This Thursday morning December 16th at 10am local time (GMT +12) Ruby and I touched down at the airstrip in Majuro Marshall Islands after 57 delightful days away visiting friends, family and a bit of business in the USA and Canada. For those of you who have been kindly and consistently asking for some more details and updates on all our trips and adventures, let me do my best to summarize in as few words as I am capable of:
It was a complex collection of journeys and destinations which included us riding on:
19 airplanes
10 trains
27 automobiles
4 boats/ferries
2 busses
2 dinghies
Ready? Here goes…………………
However what made it all SO SPECIAL was all the stops along the way where each provided the gifts of some truly quality time with a few very special friends and family. I could literally write a book about each one of these stops, but fortunately for you I will resist that urge and instead just enjoy the inner warmth and smiles the memories of these visits will continue to bring me for many years. My sincere thanks to all of you who gave so freely of your time and welcomed us into your homes, your lives and your families.
Our time away from the good ship Learnativity was a nonstop set of adventures including just getting to the USA. Between two of our flights we had a 17 hour layover in Honolulu and so we turned that into an adventure by heading into town for the day where I got to visit some favorite places I used to go when I was spending lots of time there when I was managing some Autodesk projects based there and Ruby was able to get in lots of time running on beaches and over grass fields. I was also able to get to the Micronesian consulate and get all the papers looked after for the visas and entry permits for I’ll need for visits there next year.
First destination in the US was Orlando Florida where I had a wonderful week at the Learning 2010 conference which my longtime friend and colleague Elliott Masie puts on each year. I was honored to be able to lead four different sessions and take part in many more as I joined almost two thousand learning and training professionals at this annual event. In addition to great content Elliott is the master at providing an event and environment for sharing stories and time with some very special colleagues both old and new and I was able to put my ongoing experiment of living IN life’s moments and “spending more time with less people” into practice with great success.
I had intended to stay in the Orlando area for several weeks after the conference to be with my second family and home there but I received a call from Canada that two close friends from my university days in British Columbia were not doing well health wise so I jumped on the first flight out and got up to the interior of BC as quickly as possible. In spite of or perhaps because of the context for being there, I had an incredibly intense and wonderful week being welcomed into the home and family of these fantastic friends. On occasion it was a bit like one of those books or movies where old school chums reunite for a funeral of some mutual friend. Fortunately in this case there was no funeral just lots of reuniting with close friends from both the near and the distant past as other classmates dropped by. Being there 24/7 I was given many gifts of time with my friends and their two children who I’ve known since they were born but are now almost 30 and we had those special impromptu talks on walks, around the kitchen table and the sink at all times of the day and night. Such a rich experience and one I will always treasure.
Then it was back to Florida for some much needed time at my home away from home and US mailing address where I not only have two of my closest friends but also their four incredible young kids who I almost regard as my own. I long ago decided that I only want to be around people who are young of heart and mind and this is about as good as it gets for fulfilling that credo. All too soon though it was time to start heading back west and starting a super sting of visits with more very special friends in the San Francisco Bay area. While too numerous and wonderful to list each visit was uniquely wonderful and I can’t begin to thank each of you enough for all you did and what you mean to me.
Next on the adventure agenda was a return to British Columbia for another fabulous round of planes, trains, automobiles, boats and busses for visits with family and friends in the Vancouver, Victoria and Comox areas. I also took advantage of being in Victoria to renew my passport which was due to expire next year as they could get my new one in 24 hours if I was there in person to turn in the old and pick up the new. Given my remote locations and distance I don’t have many options for physical mail and more countries are requiring that passports be good for 6 to 12 months after your arrival date so this proved to be very timely indeed.
It seemed to be unseasonably cold everywhere we went with near freezing temps even in Florida and snow on the ground in Victoria and Vancouver areas but it was warm as could be with family and friends such as these. During my time in the Vancouver area I was able to pop in to surprise Don and Nona (Diana’s parents) and take Nona out for her 80th birthday along with sister Doreen and my beloved son Skyler. I’d been chasing Skyler all across the USA after he decided to move back to Vancouver from his home in Florida and drove across the US to spend time with Lia in LA area then back to the Bay area to see Diana and his many other friends before continuing on north to Vancouver where he is working some temporary jobs while he waits for his spot in the Canadian Navy to come up. Our time together was all too short but it was still a treat to get some time with Skyler and hear firsthand his stories of the many changes he has been going through as he becomes such an amazing adult and hearing all about his decisions on new directions on the next leg of his life’s journey.
Continuing the trend LA area was the next stop to spend time with my incredible daughter Lia and her husband Brian. Ruby was also reunited with her buddy Piglet (Papillion) and to meet the newest dog Ponzu who is their adorable new little Japanese Chin. During my time with Lia she and I were able to attend Brian’s high school football team’s last game which turned out to be the championship game and we cheered them on to an exciting finish where they won with a touchdown in the last minute of the game! On Saturday I spent the day with Lia as she introduced me to all the horses she is riding and the different barns and people involved as she is both riding, taking lessons, giving lessons and the proud owner of a young thoroughbred which she and Brian hope to turn into a good investment in a few months. Such a thrill as a Dad to see your children blossom into such incredibly independent, interesting and successful individuals.
Then it was time to head back to SFO for one last day of picking up the last on the list of supplies and parts to take back to the boat with me and get in a few more visits with some close friends in the area before catching the first of the plane rides to take Ruby and I back to Learnativity in Majuro. The first flight took us to Honolulu where we had an overnight stay and time to have one last visit with a friend and colleague from back in the days when I was managing some exciting Autodesk projects with a team of very talented people in Honolulu and was over there about once a month for several years. The warm weather in Hawaii and getting in one last terrific time with an old friend was a great way to end the adventure and start making the transition back home aboard Learnativity.
It seemed that almost everywhere we went in Canada and the USA it was unseasonably cold until the very end when we hit LA and then Honolulu so it put a big smile on my face to have a blast of unseasonably hot and humid air hit me as the airplane exit door opened once we landed back in Majuro. We cleared customs and immigration without a hitch and the van from the hotel that runs the mooring field where Learnativity has been safely tied up soon drove us around the south eastern corner of the atoll and dropped us off at the dock where our friends from the yacht Tender Spirit were waiting to take us in their dingy back out to Learnativity.
At almost every stop we made there was a dog for Ruby to play with so her trip was equally as memorable and she certainly lived up to her billing as the Wonderdog! She seems to love being in her special black bag/kennel that she travels in on all these planes, trains, automobiles, boats and busses. She usually just goes to sleep and never makes a peep so most of the time no one even knows she is there which often helps us when we need to be in taxis, restaurants or busses where she wouldn’t otherwise be welcome. I suspect Ruby thinks of her travel bag as a kind of magic carpet and knows that each time she rides it she will come out to revel in yet another great stop and adventure. In any case she is a great companion and surely one of the most travelled dogs in the world and likely chalked up more airplane and sea miles than most people on the planet.
Thanks to doing a thorough job of readying Learnativity before I left her for a lengthy time and to Joan and Chuck from nearby yacht Tender Spirit looking in on her from time to time I was delighted to find everything just as I had left it making it the feeling of being back home even sweeter.
As seems to be the new norm for me this latest set of adventures seemed more like 57 months than 57 days as it was all so delightfully dense and rich with such quality time with so many special people. I will be forever grateful to all of you who were so kind and generous of your time, your homes and your love and can only hope you know what a great gift you are in my life. Unlike many of you who have to wait for a few more days to the 25th, I have been showered in gifts for almost two months now and so I’ve already had my holiday season and feel I am the most privileged person on the planet. Thanks to you all and here’s wishing you a very happy holiday and new year.
Meanwhile back on Learnativity I’ve been slowly making the transition back to life onboard, getting Learnativity out of “moth balls” of storage into ship shape and returning her to our cozy home. It has been unseasonably hot here with daytime highs around 95F/35C and humidity running 50-75% and while it will indeed take a week or so to acclimate it is great to be back in this kind of climate and get rid of such silly things as socks, shoes, pants and shirts.
I don’t make plans anymore but my intention is to spend however long it takes to look after some boat jobs that are best looked after here in Majuro where I have rare access to some supply stores and a US Post Office (Marshall Islands are still very closely tied to the USA). Not sure how long this will take but will certainly be well into January and whenever we are ready and the weather permits will set sail westward weaving our way through the islands of Micronesia heading towards the Philippines where I’ll hit a fork in the road/water and eventually need to decide whether to head north or south. However I subscribe to the Yogi Berra’s advice of what to do when you hit a fork in the road of life: take it! So I’m thinking of maybe taking the south “fork” first and making a big circular route around Indonesia and Papua New Guinea and experience more of the SW Pacific ocean area which I’ve come to love and appreciate so much and then maybe take the north fork up through the Philippines to Hong Kong, Shanghai, etc. But all that is likely measured in years and all as usual TBD (To Be Determined) by whim, weather and wonder so you’ll just have to stay tuned here to find out about the same time I do as to where we will wander this coming year.
So that’s my best attempt to summarize the past two months and catch you up on what all Ruby the Wonderdog and I have been up to. The next few weeks or more will be busy ones as I spend time looking after some critical and other jobs on the never ending To Do list which boats tend to create and in preparation for starting the next leg of sailing west through Micronesia and beyond. I’ll do my best to punctuate the time with more updates and will be getting back to some of my other writing and postings that you may find of interest.
Many of you have been asking (thanks) about connections and communications and I do have internet access here and from the boat but it is quite expensive and time based so I am not able to stay connected for any length of time and usually just log in, look after up and down loads and then log off so not as many chances for spontaneous or serendipitous online connections nor much time for browsing the likes of Facebook and other sites. However I am online at least once each day at different times and so if you do see me pop up on one of these online connections please do ping me and I’ll do the same. I’ve included a list below of all the various ways and means I connect up online so use whichever ones work best for you. For general staying connected Facebook is probably the easiest and best as it will alert you to anything I post anywhere and I get Email updates of anything you post to my FB page. Otherwise Email is probably the best and most reliable way to stay connected and you can use my Gmail account
wayne.hodgins@gmail.com anytime I have shore side internet connections such as I do now and then use my Ocens Email
whodgins@ocens.net for times when I am either at sea or in remote locations as I am able to get the Ocen Emails via my satellite phone from any location on the planet.
Kommool tata (Marshallese for thank you very much) to all of you for your time and friendship, both in person and online and look forward to a great finish to yet another spectacular year and the start of an even better one next.
Iokwe! (Marshallese for hello/goodbye/love)
Wayne & Ruby the Wonderdog
Back aboard the good ship Learnativity
moored off town of Uliga on Majuro atoll
07 06.274 N, 171 22.358 E
Email:
wayne.hodgins@gmail.com Email @ sea:
whodgins@ocens.net FaceBook page:
www.facebook.com/wayne.hodgins Learnativity blog:
www.learnativity.typepad.com OCOT blog:
http://waynehodgins.typepad.com Skype: whodgins
Twitter: WWWayne
Phone: +1-501-492-9634 (has voice mail that is forwarded via Email)
Sat phone texting: send short 140 character Text msgs via Email to:
881632510270@msg.iridium.com Posted via email from Learnativity
