Why Travel by Boat?
Originally posted May 18th, 2022.
We are back from our trip to Texas. And on the way back from the trip I was inspired to write about why I would much rather see the world by boat than any other form of transportation. The list was rather easy to make during our 4 hour layover due to a delayed flight. In fact, I did come up with more than 10 ideas but I can save the others for a novel someday later.
1. Sailing is at my pace: I don't like being rushed while traveling. Traveling should be fun, relaxing & sometimes exciting. Rushing anywhere isn't my idea of a good time. On the flip side, waiting forever for a plane or whatever isn't a party either. Sailing, while under the weather's schedule, is more at my pace. Did we make a mistake on choosing an anchorage? Well, let's move on to the next one. Is the mooring we're at & the town by it super lovely with lots to do? Let's stay for a week! I can do housework & then jump in the water to cool off for a break? Yes please! This is a simplified way of looking at the sailing life. But to work towards one's goals, one should probably look at the sunny side. Otherwise it might not be motivating enough to keep looking forward to the negative.
2. Weather can be more reasonable than people: There was a weather warning last week that stated to be on alert due to unreasonable weather! Matt pointed out that weather was something you probably can't reason with. So this was rather humorous to us. This being said weather does seem to act in more of a reasonable way than a lot of humans. It does believe in science. And these days lots of people in the United States seem to not agree with scientific facts. -In which I just don't have an answer on the best way to deal with this. I do, however, know how I should react to different types of weather & how best to protect myself from extreme weather. I know that I will be learning more about this in relation to sailing. I also know that sometimes it won't be pleasant. But I feel like I can work with weather more than some people out there. -Especially people who are traveling.
3. I hate sitting for long periods of time: I like to mix my days up with moving around on my feet a lot, some sitting & a long period of where I can lay down. For most people this is a normal type of day but that changes when flying somewhere. -At least the places I want to fly to. Not to mention, even road trips require a ton of sitting. Plus, I get super sleepy when I drive for more than a half hour. While sailing, one gets to move freely about the boat; unless there's foul weather. This can't be done either on a plane or in a car. Okay, I know you're thinking, "What if you're in first class or in an RV?". Well, smart-ass, most of us don't have the privilege of flying first class & it's dangerous to walk around in an RV while it's on the road. So there!
4. I hate lines: Does anyone like them? This is pretty easy to understand but I was recently reminded of this when waiting for over an hour in the security line at the airport last week. Lines for bathrooms aren't fun either. Neither is sitting in traffic. While I'm working on being patient, I'd like to work on it in other ways. -Like waiting for the sun to come up or waiting for the wind to go from 2 knots to 10 knots or waiting for the rain to stop. Sorry amusement parks. I think you are also a thing of the past for me.
5. Always at home: When you're with ones you love, have a place to sleep, have a kitchen & have a big backyard then you're at home. -Or at least I am. It's super cool to have that home move with you to different places. Waking up with a different yard/landscape surrounding your home sounds heavenly to me.
6. No packing: This, I guess, goes along with always being at home. I don't have to worry about a packing limit. -Matt might disagree with me on this. It's not like I'm going to bring my WHOLE entire wardrobe; just all the super warm clothes, & all of my cute clothes, & a lot of my super comfy clothes. Plus, I will definitely leave room for clothes I might purchase on traveling. Not, to mention, I can bring things in bottles that are larger than 3 oz.! If I lose a pair of sunglasses on the trip, I can just go into our cabin & grab one of the 10 that I'll bring along with me.
7. Always can pee: Also a perk of a sailboat being like a home, it's so nice for those of us with small bladders. No lines to use the potty! No shame if the head is broken & we have to use some other container. And it'll be evident if the head is a mess who's responsible for it!
8. Zephyr: I did bring this up in last week's blog but it's so important to me that I'm going to mention it again. We missed him a lot last week. And I know he missed us. Refer to the last blog for more Zephyrness.
9. Germs: Our boat = good germs, germs we're used to. Although, we do try to be fairly clean & sanitary people so as to keep ourselves healthy & anyone who joins us on our boat. Planes, trains & cruise ships = bad germs, germy germs, germs that aren't from around these parts. Even with COVID inspired protocol for traveling, it's hard to avoid every bit of viral bits while traveling in the usual sense. So spending a gazillon dollars on a boat & traveling that way is just more worth the money than spending that on treatments & maybe doctor and/or hospital visits. I do realize that we may spend money on both at the end but let me be optimistic for now.
10. Sailors seem happier than tourists: This is probably due to all of the above reasons. I know I'm happier sailing. I think Matt is too - unless he's seasick. So, yes, sailing does have its negatives but I think they're the type of negatives that I would rather deal with than 4 hour layovers. I'm sure I'll be complaining about something in the sailing realm soon enough. Yet, I try to remember the rewards of it during the hard times. Anyway, it's too late now to go back!!!
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