I am writing to you feet away from the ocean off the coast of Australia… what a beautiful place. I have been in Byron Bay for the last couple days and I can’t say how grateful and happy I am to be on a solo adventure during our time off from the Laneway festival in Australia. My gracious host, the ubiquitous and very gifted director Taylor Steele, was kind enough to have White Sea to his magical La Casa for a creative sojourn…. more on that in a future post.
In the spirit of this extraordinary place, I wanted to share a feature on some friends of mine who are setting off on an adventure that I think we will all envy: Lindsay Upson, my dear childhood friend and her partner in crime, Matthew Pierce, have purchased a fixer upper sailboat and intend to travel the world. I asked them to answer a couple questions and I wanted to share their online pages where you can follow their sure to be extraordinary adventures. Enjoy!
1. Have you always been sailors or is your love of the ocean only recently become a full time hobby?
Our mutual love of the ocean and exploration has been the fulcrum of this adventure in my mind. Independently we have both grown up on and around different boats, myself on sailboats and Lindsay more on motor boats, but both maintain a healthy love for the ocean and all means of playing within. Sailing itself is more a wonderfully free means for us to travel the world and explore at our own pace. Though Lindsay may lack some in actual sailing experience it is her will and determination to see the world that really matters. For myself sailing has been a life long passion and to be able to explore the world by sailboat an ever present dream.
2. How did you find your boat?
The strategy was to get on as many boats as possible to learn exactly what we did and did not want in our new home. We kept scouring the internet and local listings for boats that seemed to fit our criteria.
We came across Cavalo after a cross-country road trip from MA back to San Francisco. It was our last leg back up the California coast, and we were stopping to look at boats in San Diego, Long Beach, and Newport Beach. She was the last boat we looked at and blew all other potential candidates out of the water. It was perfect timing, one adventure was coming to an end and the next was already beginning.
3. What was the definitive conversation that led to choosing this adventure?
“Hey lady, wanna sail away with me?”
Matthew has always had this dream to sail around the world. Shortly after we became friends he shared his vision with me, I remember the night vividly. After a long day on the slopes in Tahoe we had snuck into the hot tub at a nearby resort. Sipping whiskey and sharing stories, something just clicked for me, although at the time it was just a casual conversation and we had no idea we would actually make it happen. Traveling all over the world has always been my dream, but I had never considered doing it by sea. When he told me his idea it immediately changed my perspective. I love the ocean, so it seemed the perfect way to travel.
4. What are your backgrounds?
Although we grew up on opposite sides of the country, we share similar backgrounds. Both of our families love to travel, so we blame them for our insatiable dose of wanderlust. Matthew grew up on the water, introduced to the seafaring life at a young age when his family spent multiple years exploring the US and Caribbean by sea. He studied architecture in upstate New York before ending up on the West Coast. I grew up in the Bay Area and went to a French school in San Francisco which I feel only perpetuated my need to be immersed in other cultures. In high school I went to Costa Rica for a community service project and it changed my life. I attended photography school in Santa Barbara and currently shoot travel photography, family portraits, and work on our travel adventure website so its all ready for action once we embark.
5. What is the goal of your trip?
The goal of the trip is to explore this amazing planet by way of the ocean, and to share our discoveries with everyone.
The trip is a travel-adventure, but above all is a lifestyle change. We will be living with less, using less, thus being closer to nature and the elements. The boat runs on solar and wind power only, we will make our own water, grow some of our own food, and use our engine as little as possible. We aim to show people through our experiences and the lives we document, that there is still a way to live a full and vibrant life with little impact.
6. Is this an open-ended experience or is there a finish line?
It has never been about the destination even though the Golden Gate would make a perfect finish line. We feel as though we could not see enough in a lifetime; our route is loosely mapped out but is subject to change. Who knows, we could fall in love with some island and decide to stay there! This is the whole purpose, to be free and go where the wind blows us.
7. How does your photography play a role choosing to sail across the globe?
I chose photography as a career partly because I thought it would enable me to travel; this is definitely easier said than done. Shooting while traveling is my favorite time to shoot; visiting new places, and being out of your comfort zone heightens the senses. It feels as if you are seeing through a new set of eyes. Photography has become half of the reason I love to travel so it plays a huge role in my choice to embark on this adventure. I will be shooting for our blog, for editorials, and will also sell fine art prints on our website.
In addition, we are working on a photography project that will launch once we set sail called “The Good Side.” It was really important to us to come up with a focus, a solid story to document along the way. I know other projects will come to us as we travel, but this one will be present from start to finish.
8. When do you leave?
As soon as we, and our vessel are ready; hopefully once the hurricane threat in Mexico subsides for the season this Fall.
LINK LOVE:
