Travel on Forgeover

Community

Sat, 03 Jan 2015 13:48:00 +0000

From time to time, in the course of my travels, people have asked me about “home.” By this they usually mean the USA in general or one of the specific places I’ve lived. When I talk about the good things, I almost always start and end with community. I tend to describe (my) New England as a place where community is valued highly, and then give specific examples of the types of activities that illustrate this value. The coffee social we organized when we lived Mountain View was one common example, but this New Year’s Eve will be my new favorite (if I can find a way to encapsulate it).

A (pseudo) Tourist in the Bay Area

Mon, 22 Dec 2014 15:27:53 +0000

Our trip to the Bay Area was surreal. We had the pleasure of staying with our Framily (the Logans). Their home feels like our home, even though they had only just moved in when we moved away. So much of our old community vibe lives there, that it was like stepping back into routine. And unlike our family, theirs is supremely tranquil. We also had the good fortune to connect with a few old and seriously dear friends, strengthening relationships that have been mostly on hold since we left.

Native Culture Shock

Wed, 03 Dec 2014 08:11:49 +0000

I’ve been meaning to sit down and put my thoughts to words for a week now. Arriving in the United States after 3 years abroad was certain to be a bit of a transition. This long separation is compounded by the nature of my lifestyle: the constantly shifting landscape (literally and metaphorically); the unique challenges of a life at sea; establishing myself for life and work in a (not so, but still) foreign country; and the very real fact that I have, over the past 3 years, manifested a life that is as close to my personal ideal as one can get while still balancing the needs and desires of three other individual beings.

School Holiday

Sat, 13 Jul 2013 18:25:47 +0000

School Holiday is our family’s newest novelty. Vick braved the first week (of two) on her own. It was cold and rainy and they spend a lot of time baking and visiting the museums. By the end of the first week though (despite heroic displays of positivity) it was getting pretty clear that if we the three of them spent the next week on the boat, in the rain, it was not going to be a good scene. We consider ourselves to be pretty stout, flexible cruiser types. When the condensation gets so thick that it starts collecting as drops on the overheads, we grin and bear it. But this wet season seems to have started when we arrived in Australia and 7 months later, is still going strong.

Everything Old is New Again

Sun, 28 Oct 2012 15:04:49 +0000

We’ve visited four of Vanuatu’s beautiful islands. We’re now in Port Vila experiencing the touristy city life, with ridiculous cover bands playing loudly on the harbor’s edge, gift shops filled with Chinese made souvenirs, and inappropriately dressed tourist girls. While I love our access to the waterfront showers, the delicious juice bar, and the amazing produce market, this is a scene that could be experienced in any country. Where we’ve come from in Anelcauhat, Aneityum and Port Resolution, Tanna, is another world, a world I’m so grateful to have seen.

I Have Never Felt So Foreign

Sun, 12 Aug 2012 14:27:32 +0000

When I visit a new country I tend to see all the ways in which its culture is different first. A week or so into my visit the similarities with my native culture overtake the differences and I am overwhelmed (for a time anyway) by the beauty of our world’s diversity.

Here on Samoa (pronounced Sa’ moa) I have yet to move fully into the second stage. Every time I feel like I am close, something alien is revealed to me that sets me back to seeing the differences. This (two) island nation is gorgeous. Its people are, by and large, incredibly outgoing and proud of their heritage, and they share a (second) language. I had expected this (amongst other things) to make it easy for me to fit in and feel welcome here. Not so much.

Are we crazy?

Mon, 04 Jun 2012 18:39:06 +0000

I am often asked about cruising with kids. Is it difficult? I’ve overheard people talking about us. We’re brave apparently, and it’s not because of the ocean, or the remote places we go, it’s because we took our kids. We’re also crazy, according to a gal hiking behind us recently. And we love the commotion, mess, and noise of 5 little kids running around the boat, thought the gal in the slip next to us for a week in La Cruz. Most people out here have waited until their kids are grown up and from what I gather, most people are unwilling to live this closely with their kids day in and day out.

The things we do in Mexico

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 09:36:44 +0000

When we left California we knew that we’d have to lower our standards in certain ways. We left our carseats behind, sold our bike helmets, and stepped out of Whole Foods.

We got to Mexico and ate ceviche, with salsa, from a street side vendor. When we order water at a restaurant we don’t worry if it comes from a bottle or a glass.

We’ve accepted rides in cars without carseats. We’ve taken rides in taxis without seat belts. We once waited for a bus so long we got in a delivery truck in the front seat, with no seat belts, with a stranger.

100ish Reasons I Love Mexico

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 08:49:55 +0000

I love this country. I love the chaotic efficiency that I’ve observed in everything from a marina checkins to hopping off a bus (they don’t quite stop to let you off). Speaking of busses, I love that they are all different. Today I saw one with a spoiler (after market on this model of Mercedes bus, I’m fairly certain) and a Hot Wheels® decal. Tonight’s bus was blaring tradtional mexican music alternating with hip hop.

Maine Vacation 2011 in Photos

Mon, 05 Sep 2011 16:50:41 +0000

This photo roundup covers the going away party and a few other highlights. Enjoy

Anchor of My Dreams

Sat, 05 Feb 2011 21:17:50 +0000

We’re on our new anchor for the first time. When we started telling everyone that we were leaving this year for our cruise the sailors around us came out of the woodwork with offers of help to make things happen. Over the past few weeks we’ve purchased and installed our Rocna 33, our Lewmar V3 Windlass, and 300 feet of G40 HT 5/16" chain. We bought our anchor used, as a return to the store, for about a third of the retail price. The windlass and chain were also purchased at excellent prices. Still, for the cost of all of this ground tackle we could have stayed in a marina for a long long time. But staying in a marina is not our plan.

But Planes Are Faster…

Mon, 17 Jan 2011 22:03:24 +0000

A four year old friend of ours wants to know why we live on a boat. Her mom said it was so we could travel around the world. “Planes are faster. In case you maybe didn’t know that,” she replied.

“Is it so nice as all that?” asked the mole, shyly…

“Nice? It’s the only thing,” said the Water Rat Solemnly, as he leaned forward for his stroke. “Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing – absolutely nothing – half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.”

Wanderers and Planters

Wed, 22 Dec 2010 21:46:31 +0000

Life is an Adventure. There are as many ways to experience that adventure as there are (have been, and will be) people. In the interest of creating a readable post I will now slay my own pet peeve and propose this fictional dichotomy.

Imagine for a moment a world so simple that it has only two types of people. Wanderers and Planters. Each of these types are dedicated to spending their lives learning, spreading happiness, building community, making the world more beautiful, and ultimately defining their own meaning for it all. Each of them has their own distinct modality, but is one better suited to achieving the goals than the other?

Home

Fri, 22 Oct 2010 23:46:45 +0000

I wasn’t at home when we were tied into slip A58 in Monterey Harbor. I was homesick. Surprising yes, since I was on my own boat, tied up with my usual dock lines, cooking in my own galley, and sleeping in my own bed. I spent my time in Monterey constantly checking the three forecast areas on NOAA to find our perfect weather window to head north. Again, I was surprised at myself. The trip north is usually hard, wet, and cold. Our boat is in great shape and we could actually (foolishly) cash in Tucker’s retirement accounts and head south for at least a year. I always want to go south, or anywhere warmer than wherever I am. But I wanted to go north, to go home.

September's End in Photos

Sun, 26 Sep 2010 22:17:11 +0000

Buying a SIM card in India

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 15:04:01 +0000

I had a heck of a time purchasing and subsequently using my Indian Airtel SIM card. I learned a lot in the process that might be useful to other travelers visiting India. The following are some of my experiences as well as a few suggestions.

Obtaining a SIM card from abroad:

This is perhaps the most confusing step in an entirely confusing process. I started by trying to purchase a card online. This is a complete non-starter. All of the links that I found point to sites that seem to have been set up prior to 26/11 (Mumbai’s Terrorist attacks). Subsequent to the attacks, India’s government set up a serious bureaucracy that seems to do little more than inconvenience legitimate customers.

Hong Kong and India Pictures

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 07:40:25 +0000

I’ve just posted the best (331) pictures from our trip. I will be adding Titles and Summaries over the next few days but if there is one that you would like to know more about in the meantime, just add a comment here with the picture’s URL and I’ll jump ahead. The “En Trip” sub-album contains photos I uploaded while we were traveling. For the most part they are duplicates (at lower resolution) of what is in the main album, but there are a few gems from my Dad’s phone.

RED SHIFT (VII) -- The Circle in the Square

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 01:38:53 +0000

Varkala, Kerala

November 14, 2009

The muezzin’s chant wakes me at 5 am. It is still dark outside except for the occasional lightning bloom over the Arabian Sea. The early morning rumbles with ominous portents. First a ferocious dogfight down the lane with anguished howls from the injured, then an argument between man and a woman close by, the first public display of such emotion I have witnessed. I lie back on my pillow to read with my nightlight, trying not to disturb T who is sleeping peacefully beside me. But peace is not the order of this morning. An enormous swarm of screaming blackbirds begins wildly swirling the palms in the walled garden just to our south, reminding me of a Hitchcock movie with it’s eerie freneticism.

A Royal (Enfield) Adventure

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:31:02 +0000

After getting situated in our hotel room, the first order of business was to get a couple of motorcycles so we might regain a modicum of control over our adventure. Dad had an aesthetic interest in the Royal Enfield. So we asked our host if he could arrange such a thing. After a little back and forth on the details he went off to see what he could do. A few minutes later he came back with the details and within 30 minutes we were staring at two of the most beaten up bikes left in India. The first Royal Enfield bikes were built in India in 1955, and I suspect that ours were from the first batch.

Bangalore to Varkala

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 05:51:46 +0000

We left Bangalore last night on an overnight train. We were joined in our sleeper (2AC) car by two guys who were heading to Cochin for a business meeting. After chatting for a while they started making recommendations for our next few days. “You must go to Varkala” they pressed “You will find nice people there and its not too busy”. We chatted a bit longer and then settled in to read the guide books. Dad and I both picked a few hotels that looked good and then hit the hay.

RED SHIFT(V) -- House Call

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:37:25 +0000

Bangalore

November 8, 2009

Darkness falls abruptly here. At 6 p.m. it is raining hard and the light is abandoning us. Tucker hangs onto the luggage rack of our ancient 100 cc. Hero Honda with a steely grip as I pitch and weave through the crush of Mysore traffic, wiping the fog from my glasses and searching for any clue as to where we might be. Mysore is laid out like a Mandala, with roads radiating outward from the Maharaja’s Palace. An endless web of crooked lanes link the rays, with confusing traffic circles at key intersections. Watchtower Circle, New Statue Circle, Devaraja Urs Swamibatami Circle. Their names are helpfully scribed in Kannada, the predominant second language of Karnataka state. Occasionally a sign in English will give a vague nod in the right direction, but I am forever disappointed in my hope for clear direction. When the sun is out I know my compass points, but in the dark of night in the rain it is dead reckoning only, hopefully in the primary meaning of the phrase. Still, the fact that Sateesh’s motorcycle has no working lights or horn raises the vague possibility of second meanings.

Red Shift - Tippu Express

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:26:09 +0000

Tucker and I are planted on platform number 9 waiting where the porter has deposited us for the 3 p.m. Tippu Express to Mysore. It is 1:30 p.m. and Tuck has settled in for the long wait, putting his backpack down on the dirty cement platform and perching atop it with easy adaptability. I am standing at parade rest, one hand gripping my matched luggage.

It is hot, but not oppressive, and the hundred or two other passengers have made themselves as comfortable as possible, chatting, rearranging belongings, trying to position themselves on the platform to be located properly for their car when it arrives, or staring at us. I am trying not to stare back, but with little success. Oddly, there are no flies despite the fecund air and abundant garbage.

Arriving in India

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 09:17:52 +0000

The flight to Mumbai was as sublimely pleasant as the long haul to Hong Kong had been. It wasn’t until we started our descent that the uncertainty started to set in. Looking down on the city from the approach path you see slums everywhere with occasional stands of sky scrapers sprouting up amongst them. We landed and disembarked and things were pretty predictable until we reached the last turn before the elevator that descended to the H1N1 screening area. Blood curdling screams reached up to assault us and I could have sworn that someone was being tortured. Rounding the corner I was relieved to identify the owner of the tormented bellow. She couldn’t have been more than 2 years old. My relief was instantaneous. A universal sympathy connected me to her parents and I alighted the escalator with a small smile. The customs and immigration process was a tremendous press of bodies. The bodies combined with the unfamiliarity of the language to dispossess me of my remaining emotional energy. I was running on empty.

Hong Kong

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 09:14:24 +0000

The e-mail from Bentley’s Hotel came while we were still in the relative comfort of our Hong Kong hotel. The management let us know that our “Tentative Reservation” could not be filled. We would have to find another place to stay. For some reason this didn’t strike either dad or I as a particularly big deal.

We spent the morning hoofing it around Hong Kong Island. When our feet started to fail us we took a bus until we were ready to walk again. Our journey led us through an amazing outdoor market, a bustling shopping district, and eventually through the Botanical Gardens. By the time we figured out how lost we were, there was nothing for it but to hail a cab and get found, and back to the hotel.

Preparing for TED and India

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 22:37:02 +0000

3 days to go. I can’t remember ever being this excited for a trip. I haven’t packed a thing yet, but I spend every spare second thinking about what to bring (and perhaps more importantly what to leave behind). The anticipation of the people I’m going to meet and the places I’m going to see is nerve wracking and thrilling and overwhelming.

I’m buried at work. TED related activity, on both the TEDIndia and Jill’s Wish front have created a maelstrom of tasks and objectives. Beyond that I’ve got new and old projects coming out my ears. Come Friday, I will have to find a way to let all of those things go so that I can be free to lose myself in this experience.

TED India and Beyond

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 22:47:28 +0000

While I was on vacation, I received word that I had been invited to be a guest at TED India 2009. Tonight I completed the registration and made it official. My tickets are purchased and plans are being laid.

When I mentioned to my dad that I was almost certainly going to India, he told me that he had always wanted to go and got this far away look in his eye. I instantly extended an invitation to him, hoping that he would accept, but aware that it was a big lift for him. I was happily surprised when my Mom started to encourage him and he gradually agreed that this was the chance of a lifetime. Of course my parents have this habit of dreaming about things in a way that looks to outsiders like resolve, so I was optimistically skeptical until last week when we bought our plane tickets.