Wow. Thanksgiving week, already.
This year has both flown by, and drug on and on. And I’m sure many of us are looking forward to having 2020 in the rearview mirror.
We’ve been pretty quiet these past months except for posts on Instagram and Facebook.
Mostly because there just isn’t much to report. A food experimentation here. A cat photo there. A rocket launch. A sunset toast.
Life is mostly good on the Technomadia front.
More tech these days, and less nomad.
And it’s been kinda nice to not be as social media present, and just be.
So, quick update: We’re still on the boat in Sanford, we’re still getting out on short van camping trips and we’re keeping busy working over at the Mobile Internet Resource Center.
In fact, we put out so much work content, that it FEELS like we’re writing and producing video non-stop and I forget we haven’t updated much personally.
Life Not-So-Nomadic
Last April Chris celebrated his 14th Nomadiversary just as we were hunkering down for the pandemic long haul. Fourteen years of full time travel.
When the reality of the pandemic became apparent, I think it shocked us just how easy it was to pick where we wanted to be for the longer term, and how good we were with the decision to go on extended nomadic pause. We just knew then this wasn’t going to be just a couple month ordeal that so many wanted to believe back then.
And regardless of how safe or not travel might be through this, we knew it wouldn’t be as fun for us.
Returning to Sanford was a no-brainer – the only place in all our 14 years of travels that captured our hearts so strongly. We were already eying returning here for hurricane season anyway, with a goal of doing local election volunteer work.
We just moved those plans up a few months.
And we don’t regret it one bit.
Sanford has been, and continues to be, a perfect home base for us. We’re close to family and friends, it’s an awesome marina, we have lots to do in walking distance, we have lots of options for van trips and river anchoring adventures. And while the weather was a bit more warm this summer than we’d like – we’re now in a perfect winter climate (we just shut off the AC for the first time last week.)
And I think we were ready for some mostly stationary time after so many years of travel.
If anything, the pandemic coerced us into what we needed most.
We’ve been able to focus on our business, which has been in huge demand as so many more are working remotely and RVing & boating are booming. And there are huge changes in satellite and cellular to track.
We’ve been able to focus on all the personal things that can get pushed to the side when your life revolves around constant travel planning and constant new. And we were able to dive into campaign work these past few months, which really helped to feel like we were doing something instead of just enduring the year.
I just couldn’t image dealing with the emotional ups and downs of 2020 while dealing with the constant variability of life on the road/water too.
All and all.. we feel incredibly grateful for how well we’re doing in-spite of this crazy year.
Plans Forward
Surprisingly, we’re quite honestly not itching to get back on the road quite yet. Especially as this wave is ramping up across the nation and vaccine options looking promising for mid-next year.
We had originally thought that once the election and hurricane seasons had ended, we might hop in the van and be returning to Arizona and the bus about now. But that’s just not lining up with COVID’s surge or our aspirations – so we’re going to continue to hang tight right here in Sanford for holiday season and likely into 2021 too.
Who knows, maybe things will feel safer and more fun to get out to Arizona in late winter or early spring. It would be nice to check in on the bus in person (although we do have friends at the park who are keeping an eye on Zephyr for us) and get some desert time.
In the meantime, we might take a cruise up and down the St. Johns River to mix things up and enjoy some glorious anchoring weather. But I fully expect that Sanford may be Y-Not’s port for much of 2021 as well depending on how soon things return to a semblance of ‘normal’ and where that puts us for next year’s hurricane season.
Life Goes On
For those curious how our little quacky friend Life is doing – we have gotten several updates. The first location on private property didn’t work out so well – apparently introducing a male duck to a harem of females was a bit too much for letting ‘nature take its course’.
So Plan B was implemented, and Life was moved to a community pond with several other wild Pekin ducks. Our friend has checked in on him multiple times, and he seems to have made a new community and is thriving.
While we miss our chats in the evenings, it’s heart warming to know that Life goes on.
Happy Thanksgiving
We don’t really have Thanksgiving traditions – every year it’s been different for us.
So, in some ways – the oddity of this year fits the norm for us.
Wherever the season finds you, however the year has changed your plans – please know we’re sending all our best your way this season.
And as always, we are ever so grateful for YOU being part of our little virtual community.
(And hopefully soon we’ll have some blog-worthy news to share!)
Hi Cherie & Chris! I’ve been so grateful for your website for your RV internet solutions (bought the Netgear Nighthawk based on your reviews – yay!). Since Covid hit last March, I’ve been in my 26′ class C RV (solo with my kitty Zara). We are now on Orcas Island in the beautiful San Juans of WA state. We explored last summer while working up in the high Sierra of CA at a remote hot springs, before evacuating the Creek wildfire. This northern island seemed like a safe haven from wildfires! Oh 2020….
I’m writing mostly to say thanks for your service and your inspiration. I’m now dreaming about moving to life aboard a 35-40′ motor houseboat (the word yacht sounds expensive beyond my means!), and maybe find a way to split the year between here and the Bay Area of CA, where I also lived for years and have wonderful friends. This life is simple and modest, but so rewarding and rich in other ways. Cheers! Melissa
So happy to hear from you. I was hoping you would post something soon. I enjoy hearing about your everyday activities. I am so happy that you have a wonderful place to moor at during the Hurricane and Pandemic. Love that Kiki went for a dinghy ride. I wonder what she thought about it. She is a brave kitty. It must feel good to be in Sanford for a while. Hopefully, travel will be possible for all us at some point next year. I am grateful for you in my life. Happy Thanksgiving
Thanks for the great update and your thoughts on fulltiming during these times!
Jeanne and I were not far from you last week, over in Mount Dora, FL for a week visiting her brother and sis-in-law. We’re due in Destin, FL tomorrow where, after the last five months of traveling, we will stay put for the winter until at least through March 2021.
We’re also looking forward to settling in for a few months, especially with the COVID surges everywhere. In April we’ll start again heading West/NW for the rest of 2021.
Continue enjoying Sanford! Seems like a great community! And Happy Thanksgiving to the three of you!! Me, Jeanne and our pup, Hershey also have so much to be thankful for.
Thank you for the update. Hope you have a blessed Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Nice to hear all is well with quacky!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Good to hear you are staying safe. Our year is about the same winter in a seasonal spot and plans to summer in a seasonal spot. No place to go and nothing to do if we did. Maybe after the vaccine proves to be effective and long lasting. Oh well being 70 +comes with prospective.
Happy Thanksgiving. Thanks for working the election. We always need good people.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and Chris.
Like everyone, we too are holding steady and anxiously awaiting the spring and our Loop start.
Thanks for your helpful and inspiring videos. We have watched most of them several times. We’re new to larger boats and your style speaks to us and helps with confidence moving into full time cruising. (At least for a year or so)
We start in April from Stuart regardless of Covid. Our philosophy is if we have to skip some ICW stuff we can catch it when we cross our wake and are headed home to NE.
Keep the posts coming and All the Best to you and yours!
Rick & Dori
M/V My Dori lll
I was sure you two are coping well but it is nice to have it confirmed. Thanks.
I am especially grateful this year for being an introvert.
I always enjoy your posts. Your sentiments are shared by us during this unforgettable year. We’re tired of the strangeness and uncertainty (as everyone is!) but we are doing very well and are thankful for the situation we are in.
Wishing a safe and happy holiday to you and your families.
Thank you for keeping in touch and updating us on your lives and adventures. It is interesting to see how you have settled into a less roving lifestyle while still enjoying adventures.
Loved the update, and can’t wait to hear what the advances are in cellular and satellite that you mentioned. We are waiting for our new 5th wheel to be delivered any day and are anxious to get back on the road. We will stay closer to home here in Calif. with Covid still raging, but hopefully some nice long trips once the vaccine arrives. Stay safe!
So good to hear from you! Happy Thanksgiving too.
Thanks for the update, Cherie. We’re approaching our fifth anniversary full-timing, and have now spent a full year in one place. We were to have headed out last May to Montana for our summer gig near Glacier, but the uncertainty of the situation with the virus made us think that it would be better to live to fight another day rather than go down swinging as first-wave guinea pigs.
It hasn’t been easy, but the prospects are much better for this year, and with any luck at all, things will settle down for us all. As we’re fond of saying, “We’re standing still, but still standing.”
Be well. Stay safe. Happy Thanksgiving.
This was a wonderful post, Cherie. Though our circumstances are quite different, much of our experience and thoughts are similar. Stay well.
Happy Thanksgiving to you 2. Know that there are many of us who are grateful for you 2 all the year around for the many things you do for us and for just being great people.
This year shook us to the core, Cherie. We are currently living in our RV, parked in the front yard of our ”new to us” house. This 1960 era rambler house has had a few expensive surprises for us as we get her ready for being our permanent home here in the PNW, Mount Vernon, WA to be exact. We have family here, and wonderful summers that are spectacular when travel up here is very challenging (hard to find camping sites, etc.). We will travel part time for sure, desert winters for sure, and a stop near San Antonio to see family. I remember we met you at Kinney Falls SP, how fun that was! It surely was a highlight of our full time RV travels. We love our little Memo Cell Booster that you recommended and have referred several others to that product. We remain very interested in what you are doing and to see how Kiki is doing. We lost George, one of our cats (the dreaded big C), and Buddy our older boy just keeps getting older, but still hanging with us. We think he is around 18-19 years old. Anyways, just wanted to say hi, thank you for all you are doing and let you know where we landed. If you ever make it back up here we have a perfect RV spot with full hookups!
Thirty-six years in Miami and I never once experienced Sanford, but if I’m ever there again (unlikely!), I will certainly go there to see the loveliness that you describe. The last 23 years have been spent not that far from Benson, and the desert here really feels like home more than Florida ever did.
Virtual hugs,
Judie