Raf's Travel Diaries

For the past couple of years, we’ve been looking for the perfect boat to call our floating home. This particular boat, a Najad 34 located in the far north of Scandinavia, seemed like it could be the one. It took us a month and a half to go and see it because the river was still frozen, and we had to wait until it thawed. Finally, we were set to see if our dream would become a reality. We woke up early and took a bus to the airport. Walking to the bus stop, we realized how heavy our luggage was. Usually, we travel with just a small backpack each—a promise we made during our backpacking days to never travel with heavy luggage again. But this time, the circumstances were different. We hoped we would be sailing back on our floating home. The journey was long: 24 hours consisting of two flights, a night train, and a 45-minute car ride. We ventured so far north that it was always day. We arrived at the boat club, which was also a campervan camping site. The club's members were all over s

Days until departure: 12 Preparations have started.  I am taking advantage of a lull with my clients and my own bootstrapped projects to focus on making sure I pack everything we need while trying to keep to the absolute basics- an oxymoron in itself.  The goal is to travel with one backpack each and dispatch a duffel bag.  I am the Queen of Lists Where are we taking off to? North of Sweden, in the Gulf of Bothnia (Ever heard of it? Me neither until about 2 months ago). Way up north in the Gulf of Bothnia, see where Oslo is for reference Why that destination? We've been on the lookout for a sailboat for a couple of years. Although we've saved some money, it's on the lower side and not enough to buy a sailboat that meets what we need, so we've been hunting for an opportunity. Those who know us understand that we are quite frugal, so our requirements are pretty basic. We've visited a few boats, but none were right, either because of their price or condition. But now

 " Unsatisfied with what the world threw their way, they abandoned it all and embarked themselves in a new adventure." Over a decade after I wrote this sentence, here we go yet again.  PS: We never stopped having adventures, I just stopped documenting them here for some reason.

I've been wanting to write for a long time, but I sit here, and ... nothing. At last, I think I have a story to tell you. A couple of days ago, someone was telling me, in a very astonished manner, the close encounter he had had with a fox. This person went on holidays to the country side, and after feeding foxes for a couple of weeks he managed to get reasonably close to one. I hate myself after I do this, and I know I sound like a total brag, but at this point I blurted out -"My sisters and I raised 4 baby foxes! 3 actually, one died". My partner rolled his eyes, he's used to my unbelievable stories. In this story I was ten, lived with my family on a small farm, we were poor. Poor as in our parents borrowed the few coins in our piggy bank to buy bread. Poor, but probably the happiest memories of my entire childhood. My dad was out doing one of his rounds on the field when he heard the cries of cubs near by. Hunting foxes was forbidden at that time, and I can&#

It's a small yet colorful town on the sea-side, cars go by with boards and kayaks on their rooftops. Boys and girls with bleached hair longboard barefooted on the coastal road. There are plenty of surf shops and surf schools around. They built an artificial reef which cost millions of dollars and works only as a home to fish. If you search online, it is tagged as a surf destination. Yet, there are no waves. On a really good day, you are lucky to get a 3 footer. That has only happened once in the past 3 months. It's like a pretend town. It's beautiful, but it's built around something it doesn't have. Hopefully the summer will prove me wrong. I would be really happy to be proven wrong.

I have the best job in the world. There, I said it. It's a tough, up-hill walk, on a pathless jungle. On this journey I have had to take up other jobs which were no where near my dream job. I took them as an adventure, as part of the process to my desired lifestyle. Even kiwi-packing and being a waitress taught me more than I can recount. Oddly enough, I very much enjoyed most of my random jobs. Physical jobs give you a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day. Nowadays, I get payed to design and draw. I sketch, paint, make wireframes and play with typography all day long. It's like I'm a kid again, only now I have deadlines instead of scolding teachers telling me to concentrate on my schoolwork and stop doodling. Traveling and keeping active is my main source of inspiration. Nothing like discovering a new place, a day surfing or a good book to recharge energies.