There was John and Sarah, and Turbo and Trixie. We lived in the frozen northeast, along the coast of Massachusetts just south of Boston. A pandemic was raging across the world, but we were able to find a way to live well. We walked along the beach every morning and evening. We cooked and ate healthy meals at home. We ran. We did yoga. We hiked and backpacked in the mountains of New Hampshire, Vermont, and western Mass – and after hiking always enjoyed a nice cold craft beer.

In September, when the weather was still warm and the skies were still blue, we bought a boat and sailed her down the coast from Maine. As the weather turned, we sailed her a little further south to her winter home in Plymouth.

When the winter began to rage, we bought a truck and a camper and we set off to explore all the warmer parts of the US. We were safe and healthy, contained in our pod while simultaneously expanding our view to encompass the great vastness of the natural beauty of America. We traveled from MA south to Florida, then west to Texas, Arizona, and southern California. We looked up and drove north to Oregon and Washington State before making our way back east, stopping in Utah and then sprinting across country to witness the death of John’s father back in Florida.

Fully vaccinated now, we emerged from our pod into the Massachusetts summer sun, brought the boat out of storage and sailed her around Boston Harbor, hiked with the dogs, made friends at the funnest yacht club along the South Shore. We drank 50 different beers over the course of the summer season and were awarded our Crafty Sailor t-shirts. Then the weather began to slide into the cold again, and we began to wonder what we’d do next.

Vaccinations were up, the virus was retreating. The world was starting to open up and we decided we wanted to be there to see it. We gave up our apartment on the beach, sold almost everything that couldn’t fit into our backpacks, acclimated Turbo and Trixie to their new traveling crates, and hopped a plane across the sea to Portugal. And here we are now – John and Sarah and Turbo and Trixie – at the beginning of our adventure.