as we now can fully take part of the location in so many more ways than what we could have done before. 

This state is huge, not to mention the nearby states we would love to visit. And to be able to drive from North Miami Beach to South Beach, through Downtown to Brickel and Coconut Grove in 40 minutes instead of relying on unpredictable bus schedules, well you know it, it gives you freedom. Riding a bike also keeps you closer to the nature than what a car does, though a combination of them two would be the best since we're planning on staying longer.

Love the quietness and cleanness of Hallandale Beach as opposed to the madness of South Beach.

Friends and family: Still equally far from most of them, but there are very good flight connections anywhere in the world from here. Besides I have a strong feeling it will be easier to lure people into coming to visit us in the warm and sunny Miami, than the cold Boston. Also realizing that we have quite a few good friends down here in Florida already which is just a fantastic bonus!

Good healthy food: One of my most important aspects in life as you know already. Florida offer a better year round climate for growing vegetable and fruit than what New England does. Or at least the sort of fruit and vegetables that we eat most of. Even if we don't grow our own food on the boat, there are Farmers Markets with organic produce to be found in almost any district here in Miami. Having scanned the grocery stores in the region, I am also satisfied with the fact that many products are a tad cheaper here than up in Boston. In addition to fresh produce from the market, Whole Foods and Publix has all of the organic non-gmo food that we normally buy. Comparing this area with the Caribbean or South America, the US definitely has such a greater selection of good groceries and for a better price (although tropical fruit might be easier to obtain down there).

Work opportunities: Alex will for the time being travel back to Boston once/twice a month to continue working from the studio up there. He's back on track with his mastering career and there's no way he will give it up again. We have hopes of finding a more local solution for him soon but this will work pretty good as a start. My vegan cooking on the other hand is actually one of the main reasons we decided to move to Miami this time (beside the obvious fact that we just couldn't deal with another cold winter).  

This is the catering/take out service that I started up in New England:

See more on www.green-caterer.com

The idea is to develop this business further, and aim it towards an even more health conscious South Florida clientele. Below is the location that we are looking into:

So much potential in such a raw open space. Many details to figure out obviously before any of it will come alive but the idea and opportunity seems pretty good so far. I count on you all to come visit if/when we're open!

Culture: Something we talk about on the daily here is what a great mixture of lives and culture there is here in Miami. A very stimulating dynamic here that we missed up in Boston where everything is pretty much the same with very little room for alternatives. Only driving one street up and down here in Miami, you get astound by the great variety in architecture which is so inspiring for the mind. The New England way of building is very characteristic to its area and beautiful of course, but for people like us who like change and variety, it gets a little boring for the vision when all houses are built the exact same way. What we also like with Miami, is that there's a very strong latin culture which gives a special sort of interesting depth to the city. We definitely like it like that: high and low, a bit of everything in one bowl.

To sum it up: Life feels pretty good. We have many things to figure out, but it seems that we are in the right place right now. Oh, and the hot shower situation on the boat we have finally solved by digging up this good old solar shower bag from the lazarette:

Can't get hotter than this after it's laid in the sun for a while. 5 gallon / 19 liter hot shower is such a luxury..

Cheers on that!

Love by the way that we can find Spanish beer and groceries so easily in the stores. Obviously my workout regimen allow for a few beers every week. A good balance of health, comfort, pleasure and activity is so important. So far so good on the balance department down here!

Read this old post about what we think makes a place or a country worth to live in.

Speaking for myself, I have always been a curious searcher. Ever since I was very little (8) when I moved from my birth country Finland to a small farm village in Sweden, I have wanted to know what else was out there. As much as I have always felt that there must be so much more to life than that which was presented to me, I have always found it odd with people who strongly propagate for a country or a place without knowledge or experience in what else there is outside of ones direct viewpoint. How can you know when you know so little? I had no clue of what life really looked like outside my safe home base, but I was extremely eager to learn.

Moving from home at 16, I started early to travel alone or with friends and have ever since made every effort towards getting to know myself, the world and the people that inhabits it better. I was so curious. Wanted to know everything! And educating myself in cultural differences, language and traveling the world happened also on other levels than just the one done in airplanes, trains and automobiles.

Everyone has their own ways to connect to new people. A personal strategy if you will, conscious or subconscious, towards who they want to spend time with. An inner guidance leading them to who and where to look for their next potential partner. Before meeting Alex, I made sure to expand my worldview by dating people from various different countries, religion, ethnicity and social standings. They were young, old, rich, poor, students, business owners, bohemians, artists, bankers, drug dealers, nightclub owners, junkies, teetotalers, policemen, sportsmen and lazy asses. A mixture of backgrounds that ensured mental challenge and which lead me to see the world through many different glasses. They were from West and East Europe. From Australia, America, Africa and Asia. Latino, Caribbean, Mediterranean and Arabic. You name it, I've probably explored it.

Some people travel through books or a higher education, the people I chose to spend my time with were (indirectly in most cases) my teachers, and no matter how our story ended, I can still look back at all of them and feel fortunate for the time we spent together. For all the things they taught me. Or the things I taught myself by being part of their lives and stories for a brief, or sometimes longer, moment.

There might have been moments when I've been absolutely sure that certain of those encounters were nothing but a waste of time. But the more distance I gain to each individual experience, the more I have realized that they were all there to help me build my own curious colourful path, and each of them have been necessary ingredients that have filled my book of life with important knowledge.

Before I met Alex at the age of 27, I was still in search of higher awareness. There were too many lives, cultures and places to explore. Almost all of the encounters lead to me sliding out and moving on towards new adventures. But always with my baggage restocked with new important lessons and insights. 

As much as I had difficulty choosing the right place to live, I had hard committing to someone for a longer time simply because my research wasn't done yet. Eventually that research came to a halt when I met someone whose puzzle pieces seemed to be fitting mine.

Alex, who had so much of all in one body: A Frenchman with Greek roots, who had lived in many different countries and spoke three and a half languages. Who worked with things I love, had gone through a ton of shit, but still had his heart in the right place. A person that loved traveling as much as I did, and who, as a bonus, had a boat we could prepare for an extended world cruise. For the dreamer and searcher that I was and still am, it was like a gift that had been given to me from above. It all fell naturally. We moved together in the first month of dating. With all my innate ideas and wishes to continue learning about the world, I was initially the slightly stronger driving force when we mutually decided to leave our lives in Spain behind and together go hunt for something greater. Alex had for a longer time wanted a change in certain aspects of his life. He had lived in Spain for seven years at the time that we met, and the country's economical situation that affected his industry had started to feel old. As much as he felt like a given in my life, it seems I came into his world at the right time.

The search, intentional or unintentional, for a partner to share ones life with, can be equaled to the search Alex and I are on today with our world travels. For each place that we visit, we add one additional piece of information to our now combined travel baggage. We know so much more now than when we started our journey together, but there's still so much more to see, experience and investigate before we can begin building a home on land. While we learn from every unique experience on this joint quest we have undertaken, we also teach each other from the individual baggage we both carried with us when we first met.

Living on a boat makes traveling a bit easier. And now that we've done it for so long (almost five years), it is hard imagining a different way to approach the world. Everything is just a water passage away. Whatever we want to explore, it is there for us to take part of. With some planning, saving and preparation of course. 

There are a few things that we always adhere to each time we discuss different places for living. Some of these have been obvious from day one, other we have learned to incorporate into our lives as time went by:

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+ On the water - We want to live in a place with a safe, nice place to keep the boat. We need to know that there is a possibility to sail away swiftly would there need be. Living near water inspire a sense of freedom and that is very important to us. If also the water is crystal clear and turquoise blue, that is an obvious bonus.

+ Humble, genuine, goodhearted people - It's not like there are dedicated places filled with only humble, genuine and goodhearted people, it obviously takes time to find such stars in any given place. But there are some cultural traits that can make a population generally less or more humble, for example. We live a very simple life, we don't buy too much things, we are fine with mostly the fundamental things in life such as love, peace, nature, friendship, good food, tranquility and fulfilling things to work with. We strive for doing good, meaningful things. We live and create our life with love and passion. And we believe in helping others with the means one has. We love the sort of small village mentality where people are helpful and offer a helping hand to their neighbor, but on the other hand, small villages can become too limited for ones mind so this is a hard one. Nonetheless, being surrounded by like minded people is obviously the ultimate. From all what we've been through in life and left behind us, we are in no need of drama and try avoiding all what would mean it.

+ Nature - Rather undeveloped than overly exploited. Just being surrounded by it and feeling we are connected to the nature, is of utter importance to us. That's where we recharge and find peace. Our ultimate place to live is where also the surrounding society respect and value the same nature.

+ Good and affordable health care - We come from countries where we expect free healthcare for everyone. No insurances needed. Free healthcare is part of the deal we have with our governments, something they provide us in return for the taxes we pay. Looking at how other parts of the world take care, or fail to take care of its people when they are sick, we know we've been very fortunate.

+ A trustworthy social environment and a respectful government - This is the hardest. Is there any country non corrupt? But there are the ones that give more security and comfort than others for sure (see above example). For people like us who work for ourselves and currently are only two people in this boat, we do not necessarily need much help and support from the government. But when working, we'd like to feel good about how our tax money is spent, and that varies dramatically from one country to another.

+ Culture, craft and ambiance - We love the old world. Techniques and practices that have been handed down generation after generation. People whose great great great grandparents did things the way they still do them today. Because that's how the most amazing artwork, food, houses and buildings, boats, gardens, music and wine is produced. It is inevitable to have some modernity in life (can't live without my Mac and my DSLR camera), but most often the cheap, new, quick solutions when it comes to the beautiful and necessary things in life, lack a feel and sensation that is only obtained by things made the real, proper old-school way.

+ Closeness to the people we love and care about the most - One of the most frustrating things with constantly being on the go, is that we miss hugging, kissing and being near our most valued human beings. Family and friends. Although we don't need to live in the same city or even the same country, it would be helpful if one didn't have to spend a minimum of $2000 USD each time you'd like to meet. Most of our favorite people are located in Europe. But the good thing with people you love and trust, is that they'll always be there no matter the time and distance apart.

+ Peace and comfort - This mean all and everything. But particularly that no one is pushing you. No people, media or government trying to influence your mind to something they'd gain from themselves. No religious or fanatic people/groups oppressing your human rights. We know what we believe in and we do not need neither someone else's approval, nor guidance unless we ask for it. Equal rights and opportunities for men and women. All the things one take for granted when born and raised in an equal, non-religious society based on laws of common sense. As much as we leave other people to be who they are and believe in what they wish to believe in, we'd want the same treatment from the community and society that we live in. There are countries in which you can easier dodge pointing fingers than in other, and we would definitely like to see more of them.

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These 11 points being the basic ingredients in a very good life according to us. In the following posts I am going to tell you how the countries and places we've lived in thus far makes it with this list in mind. We are aware that it is super hard finding one place that has it all. Different locations serve different purposes in different periods of life. And one should also remember that the search, or the passage, is a whole grand journey all in itself.

Would be interested in hearing what are your most valued ingredients in life. Feel free to comment below: