Welcome to our humble “aboat”…

  

Aloha all!  I’m back in my happy place…Hawaii!  We had initially decided to stay with friends, hopping around periodically so as not to overstay our welcome, when our super generous and amazing friends, Sarah and Poe, (shout-out Tylers!) offered up their sailboat to us!  They have a 42-foot, 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom sailboat out on the west side of the island in the Ko’olina Marina.  They lived on it for 3 years when they first arrived to the islands and now have an amazing house in Kailua.  We were soooo stoked!  Not only did we have our own space and wouldn’t constantly be bothering friends, but what an adventure to live on a boat!  So we moved aboard “Kupani” and have been settling into marina life.

 

I’ve already concluded that living on a boat is…pretty damn AWESOME.  We often sit on deck, beer in hand and look at each other and say, “this is the LIFE.”  It’s official…Caldwells are livin’ the dream. 

 

The marina is like a little community…everyone is friendly, talkative and protective of each other.  Within our first 3 hours of moving in, our Sailor neighbor gave us a huge slab of Ono (fish).  For those of you that don’t know the island, Ko’olina is sort of a resort area on the West side (the sunny, dry side) where there are 4 beautiful lagoons in which to swim, snorkel and run.  It’s really very beautiful and well-maintained over here.  I think they are trying to move some tourists out of Waikiki and over to this side, because the weather is very consistent and there is more land.  They are building 2 Disney resorts over here right now.  The only downside to being in Ko’olina is that it’s far from town.  Unfortunately, since we lived in Honolulu the entire time we resided here before, that’s where both of our old offices (and therefore coworkers), favorite restaurants, shops and bars are.  It’s quite a journey to make the trek by bus from the West side into town, but we’ll do it just the same!

 

Our days pass something like this: Get up around 8am and go for a run, come back and shower, make coffee and eat breakfast on the deck…yummy Hawaiian fruit and delicious Hawaiian Kona coffee.  I usually check email/blog/facebook while Joe makes some calls and does some research about jobs…then we hit the beach for a few hours, or simply hang on the boat and read or play cards.  We cook dinner right before sunset, either on the boat or grilling out on deck, then take a walk after to enjoy the pretty lagoons as they are lit up by the brilliant colors and light only Hawaii can seem to provide.  Boat uniforms are strictly limited to a bikini for me, cargo shorts for Joe.  Life is good. 

 

We’ve already dreamed of owning our own boat to live on one day, carefully perusing the ads in the community space and talking about  how many feet we need.  We’re not really serious, of course…Joe and I are both dreamers and this is a favorite game we like to play.  😉  It’s certainly a cheaper option than buying a house in paradise, let me tell you!

 

Though living the sailor’s life is mostly relaxing and dream-like…there are a few downsides and challenges that I’m SURE my friends Sarah and Poe could attest to.  We live in a space similar to that of a really nice RV…though it’s awesome, it’s often cramped.  Too many cooks in the kitchen quite literally translates into TWO is too many cooks in the kitchen.  Even making coffee takes quite awhile, as well as clean-up, forcing you to regularly tap into your patience even when you just want your husband to MOVE three inches so you can grab your toothbrush!!!!!   We have decided that every couple should have to live on a boat together for 6 months before they are allowed to get married.  Because if you can last on a boat, you’re gonna make it.  Haha, but you quickly realize that there’s no reason to fret, how can you be crabby on a boat with a view like this?!?!

 

We ventured into Kailua last weekend to visit the famed Sarah and Poe, as well as meeting up with my amazing girls for a delicious, mouth-watering brunch at Cinnamon’s…ohhhhh how I missed that scrumptious place!  We will be trekking into Honolulu this weekend to see more friends and hit up some old favorites…Keo’s (Thai food) and Hotel 39 (favorite downtown Bar).  I can’t wait to see all of my old friends that I sincerely miss on a daily basis while on the mainland!

 

I know I am constantly raving about the wonder that is this island so I will spare my readers that somewhat (for this blog anyway, no promises later).   🙂  But let me just say this…I’m home.  Home and happy and very glad we decided to spend some time here again.  I love walking at night with the amazing breeze, listening to the music and drums of the luaus reverberating from Paradise Cove and smelling the sweet flowers and salt air of the island.  Oh what a place.

 

Try as I might to stash this whole free-spirited attitude into my suitcase and bring it with me wherever I travel, anytime someone asks me where we are going next or what I’ll be doing after Hawaii, a huge plate of dormant neuroses is placed right in front of me.  My inner demons fly out in a fury of worries.  Where WILL we be going?  What should I be doing?  Do I want to continue the same line of work?  Are we sure we want to keep traveling?  And on and on and on.  As much as I would love to easily wrench myself from these thoughts, it’s always a struggle to calm myself down and remember to stay in the moment, enjoy being in Hawaii, and enjoy this time with Joey.  STOP WORRYING!  Most of the time I love my life and can’t believe I get to live it in the way that I do…but sometimes those pesky worry-wart tendencies threaten to break in my Hawaii-infused happy place.  Someday, probably far into the future, I’ll figure out how to manage my over-zealous adventure lust with my neurotic tendencies.  🙂  Wish me luck with that!  Until next time…aloha!