Thoughts about the concept of luxury

Whangarei Falls

If you had asked me what luxury was for me before we left San Diego on Shalimar, I would have answered more time before our departure date to prepare the boat, have more money to buy a house ashore here to have a place for us when we get back, or if we get tired of life on board. Of course if on the top of that I could win the lottery and offer a home to each of my family members and some money for my goddaughter studies it would not be luxury either!

Whangarei Falls

And even now it would not displease me to feel that my family is safe, however the word luxury is not only tied to the notion of large amount of money anymore. This word is coupled with other daily ones. There is a $3 shower which is the "luxury shower" for example. There is also the luxury meals when eating out and sharing a dessert when I really did not feel like cooking! And while we did the "house sitting", having a bath at home, get up several times a night to go to the bathroom without having to get dressed and leave the small apartment in which we are right now. Being able to take a shower whenever I want without fear it becomes icy cold along the way, or to have a view of the beautiful garden of Raewyn and Geoff; luxury that was! Take a little time out of the boatyard and go for a walk in an unfamiliar green landscape, if possible with a little ray of sunshine then this is the super deluxe (yes it rains almost every day here).

If you ask me what my last truly luxurious meal was, me who loves cooking, restaurants and gastro menu extension, foie gras (yes I know it is the animal cruelty but I can not help it) I'll tell you ... The meal we had at Valentine's on Toau, a small island lost in the middle of the Pacific, on small  plastic tables decorated with the flowers from the garden. I still dream of sashimi tuna, lobster, coconut bread ... I think of the many traditional songs, accompanied by ukuleles, night all around us, full of stars stitched on a deep blue sky and waves gently caress the shore. It was luxury because we may never return, because nothing buys a time I dare say almost perfect ... Steph, I also think about Christmas with your parents, thank you again to the great chef!

14 weeks of pregnancy

Right now, our bank account is a little frown, the boat is out of the water, we have a lot of work to do and major purchases in order to continue our adventure and yet I feel rich. Rich of what we lived, rich of what is to come, wealthy of this little life growing in my belly. I started my research about what we need to buy for the baby because with limited space we must consider the necessary and unnecessary even more. And I realize that if we do not succumb to buying headphones to put on my belly to start annoying the little fish immediately with the hits of the moment, or a large tub that would not fit in our bathroom, we do not need much things, at least initially.

Of course money is important and essential, it pays for hospital cost, a minimum of basic things, clothes, food, etc ... But our bias is to say that our greatest luxury will be to spend time with our little one and we hope it will be the same for him or her!