Bret,

Oh THANK you...that piece brought back such memories! I still (7 years later) miss so much about the cruising lifestyle (in spite of all the land based conveniences: telephone, fast(er) internet, flush toilets, HOT water, refrigeration, a VCR, etc.).

yes, we were lucky enough to have the resources (time and money) to travel slowly. Others "did" the Pacific in 2 years, needing to return to money earning activities. We spent 8 years, and missed large island groups.

It was so special to arrive in places where there were no "tourists" (admittedly, it was somewhat of an ego thing, we didn't consider ourselves "toursits"), and to get to know locals, and their life style.

An advantage of travelling by boat is that you are always HOME...sleeping in your own bed, cooking in your kitchen/galley, etc. And, when locals extend hospitality, as they often do, especially in the most remote and materialistically (sp?) poor countries, you can reciprocate...in the cockpit at sunset, w/rum and tang and peanuts/popcorn, whatever.

It also felt good to be able to supply some fun/needed items. We always had little toys (I forget what they call them...those little optical toys/pencils, etc.) and other things to give away (asprin was a big hit in French Polynesia, as it was very expensive).

We spent a few weeks on an island in the Marquesas...only 4 people lived in this "village" where we were anchored. We were going to leave after about a week, but we (typically) decided to stay longer. There was a festival coming up and some kids came to visit from a larger town...a very different and wonderful experience that we wouldn't have wanted to miss...it was ALWAYS hard to leave a place, and to say "good-bye."

Even in highly populated places like Japan, our experience, I think, was different from land based travellers - or, at least, short term travellers. I would shop in the stores, and, after a few weeks, the shopkeepers would ask me, in English, how long I was visiting for. They saw many tourists come and go, but after they saw me for the 5th or 6th time, they extended theirselves to meet me.


The line you quoted jumped out at me as I read the article...yes, it fits perfectly with my experience (except that, luckily, we didn't experience THAT much corruption...and, we didn't go to Mexico or Africa or the Indian Ocean).

In many ways, that quote applies to my life here too...I learned the other day that my domestic helper only has running water in her new place until 9:00 in the morning, and she has 3 children. Possibly that is more convenient than what she would have in her home country, the Philippines.


GOSH, thanks for the memories! I could go on and on, but I'd better get on to the gym and my day...J

>http://www.economist.com/world/africa/displayStory.cfm?Story_ID=820447
>
>Jill D., I wondered if your yacht traveling in the Pacific was done much in the way of the author's travel in the Indian Ocean, and if you found, as the author did, that slow travel "has mainly been about learning again and again and again that most people are poor, a very few people are exceedingly rich and doing nicely, corruption is normal, clean water is precious and good people everywhere are doing what they can."