the blog

I’ve been asked a lot what the biggest thing that I learned about myself during the sailing trip. As I reflect on the time at sea, the thing I remember the most and thing that I appreciate having the opportunity to experience was that of presence. It’s something that I have been trying to practice in meditation and throughout each day, but there is nothing like being 1000 miles out at sea to put perspective on the joy of being exactly where you are in the world, aware and alive, able to share joys and sorrows, able to laugh, able to love. I’ll never forget that feeling, and I will try to bring it with me where ever I go. #film #35mm

such a long way from home
we’ve seen so much along this winding road
unsure of where this will lead
but still we go; we’ll keep on
till one day
something unexpected comes at the wrong time
we may not be ready
and we can never be sure
but life is now
leap, run, step, reach, just move

I find myself somewhere between an eviro-conscious vegan and a omnivorous hunter-gatherer. I wonder why we so often try to define food as a part of who we are, putting names on how we eat. What I know is that I’ll continue to try and reduce the distance from my food to my table, and do it in a way that allows me to make choices to minimize my environmental impact while doing so.

Mountain memories, last November with @allen_stltzfs and @jamesbarkman
Many more sailing images to come, but sometimes I find it challenging to edit images immediately after a trip of this magnitude, it almost needs more time to settle in before my mind is ready. Maybe that’s just me, but I like to take my time.

Trying something a little different. The scale of the boat is so interesting to try and photograph from on deck.

“The core of a [human’s] spirit comes from experience”

LAND HO!!! Wow, what an “ocean” of emotions. Actually, although I don’t hate that it’s a decent enough pun. This journey has been one for the books, and it isn’t over yet. Thank you @annie_woody for doing an amazing job sharing our progress (and as always being an amazing sister) and @gregbalkin for trusting that I could land his drone back in the boat while at sea. @sonofaboat , we made it. Now, this little hurricane… Just another hurdle, then on to the next.

Tomorrow morning will be our last bit of cell service before being officially “out at sea” for the next month. I love all the FaceTimes and calls and texts from loved ones and family. Spirits are high, onward we sail.

It started as an idea a few years back. More casual conversation about “would a bigger sail be something you’re interested in” than making true plans. I’ve found a lot of joy in saying yes. I’ll commit to big things, to people, to life. Monday morning we depart for a true unknown. No land in sight, weeks on end. It will be one of the most difficult and I’m certain most rewarding thing that I’ve ever done.
Thanks for taking some photos of Eric and I @whitwhitehouse

“Once in a lifetime.” That’s what I keep hearing about this trip. It’s a major undertaking no doubt, but I have a hard time thinking that there’s anything that’s worth doing once that I wouldn’t want to do again. Check back in in a month and a half and see if I still feel the same way! ——
@backcountry has been supporting my odd ideas for adventure for years now, and actually they are the reason that @sonofaboat and I first met. ——-
Sailing across an ocean is a bit gear intensive, as you might imagine. From extreme waterproof gear, headlamps, knives, camping stoves to sleeping bags. One of the best things we bought for this trip were our two new lounge chairs, aka Crazy Creeks. Check out @backcountry and you can use code WILL15 for 15% off your first purchase at backcountry.com! (exclusions apply) #findyourbackcountry

Fortunate to have spent so much time in New Zealand with these two humans.

Always moving uphill. Last summer with @kylie.fly in the Bugaboos

I always seem to rise with the sun, my body does best on the circadian rhythm of the sun. There’s not many sunrises that I am sad that I woke up for.

We’ve all read the famous quote “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” By H. Jackson Brown Jr.
In just over a week @sonofaboat and I will be setting sail, literally, bound for Hawaii. It’s a flood of emotions, but mostly excitement, one of those trips that we hope will shape the mind and soul for the rest of life.

It’s interesting how life seems to get away from you, going from one thing to the next keeps us feeling busy but rarely affords the time to reflect and sit with the gratitude of the life we’ve been given.

I don’t know how this trip will change me, but I know it will. I don’t know if I should be excited or terrified. Maybe it hasn’t really set in yet, but in a few weeks I’ll find out.

We can always learn, we can always grow, and sometimes it takes a community to help get us there.

From my morning meditation: “Unless we have a sense of nonjudgmental, unconditional kindness towards ourselves, unless we are familiar with resting in that space, it can be very difficult to apply that towards our relationships.”