*Tap Tap Tap* Is this thing on? After a 5+ year hiatus – we’re back baby! Or are we?

Who’s to say where it came from, but in my youth, I always thought that there would come a point in life when I would feel stable, calm, steady. I am still waiting to see if that phase of life ever happens, but I have my suspicions that it was a myth all along. The current status on this side of the keyboard is constant chaos – forever pivoting, if you will. And if you had worked with me during the last several years you would know that I hoped to avoid the word “pivot” for at least a decade. Alas, life had other plans.

When I look in the rearview mirror I see some obvious delineations in my life – clear beginnings and endings to various phases and chapters. But there are also many more subtle changes that may only be apparent to me. The only stable thing I see is the constant evolution of adaptations to all of the changes over the years. A never-ending pivot.

Mamita used to call me a gypsy because I never seemed to stay in one place for very long. The last 5 years in Seattle since hauling the boat in out Puerto Peñasco felt like a long time to be there since we only planned to be back for 6 months. And I was employed at one company for my longest tenure yet. The pandemic and other life events kept us rooted in place longer than we planned, and longer than we wanted. But we were in a city we love surrounded by people we love. So, while we would’ve liked to be back on Small World, we were still content enough.

Now we are back at a very clear start to a new chapter. I quit my job (in this economy?!) and we’re back in Mexico toiling away trying to get this old gal (the boat… not me) back in ship shape. It has been humbling, to say the least. I think the universe heard me say, “I love surprises!” and responded, “Hold my beer.” This is very clearly not what I meant.

We’ve had to tackle what continues to feel like an insurmountable, Sisyphean-like project list. It turns out – and this is a hot tip – boats don’t like to just sit there untended. Much like land homes, when left alone without intervention to the gradual decay, a perfectly livable and functional space becomes a fixer upper. Even though we knew this, and Craig came down several times to work on the boat over the years, it’s not the same as living on the boat and monitoring all the systems regularly. And now we are paying for it. Literally and figuratively.

Our time in Peñasco has been an emotional roller coaster. If you’ve been following along on Instagram, you’ve seen the drama along with my poorly veiled attempts at keeping spirits buoyed. This is some of the hardest work either of us has done. To make it more challenging, some days leave us feeling unsure if this is the path we want to continue pursuing. Is it all worth it? Couldn’t we just take this money and buy a couple plane tickets? We sure could. We sure might. But I think we are gonna give this cruising life at least one more shot. I, for one, am too stubborn to let Craig do all this work only to walk away.

Stay tuned for more misadventures, grumblings, and appreciation posts. It’s good to be back…?