Finding Moksha: 2011

From the end of this week, I will be off the grid again until the new year, so I thought i may as well look back on the year that was for myself.

December 2010

This time last year I had just booked two weeks in Samoa with Heerey, you have all probably read the trip on here (maybe). It was a great trip with one of my best mates, an epic time driving and looking for waves, no tv, internet, or even weather forecasts. Just simple days where life revolved around the the wind, waves and nothing else.

Countries - Aus, New Zealand, Samoa

2011

January

Fresh from Samoa, it was back into life at Petrie Pt, living the high life with Elliott in the Valley meant fun times were never far apart. I definitely miss those days, and all the guys who know Petrie Point! Of course summer in Queensland means a few things, afternoon storms, festivals, and cyclone swells. My last festival at home was Sunset Sounds, the thing I remember from it clearest was the rain (and associated mud), and our song and dance to Cold War Kids "Hang me up to dry".

Countries: Aus

February

Probably the month where this whole crazy life on the road starts. I had decided to go to Europe for a few months travelling at the end of January, I was between jobs and decided it would be a good time to get away, for a few months.......pfffft. My last weekend before I left was down in Melbourne for the Laneway Festival, it was a pretty epic 4 days with an awesome bunch of kids who, thanks to Salv, all represented the Chinese Rice hats (and bath hat) as well as reef shoes, pretty well. This was also the beginning of the Stornoway Shirt's odyssey!

A few days later I was in London, meeting some people who would soon become some of my best friends. These guys and girls know who they are, I still keep in contact with a lot of them (not as much as I would like to though!). The rest of February is pretty much a blur, but there are a few memories that stick out:

- Barbara Streisand and flipping tables in Paris.

- Snow fights in Switzerland

- Jagerbombs

- Nou Camp

- How cold the Med is on a rainy morning in mid Feb

- How cold Rome can get

- Drinking cheap champagne on a Venetian Gondola really is as good as it sounds!

Countries: Korea, England, France, Switzerland, Spain, Monaco, Italy, Austria, Czech Republic, Germany.

March

Continuing on with the theme, life was pretty enjoyable in Berlin, and crazy in Amsterdam. This month also took me to Iceland, a country I still rate as one of the coolest (pardon the pun) experiences I have ever had. Seeing the Northern Lights as well as some crazy ice road driving and hot springs swimming in negative temperatures with an awesome mate in Speedy is something that will stay with me for a long time. I also ended up in Dublin for St. Paddy's day as well as seeing the Oxbridge Boat Race in London.

After a manic few weeks of partying, it was to the Austrian Alps to visit Scott and Ramona in Brixen im Thale, staying at her parents place was a great base for some R'n'R, if thats what you would call it. Finally it was a train ride through the Alps and into Italy for my rendezvous with Carly and our road trip down the west Italian coast and into France.

Countries: Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, France, England, Iceland, Scotland, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Austria, Italy, France.

April

Saying goodbye to Europe was tough, especially after the 3 months of tripping around I had, after getting home mid-April I started the job search. Easter was a good time back home, staying with Jonno and Lucardia up the coast produced the usual fun times, especially with Heerey and the Blue Lagoon search at Cooloothin. Another weekend down in Byron with Josh and Tracy and a few others was another enjoyable time to be alive. During this time however I was looking for a new job and after the last five or so years as a construction engineer I was a little jaded with the scene, which made it a bit hard to want to get back into it.

Countries: Italy, France, England, Korea, Australia.

May

I can't really remember how it happened but an some correspondence with my mate Andy could well be the catalyst for where I am now. He was sailing around the world, and had just entered the Pacific for the home stretch when we got in touch to see if I was interested in jumping on the boat. I would've loved to have done it but timing was an issue, however the spark to get away again was rapidly turning into a fire.

Then one Friday afternoon, Tracy picked me up from Petrie Pt. to take me back home for the weekend, in that 45min peak hour drive we were talking about what I should do........ by the time we were home I decided to come back to France and do the superyacht life. After a frantic week of dentist appointments, and medical checks, as well as tying up all my loose ends at home and the odd farewell beer, I found myself back on the plane, less than 5 weeks after coming home.

The first week in Antibes was the STCW course (firefighting etc), beach beers into the night with the other kids from class as well as the infamous bad towel brigade lead to some pretty fun time over this week. Josh would rock up for a stint on Zefira for some regattas in Sardinia the next week, I was lucky enough to come along for the ride, a ride I still seem to be riding!

Countries: Australia, UAE, France, Monaco, Italy

June

Two weeks in Porto Cervo, Sardinia for two superyacht regattas was the main theme of June, the racing was great and I can't wait to do some more of it soon. Back in France, I had a few days off the boat which were full of a lot of interesting and mostly good times. Even now, six months after the fact, I look back at these days laying at the beach and cruising on our li-lo and it still brings bucket loads of retrospective joy to me.

Countries: Italy, France.

July

Off to Turkey for a two month trip on the boat, we were based in Kusadasi for much of the month before heading south on the guest trip. Turkey is a pretty unique place, at the cross roads between east and west it has somehow made its own style out of mashing up everything else.

Countries: Greece, Turkey

August

Hot. That is what I will associate August in Turkey with. We made our way along the coast from Kusadasi to Finike, via Bodrum, Marmaris, and Kas. We got to check out some pretty cool places like the sunken city, as well as a few days in Bodrum before going back to France.

Countries: Turkey, Greece.

September

Going back to France, was like a little homecoming, back in "Western" culture and back into the Cote d'Azur scene that we all know. September's big event was the Monaco Boat Show, of which we were part of. Being based in Monaco for a month was great, especially with a number of friends based nearby and the season winding down. Heerey also made over to Europe and catching up with him was another treat for me.

Countries: France, Monaco

October

Palma de Mallorca, Spain. I love this place, and this is where we were for around 6 weeks for the yard period. Heerey once again dropped by, a weekend that had some hilarious moments as well as the odd cliff jump. Having Ben there as well as Claude also meant that there was always something fun waiting in the wings nearby.

October also meant I had some time off the boat, which was spent back in France hanging out with Lucy. Doing the whole Paris thing as well as our epic road adventure through the Loire Valley was a pretty good way to live for the week.

Countries: Spain, France

November:

We left Palma mid-November for the Canary Islands via Gibraltar, for the start of the Transatlantic Race. Most of November was spent in transit, I think we spent 21 of 25 days at sea. It was a great trip to the British Virgin Islands to mark the start of the Caribbean Season.

Countries: Spain, Gibraltar, no mans land in the Atlantic Ocean.

December:

Well here we are, two weeks in the Carib have passed and I have enjoyed it thoroughly. The British Virgin Islands are amazing. St. Martin is a pretty fun place too! We have met a lot of awesome people here and being surrounded by sailing yachts and actually being able to talk sailing is much better than the usual motor yacht crowd that rules the roost in the Med. Most of the time off the boat has been spent at the beach, usually Maho, with the planes buzzing us and a Pina Colada in hand.

Countries: British Virgin Islands, Sint Maarten, St-Martin.

2011

Overall it was a year like no other for me, I think I did 25-ish countries. I may have seen way too much to fully appreciate it all, but I am trying my best to not get too desensitised by the frequency of amazing experiences I have had. People always talk about how they grow and learn a lot when they travel. To be honest I never want to grow up, and I don't know if I have learnt much about myself that I didn't already know. All I know is that you need to make the most of your situation, you will always have the resources to deal with anything, its just sometimes lacking the desire means those resources are not immediately accessible. Life happens pretty quickly, and if you spend all your time planning for the future it will soon be past so you may as well enjoy the present.

Finally I want to wish everyone a merry Christmas and a safe New Year, enjoy the festive season and think about me stuck in the gloominess of winter in the Caribbean.

Own Life.

Jono