Close to nature and at her whim
For most of us growing up caused a trauma. Either we were born during wars, dictatorships or military rule, in an oppressive society, with a despotic father, a cruel mother, in an intolerant religious family or in an institution. We were abandoned, abused, bullied or …
On land I feel like a fish out of water. Not in my natural habitat anymore. It’s so different to be back on land and in a big city. So much concrete. I could hug every tree. In Berlin every single city tree is numbered …
A kid in my neighborhood in Hamburg, American I think, owned taped US versions of Sesame Street, very unusual for us who had never even seen a tape recorder before. And then he introduced me to a new world. I was six or seven and …
Hailed as our savior in clean mobility and finally fully embraced by the automotive industry, lithium or 3Li is the main component in the electric car batteries. Tesla Motors jump-started this e-car revolution and its founder Elon Musk took over from the late Steve Jobs …
My dream was to live sustainably and Radu’s dream was to travel. We found the SV Imagine and combined our dreams. We pushed off the dock three years ago and I started writing while sailing into Mexico, in the cockpit, typing into my cell phone. …
Cosmetic surgery is women’s modern day corset. At the time when women weren’t allowed to vote, had no civil rights and their husbands made all decisions for them, women wore corsets. As if to make them constantly feel that they lived in shackles, they felt …
San Diego is playing Miami today. Humidity is through the roof. It’s smoldering hot. I am sweating. Moving just a little bit feels like running a sprint. Even my brain is lazy and I can only come up with some lame 80’s song for a …
Nature is exuberantly creative, inventive and expansive but always, well, natural. The artificial is a human invention. Only humans can and want to escape the natural. Humans pursue the artificial relentlessly. The artificial seems to make us feel secure. Germs are fought with drugs and …
Is it in us on a cellular level that we have this urge to compare? Or is it a left over animal instinct when being the first to eat in a pack meant power and a better chance of survival? Anyone sensitive enough to consider …
You might remember a time when sitting around and staring into space was a pastime. A pastime of a time past. Now young, old, women, kids, men, everyone is busy all the time. Every increment of time is filled, with work, commuting, family, entertainment. I …
Iceland has everything: breathtaking landscape, glaciers, volcanoes, waterfalls, fish, sheep and energy. And so much of it. Countries worldwide try to save energy and find alternative energy sources. Uniquely Iceland will never have to worry about energy nor fresh water. This volcanic island is sitting …
We don’t have many clothes on board. Most are geared toward living on on boat in a warm climate and some cold weather gear for sailing. We have enough clothes to last us about 2-3 weeks and all together fit in two large duffle bags …
The hardest thing to do is letting others be, to be themselves or versions thereof. We are all trying. Trying for something. To live as we best can, we give our best at any given moment. For others, especially family and friends, this is sometimes …
I cannot help but wonder if everything we have been taught about a successful life is nothing but a big scheme. It seems that only a few and, most often, other people profit from it not us. The perfect life, money and success is dangled in …
Yesterday, we hung out with Lupe. Lupe opened the one and only restaurant in Bahía San Evaristo two years ago. Cruisers, who anchor in this bay every year, encouraged this small fishing village of around a hundred souls to cater to the passing boats and …
Tiny living come in all forms, can be on land or on water, mobile or permanent. Tiny is making an impact. It’s a game changer. Tiny houses are now trendy in the US. So trendy that there is a program on the American Home&Garden cable …
Easier said than done, letting go describes the concept of acceptance and even forgiveness. After one lets go, one is set free. With all the freedom that sailing brings, we still bring with us ourselves and all our baggage everywhere we go. So true for me. …
The other day in Bahía de Los Ángeles, we were sitting around with a bunch of cruisers under Guillermo’s palapa when a landlubber from Texas joined our group. He was a young Armenian immigrant to the US close to getting his Green Card and on …
We are addicted to it. Me, Radu, our society, we all love electricity. The majority of sustainable energy effort goes towards replacing energy from fossil fuels with electrical energy. Rarely have I seen a community without it. In Bahía Magdalena rattled and huffed a ginormous …
Most of you wonder probably how does one live on a small sailboat with a partner. And then to go cruising and to be together all day, every day. Especially on passages and at anchor the boat is all you have. You can retreat to …
Imagine living in 250 sq feet/ meters with your husband and a dog. Imagine your closet contains 10 T-shirts, 7 shirts, 5 shorts, 5 pairs of shoes, a jewelry box the size of a large shampoo bottle. Most of your clothes are sailing and fleece …
I asked Radu the night before last, if he was ready to go again. The next leg was our third 30 hour passage and the seas were big the last times making our sails exhausting. Yes, he said, he was alright and I was too, …
Radu is learning how to filet a fish, a Pargo rojo (Pacific Red Snapper). We met Antonio, the sheriff of this small village, when he secured our dinghy on the beach the tide had broken loose and was about to float away. They started talking …
Personal hygiene on a boat can be a challenge. It’s interesting to live on the water and to have so much water around us and not to be able to use much of it. We have two water tanks of 40 gallons/ 151 liters each …
We were all ready to go to our next stops down the Baja, the boat was ship shape on deck and below, when Radu turned on the engine and noticed that the oil level was very low. Not sure if this was because the engine …
