Ever since I was a kid, “Normal” was my biggest fear. I remember vividly promising myself that I would never grow up to have a “normal” house with a “normal” job and a “normal” daily routine. It sounded terribly boring to be honest – and I knew there had to be more to life than what society expects from us. I wanted to be so much more than “normal”.
Despite knowing that I had to do something much more wild, I had no idea where to start or how to attain that wild dream. Then I met Hank, Joe, and Hannah. The boys were both 5th year seniors my freshman year of college and Hannah was a junior. They were the most fun and adventurous people I’d met so far. Plus they loved Jesus! We all met through leading a youth ministry called Young Life together. Soon enough, I learned about Hank and Joe’s dream of driving down to South America together after college, and I was all in from the moment they said I could come. Actually I don’t know if they even invited me at first, but I was already whole-heartedly committed! Fast forward to the summer after freshman year, and surprise! Hank and I are long-distance dating! Him in Cincinnati, me still at Montana State. Joe and Hannah got married and moved to California too, but despite us all living across the country from each other, the dream was still alive to make this trip as soon as I graduated!
Fast forward another two and a half years, and I FINALLY graduate and Hank and I get engaged! We took a trip to visit Hannah and Joe in Portland (where they moved to after California) and little did I know, Hank surprised me with a ring on a little Island near Joe’s dad’s house in the Puget Sound! Throughout that trip all around the PNW, we started eyeing all of the awesome-looking sailboats. Hannah and Joe had been watching a YouTube channel about sailing called SV Delos, and the new dream of sailing instead of driving south had officially hatched.
The next 6 months were a whirlwind. I had to go back to Colorado to finish up my last semester of student teaching to get my degree, Hank had to go back to Cincinnati, and Hannah and Joe began boat shopping all around the western coast. Soon enough, we had hired a yacht broker, Hannah and Joe found what looked like a dope as heck boat based on the pictures and description they sent us, we got a great deal, and BAM! We owned a 1989 Hunter Vision 32′ Sailboat!! Holy Cow!!!
The following 6 months after that were even more wild. I was planning a wedding where I got to marry the man of my dreams AND we were researching and planning the trip of my dreams. All my dreams were coming true!!!
June 22nd, 2019 Hank and I get hitched. We honeymooned in BC, Canada. We flew back to Cincinnati for 2 weeks, packed up everything we owned into our 2 trucks, drove 24 hours separately (but don’t worry, we had walkie talkie headsets) to Bozeman, Montana to offload our stuff in Hank’s parents attic, and then with only 1 small duffel bag each we drove to Seattle to move onto our new floating home. July 26th, 2019 we officially moved onto Scooter and began the adventure of a lifetime. My new life was the opposite of “normal”, and I couldn’t have been happier!!!