What started out to be an idea, a dream, began to take form and a seed was planted. We wanted to do something different and live our life differently, if just for a year. For those who know us, it wasn't a big surprise. However we had one big challenge - our daughter Anais has special needs and whatever we were going to do, we needed to take that into account, in a major way. Our son Enzo [at the time only 10] was super excited and right there with us. 

Fortunately for the both of us, our love of travel as well as our passion for adventure runs through our veins. After contemplating lots of options, we fell in love with the idea of sailing in warm waters for a year. This meant exploring the less visited bits of paradise by way of sea. Our main concern was figuring out the logistics of getting Anais on and off the boat and carrying her around inside. Mono hull or catamaran? The more boats we visited and blogs we read, all pointed to the obvious; a catamaran would offer the best compromise for our particular situation. 

Andreas spent a long time researching to find the perfect boat. We planned everything we needed to accomplish and figure out over the next year to make it all happen. Before we knew it, it actually all came together. There are plenty of bumps in the road but those are part of figuring it all out. We found renters for our house, organized, sourced meds for Anais, sifted, sold, gave away, simplified, became certified sailors, gulped information, were inspired by many, encouraged by close friends & family, and more and more convinced about our decision to shift our life and do instead of say. This wasn't something we would look back on and regret.

On August 5, 2016 a wonderful family moved into our house as we left with 2 suitcases, a wheelchair, car seat and 3 backpacks. We stored the rest in storage and shipped 9 bins of supplies, gear, books and clothing to Spain. We made an offer on a catamaran in Gibraltar and left for Madrid on August 16 to go check it out. We stayed a few days in Madrid to be with family and then drove south to see if the catamaran would be right for us.