September 2, 2018
July 15, 2017 began the sailing adventure of a lifetime! My awesome girlfriend, JoAnne, crewmate extraordinaire, Drew Hoffman, and I threw off the lines at Shilshole Marina to set sail for the Sea of Cortez...or at least that was the big hairy awesome goal for this first stage of the adventure. We had an excellent start with 18+ knot winds, but around Point No Point, the wind died and we ended up motoring to Port Townsend because we would have been set back to Seattle with the three-knot current. I’m not a big fan of motoring on a sailboat, but when the option is to end where you began, I just swallow my dislike and fire up the iron wind. The cool thing is that we didn't need to use the engine for the rest of the trip down the coast, other than charging the batteries and dropping the anchor...except for the last couple of hours sailing from Catalina Island to San Diego.
We made it to Port Townsend by 1900 and dropped the hook for a lovely evening of music (Drew on guitar, me on ukulele, and JoAnne on off-pitch vocals), my special clam pasta with sour cream and chives, wine, and well-deserved sleep. We wanted to catch the ebb tide the next day, so we left for Port Angeles around 0400 and with a good 5-10 knots, made it there around 1600. We had a most excellent night out on the town at our favorite hole-in-the-wall, Bar N9NE, and returned to the boat for another great night of shut-eye. I also probably have a warrant out for my arrest because I forgot that we would be taking off around 0430 before the marina was open to catch the 0430 ebb tide to take us to Seiko. Since we ended up heading out into the middle of the Straights of Juan de Fucha to catch some stiffer winds, which we did, and made excellent time to drop the hook in Seiko. I tell you, fetching the anchor was a bit difficult due to the heavy kelp beds, but we ended up taking the advice of Coastal Pilot 7 and anchoring off the crescent-shaped beach where the anchor fetched in some firm mud. We went to town to pillage and plunder--JoAnne pillaged the best burger of her life, Drew had a more type of California burger with avocado, and I had a somewhat bland Caesar salad made with iceberg lettuce. We had another awesome night of music and wine a restful sleep. The next morning we heaved anchor around 0500 and sailed the last miles to Neah Bay. We got there relatively quickly, around 1500, got fuel, set the anchor, but due to 35+ knot winds, we decided to get a slip for the night because our two-person kayak, which we had three, more than likely couldn't handle the wind or the extra provisions we needed to take the left down the coast. That was one of the many good decisions we made on this awesome passage...and awesome it was!!!
Thinking back on the dream of traveling around the world and actually coming to that jumping off point where there is metaphorically no turning back. Well, actually there is turning back, but why would I chicken out now when I have told everybody about doing this over the last five years...that would be a bit embarrassing and probably commit me to just falling off the face of the internet or living a quiet existence somewhere on the hook in the San Juan or Channel Islands. In the next post, I’ll go into more detail how we prepared for taking the left down the coast: weather routing, provisioning, and getting mentally prepared
You can follow us on Facebook--JoAnne loves to do impromptu live videos, or definitely subscribe to our YouTube channel: Audeamus Let us Dare
March 4, 2017
So, I sold my truck! Here’s how the sale and drop rolled out. I stowed my bike in the back of the truck, did a Kelly Bluebook exchange with a dealer because getting that much cash from a private sale was probably not going to happen. I signed my wheels away and jumped on my bike to ride to the Port of Everett to check out boat storage on the hard.
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It was supposed to snow, but ended up being a most excellent day with sunshine, birds singing, and I had a most excellent exercise high. Life couldn’t be better. The sweet smell of liberation from a vehicle. What could go wrong!? I was thinking this about a year ago in Greece when I took a spectacular fall riding from Athens to Corinthos and broke my clavicle.
Actually, nothing went wrong. I found an inexpensive storage place on the hard at the Port of Everett marina, had a Ruben sandwich, quaffed two pints of a heavenly IPA, and had a most exhilarating ride to a Hampton Hotel where I splurged, because damit, I deserved it!
Now here’s the thinking on top of the thinking. The next day it was snowing and I had to ride back to Seattle. I won’t generalize about human nature, but Frank nature would more than likely have gravitated for a vehicle if I had one…but I took that variable out of the equation. Yes, not using the truck most of the year was definitely part of the equation, but in eliminating a vehicle, I would also be forcing myself to bike or use alternative means of transportation instead of resorting to the easiest venue.
I have to admit, when I knew I was biking to Everett, I researched getting on the train if it snowed, which I knew was on the radar...but then I got to re-think my thinking on top of my thinking. This was the first entire day without a truck. If I went to all of this trouble to sell my virtually brand new truck to orchestrate riding my bicycle, then I would be copping out. I would be a hypocrite. I would be worse than the fake news next to the fake president. No, I was going to ride, and ride I did. No falls, no near accidents, my hands were cold, my feet were cold, and I was smiling the entire ride hoping I wouldn’t loose an appendage due to exposure.
Granted, I have quasi-did something like this before back in 2006 when I sold my first truck and bought a motorcycle, which was my primary means of transportation until 2013. That experiment lasted for a good seven years until I decided to get a fishing mobile. I loved that motorcycle and if I were to get another vehicle, other than my bike, it would be a BMW 800 GS Adventure. I really don’t need a motorcycle like that other than to do some cross-country travels. And considering the logistics and logic of buying a motorcycle, if I were to sail my boat later this summer and then meandering around the world, I really don’t need any motorized vehicle.
Which brings me to the main message in this post. I’m learning more about the relationship between the intention I put into the stuff I accumulated over the years, the kind of life I was living, and the kind of life I wanted to live. What I accumulated and what I did seemed like an intuitive process where my means of accumulating shit didn’t exceed my means to pay for it, carry it with me wherever I wanted to live, and facilitate my lifestyle and career.
But things have radically changed over the last four years. I left the educational career where I had the opportunity to travel all over the U.S., to have the opportunity to travel all over the world. This means the vast library I collected is now sitting in a storage unit collecting dust, along with some awesome tools. It wasn’t really difficult to part with my truck, but parting with books and tools is tough. Granted, the storage unit is inexpensive, but it doesn’t mesh with my evolving understanding of my growing interest in getting rid of shit.
Experiencing as much of the world and people is my main goal. Here’s an example of the spectrum of how I want to accomplish that goal. Option 1: the minimalist Jack Reacher style of carrying all the things you need in your pocket—foldable toothbrush, some cash, throw away dirty clothes and buy new clean clothes—is attractive. The only difference is that I would more than likely have a small bag with clothes and toiletries on the back of a motorcycle.
Option 2: I could end up gunk holing around the world on a boat with a bike and dinghy, carrying the things I need for survival and take my home with me around the world. This is the option I am gearing up for right now with solar panels, a water maker, a radar, and a dinghy. Yes, I am getting a little more shit, but with a boat, the shit is limited.
Option 3: I’m really thinking that I can do both options and alternate between the two. I can sail my boat down the Pacific coast from Seattle to an exotic destination in a foreign country, put the boat on the hard while I work for six months, return to the exotic location, rent a motorcycle for a few weeks, tool around, get back on the boat, sail her to another exotic country, put her on the hard, and keep repeating the process as I make my way around the world.
There’s still a lot more to do with this thinking, but I’m feeling pretty comfortable where this experiment is heading. I will keep you posted.
February 2, 2017
After years of procrastination, I have finally started using this site as a work in progress. Don't get me wrong, I didn't set it up out of an obligation for some altruistic vision to enlighten current and future travelers/learners. I set it up, with the awesome assistance of John Locke, my technology guru, because my usual communication venues of Google and Facebook were blocked when I traveled to Tibet and China in 2017. This site is for my friends, family, and former students who may be interested to know that I am not dead and still alive to tell about it!
With that, here is the continuation of an incredible journey that started after six months in Diego Garcia, with very cool adventures in Singapore and Nepal, until I discovered Facebook and Google were banned in Tibet and the rest of China.
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Aerial view of Everest
TIBET After that fantastic evening eating, drinking, and jamming with my awesome new Nepalese Family, I ended up boarding a plane for Tibet and saw these really big mountains...Holy Shit, is that Everest out my window :-) Left to right in second picture...Mahalangur Himal, Lhotsel, Everest, Makalu.
The trip kept getting better and better after I landed in Lhasa. I shared drinks with a young family... I helped another young man and soon to be a proud father name his soon to be born daughter. He was looking for an "American name." The name, you ask? The first name that popped into my head is one of my all-time favorite jazz tunes...and my first ex-wife's name--Laura. He looked it up and immediately shook my hand voraciously and ran out the door. I guess he liked the name!
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Flying over Everest
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Finally, as I was finishing the last bites of my yak dinner... These three girls slid into my bench and the older one,Tseyang, started an interesting conversation about journalism in Tibet, the recent U.S. election, and offered to show me around Lhasa and be my translating service if I would work with her on English and the nuances of being a career journalist...of course, I didn't fail to mention I was a writer for my college newspaper like she was, and taught a high school journalism course.
All of the stars were aligning, but when I tried to connect to Facebook or anything associated with Google, the apps were struggling to open. We exchanged numbers and promised to download the We Chat app. Well, I found out quickly thereafter that every communication tool I used, except for Riot, was blocked by the Chinese government. Unfortunately, we never were able to meet again after my startling discovery that all of my communication tools were blocked.
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The next morning Topla, my guide for the four days in Lhasa mandatorily imposed by the Chinese government, took me around to some pretty incredible temples. No photography inside, but plenty outside. I would say the most striking act I saw was numerous devotees supplicating themselves every three steps, in a clockwise rotation around the bazaar. Topla also did this ritual every morning for two hours and he said many of these worshipers would do it for five or more hours per day. Incredible devotion and in such inclement weather! Thus is the most religious city I have had the honor to visit, with Istanbul during Ramadan being a close second! The next day, the day after the Chinese New Year, we visited Potala Palace, where all of the Buddhas are entombed! Incredible history and a lot of gold!!! As we were finishing the visit, the weather got quite colder, snow started falling, and after an incredible late lunch...I started feeling the effects of a fever. Topla was getting over a cold and more than likely have it to me. Meals are usually shafted events with a communal bowl or two. We had a full day, so I headed back to the room and nursed a fever all night! Fortunately, the fever broke and I successfully boarded the train for Shanghai, one of the highest railroads in the world.
Check out these altitude numbers and views! 5072 Meters, which is 16,640.42 FT!!! I also met some pretty cool train buddies...Yuzhifu, Frank (coincidence...go figure), and Majunlin.
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August 28, 2014
When I was an overconfident senior in high school, I visited my guidance counselor for the first time towards the end of my senior year. Yup, I had done everything up to that point—schedule my own classes, monitor my progress, and make sure I was on track to graduate. When I was called into his office, he asked me “So, Mr. Duffin, what do you want to do after high school?” My response: “Travel.” His response: “Great…see you later! Next.” That was the end of my interaction with my high school guidance counselor, but the memory of that interaction has lingered to this very day.
Since that interaction, I have set up my life where I went to college as far away from Missoula as possible, starting out in Massassachusetts and to exotic climes such as Istanbul, Turkey; Koh Tau, Tailand; Livingston, Guatemala; and the Rat Islands, AK where I could see Russia from the bow of the boat. Over the last 10 years, I have traveled extensively all over the United States on a weekly basis as an educational consultant, but now I want to do more.
Over the last few months, I have been thinking hard about leveraging work and play to be able to make a decent living while traveling abroad. Although my calling has been in education since I was in first grade, I figured it would be difficult to couple my interest in traveling extensively to exotic locations on a consistent basis while simultaneously doing the educational gig as a teacher, tutor, consultant, or some sort of permutation of all three. I had the luxury of traveling all over the United States and wanted to do something similar all over the world, but I realized I needed to think differently about my goals.
Instead of thinking about the job first; I began thinking about what I loved in relation to my high school ambition to travel. The links on the main page describe some of the big ideas about myself that i have discovered over the last few decades.