Last November marked five years (five years!) since we sailed into New Zealand, dropping Wondertime‘s hook in the dark Bay of Islands waters. A lot has happened since then: trips to the US (some long, some short), motoring around New Zealand, a Tongan interlude, settling down (for now), getting a naughty boatcat, finding our way back to our roots … on the sea.
But all of that pales in comparison to the eighteen months we spent voyaging from Seattle to New Zealand. That journey across the Pacific Ocean will always define us: it changed us, it made us grow, it stretched us in unimaginable ways. Those months cemented our family together, bonds that have since been tested (and will no doubt continue to be) and held strong. Our daughters are begging to continue exploring this world; they know how big it is, and how small. Remembering how scared shitless, bored, frustrated, stressed, nauseous I was at times keeps me going when I want to give up because I know I’ve got this, and bliss is right around the corner.
Sometimes I’d hop onto our website, read old trip entries. And though I swear I can remember everything, reading our stories was often like reliving it all over again. One thing sure is clear: the Johnson family who left Seattle were not the same people who arrived in New Zealand. What defines a voyage, really. Recently, I gathered the best of the entries, cut out the boring bits, edited and formatted them just for us to read. To hold a physical book in our hands, the story of how we got here, of how we came to be who we are today.
Then I thought, maybe someone else would like to read it too, either again or for the first time? So here it is: our story.
But don’t worry: it’s not over yet. It never is.
(If you do decide to buy and read a copy, please let me know what you think, either through a book review, email, or blog comment. As always, we’d love to hear from you!)
