Simpler Times at 32° 117° – Somewhere In Time Weekly Travel Photo.

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Somewhere In Time is a weekly photo from around the world. Enjoy!

Maybe it’s the summer weather or maybe it’s just all the craziness that has been surrounding my life the past couple of months. Maybe it’s just the simple fact that I want to go back a couple years (ok, 10 yrs would be great) to simpler times. Don’t get me wrong. I am happy with the changes I’ve made in my life, I’m happy with where I am. It’s just the other stresses of life have been getting to me lately. The things that go along with getting older – parents aging and such. Things you can’t control.

The past couple of months have found me drifting back to the days on our sailboat in San Diego. I’ve been feeling wistful for those days and wishing I could go back and live on the boat in what was a very simple life. Simple because when you live on a 27′ sailboat with another person and a dog you pare down to the basics pretty quick and that’s great for de-stressing.

I bought the sailboat when I was going through a really difficult time in my life. After being diagnosed with cancer at 31 I just wanted to float away. I was really craving a new life and didn’t know what to do about it. So I bought a sailboat. I hadn’t sailed a day in my life, yet I thought I would someday sail to South America. After the first sail I realized that was an insane idea but it was the dream of doing something new that led me to the boat. Which led to simpler times  – which was exactly what I needed.

The sailboat provided a more bare-bones life, a community, new friends who took us sailing, fixed our engine and shared laughs. Trading was a popular form of currency on the docks – I give you this, you give me that. Easy right?

I loved going to bed as the waves lulled me to sleep. I loved the fact that the only TV we had was the laptop, which meant we listened to a lot more music. I loved that there was no real place to cook, which strangely inspired me to cook more often. I loved having coffee on the deck as the fog lifted over the San Diego Bay in the chilly mornings. I loved the little ducks that swam around the boat. I loved hanging towels out to dry on the dock lines. After a peaceful wake up each morning I hung out with my dog, worked on my wedding photos, the blog & with my parents remotely. Waking up on the big blue ocean every morning was something that never got old.

Sure there were some stressful times, we weren’t expert sailors and we learned by trial and error but the good days were really, really good. We would load up the boat with fruit, sandwiches, sunblock, friends & beer. Lots of beer. Off we would go parading our little home around the San Diego Bay, catching the wind, bouncing off waves, cannonballing off the deck into the Pacific.

This photo was taken on one such day. Four of us had gone out for a fantastic sail and the heavy clouds started rolling in as the sun was setting brightly against the horizon. We were getting ready to dock and we were scurrying around the deck trying to drop the sails and get the lines ready. The light streaming through the clouds onto the sail caught my eye and I took a few photos of people running around making last minute adjustments. I love this photo because I love the light and because it really reminds me of exciting yet simple times.

Living with only what you need is something I highly recommend everyone does at least once in their lives. Whether it’s a backpack, an RV, a boat – whatever it is just go small for a while. Get rid of everything and you’ll be surprised how much happier you are when you have very little left to worry about. It’s pretty easy at that point to discover what is really the most important to you in life. It’s equally easy to notice all the things that were previously holding you down. Things you don’t even realize – like a large collection of shoes & electric bills. Life on the boat proved to me that less really is more.

Want to learn how to take silhouettes like this? Be sure to check out my photo ebook “Getting Out Of Auto” for tips & tricks on shooting in all types of light, including bright sunlight. It even has a section that talks gives step by step instructions for capturing great silhouettes!

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*Please remember all photos on this website, unless otherwise noted, are copyrighted and property of Beers and Beans Travel Website, Nariko’ s Nest Weddings & Bethany Salvon. Please do not use them without my permission. If you do want to use one of them please contact me first because I do love to share and I would be flattered. Thanks!