Or: SnailTrails – reborn! Or rather: SnailTrails – the awakening! Because, in fact, the snails never really left our lives, were never really gone. Just maybe a little asleep for a while…

The awakening serves two concrete purposes: this blog will first of all make accessible again the contents of the SnailTrails website that documented our 2009-2011 adventure criss-crossing the Americas and Africa aboard Archie, our modified Land-Rover Defender. People have asked us where they can access all the posts and pictures, and they were locked away on hard drives – safe but inaccessible. They will now reappear here, in English.

And, yes, thanks for asking, Archie is doing very well, he served as our daily driver during our posting in Burkina Faso from 2012-2016 and has since been used sparingly, although he is still in great shape and ready for more adventures!

Speaking of which… No, this is not an announcement of an imminent and breathtaking new SnailTrails adventure. Well maybe it is, sort of. The second reason to relaunch a blog is to document the start of a new long-term project: a circumnavigation by sailboat.

Over the last couple of years, Connie and I have taken to sailing, started to learn the ropes (literally), took RYA classes and finally chartered our first boat all by ourselves this summer.

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Since these kinds of projects start long before one actually sets the sails, we thought it worthwhile – for ourselves, and maybe some one else, to keep a record of where that new crazy idea came from, how we’re going about putting it into practice, etc.

And, let’s face it, while we’re sitting tight trying to avoid catching the COVID-19 virus or struggling with the consequences of the pandemic, isn’t it fantastic to let one’s mind wander to far-away shores aboard an as yet imaginary sailing yacht…?

Stay safe, and stay tuned!