Once upon a time…

We were the normal aging baby boomer couple anticipating retirement and not sure what to do with it. We had always anticipated staying in our house that we had lovingly renovated and decorated “just so” forever. That was until over the course of several years we moved three of our parents into retirement facilities. We watched them blossom in the new surroundings getting not only the care they needed but improved interaction with others which surprisingly made them more lively and aware of the world at large. This started us thinking (which always produces surprising results).

Years earlier we had investigated buying a 65’ motor yacht, or trawler, but quickly decided that having that and the house were counter productive so we let that dream go. Until that is, we started thinking hard about retirement and what we wanted that to look like. Re-enter the Boat with a capital B.

The short story is that we are now in the process of selling everything except some momentos and knickknacks. Business, cars, house, furniture, I do mean everything. We’ve bought a 64’ Grand Banks Aluetian which I like to call our 1800 sq. ft. floating condo. We’re getting ready to pack up the cat and move full time to the boat.

The idea is to stay in Northern Virginia from April thru September each year to see family and keep in touch with friends and then spend the rest of the year travelling south where it’s warm.

It’s been an interesting experience so far and to keep track of where we’ve been and to let friends and family know where we are I’ve decided to start this blog, Travels with the LaaDeeDah. That’s the name of our boat and of course there’s a story about the name. There always is.