The Vagabond and the Homesteader

For me there are two ways to get to know the world. One way is to travel it. The other is to sit by the river and see what comes my way. Both methods have their charm.

I've always been interested in different people. We are born into a limited set of circumstances: a family with a certain social position, in a particular religion, and in a geographical area. That is what we we think of as normal. To others it might seem exotic, but it works both ways.

Normally this time of year I'm the traveler. Sometimes in November I'm in motion, either traveling down the road or on the water. If not actually traveling by now, I'm preparing to travel. My mind is filled with thoughts of routes, motion and equipment.

Circumstances and choice have put me in the role of the one who sits by the river. While the role is not new to me, it's been sometime since I've played it. My focus has been less on the skills of the vagabond and more on the necessities of being a homesteader. Much of my time and treasure has been spent on the mundane yet important duties necessary to thrive in a northern winter.

Old Einstein was right. It's all a matter of perspective. Is the person in the boat really rushing past the shore or does it just look that way? Could it be that the boat is standing still and the world is revolving beneath him? The end result is the same.

The worse part of being a vagabond is leaving so many people behind. Yet the very act of travel brings one into contact with new people to befriend. There's also the opportunity to reconnect with friends and family who live far away. The homesteader may have more friends and family in their daily life, but the chance to meet new people is limited. No wonder that so many cultures put great emphasis on hospitality towards the traveler. The value of differences is recognized.

There was a third path, but it's not as common in the modern world. Migratory tribes used to be common. Perhaps at one time that's how a good part of the human population lived. It has many of the advantages of the vagabond and the homesteader. There is the advantage of seeing new places and meeting new peoples. Yet at the same time one is surrounded by ones own culture and community. Unfortunately today we have the poorest expression of that dynamic: the tour group. Oh well, such is life.

There's a saying that no matter where you go, there you are. The biggest journey happens within. Whether we stay at home or travel the world, it's the backdrop to the greatest adventure.

-Sixbears

Itchy Feet

Monday the van goes into the shop to get the vacuum pump replaced. Once it's fixed I'll be able to haul the sailboat down to the Gulf of Mexico. It won't be long now before my lovely wife and I will be able to continue our sailing adventures. We'll most likely go for a day sail as a shake down cruise before heading out on an extended journey.

Back in November we had to pull out for my lovely wife to have dental work done. Now we are at square one again. We could drive a couple hundred miles down the coast and launch where we pulled out. Instead, we'll launch from the same place we did last fall. It's not about the destination, but the journey. There are some great places we wouldn't mind seeing again, plus we can see things we missed last time.

While it has been nice to spend time with dad in his retirement park, I'm not ready for a retirement park.

Lessons learned from our last trip should help with the next leg of our journey. We were in pretty good shape after almost a month on the water. Our boat is small, but having a lot of food storage was a huge advantage. It was nice to be able to keep on sailing rather than hunting around for more provisions. The smart phone with Google Maps, Active Captain, charts, and an Internet hot spot was a huge help. Never mind all the books I downloaded to read on it.

That doesn't mean there aren't a few little things we could change. We'll leave some gear behind and add other things. My cabin screen will be replaced with a finer no see 'em screen. I'm also packing more and stronger bug repellents -along with more anti-inch cream. It's the little things sometimes . . .

I'm a big believer in lists. Once something is written down my mind is free to think of other things. I've a to do list, equipment list, and a provisions list. One of the “to do” things is some of that boring business stuff like keeping the bills paid. Most of my bills have been either eliminated or put on automatic payments. However, there are a few pesky things that need personal attention. Would you believe that in this day and age there are still things that need to be paid by check? Yes, I sometimes write paper checks -like some kind of barbarian.

Soon enough we'll be back on the water.

-Sixbears

Wandering life

I'm home less than a week and yet I find my thoughts already turning to the wandering life. Maybe it's seeing fresh snow on the sailboat. That just doesn't look right.

There's the old saying that it's about the journey, not the destination. Most of us focus on the destination. With our modern means of rapid travel the journey has been reduced to something to get over with quickly so we can get to the good stuff. That attitude makes sense for those with more money than time.

Those of us who focus more the journey have a different attitude. The destination is almost immaterial. Ask them where they are going and you might get an answer like south, or west. My wife and I spent quite a few winters traveling in our car and living in a tent. Sometimes we'd leave a campground and have absolutely no destination in mind. We'd pick a random direction and drive. As the day wore on, we'd look for some place interesting to spend the night. Even places we absolutely loved couldn't hold us much longer than about 3 days.

The nomad life is even stronger when your vehicle has even a few more amenities. My sailboat is small, yet it easily carries everything needed for two people for at least a week. The boat is home. Even my van feels pretty homey. It goes beyond having a secure place to sleep and food to eat. I keep a small library on board. Pull the curtains closed, grab a good book, and it almost doesn't matter where we are.

While nice, it doesn't even take a vehicle to get that home in motion feel. A small backpack and the right attitude and the trail is your home.

I'm trying to be semi-nomadic and have the best of both worlds. Travel stimulates the mind. There are new people to meet and things to see. However, roots have value too. It's good to be in one place long enough to brew beer, plant and harvest a garden, and connect with friends and family.

With my winter travels cut short, my guess is that there will be a lot of shorter trips and adventures before the next big trip. A month and half trip didn't quite slake my thirst for travel.

-Sixbears

Types of travel

My lovely wife and and I have been doing a lot of trip planning. If all goes well, Friday we'll leave New Hampshire and a couple of days later we'll be in Florida. I used to drive it non-stop, but it's much slower going towing a boat.

Flying down would only take a few hours. Of course, I couldn't exactly take a boat on the plane. Then there's the whole TSA thing. It would take an extreme emergency for me to ever fly again. My flying boycott won't change the system, but it will limit my contact with idiots and wannabe Nazis.

We plan on doing some sailing this winter. The hull speed of our little sailboat is only 5.5 knots, not very fast at all.

It wasn't all that many years ago when the fast mode of transportation was by sailboat. While not fast by today's standards, it really is a marvelous way to travel. The wind does the work, and it's free. Even a small boat like mine can carry quite a bit of stuff.

Imagine thinking of journeys, not in hours or days, but in weeks and months. No wonder we say the journey is more important than the destination -there was a whole heck of a lot more journey back in the day.

Imagine setting out on a good ship, with equipment and supplies to last for many weeks. The possibilities are endless. Even national borders are just lines on a chart. In my minds eye, I picture a boat on a long passage. Let's say someone left the world behind on September 10, 2001. Several months later when they land a distant port, the world has changed.

If something like that happened to me, it'd be really tempting to quickly resupply and set out again, in hopes the world would be a bit saner by the next port of call.

-Sixbears

At first we backpacked

When my wife and I met, I was an avid backpacker. She soon joined me on a lot of my hiking trips. Even after having kids, we still went hiking. Before long the kids were hiking with us.

Later, we did more canoe camping. We’ve always been water people and a canoe allowed us to take more comfort items. I even built a 20 foot cedar strip expedition type canoe. We had some great times.

Eventually the kids grew up and moved out. At the time, I was involved heavily with an on-line magazine. It occurred to me that as long as I could occasionally get to an Internet connection, I could do my work. My wife quit her job and we hit the road. Our car at the time was a tiny Dodge Neon. We put a canoe on the room, a tent in the back, and loaded up the dog. We spent up to 6 months a year living out of that tiny car.

Then I picked up an old Mercedes 240 D and converted that car to run on waste vegetable oil. It was roomier than the Neon and cheaper to run. I put a trailer hitch on it and towed a small utility trailer. Once again, the canoe went on the roof and the aging dog in the back.

We moved from that arrangement to a big Ford F250 extended cab diesel. It could carry a ton of stuff -and a canoe on top. Like the old Benz, this too was converted to run on waste veggie oil. After my wife had surgery on both shoulders, we thought it best to not do as much canoing. Instead, we got into sailing. Of course, the big truck worked out well as a tow vehicle for the boat.

Now I just picked up an old ambulance to convert into a mini camper. It’ll make a pretty good tow vehicle for the sailboat. This vehicle will also be converted to run on waste vegetable oil. We’ll be able to travel at a more relaxed pace. To avoid paying for hotel rooms, I’d often drive for 24 or more hours straight. I’d leave NH and drive non-stop for up to 1600 miles. With the new vehicle, I’ll just pull into a safe place to stop, crawl in the back and get a good night’s sleep.

Recently my lovely wife was reflecting on how complicated we’ve gotten since our backpacker days. Of course, we aren’t in our 20s anymore. My wife can’t hoist a backpack like she used to. I could, but the trips would have to be either longer in time or shorter in distance. That’s fine once in a while, but I do like to have adventures with my wife. The sailboat allows that to happen. It’s a small enough boat that either one of us can handle it alone, but it’s big enough to be able to comfortably lie down and get some rest.

The common thread in our lives is the desire to go on journeys. We like to get away from it all and see things. Some places become favorites and we keep going back, but we are always searching out new places to go to. When a person travels, they aways learn something. Staying in one place and doing the same routine would be deadly to me. Even though I like where I live and what I do, I still feel the need to travel.

I’ve gone from a 35 pound backpack to tons of vehicles and gear. Where will I be 5 or 10 years down the road? Who knows? Maybe we’ll simplify to living in a yurt half the year and on a small sailboat the other half.

-Sixbears

Rebell Yell

Every now and then I come across someone who's does something extraordinary. Fred Rebell (1886-1968) is one such individual.

He's best know for his 1931 singe handed crossing of the Pacific in an 18 foot open sailboat. He didn't do it for any love of the sea. He did it because he wanted to go to America and didn't have any other way to get there.

There are some things that really stick out in his life. He left Russia for Germany to avoid being conscripted into the army. Then he leaves Germany for pretty much the same reasons. Eventually, he ends up in Australia. When he leaves Australia, it's on New Year's Eve, under the cover of darkness, to avoid the tax man.

The guy had next to nothing, worked two low paying jobs to save money to buy the boat. Taught himself navigation and built his own navigation tools, as he couldn't afford to buy them. He lacked proper charts and what he did have was 70 years out of date.

He didn't even have the proper papers, so he made his own. (Which didn't impress the US authorities, but hey, he tried.)

Fred Rebell was even a name of his own creation. He literally was a self made man. While his life wasn't a bed of roses, by god at least it was his own.

When I hear someone complaining how they are stuck in their lives and can't do anything, I think of guys like Fred Rebell. Most of us start with much more and do so much less.

-Sixbears

Longest 1000 mile journey

My lovely wife and I just made it to my daughter's place in Massachusetts. We left from South Carolina on Saturday morning and pulled in Massachusetts on Sunday morning. It's about a 1000 mile trip, and we made terrible time.

We had bad weather most of the way up. First, there was all those tornadoes in the Carolinas. We stayed ahead of them -sometimes just barely. A huge thunderstorm in Virgina hit as we were having dinner. It seemed like a good time to linger over coffee. Even so, we got caught up in the outer edges of it. On our left was bright sun, yet at the very same time, we were pummeled by heavy rain. Weird.

Hit some very rough roads in New Jersey and New York. In Connecticut, we discovered the trailer hitch was riding very low. One side of the heavy duty hitch had broken loose. Rust had taken its toll. I jacked it into place, then wrapped it back together with anchor chain and heavy duty strapping. The field repair lasted the additional 200 miles to my daughter's place.

Monday morning, I'll try and get a hitch. If it can't be put on right away, I'll leave the boat at my daughter's and come back for it later.

Not in New Hampshire yet, but you can almost see it from here.

-Sixbears