Today I am setting off on the start of a four or five week multi-modal journey with the aim of intensely developing my sailing skills.
Ever since we came up with the idea of taking Adam and Dani to witness some of our charity work in Cambodia, I’ve been looking for an opportunity to gather multi-day sailing experience. A few weeks ago I heard back from one of the skippers with an offer to join him and other crew. The plan is to deliver his 60ft monohull vessel from Hamilton Island in the Whitsundays to Sydney leaving next Saturday the 18th.
My plan to get to the port of departure with minimal impact involves taking the electric train the first 200km to Gympie on a 50c fare and then hitchhiking the remaining 900km to Airlie Beach. Once there I’ll see if there are any other sailing vessels heading to Hamilton and open to taking on an extra volunteer. From Sydney I’ll make my way back to Brisbane by hitching or the train, depending on how the next few days goes and how much time remains. I have jury duty book-ending this adventure on the 17th of November.
I’ve never hitchhiked before and was uncertain about the legality of it in Queensland, but as far as I can tell as long as I stay off the road, in particular motorways, I should be fine. If anyone knows otherwise please let me know in the comments.
Time away from the family comes with a cost to everyone, and I am really grateful for the support of Emelie and some of our friends and neighbors who have offered to help with Adam and Dani while I’m away. We’re conscious of our preference for car-free travel shifting the driving burden onto others though it looks like we’re avoiding that this time. In exchange for collecting Dani when they pick up their own children from school, we’ll take the latter on a little cycling adventure when I return to help build their confidence on two wheels. Thank you friends!
I haven’t posted anything here in a while, giving a lot of my attention to finishing up most of my responsibilities at work before my time away. I’m still contemplating what my future involvement in that company will be. There is one project I want to see through. It should tie up around mid 2026.
We have also been putting more effort into our YouTube channel which gets more new viewers than this platform, though the nature of the content is a little different. Check it out if you haven’t already and if there is anything that resonates with you please share the message and the link. Each share is hugely helpful in bringing the message to a wider audience, the way the algorithm works.
- We’ve redone our Intro video with a little less waffle and a little more impact
- Emelie produced several popular shorts on plant-based cooking
- We showed how we thresh and winnow pigeon peas
- I showed what’s involved in collecting heavy things without a car
- I shared a few thoughts on shifting our locus of control and motivation by play rather than coercion
This is my first post prepared entirely on my phone so if anything is weird, that might go part way to explain it. If all works well and my battery holds out I’ll post again throughout my journey.