January – March 2018

As it seems to be our annual tradition now, we returned to San Carlos for a couple of months to relax and recharge. Every time we return it feels more like home. Days were filled with friends, pickle ball, softball, hiking, kite surfing, kayaking, paddle boarding, boating and of course a few get togethers.

Andrew writes: First, I just want to give thanks to all of our friends and family who have contributed, or shared with us their lives over the past year. Specifically, Jim and Coleen, my Mom, Angela and Glenn, Kyle and Jules, JimEh and ShirlEh, Trish, Jennifer, and to those whose names escape me at this moment…Thank you; muchas gracias.

Amanda and I agreed to purchase some new kite surfing equipment this year from a company called LiquidForce, and it was great stuff. We were able to get out on the water 3-4 days a week, except in February when Amanda’s sister was visiting, and then somehow, the wind just stopped and it was nice and sunny every day. You know what? I didn’t mind, it just meant that the days were warm, although not unbearably. It was great to hang out with all of our kiting friends, including Gary and Mimi who spent almost two months in San Carlos, and it was great to see Gary out there every day on the water.

Amanda writes:I’ve thought about what to say in this blog post that you haven’t already heard. San Carlos rocks. The people are amazing and it’s a beautiful place. The first time we came we almost stayed for too long and then the last couple of times have seemed too short. I think after this visit we’ve nailed the duration.

I don’t want to ramble about my love for the community and instead I’ll let our pictures remind you how amazing it is. Something the pictures don’t capture are the amazing people. I have learned over the last 3.5 years that friends and family bring fulfillment to our lives. This year was our best yet and there are certainly some significant contributing factors. And as these factors involve love and inclusion from close friends, on this rare occasion I’m not going to get into the specific details.

Instead I will tell you that I’ve learned over the last six months that those that have the most give the most. And I’m not necessarily referring to tangible things in life; but rather friendship and inclusion. In my life I have the luxury of time and the ability to watch, listen and observe. It is my observation that people that have a lot to give and are not concerned with status, wealth and what others think; often give the most. I find that people that are secure in their wealth and proud of what they’ve worked so hard for but not in a cocky manner; are able to so graciously share their lives. That could be someone with 5 houses or someone living in a van; we seem to attract people that want to share their lives with us. I’d like to think it’s because we too are inclusive and want to share our lives with others; and so we engage like minded people. Sure maybe we don’t have all the same tangible things we once did, but that doesn’t make us any less appealing; at least to those that matter. Thank you to all our friends and family that choose to spend time with us and share their lives with us; you’re making our lives awesome!

Still sometimes it’s hard to accept the kindness of others without feeling … I don’t even know how to explain it. When friends and family are over the top generous it is still a big mental process for us to accept it as it’s meant to be received and not get anxious about it. Part of my process is to remember when we still had the normal life (good job, home, mortgage, car, etc.) and we would host other traveling cyclists. We got so much enjoyment out of sharing our lives with them and all of the luxuries that our life included. It was nothing for us to do so and it gave us such a sense of fulfillment. In return we felt like their energy, enthusiasm and freedom inspired us to be where we are today; and with that long thought process we are grateful for the people around us and hope they too experience a sense of fulfillment.

Oh and one more thing. Likely in part of some of our amazing contributing factors of awesomeness in San Carlos this year, we were able to convince not only Andrew’s Mom to come and visit; but my sister too. You may think, no big deal; but trust me, it’s a big deal. My sister hasn’t taken a vacation without her family in almost 20 years and had I not been able to entice her with luxuriousness that she is accustomed to, it may not have happened. We were able to hang out and enjoy San Carlos together for two full weeks. She enjoyed the community and all of our friends included her like she was family. I wasn’t sure why we chose to leave South America back in November but knew that I’d find out. Well, this was it. Everything happens for a reason. We left Chile when we were only 6 weeks from reaching the bottom of the Earth in Argentina so that I could spend 2 weeks reconnecting with my sister.

Today’s Photographs

There are a lot of photos! At the bottom of the photos on the left hand corner you can press “older photos” to see more. And you might even need to press “older photos” a couple of times to see them all.

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