Rob, “the Captain”, has a handy multitude of skills that range from motors, woodworking, electrical stuff, and other little “gee, I didn’t think we would need to know that” knowledge. Raised under the hood of cars with his grandfathers, in the kitchens of a cake-maker and food canner, and by the side of a carpenter, the Captain is a jack of all trades, master of none – though what he does know about each subject is vast… Or, at least, that’s what he tells me! What is wonderful about this man is his ability to keep learning and getting interested in subjects that were not presented to him by all the people who had a hand in raising him.
The Captain spent four years in the Navy learning about both boat engines and auxiliary machinery while becoming quick on his feet in times of crisis through his firefighting duties on-board a guided missile cruiser, the U.S.S. Gettysburg. At the end of his time in the Navy, a bombing from the Gulf into Iraq (two years prior to 9/11) solidified the Captain’s pacifist desires and helped him understand the severity of war. Upon his return to the States and civilian life, the Captain tried his hand at college studying physics, philosophy, and finally music business while working as a telecom installer, accountant, and web designer. However, Life interceded and helped the Captain to realize that the piece of paper he was striving for was not going to allow him to live as he hoped or to fulfill his dreams. So, with a job in IT which lead to a recruiting position, the Captain decided to opt out of anymore schooling and settled into a routine with a company that put him in a position to learn more about power and electricity while making some decent money.
On the side, the Captain played bass in a band with the men who had taught him to play guitar as he was growing up, spent time at his parents’ 16-acre farm, and caused mischief in the night with old friends. But, in the back of his mind, the Captain had a desire to sail having just bought a 23-footer to clean up and practice on and to travel to different destinations in the Americas. Also, he wanted to find the right woman to go with him – one that would appreciate his musical talents and knowledge, one who could joke and play with him, and one who would value all the things he does to show how much he loves his woman…
Cory, “the Narrator” or “me”, is less skilled on the maintenance-front, but is willing to learn and is even more willing to get dirty when it is needed. I was raised with my dad making sure I knew how to take care of my car and my mom reiterating how important it was for me to be an independent woman; for my 25th birthday, it was Mom who gave me my very first power tool: my own drill. Having the travel bug as a firm part of my life (I was even born in another country), I left from my home state of Texas at 18 for college in New York, my first anthropological adventure, though I had no idea what anthropology was or what a different world I was in for!
In New York, I studied Social Work, psychology, human resource management, and the oddities of northern humans who think snow is normal and hot sauce should be watered down. After earning my degree, I applied for the Peace Corps, but got tangled in the bureaucratic paperwork spider web for a couple of years, giving me the opportunity to work as a counselor for troubled teens. This work would help guide me as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Jamaica as I was working with teenagers teaching the area about HIV/AIDS and safe sex, but felt that my more important role was trying to help the youth become the leaders the organization – and their community - needed. I loved Jamaica enough to stay an extra year and work in Kingston as a trainer for the incoming groups of new Peace Corps Volunteers while learning that a rigid office-setting is not so good for my psyche.
After a jaunt of backpacking through Europe, I returned to school to earn two Master’s degrees – one in anthropology (now that I knew what it was!) and another in public health – in order to continue my pursuit of saving the world one condom at a time. During these years, I worked for Planned Parenthood, traveled to Nicaragua and Kenya, and was driven crazy by the question, “So, are you going to go on for your doctorate when you finish?” Since graduating, I have had three jobs in my field: as a researcher on a four-month project working for my professor (which I loved!), as a professor for one semester teaching intro to anthropology (which I loved other than grading so many papers), and for the county as a giver-of-HIV-test-results and investigator (which I quit for fear of losing my soul and mind to the misery that is working for the county). After three failed years to find international work, I decided that if travel and new cultures were what I wanted, then it was time to get them on my own terms instead of waiting for “the perfect” job to give them to me.
The Captain and I met three months after I graduated, started dating two weeks later, were engaged four months after that, and married on a pirate ship seven days shy of knowing each other for a year. We could tell on the first date that most of our desires, goals, and twisted jokes were in sync with each other, though I had no clue we would be in the dream we are in only three short years later. However, I did know soon into our relationship that: 1) we were very determined and level-headed people. 2) we had some pretty cool goals that were achievable as there have been others who have done what we had our sights set on. And, 3) we could love each other better than anyone else on this planet and help each other have all that we wanted and more!
So, after the Captain was laid-off in a company downsizing and I came to the realization that people who work in jobs they hate become hateful (hate-full) people, I quit and we did what any sane couple would do: we went to New Zealand for a month of honeymoon! It was there in March 2011 that we decided to make our dreams come true should the one last job lead I had not pan out. On June 10th, opening night of a play I was in, I was denied “the perfect” job and three days later began the job I was quite surprised to find myself in: sorting, selling, and giving away most of our belongings.
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| Madam Curious (or "Lil' MC") and Baron von Munchhausen |
Rob’s two cars and all of our furniture bought us a 1976 32-foot center cockpit O’Day we named Calypso’s Fire, a waitressing job gave us just enough to outfit her, the sale of my car gave us the seed money to leave the States, and now we are sailing through the Caribbean with our two cats in the first home/vehicle/property we have ever owned together. We have no idea what will come of this adventure, we have no idea where we will land when we are “done” (should that happen), we have no inkling of knowledge as to where more money will come from when we need it. Instead, we wake up when we are done sleeping, we eat when we are hungry, we explore and talk to people who interest us, and we let each day take us where it will while we live with No Real Plan…
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| Greetings from Bimini, the Bahamas on April 1, 2012 (I know you wish it were an April Fools joke, don't you?!) |
