It was nearly 13 years ago that I first began to dream of sailing to faraway lands with Chris & Tyler. Sell the house, the cars and the business, ditch the suits and ties in the nearest Salvation Army dumpster, buy a sailboat and head out for a few years to see the world. I figured we could homeschool Tyler and that he'd learn infinitely more from the experience than he would in elementary school or junior high.

Although the details and the timing evolved considerably in the years since then, the basic dream stayed alive. Things began to fall in place in mid-2009 when I sold the business and retired 18 months later after a fulfilling but exhausting 20 year run. Buying a boat in Croatia was never part of the plan, but I was captivated by the Discovery 55 and there were only a few quality used ones for sale at that time. It didn't take long before we learned that Croatia was an outstanding cruising ground so why NOT start our journey there?? Besides, the Greek Islands weren't very far away and beyond that we'd have access to the entire Mediterranean Sea! Sign me up... adventures ahead! Thankfully, Christine and Tyler were willing to partake in what was at first primarily my "thing".

With that brief retrospective, it is probably easy to understand how difficult it was to see Tyler fly home recently to begin his summer job as a YMCA camp counselor. Since his collegiate life begins this Fall, this departure signifies the end of a long-held dream, much of which we've been blessed to have realized. We haven't crossed any oceans yet, but we did sail in places Homer wrote about centuries ago. We've visited Athens, Istanbul and Rome and seen ancient cities like Delphi, Corinth, Ephesus, Knidos, Caunos and Halicarnassos (modern day Bodrum). We've become more familiar with Greek, Roman and Byzantine civilizations and been introduced to more ancient people like the Carians and Lycians. More importantly, we've had the unique opportunity to live in close quarters together in an environment which requires teamwork, patience, communication and resourcefulness. And we have genuinely enjoyed being together despite sharing less than 275sf of living space nearly 24x7. Who would have thought???

Christine and I return home next week to enjoy the summer months in MN/WI with plans to return to Interlude after Tyler is settled at St. Olaf College this Fall. Beyond that, nothing is certain. We may hang out in Turkey for a few more months (there is still SO much more to explore here) or we may try to get as far West as Malta for the winter. I'm hoping for a burst of inspiration to help chart the course and crystalize the vision for this next chapter. Will Interlude cross the Atlantic to explore Caribbean waters for a while? And might she someday experience landfall in the South Pacific? Whatever lies ahead, it will be hard to top the experiences and memories from these past three summers. As I reflect on these, I'm reminded of the first few lines from one of my favorite tunes:

Somewhere over the rainbow
Way up high
There's a land that I heard of once in a lullaby

Somewhere over the rainbow
Skies are blue
And the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true