a dream, a plan, a reality

There's something about a dream. And there's something else entirely about a dream seen through.

My husband has known Eric for the 7+ years he's been working at DivX. Eric has always talked about his dream to get a boat and travel around the world. On Saturday, he and his wife, Christi, pushed off the dock in San Diego en route to to the South Pacific.

Bon Voyage!

Anyone who knows Eric knows what an incredibly nice guy this is. On top of that, he's incredibly intelligent. So I suppose it's no big surprise that in the years we've known him he's not only managed to get a boat built but he's also learned how to navigate himself safely through open waters. But questions keep popping into my head...like...what do you do with your trash when you're out in the middle of the ocean? how do you protect yourself from pirates? how much food do you take? You know how I am with projects - love them. So, I'm totally fascinated with the fact that Eric and Christi spent all these years educating themselves, preparing for and making happen this incredible trip around the world.

They have a blog, and already I can tell it'll be one I check in on daily. The first posts sound like they're so relieved to finally be out there. I can imagine - think of all the work it would take to get everything here secured for the next couple years. All the worries. I go completely nuts when I'm just planning for a long weekend camping trip! Now, it's just them and the big blue. Check out the blog if this kind of thing is up your alley as it is mine: Kosmos Travel Log. (Can you believe there is such a thing as satellite internet access? Let's just hope it continues to work so we can get some interesting updates.)

It got me thinking about my own dreams. Seeing other people make their dreams a reality always inspires me. (and I'm not talking about dreams like Oprah's - I mean, come on, with that woman's money she can make anything happen) Dreams for simple folk like me. Dreams that require a lot of time and dedication. The project of all projects. Dreams like...designing my dream house. Our own sustainable, green house. In the meantime, I'd like to work to make the house we're living in right now a little more green. (and by green - hopefully most of you got this - I mean environmentally responsible, not slathering the house in green paint!) So I think I'll start researching that - start compiling my own plan of attack. (in all that free time) I've always wanted to run on solar energy, to learn to compost, to grow my own veggies and to use our grey water instead of sending it out to the sea. I'd also like to start scaling down, to train myself not to depend on so much. (television, shopping at Target, diet coke, eating take-out) As mentioned before, I long for the simple life. Why not make that my dream? A dream to live like hippie, soul-searching artists in our own little self-sufficient world surrounded by vegetable gardens and sunflowers? I'm gonna have to work on that.