The other night, while Scott and I were sipping a delicious Pinot Noir on deck, under the stars - I had a little bit of an epiphany. Earlier that day I had made tomato-basil soup from scratch (and sans recipe!) and that night, I thought to myself, "I would never, ever had made soup from scratch when I was on land". In fact, on land - I was loathe to cook anything. For one, I was too busy and just didn't have the time and on the other hand, I didn't need to make things from scratch. Convenience, when it comes to food, is at it's apex in the USA. I always told myself I couldn't cook - when the reality was simply that I didn't. I thought of all the other things we don't do because we don't have to, like walking. I drove all over the place in Chicago - not necessarily because I had to - but because I could. I would never have walked four miles to a grocery store and back - it would have been so much easier to take the car. Now, we don't even bat an eye at a two mile jaunt to go get supplies because it's simply what we have to do. There is no running out to get this or that. It not that easy.
Now, instead of television (which we never watched much of to begin with), we read. Instead of long, hot showers, we take efficient, quick showers off the back of the boat. Instead of a chore taking one hour, it now takes four. Instead of going to the grocery store with a list, we go to the grocery store and see if they have what we want. It's all about working with what is at hand and making do. The strange thing is that this extra energy we put into our lives now makes it all so much more rewarding. It's the little things we appreciate now. Funny how it seems the less you have, the less you want...and need.
I don't mean to say that living on land makes you complacent - but if you are someone like me, it just might. It's so much easier to take the path of least resistance; so much easier to make choices based on convenience rather than need. When your life is ruled by schedules and deadlines I think it is almost impossible not to. Out here, there's little to none of that. The other day our little dingy motor put-putted out so we are forced to row wherever we want to go, taking us five times as long to get from A to B. Neither of us got angry at this fact, we just shrugged and said, "Guess we're rowing". Life on the sea takes a little more effort, a little more thought and a lot more work. There are many risks and many rewards. But we take it in stride. Living in paradise doesn't come for free, but it is well worth the price.
Love,
Brittany & Scott
5 comments:
So true! I love seeing the islands through your eyes, and the places that were familiar to us last winter.
Excellent observations. Peeling off the layers of "necessary" convenience is a dificult act on land. It feels like deprivation, whereas living on the move requires stripping down to a mobile weight.
I have a hard time figuring out how the Pardeys manage without an engine. I am trying to do that one just sailing on a lake, and it requires an enormous mindset change.
I love your posts....
Can you post your tomato & basil soup recipe?
Great post! We hear that a lot of cruisers lose a little weight (if they have any to lose). We can't wait to have something more rewarding calling us off our butts at night and replacing the boring tv!
You're wise beyond your years. I'm in my mid-40's and the the economy has forced me to re-think how we've been living. Do we really need to have 2,400 sq.ft. and 4 cars? I don't have as much money to throw around as I did a few years ago, but I'm much less stressed-out. So my wife and I have decided to sell (luckily we have considerable equity in our home), and our plan is to buy some land and try to build a tiny "net zero"/passive house. I tried to sell her on the idea of boat living, but "the admiral" wouldn't go for it...yet.
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