You may have noticed that it’s been radio silence here for a while. It’s actually embarrassing how many times I’ve stared at a blank screen willing words to appear. Writing about our lives and sharing the stories of our adventures comes effortlessly. However, sharing anything about feelings turns me into an emotional vault.
But it’s time to share, so here goes…
After 4 years aboard Light & Salty, we returned to “dirt life.” For my non-boat friends, that means we moved back into a house. Likely this isn’t coming as a big surprise since it’s been shared on social media. Strategically, I scheduled the post for the day we left the country for a week and I chose to stay offline while we were away. I knew there would be questions that I wasn’t ready to answer.
Change is never easy. Especially when you are literally living a life you spent years dreaming of. Ironically, prior to the Loop we were living a previous dream life in Charlotte. And not to get ahead of my thoughts, but this current situation is pretty darn dreamy too. So as hard as change is, we’ll keep doing it to experience the best versions of life that we possibly can!
Now to address the elephant that many asked about…’why?’
The very succinct answer is it was time. Maybe a little past time.
For those who may not know, living on a boat for 4 years was NEVER the plan. It just kind of happened. And yes, I look back and wonder how in the world we did it. The Loop was supposed to take a year. I’ve re-read some of the stuff I shared as we crossed our wake (you can read it here) and it’s obvious I knew completing the Loop didn’t complete our boating story. I didn’t know it yet, but some of our greatest boating moments were yet to come.
Living on Hilton Head Island for 5 months was quite possibly the best and most surreal experience. Nothing will ever top being part of the Vol Navy for football season in Knoxville. Hurricane Ian destroying Fort Myers forced us to call Panama City Beach and Huntsville “home” for a season, and we unexpectedly fell in love with both places. Gulf Shores and Iuka will forever hold special places in our hearts. In all these places, we found new churches, new friends, new teams- essentially new lives.
The common thread among all of these places was the Looping community. Without it, I’m not sure we could have done what we did for so long. The AGLCA burgee on the front of our boat bonds us into this crazy family of boaters.
Of course, there’s a “but” coming…
It was hard.
Goodbyes are terrible. Yet, living a nomadic life means goodbyes are inevitable. We were constantly saying goodbye to people and places. It never got easier. In fact, it started getting harder as the kids got older. The bonds were stronger, the feelings bigger and the pressure to recreate amazing situations grew with every move.
On top of that, Brent has been so blessed in his business. We are very grateful for each and every client, many of whom are friends through this website! However, the downside to success is that Brent travels a lot. The burden of trying to schedule boat travel around work travel (not to mention ACTUAL travel) became a huge challenge.
About a year ago I came to the realization that while I loved (almost) every second of traveling the Loop and traveling on our boat- I no longer loved just living on a boat to have a place to sleep at night. Brent and I began praying a lot about the future and talking to the kids about how they felt.
Every single prayer and conversation led us to the conclusion that it was time to put down some roots.
For maybe the very first time in my whole life, I didn’t have a plan. We had no idea how to make the transition. Or when. Even where was a bit of a wildcard. But we just kept praying that God would open up a door that left no doubt it was the right decision. It took months, but when I tell you that every single detail beyond my wildest expectations fell into place all at once, I’m not exaggerating.
Though we had no doubts it was time to move forward, it still didn’t make the transition easy. There have been some tears as we all mourn the loss of a season of our lives coming to a close. Fun fact, in (almost) 20 years of marriage, we’ve lived in 8 homes. Light & Salty was the home we lived in the second longest.
Thankfully, though, everything about living in a house feels right for us right now. And the best part is our dock. We’ve dubbed it the “Light & Salty Resort and Marina.” Our biggest hesitation moving into a house was the idea that we were leaving the Looping community. Instead, we’re just bringing the Loop to us!
Moving Forward
It was time to move off of Light & Salty and put down some roots for our kids. But, there’s a lot of things that didn’t change. First, this isn’t the end of our Loop story or boating days. Brent grew up on the water in Knoxville. I spent every single weekend of my childhood on a boat outside of Atlanta. Boating is now a big part of our kids’ story. We’re not “done.”
Secondly, this transition allows Brent to pour even more time and attention into Great Loop Yacht Sales. He’s more flexible to travel and give that extra time to his clients as they search for (or sell) their dream Loop boats. We have hosted many of the boats he’s sold on our home dock already and it’s so much fun to meet the clients/friends we hear so much about during the process!
Finally, a lot of our newer friends don’t know this, but Mom With a Map was a travel website long before we shared our plans to do the Loop. In a million ways, 2020 allowed this site to pivot at just the right time into mostly boating content. I’m excited as we move forward to get back to sharing a mix of boating and travel stories, tips…and inevitably, misadventures!
As always, thanks for keeping up with our family and our crazy life! You may also enjoy reading:
The One Where We Decided To Live On A Boat
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I love following your travel and family and look forward to your new shift!
Aww, thank you! It’s been quite a change but we’re excited about all the fun to come!