Departure Planning

The sun rises fast in the tropics.

One minute I can see the first light on the horizon. The muezzin is calling for morning prayer in the nearby village. A freshly brewed tea is in my hand, and I’m doing my morning meditation, trying to tune down my reactivity a bit before the day starts properly.

Over the last couple of years, I’ve gotten used to many things I once feared. Some of them used to scare me so much that I didn’t even dare to try them.

I pushed my comfort zone.

Or maybe I just shifted it.

Waking up all on my own somewhere in the African mangroves can feel easy and calm now. But the moment I depend on other people, their schedules, their rules, and their paperwork, I get nervous very quickly.

Getting export and import papers for my dog Jango.

Moving Santana onto a mooring I didn’t set myself.

Leaving her in someone else’s care for the next couple of months, while it will be rainy, humid, and probably impossible for me to intervene if something breaks.

That makes me nervous.

Then there is the airport.

Getting cleared out. Handing Jango over in his travel box. Hoping they load him onto the correct plane.

Managing immigration in Europe. Getting Jango back. Clearing him in. And then somehow catching connections and trains in Germany after an overnight flight.

That, in fact, makes me very nervous.

Jango and I both like traveling on our own terms, even if it takes much longer.

I guess everyone faces the struggles they deserve.

Well, having said that, I got ready to move the boat to her final position for the next couple of months.

Take care, my friend.

Stay curious, stay salty,

Floh