Two Half-Hitches
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Who we are...
Courtney
I was born and raised in Texas and was born into sailing. Growing up in the Gulf Coast region has led to many years of helping Dad with boat projects and volunteering as a crew on the tall ship Elissa. My desire to travel started by collecting coins and stamps from other Hams in the hope of one day traveling to those countries. As the years went on, college became a priority and life exploded into working multiple jobs, a successful career, and three degrees... but something was missing. I found myself hopping to random places wherever I could find a cheap flight or train ticket to start a new adventure. With not very much money and summers off of work (or stretching my days off), I embarked on learning a new side of myself with each adventure. I quickly learned what my abilities and limitations were. I backpacked through several countries around the world while staying in hostels, sleeping on airport floors, taking night trains, walking literally everywhere, riding the top of my luggage because there was nowhere to sit at times on packed trains and trams, and catching the local public transportation that creaked and rattled like all the screws and bolts fell out. I went through many pairs of shoes in a few years as they either broke or were not fit to travel. I swapped clothes in hostels or left items behind as a donation. Traveling opened my eyes to what I absolutely needed and what I didn't. Minimalist traveling is a great way to travel and now we live a minimalist lifestyle. As a traveler, my favorite thing to do is explore traditional and local cuisine. I would wake up before the sun and go to the local markets to watch them set up, talk to a few stall vendors as best as we could both understand each other with language differences, share tea or a coffee with them, and then off to shop and bargain my way for groceries. This is a careful balancing act as someone with food allergies traveling in countries with limited health care or being in more remote places. I believe traveling helps define who you are as a person and helps a person develop certain traits. Not all of my trips were alone and sometimes having a travel buddy was fun, safer in certain places, but still very annoying at times. I learned more about myself as I traveled alone as a female as it made you depend on yourself, and trust your navigation abilities, street smarts, people skills, and packing techniques. Traveling has led me to appreciate the diversity and beauty in others. In all of my journies, I have experienced many things a college/career path couldn't give me. I love living on my sailboat (now with my new husband) and having a tiny garden. I am a trained chef, nutritionist, artist, educator, and amateur radio operator with an adventurous and bohemian spirit.
So if I can leave you any advice...
"pack a bag, and let's go! You will find out who you are and what you need along the way."
-Courtney
Joshua
I am from the land-locked town of Atlanta, where I grew up and became an engineer. After college, I escaped to the coast and worked on the big blue ocean as a deep sea cementing engineer. For 2.5 years, I commuted out to rigs in the middle of the gulf, far from land and surrounded by my first true love. It was in this environment my adventure began. I used my time onshore to travel the world and experience new places and cultures. I also began planning my eventual escape from land and put in place a financial goal to buy my own boat before I was 25. After being moved to Houston for work, I found Anticipation and saved up for another year to buy her. But let's be clear, I had never sailed on a yacht before. I had never even successfully sailed a small boat either. I knew NOTHING back when I was still dreaming. I read the book "The Essentials of Living Aboard a Boat" by Mark Nicholas and in 2017 I took my ASA 101, 103 and 104 courses to learn all of the basics. Anticipation was patiently waiting on the yacht market, her price slowly coming down to my budget. In November of 2017, I called the surveyor and set up a shakedown, on Thanksgiving day my offer was accepted and I became a first time boat owner. 2 days later I was moving aboard. By January, my apartment lease ended and I was an official liveaboard. And in the same month I nearly sank the boat twice by my own foolishness and naivety. But that's how adventures begin, not how they end. It has been many years since those beginning days, and I have changed as a man since. I was almost a priest, a calling which could have anchored me to shore forever. I grew out my hair and beard and realized I had the look of a liveaboard. I changed careers and was making more money than I had ever before. I began filming videos for my "Sailing Anticipation" and learned editing and videography. But then in 2021 I met Courtney and everything changed.
Welcome to our new adventure, we can't say for sure where we're going but we'll share where we've been, and all of the lessons we learn along the way.
-Josh