The beginning of the dream unknown

 Many years ago I had the opportunity to travel around Southeast Asia as part of an intricate piece of the US Navy machine.  I was young, 21 years of age and fresh out of college and impressionable.  Unbeknownst to me at the time, the value and impact of all that I would see and be exposed to during this chapter of my time on earth.  The primary purpose the ports of call was to decompress from long weeks of operations at sea, by seeking out all the popular nightlife spots we had heard stories about while underway.  During our misadventures in Thailand over the course of four weeks, we were all preoccupied with laying in the sand and nursing our hangovers day after day.  To this day it kills me to learn that the largest Buddha in Asia, made entirely from gold was a mere two hour bus drive away!  I missed it, regret....too busy elbowing up at the bar to see not much further than the Momma~san and the girls swaying around keeping us engaged and persuading us to spend our American dollars.  

Another, missed opportunity came during our many trips to Hong Kong (three weeks all in) and the need to visit commercial spots such as the Hard Rock, and the Kangaroo Pub, which were heavily frequented by Australians and Brits.  We were drinking overpriced Pub beer and scoffing down fish and chips rather than hopping on the train to go visit a section of the great wall that swooped down low on the Chinese border.. Squandered..

Fast forward 2015,  on a whim, my wife and I purchase a small sailboat, I start to binge watch sailing vlogs during the winter while our boat sat in the driveway in full view.  I started to hatch the dream.  These vloggers are traveling on sailboats to all these places that I've been during my service years.  On a few occasions I witnessed travelers on the very beach in Thailand where I nursed so many hangovers.  I'm feeding the dream on a daily basis with writing, videos, visualization, and realization.  I will return to these far off places, on my own vessel, on my own terms, and capture all that I missed when I just did not know any better.

The dream is realized