Transitional Thoughts: From our 2800 sqft house to a 26 ft travel trailer.

Transitional Thoughts: From our 2800 sqft house to a 26 ft travel trailer.

by | May 24, 2018 | Life off the deep end

It has been a pretty exhausting road so far to be honest.  Selling our home and everything we own to live in a very inexpensive travel trailer with our 2 young kids.  And now we shop for our perfect home afloat to sail the world.

“Are we doing the right thing?”
“Do you think the kids are ok?”
“Are we crazy?”

I decided to write a pretty informal blog to catch everyone up on our journey so far.

The house sold but it did not go smoothly.  We accepted a full price cash offer right away with a closing date of 2 weeks.  We scrambled to finish the last of our yard sales, and deliver furniture to friends and family who wanted to purchase our favorite pieces.  We took truckloads of items to donation.  We rented a storage unit for all of the items that will fit on a boat, but not in a trailer.  And then we spent days bickering with each other while we loaded up the trailer and finished clearing out the house.

On March 20th, we moved into our travel trailer at Dash Point State Park.  It is a nice park, but I will say that the vibe in a campground in March, as opposed to camping in the summer months, is very different.  A little sketchy even.  Trailers, campers, and… a school bus with grow lights and questionable plants inside would move from space to space to extend their stay.  It mostly rained (we live in the Pacific NW after all) and people would stay in their tin boxes with the shades drawn.

The day the house was due to close, we were anxiously waiting for funds to deposit.  After many excuses and extensions, the buyer never even deposited his earnest money.  No funds on closing day.  The deal expired.  We still owned our house.  The entire offer was a huge scam.  I’m not completely sure what this guy’s story is.  Not sure if he was mentally ill and thought he truly had money, or if he thought he could hack into someone else’s account.  All I know is that we were devastated.  Here we were living in a sketchy campground, having to re-list our empty home (it was beautifully, professionally staged before).  And we gave away so many valuable items in our home because we were in a rush.  And now we had a mortgage payment and campground fees at the same time.

Luckily, we have some amazing friends who offered to let us park our trailer in their driveway while we re-listed the house.  I can’t express our gratitude to them enough.  They were there for us at a time when we all truly needed to be with friends.  Along with their neighbors, we joked that we were a commune.  6 adults and 7 kids.  We received another offer on our home almost 2 weeks later.  A young couple with 3 kids.  There was a little bit of annoyance with little repairs they wanted done, but everything else went smoothly.  The house finally closed on May 1st, a little over 9 weeks since we put it on the market.  We were strangely unemotional that day, but we bought margaritas and BBQ food to celebrate.

About a week and a half after our house closed, we decided to leave the “commune” and take the trailer to Lake Sawyer Resort only 20 minutes away.  This way we can come over to visit our friends everyday, but we don’t actually live there anymore.  We thought that would be a better transition for the kids.  (And us adults too really!)  We will miss them so much when we sail away.

Now we spend every waking moment boat shopping.  Looking for our perfect home afloat.  The nice thing about boat shopping now that we live in such a small space is that boats feel so big!  When we were living in our home and looking at boats, they felt tiny.  The world will feel like that when we leave.  … From Seattle to the whole world.

 

 

 

What the moon cycles mean for you when you aren’t a f*cking flower

What the moon cycles mean for you when you aren’t a f*cking flower

by | May 15, 2018 | Writing from the Sea

Planting seeds, blooming, and returning back to the soil is a common metaphor used to explain how the moon cycles impact us each month.

I offer this new metaphor for flowy, watery, ever-changing, adaptable humans like me. For those of us who do not feel grounded most days, and we definitely don’t feel like pretty flowers:

New Moon ~ An orange sunrise on a beautiful sandy beach — A new day. The water is calm where you sit but you can see the waves caused by the Spring Tide crashing, strong and powerful, on the reef in the distance. You feel the need to rise and spring forward.

Waxing Crescent ~ You find a paddleboard on the beach and decide to get in the sea and float. Dipping your paddle in the water, you gently move forward to explore the reef. You circle around it, watching the waves crash on the other side.

First Quarter ~ You feel the momentum and power from those waves and you need to experience them. You’re nervous, but also excited about not being in this calm little cove anymore. You receive support in the form of an amazing sturdy sailboat. You match the power of those waves with your own power, and you soar over the reef into the vast ocean.

Waxing Gibbous ~ It is a beautiful day at sea, sailing through the ocean under your own power. With only the wind and signs from the universe to tell you where to go next, everything just feels “right”. At night, you look up at the stars and ask them to guide you. You are enjoying your journey.

Full Moon ~ You find a new exciting beach and decide to anchor over and throw a huge party to celebrate your accomplishments and your journey so far. You invite friends, you imbibe, and you dance. You look up at the sky and appreciate the outward focus on your life. You dive in the cool water and swim naked around your boat, cleansing your body and feeling free.

Waning Gibbous ~ The sun is shinning in the late morning and you’re feeling a little hung over from your celebrations. You decide to take it easy and go for a swim to relax. It feels cold and refreshing and you spend some time snorkeling, thinking, and watching the sea life.

Third Quarter ~ It’s time to start thinking about heading over the next reef to go somewhere new. You’re feeling restless in this calm cove and the waves are beginning to become more powerful in the distance again. You take a walk around the island to say goodbye to your new friends and thank them for their time with you.

Waning Crescent ~ It is now sunset, dusk. It is time to let go of this current journey and get ready to begin the next. As it gets darker, you pause and take time to meditate on the beach, feeling a little sad, but ready to start fresh in the morning — A new day.