Aly & John in: “Pirates of the Paria” (a graphic blog episode)

Excerpt from Travelouge April 1st, 2010

We were now somewhere in the middle of the Gulf of Paria. Alyson and I were both uneasy. Neither of us had stopped scanning the horizon since we had entered the “Boca del Serpiente” Channel just before sunrise. The Paria is a small body of water separating the isle of Trinidad from the Venezuelan mainland, and it’s notorious for pirate attacks. Passage through the gulf can only be made through the two separate channels leading in and out of the Paria. Entry from the south via the Mouth of the Serpent and from the north by the Mouth of the Dragon.

“In the mouth of the snake and out the mouth of the dragon.”

A route we would rather have avoided, but weather conditions dictated that we had to sail today…and this was the quickest passage. Sometimes it is hard to decide who to fear more…man or Mother Nature. Hopefully, if all went well we would be passing out of the “Boca del Dragon” Channel in a couple of hours.

The winds had been picking up steadily since day break. A 20 knot breeze out of the southeast kept us on a broad reach making between 6-8 knots. Despite the increasing winds, we carried on under full genoa and main. We were anxious to put the Paria and its rumors of pirates to our stern.
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The Backyard Zoo: Mobile, Alabama

Roadside attractions and road-trips in America. The concept alone fills one’s imagination with nostalgic images of family road trips in station wagons, Route 66, and a whole assortment of 50s era postcards. I even get this image, and I really can’t be that nostalgic for an era that I was never alive in. But the icons and myths of America’s favorite pass-time is still alive and strong today, even if we mostly just drive on the interstate. John loves the idea of a road-trip, for him a dream trip would involve a classic car, a tear-drop camper and driving across the States stopping at all the classic spots. I love the image of such a trip, especially if we actually had a classic car or a cool camper, but the truth is I hate sitting in the car for more than an hour or two at a time. I don’t know if I’ve just become jaded from seeing so many places but for me the scene out of the car looks the same 99% of the time. Luckily I don’t get car sick so I always try to bring some “toys” with me to keep me occupied. If it’s a long trip my side of the car would feature books, sketch pads, camera, phone, and anything else that might distract me for a period of time.

However, since we are back in the USA for a period of time, I have decided to learn to love the road-trip. Specially since driving is still one of the easiest ways to maneuver around this giant country. In order to have a road-trip you really need a destination. But to have an even better road-trip you need some awesomely corny road-side attractions. These are harder to come by, so a little planning and research will go a long way to making your next road-trip a postcard worthy one. Check this website out for weird and bizarre things to see in your area: Roadside America. This is the site where I learned that in Gibsland LA, there is a museum and marker for where Bonnie and Clyde got ambushed and that in Fort Worth there is a tree full of Bicycles. Random? Yes, but the fun of looking for these odd-ball attractions can keep your road-trip entertaining and comment worthy!

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Traveling Couples: Are We Insane? The Survival Guide

8 years ago today John and I met. Well, technically we were in the same class the entire semester already but I hadn’t noticed. Luckily he had! This could of been a classically romantic tale but the truth is he noticed me, not for my drop-dead gorgeousness (HE better say so!) but because I have a nemesis called gravity. For the entire month, twice a week, I would come to our water-color class, fill my water jug and, like everyone else, placed it on my table so I could paint….well unlike everyone else I would then promptly spill the entire jug of water all over myself, my desk, and the floor! Come on! It’s an art desk, it’s tilted, why was gravity only working on me?? My car was in the shop that day and I was roaming around the room after class trying to bum a free ride home when John picked his opportunity and offered me a ride.  As it turned out not only did I get a ride home but a date for that weekend as well.

When John and I met, I had just moved to his home town in south Alabama from the Caribbean and Argentina. He had never left the country nor flown in an airplane. But we got along like two peas in a pod and soon we were hanging out all the time. About six months after we started dating, my family moved to New Zealand. Yes, I know, but please hold the questions till later. We were only in New Zealand for three months before heading back to Japan where we were going to revisit our “hometown” of Nagayo. My sister and I had spent our childhood growing up in that small town outside of Nagasaki.

As My Mother Frantically Yells “Which One Is Mine?!”

We were the only foreign family in the neighborhood, my dad worked in a Japanese company, and my sister and I went to the local kindergarten and elementary schools (except for the two years where Mom home schooled us in English as we were in danger of forgetting). While there, John decided to make his first overseas trip and visit me. He got his first passport, bought his first plane ticket, flew across his first ocean, and navigated through three Japanese airports on his own.  Not only did this experience open up John to a whole new view on the world but it also allowed me to experience something I had almost forgotten, the absolute thrill of experiencing a new place for the first time!

A Ninja, what more can be said?

Just another normal day in Japan…

Keep going, the top ten tips for staying a happy team/couple coming right up!

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You’ve Been Traveling Around, Now What?

What happens to travelers when they finally “go home?” After all the planning, saving, determination, downsizing, chaos and sometimes sheer terror of leaving everything behind. After traveling, backpacking, sailing, or living in another country is done and you find your self back in your hometown. Some may be lucky enough to have a home and job waiting for them but for the most of us we will need to re-build our lives. Many people might find this stage un-nerving enough to not want to leave in the first place. What we have found is that the things we learned about ourselves while traveling and living overseas has shaped us in more ways than we expected, including being mentally ready for this next phase in our lives. In the past year, between getting ready to go and actually being out there we have gained a whole new level of confidence in ourselves and what we are capable of. It also allowed us to meet many people that by sharing their stories and being by them we have learned a lot of valuable lessons that might have otherwise taken years to learn. One of the most important things that we actually might have learned is simply to actually start believing that we could be and do anything we wanted, as long as we were committed and willing to work our butts off. Today I’ll look at what a few of us “travelers” are up to when they find themselves back “home.”

John and I have been back since Christmas and we’re staying at his family home in Andalusia with his parents. We are not sitting around watching TV though, we are starting on phase II of operation Hop & Jaunt world domination via friendly fire! Long name but basically it means we have finally found the cojones to start a project we’ve always dreamed of doing: starting our own design and advertising business. Initially a home business but hoping to take make virtually anywhere with us with the power of the internet! The goal is to be location independent and to try and make money online as much as possible. We’ve always been designers, both of us having been caught doodeling on our notebooks since grammar school. Until recently we just thought we needed to be “grown-ups” and have a regular office job with an actual paycheck, insurance, and a commute, preferably with a cranky boss or two thrown in. It was while we were out that we had a chance to meet other designers , bartered with our work, dabbled in freelance, and slowly but surely realized that our parents were right, we were pretty good at this. Most importantly we realized that we CAN do it. So starting this year we have made concrete steps to open up our own free-lance design shop and on-line business! Our ultimate goal is to become our tagline:
“traveling designers.” Setting up shop where ever our laptops plug in, preferably in tropical climates but we’ll start one step at a time. 2010 the year that shall Hop & Jaunt!

Current Office Of Hop & Jaunt: Aly Planning The Next Adventure During Break! Don’t Ask Why There’s Milk AND Wine On My Desk..

We’re Back In America

For those of you who have been following our blog for a while you might recall that the first sailboat we were on, Quercus, was my parent’s sailboat. We had met up with them in Grenada and sailed together through the Venezuelan Islands to Curacao. While in Curacao they sold Quercus and headed back to the good ‘ol U.S. of A. Once I get a hold of our old photos I will introduce you to my family but let’s just say for now that my parents are one of the original adventurers, having sailed, lived, and traveled around the world for the past 25+ years. My parents bought a small wooden boat in the middle of the Pacific, and in 1986 when I was two and my sister was still in my Mom’s belly they packed their suitcases for the first of a thousand time.

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LIFE ABOARD & ABROAD

Life Aboard & Abroad

Since we’ve been back stateside, we have had plenty of questions about life aboard a sailboat.  So we’ve decided to answer some of those questions in todays blog by describing what life aboard was like for us.  Feel free to post new questions in the comment area below and don’t forget to help us win a trip to Argentina by clicking here!

Life Aboard:  The Day Begins

The sun is nature’s Alarm Clock.  It happened every morning despite our best efforts to crawl further into the shadows of our bunks.  Still, there was no hiding from the sun once it rose high enough to shine through the open hatches.  But it was a nice, gradual way of waking up.  Nothing like the annoying screaming of my alarm clock now.  But thinking back on the size of my small quarter berth, I don’t think I’ll ever complain about having a small apartment again.

Sleeping soundly in my bunk.

Once we had crawled out of our bunks and had a good stretch it was time for a shower.  Nothing shocks you awake like diving off the boat into cool Caribbean waters.  I miss personal hygiene being this simple.  It was as easy as falling over board.  Since most bathing was done outdoors, modesty really wasn’t a practiced concept in most anchorages.  Eventually, we got used to seeing our neighbors’ bare asses …and having them see ours.

Our morning shower. Photo courtesy of www.djkphotos.com

Shave Optional:  On days that I deemed a good shave necessary I would shave with a bucket of saltwater and a dull razor.  I definitely don’t miss this.  Its unbelievable the amount of hair that gathers all over the boat.  It was a daily chore just having to sweep it all up.  So it was just easier to do all my shaving over a bucket.  Thats probably why I didn’t shave so much.  And I have no idea how Alyson managed all her shaving.

Next comes a saltwater shave from a bucket.

Transportation:  Life without a car

Its strange.  I love to drive, and I drive a lot.  My ole pick-up truck has covered a lot of ground in the past 10 years, and I would definitely rather drive 1000 miles than fly the same distance.  That being said, I didn’t really miss having a car at all.  As a matter of fact, life without a car forced us to plan better, be more resourceful and more outgoing.  Which in turn, led to new friendships and experiences we would not have made otherwise.

the Dinghy:  Our dry way of getting to shore.  Even though we got along fine without a car, there was no living aboard without a dinghy.

Going for a Sunday drive.

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