I make excuses for neglecting this blog — and I don’t think you could argue with any of them.
As regular readers have probably figured out by now, I’m having some serious problems keeping up with my day-to-day journaling of my Great Loop travels. There’s a really good reason for this: I’m having a good time.
Okay, so there’s more to it than that. Let me explain.
Traveling is a time-consuming endeavor. Not only do you have to do the stuff you normally do — sleep, take care of personal hygiene, and eat — but you also have to plan trip legs and actually do the most time-consuming part: travel.
I cruise at 8 to 14 knots (depending on many factors) so a 30-mile cruise can take anywhere from 2 1/2 to 4 hours. 30 miles is about my average for a travel day, but I sometimes do fewer miles and often do more. (My record is 83.8 nautical miles, traveling in floodwater down the Tombigbee.)
Here I am with my pups during one of the two weeks I spent docked in my dad’s backyard. Did I include visiting family and friends on my list of things that keep me busy?
Then, when I get where I’m going, I often need to take care of other chores like checking in at a marina (or setting the anchor at an anchorage), walking my pups, and doing grocery shopping. Occasionally I have a very time-consuming chore like doing laundry or changing the oil in my boat or making minor repairs. Then there’s cleaning — the boat doesn’t clean itself any more than your home cleans itself. I hose it down any time I’m at a marina after cruising through salt water and I occasionally take out the vacuum to get the dust, crumbs, and dog hair out of my carpet. And do you know how often teak needs oiling? So far, more often than I’ve been able to do it.
When I’m done with all that, I want to have some fun. I want to see the sights or walk the beach or check out the shops in a little town. I want to chat with other loopers and people I meet along the way.
After doing all this, how much time do you think I have left to write a 2000-word blog post with photos and links?
The answer: not much.
So I’ve totally slacked off. I realized that I could either enjoy my trip or I could write about it in detail. I can’t do both.
Which would you do?
That doesn’t mean I’m going to stop writing about my trip. It just means that I’ll be including a lot less detail in future posts and I likely won’t catch up and fill in the blanks in this trip. I’ll try to do better on a go-forward basis, and I may “cheat” by creating vlog — or video log — posts for my YouTube channel that I embed here. I think more folks would likely enjoy that anyway. (Who has time to read these days?)
You can help motivate me to get back to work by commenting on and sharing the posts I do write. Do you have questions? Comments? Recommendations? Don’t keep them to yourself. Do you have a friend or relative or coworker who might be interested in one or more of my posts? Send them a link! The more people read what’s here, the more I’m motivated to write more. Motivate me.
And thanks for reading this post full of excuses. Can you argue with what I’m saying here? I don’t think you can.
Thanks Maria, for taking the time to write about your experience. I relate as we have the same boat! It seems to be serving you well on your trip. Any thoughts on what you like/dislike about the boat you have? What is the roughest water you have been in? I can understand your comments about finding time to post but it is a good way to document your trip along the way. I certainly enjoy reading about your adventures!
Ray
And THANK YOU for taking the time to comment. I also appreciate getting the questions because they’ll give me something to write about when I don’t feel like writing about what I did for a bunch of days in a row.
And yes, I’ll keep writing. I was just going to start a series about anchorages and can’t decide whether I should make them into posts that fall into the site’s chronology or pages that have to be accessed from a menu. It’s silly decisions like that that enable me to procrastinate until it’s too late to get started!
Live your life, enjoy each moment and don’t worry about writing about it.
The original goal was to write a book, which is basically what I was doing in blog format. When the trip was over, I’d collect all the posts into a book format and publish it. So it was important to me to keep writing. But I really do want to enjoy my time and I don’t write as quickly as I used to. We’ll see how I do. I sure to appreciate the comments here. They do motivate me to write more.
Well, unfortunately you are right. No argument here. That said, I sure miss your unique perspective on The Loop. Being the person you are, you have a style and edge that most others either do not have, or enjoy, or have the fortitude to say. Your style is educational, informative while at the same time ignoring political correctness if warranted. I for one appreciate all of it.
Thanks for past posts, future check ins, and any content that doesn’t get in the way of you having a good time.
Oh, I’m not done yet. Going to add something today — I decided to spend another day at this great anchorage and have the time.
I sure do appreciate your feedback. It’s extremely motivating to know someone is getting something out of what I write.
I like reading what you write about your adventures, whatever you may send, and we only deserve what you feel the need to publish! So, I get to enjoy when there is a new post and hope to see more, but I also understand that you are providing this info for yourself and on your schedule of fun and travel. No complaints from me (or from anyone else) would be warranted, even if I wanted to complain.
Have fun, write what you want (or don’t want), and relax!
Funny, but I was thinking about this awhile back as I read one of your posts – “damn, the time this must take!” Don’t get me wrong, LOVE reading about your adventures (and vicariously, they are our adventures too!).
But as I get deeper into my retired life I realize how much I enjoy just being in the moments that happen – or I make happen. I’ve recently gotten pretty deeply involved in the local political scene and there are days when I’m screaming into the void “damn it I’m retired! This is like…WORK!!” Reminding myself that a) I’m a volunteer, not an emplyee and b) it doesn’t have to be done NOW, TODAY!
Anyway, a long-about way of saying I get it. Your adventures are fabulous and I (we) will take what vicarious thrills from it we get. Me? I really enjoy your YouTube videos. And I also get a kick out of how-to’s and “this is how X works” or this is how/why I do/fix this. And of course, just about anything food related captures my attention.
So hey – enjoy your life. We sure are.