One minute you are diving into the ocean wondering how to frolic through the day.
The next you are diving through a throng of people wearing a suit and wondering whether you’ll find suitable employment.
Which one would you rather be doing? Yeah: we’ll I’ve been doing the other one for a change. Ten days split between New York and LA.
On one hand, it is shocking to jump from one life to the other. The contrasts are obvious: open ocean vs. rivers of cars; schedules, mobile phones, texts & e-mails, vs. taking a VHF radio ashore in case you need to be in touch with the boat; wide open spaces and the twinkle of stars, vs. concrete & city lights.
But on the other hand, it is easy to fall back into my “old” existence: like putting on an old pair of shoes. I’ve spent my whole life training to navigate my career; I’ve only spent the past year learning how to navigate the high seas.
The end is nigh for the Family Green’s sailing adventure: the time has come to start worrying about how to reverse the flow of $s from our bank accounts. It is sad to think that we’ll be moving off the boat. The kids have grown up so much over the past year and I worry about how the rampant consumerism of the world will affect them once we “go back”. But on the other hand, not many people can say that they’ve done what we’ve done and no one can take it away from us. This voyage has changed us all. The bonds that hold The Family Green together have been strengthened and reinforced in ways I couldn’t possibly have imagined before we left. And hell: we can always do it again!
So here’s the plan: we have some more repairs to make to Ondine (nothing new there), which we will complete in Greece, and then we will turn around and head west:
- Between now & November: Head out of the Mediterranean via North Africa (no, not Libya or Egypt, but Algeria, Tunisia & Morocco).
- Nov/Dec/Jan: Head out to the Canary Islands, and then across the Atlantic Ocean to the Caribbean,
- Jan-Mar: head past the ABC islands and up through the Panama canal,
- Apr-May: up the coast of Mexico & Baha, and to Marina del Rey in Los Angeles, California.
That’s my dream, but we won’t make it. As soon as one of the following happens, we will abort:
- I accept a job offer
- Emma-Kate accepts a job offer
- Someone purchases Ondine (we listed her with a broker about a month ago).
So if you know of anyone who’s looking for a well-weathered CEO, a very talented screenwriter/director, or an recently updated catamaran, then by all means, point him or her in our direction. We are switching on our e-mails and mobile phones and are cautiously preparing ourselves for re-entry.
