"It's about that time of year isn't it?" I kind of murmured out loud.

"What time would that be, dear?" asked Dave, with a raised eyebrow, and just a hint of a question in his voice.

"The time of year where my blog seems to have taken a bit of a vacation".

****

We've thoroughly enjoyed what's been a very long hiatus from blogging during what is well known to cruisers and seasoned sailors as the Hurricane Season.

H-Season is a time where Cruisers stay put somewhere, out of the Hurricane Zone, waiting and watching the weather. Some stay on their boats and tackle boat chores. Some leave their boat in a marina or on the hard, and go home. It's a time to prep and plan for next season. It's a time off.

This year, H-Season for us has been an event, an Adventure All of its Own.

"Season Five coming up..." I muse out loud, "We've spent four years of living in 40 feet of space that's a sailboat, of Sailing and Exploring and Adventuring and Living our Dream."

And then I add, rather excitedly, "and this summer, we've downsized to 25 feet of space that's a motorhome (MoHo) and Living A Different Dream, Adventuring of the Driving Kind"

You can read all about our Side Effects to Season One HERE, Season Two HERE and Season Three HERE.

"Amazing isn't it?" smiles Dave, to which I wholeheartedly concur and say, "Sure is! Hard to believe all the things we've seen and all the places we've been!"

When we first morphed into our Dream of a Life, I could never then imagine all the amazing places we'd sail to, all the wonderful things we'd see, all the people we'd meet along the way.

For this H-Season, we've changed up our mode of transport and our home for the summer months, and are living (and driving) in 25 feet of space, exploring and adventuring on the highways and lands that lie beneath our six wheels, and I'm once again, and still, in awe of what we've accomplished. And mostly and humbled by our incredible peoples and lands.

"Where are you from?" is a question that we get asked, sometimes several times a day, by the people we cross paths with. By the gas station attendants, waiters in restaurants, and tourist bureau personnel. By the fellow travellers whose campsite is next to ours, to fellow hikers along the trails.

Whether we're sailing or driving, there are many morning we wake up not quite knowing "where" we are. And that is a common side effect of being Adventurers. But that's not the problem. The problem is that lately, we're hesitating before answering.

Why is that?

Where ARE we from? Is Nova Scotia (Canada) the correct answer? Is the last anchorage/camping spot the answer? Do we reply with a simple place of residence, but that, somehow, in no way describes us? Or dare we answer truthfully, for truthfully, it would take a long time to list all the places we've been to. Just how do we pick a place we call home when for the last four years we've been nomads, Adventuring Gypsies, taking our home with us? Where is our home when our home is constantly with us?

On the boat we're identifiable to all by our name on the white hull, "Banyan" the large blue letters read, and also provide us with our radio call sign. Our country of origin identified by the red and white Canadian flag that proudly flies off our stern.





On land, life is a lot more discreet, our Nova Scotia licence plate does that job for those that wish to glance down that way. We sure miss that there is no way to hail the camper who we just passed on the road (by name, in repetitive groups of three) to have a chit-chat and find out where they're from, or invite them over for campsite sundowners, something not quite as common practice with dirt dwellers, which we now are, for a short while, apparently.





Cruisers and Campers are two very different breeds, and we find ourselves slowly adjusting, perhaps there should be a blog about that, with time.

As Cruisers though, and quite interestingly, one of the frustrations of island time was the common use of the term "Jus' Now" when asked for a timeline.

Just now could mean anything from literally "right now", to "sometime soon" to perhaps "never", all combined with a "who knows", and why don't you "have a beer and chill man?" type of attitude.

Perhaps therein lies the solution? Sometimes when we get asked where we're from, we will say Nova Scotia. Or perhaps we might say Canada, if we want to respond with a more global perspective. Or we might specify Dartmouth, on a more detailed level, if the person continues to query.

To which people nod in acknowledgement and understanding, as if that somehow has defined us.

And sometimes we find ourselves anxiously wanting to respond, in excited story telling ways, that we're Just From Newfoundland with its amazingly beautiful nooks and crannies of harbours,



and seen whales, and moose



and puffins,



memories that will forever frolic in our dreams.

And before that, we're Just From the majestic Rocky Mountains where we saw and hiked incredible mountain ranges, glaciers and emerald lakes, and bears.



And we're Just From having driven the immensity of flatness that is the canola yellow of the flowering prairie lands, littered with small oil drums forever pumping their arm in relentless up and down motions.



That we're Just From the country's biggest goose in Wawa,



or Just From the Terry Fox monument on the grand shores of Lake Superior.



or exploring our own home province of Nova Scotia,



It is so true, that any travel experience, changes your perspective, on everything. Seeing life out there, whether it's down the road from where you live to faraway exotic locations, it all changes your soul. Connecting with people (from family and friends to complete strangers) rocks your core and affirms that when all the "stuff" is gone, all you have left is how you've touched, and been touched, by the people around you.

And there you go, perhaps we're a little Just From everyone and everywhere because, once you've seen, felt, and experienced something majestic and wonderful and humbling, how can you not take it with you, forever etched in the art that is your heart?



We're Dave and Alexandra of Banyan.



Perhaps it's Sailing Banyan in the winter months. Or Banyan Travels in the summer months. We've simply morphed to Six Wheels AND a Keel.

We're Adventuring Somewhere, by mode of Sails or Driving with Wheels. Why not follow us as we adventure into Season 5? We're sticking with our mantra : See you Somewhere South of Somewhere.

And perhaps if you see us along the way, stop us and ask us where we're from. We might stop and tell you all about where we're Jus' From!