The next post should include toes in the sand...

We survived the birthday weekend on Luna Sea.  We paddled.  A lot.  In fact, I found stomach muscles I'd forgotten about - even though I'm still teaching Pilates and TRX at the local YMCA...  I have to say, I'm seriously loving that Tower iSUP.  Seriously.  I just think about where I want to go, and it pretty much goes there.  I have not had that response with my traditional SUPs.  And I have no problem getting it on and off of Luna Sea by myself.  Sure, I had to drop it a couple of feet onto the dock from the deck of the boat - but it won't hurt it!

St. Croix Countdown!

No - we're not taking Luna Sea, this time!  Hope to have my own photos for the next St. Croix blog!

We were just sitting around on New Year's Day this year, visiting with family - you know, with the TV on, but low volume, and a variety of conversations playing out in the living room.  Per my usual routine, I had it on HGTV for a House Hunter's International-a-thon.  I think this one may've even been focused on beaches/islands specifically - so you know I was peeking up at it constantly, like a dude/tte watching football on the sly on Thanksgiving.

I had faintly heard that this episode was in the Caribbean, but not much else, and then looked up to see the price of the single family home they were viewing - $132,000.  What?!  I totally expected another comma in that number.  I mean, these weren't fancy homes, they needed a little love - but they weren't slums either.  I was totally intrigued.  I turned up the volume to figure out what island they were on and grabbed the laptop - family gathering be damned.

We have rentals.  And when I'm not slaving away learning in culinary school/teaching at the gym (ok, "slaving" in the gym is a total exaggeration in my case, but it sounds better) I'm frequently on the lookout for a fixer-upper that we can use for our long-term-early-retirement-"passive"-income plan.  Most girls see a baby or puppy and go gaga over it.  I see a run down house and just want to love it and hug it and bring it back to life.  And maybe make a buck or two and keep my ass out of a swivel chair in some gray cubicle somewhere.  Clearly, an affordable home on a US island peeked my landlord interest.

Here's the other thing - did you notice it's a UNITED STATES territory?  Yes.  It is one of the US Virgin Islands.  Do you know what that means for US residents who want to shove off and bum around the islands?  The ability to work - LEGALLY, while traipsing around.  This got our wheels turning.  We knew we had a mandatory birthday/spring break trip coming up (I love being a student again!) but we still had not narrowed down a destination.  Problem solved!  I got online to verify that there are, in fact, affordable homes/condos in St. Croix and then booked our tickets.

We head out soon - and I've got a realtor lined up, a list of homes/businesses to look at, a rental car booked so we can check out the entire island - and of course SCUBA, snorkeling, eating and playing lined up as well.  We're even taking a tour of the local catamaran manufacturer's production facility.  The count down is on!

Are we going to move there?  Are we going to buy a condo/home to rent from afar?  Or maybe a multi-unit where we use one unit as a base while we rent out the other units?  Who knows?  That's why we're going to explore.  We may hate the island.  (ha.)  Or we may decide to check out others before committing.  But we have to explore. That's what we do.  How can you make a decision on something without investigating?  And if we have to suffer through a vacation on an island with an average yearly temp of 80-85?  Well, so be it.

*side note:  Why are there so many Debbie Downers in the world?  Any time someone hears we're going to St. Croix (or anywhere else for that matter) people like to tell us the bad crap.  "Hey - my cousin Bob's neighbor's kid's teacher's uncle went there this one time and he said it was terrible!"  Or some sort of variation of this.  Really?  You heard this one time from someone you can't remember that there was something - not specific, mind you - but something negative about this place we want to explore?  Well, here's a shocker:  I've been doing my research.  We've read several books, Googled, had online conversations with people/sailors who live there/have lived there, etc.  We don't just do these things on a whim.  We're not sailing away on Luna Sea on a whim.  This plan has been in effect for years - and will likely take years to implement.  It just takes time to cultivate a major life change - in a responsible way.  So, feel free to tell me your cousin Bob's neighbor's kid's teacher's uncle's story - I do love to hear everyone's input!  But just know that I've heard the negative.  And we will make our own educated decisions.

Crazy Busy - Miami International Boat Show 2014

I realize I haven't given an update in AGES!  And I miss it.  I miss the writing and the comments, etc.  It certainly has not been for lack of content/activities/goings on.  We. have. been. BUSY!

So where do I even start?