Alaskan Adventure

I woke up at the crack of dawn to head down to Squalicum Harbor to see Martine off on her latest adventure as a Naturalist for a company called NW Explorations.  Last spring saw Martine in the same position working for this company, which charters yachts in the Northwest. She is going on a six week cruise through the San Juan Islands, into British Columbia, around the outside of Vancouver Island and into Southeastern Alaska. While this at first sounded like a lovely vacation, she is actually working her behind off.  She has been preparing for this trip for a long time! The vibe at the harbor this morning was definitely subdued excitement. I commented to Martine how calm everyone seemed. My experience with seeing a vessel off is limited to fishing boats...which is usually all out madness. Despite all of the work that goes into making a guided flotilla happen, I am still extremely jealous that she is getting to experience such an amazing opportunity. This makes me think about why my path in life is so different from hers. Not in a bad way, but the idea of so much freedom is very enticing. Was it a bad idea for me to buy a house at such a young age? Is that whats inhibiting me? Being responsible for a mortgage means I need to have steady income...which isn't really conducive to adventuring off for months at a time. I'm extremely proud of and happy for my friend but her leaving brings my disquiet to the forefront of my thoughts.  I have a feeling things are about to change for me. Maybe I should re-read my horoscope! Ha!

Here's a photo I lifted from the NW Explorations website...not the boat that Martine is on, but looks quite similar...

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