As soon as we learned that we were going to be moving to Germany, Ellie and I both started to invest time into learning basic German. Thankfully, learning a new language is easier than ever thanks to a diverse ecosystem of modern language learning apps.
Alex
How to Set Up a Raspberry Pi VPN Hotspot
If you’re an expat like Ellie and me there’s a good chance there’s at least a part of you that misses being able to watch streaming content easily from your own country. The answer is a VPN, but these days it’s not that straightforward. I recently took some time to get a Raspberry Pi VPN hotspot set up at home and figured I’d share my lessons learned.
Thoughts on COVID-19
Talk about throwing a giant wrench into our plans! With the new Coronavirus exploding across the globe, we’re hunkered down and waiting it out. But that doesn’t mean our lives have to stop. As with most things, there’s opportunity to be found if you look hard enough.
Our Whirlwind 2019
It’s hard to even begin to try to summarize what a crazy year 2019 was for us. Not only did we pack up our lives and move across an ocean, we also expanded to a family of three. We documented a great deal of our adventures in 2019 via both photos and videos, and I finally took some time to compile them all into a short montage of our momentous year.
My 2020 Resolution
The previous year was a momentous one for Ellie and I. Not only did we move to a different country, but we also had our first child. Needless to say, 2019 was extremely busy for us! As we settle into the new year, I’ve decided what my 2020 resolution will be.
On to the Next Adventure!
In early fall 2018, Ellie got an offer to take her career abroad. Several Pharmacist positions had opened up in Europe and the more we read about it and researched it the more excited we got. Long story short, she accepted the job and in May 2019 we officially moved to Germany!
Electric Boogaloo
Whether cruising boat sailors like to admit it or not, electrical systems have become a critical component of our vessels. Even if just used to start the “iron genny”, a reliable 12-volt system has become a necessity for safe cruising. After a few months of sailing our boat, we recognized that our electrical system was due for an upgrade.
Giving Back Through Sailing
Ellie and I consider ourselves very fortunate to enjoy the financial and physical freedom of sailing on our own boat. At the same time, we recognize that there are many less fortunate people who may never get to experience the joy of sailing. Thankfully, there’s an organization near us that makes sailing available to those who may never otherwise get to experience it: Chesapeake Region Accessible Boating (CRAB).
First Pump Out and Weather Woes
We all know what they say about the best laid plans, right? Well, after over two weeks of unseasonable cold, rain, and gloom, the forecast finally called for a day without even the threat of rain. It looked like the best forecast we’ve seen so far since we started sailing our boat. We made plans to do our desperately needed first pump out followed by some casual sailing. The weather, however, had different plans.
Shakedown… sail-ish?
Having finally finished all of our critical boat work and spring cleaning, the time finally came to take our boat out for the first time this season. In our case, this would also be our very first “shakedown sail”, which we’ve been looking forward to for a while. Unfortunately, the weather had other plans.