Twenty years ago today I wrote Bumfuzzle’s first blog post. I hit publish, and immediately four parents and maybe a sibling or two could follow us around the world. Remember the internet twenty years ago? I remember teaching myself how to use Microsoft FrontPage 2000 in order to design and publish my own website. It was hosted out of some random guy’s (friend of a friend?) basement for a couple hundred bucks a year.
I had hoped at the time that 1,000 blog posts would follow. My vision at that time would not have extended beyond the four-year circumnavigation we were about to set out on. If we successfully sailed around the world I figured maybe I’d write a thousand posts. I had no idea what the future held, and that Bumfuzzle would eventually encompass a lifetime of our travels, over many thousands of blog posts, and tens of thousands of photos. Our current web hosting service hates us, even though we pay for their top-of-the-line dedicated business servers. Bumfuzzle has turned into a monster data gobbler through the years. We still get emails from people who tell us they found us and then went back and started reading from the beginning. That takes some serious dedication at this point.
I couldn’t have known at the time how often Ali and I would look back through our posts, lost in memories, all the while building new memories to pile on top. I wouldn’t have known then that September 6th would find us passing through Portland, Oregon to visit my mom while we lived in a VW bus five years later. Or that ten years on we’d be in Mazatlan, Mexico, with another boat and two awesome kids. Fifteen years of September 6’s would find us waiting out a hurricane season in Florida on Bumfuzzle number three. And now, twenty years have passed under our keels and wheels, to put us here in American Samoa, thousands of miles into circumnavigation number two on boat number four.
Back on our ten-year anniversary we asked:
“So ten years. How long have you been with us? What brought you here? Do you feel like you know us? Have you gone cruising? Have you made your dream adventure a reality? Leave us a comment and tell us your Bumfuzzle story. Consider it your ten-year anniversary gift to us.”
Now that it’s been twenty years we’ll ask the same questions? Leave us a comment and let us know your Bumfuzzle story.
Kids were nice enough to cut up some twenty-year confetti. Dedication to the craft.
If, after all these years, you would like to wear your Bumfuzzle proudly on your chest, you can buy a tee. You can click on any design and pretty much make whatever you want out of it. Pick a different t-shirt type, adjust the image, whatever. Prices are just based on whichever shirt you choose to have printed up. Zazzle, I believe, offers a money-back guarantee stating you will look every bit as rock hard as the models pictured below if you sport Bumfuzzle gear. Bumfuzzle Tees
Anyway, it’s been a pleasure to share our life all these years. We’re proud of what we’ve accomplished and are happy to be forty-nine-year-olds who not only have exciting things to look forward to, but exciting things to look back on. We’re proud to have two adventurous kids who are so adaptable, kind, strong, smart, funny, and so good to each other. Ali and I haven’t played life safe, relying on “someday” to fulfill our dreams. And while not every decision we’ve made along the way has been the right decision, they’ve all led us to where we are today. I’m thrilled that, because of the sum of all of those decisions, we are still sailing west.
174 Comments on “Bumfuzzle’s 20-Year Anniversary”
very cool
You know it!
Bums! Congrats on 20 yrs! Here’s my go at your questions:
-I’ve been with you since 2015 (8-9yrs)
-I found Bumfuzzle book looking for sailing stories.
-I do feel like I know you
-we did go cruising. And shared an anchorage with you on the Grand Banks on Long Island, Bahamas in 2017 (i think)
-and yes the three years cruising was the time of our lives. Maybe we’ll do it again one day.
Thanks for the inspiration! Cheers to 20 more!
Barrett
Bums! Congrats on 20 yrs! Here’s my go at your questions:
-I’ve been with you since 2015 (8-9yrs)
-I found Bumfuzzle book looking for sailing stories.
-I do feel like I know you
-we did go cruising. And shared an anchorage with you on the Grand Banks on Long Island, Bahamas in 2017 (i think)
-and yes the three years cruising was the time of our lives. Maybe we’ll do it again one day.
Thanks for the inspiration! Cheers to 20 more!
Barrett
Happy anniversary! I started reading your blog while you were on your first circumnavigation. I don’t remember exactly where you were at the time, and I don’t recall how I found you. I went back and read from the beginning. At the time, I had absolutely no interest in boating or leaving home for any period of time. I just liked reading about your cool experiences and seeing all the great pictures.
After you bought the Grand Banks, someone asked in the comments if you were planning to do the Great Loop. I had never heard of it, so I Googled.
We bought our first-ever boat (a 40′ Hatteras) in 2019, practiced cruising on Lake Michigan, and we completed our Great Loop in August 2022. I’ll always be grateful for the adventure your blog brought my family both vicariously and then in our own real life. All because of this blog and that comment.
Wow love it! Congrats on the Great Loop. I like the Great Loop as it keeps you moving with seasons, has a great community, and a goal to finish. We will most likely do it at some point…
Have been following you most of your 20 years now. First heard of you from Tanya Hackney on “Take Two”. She and her husband had looked at Bumfuzzle when it was up for sale after you had returned from your fist trip around the world. I purchased your book and have been following you ever since. As a former Midwesterner (South Chicago suburbs), your stories and lives have resonated with me on a level which is hard to describe. With 32 years of boat ownership now (reluctantly) behind me, and some very memorable blue water sailing trips crewing for others, I can tell great sailors when I meet them, and you are they. Gods’ Speed and fair winds going forward my friends.
Thank you, Rex, for always commenting and being so positive over the years.
I started following you sometime when you first sailed to Australia (maybe 18 years ago?) . Two things that have really stuck in my memories are;
Somewhere going into a port in Australia (I think) you had a massive wave or something throw your boat around enough to really scare you, and second, a blog post in Peru (IIRC) “One day my kid is really going to hate me for this…” when you talked about that “Comforting”night (wink wink,nudge nudge ) on a jungle road back in the middle of nowhere.
On your trip through Western Canada in the yellow Porsche you drove right by the facility where I then worked..I was only 100 metres away from Bumfuzzle! Too bad I didn’t know about it until you posted it some time later. Bummer : (
Awesome, Roger! 1st memory: nearly flipping (dying) going through a sandbar in Australia. Yup that sucked, and I was pretty much done sailing then. https://www.bumfuzzle.com/june-2005/
2nd: poor Ouest with Pat rambling on during our cargo ship to Europe. Haha. https://www.bumfuzzle.com/july-2009/
Sorry we missed you in Canada!
Congratulations! We started our own blog in October of 2007, so we’re not far behind you. I think I started following you on a regular basis when you had the old Travco motorhome. Maybe 2014 or 2015, I think. We did extensive travels in Mexico at the time, so I think that was how I came across you. I’m always most interested in your boat travels since we never have any intention of owning a boat. I’m a landlubber!
Hi Kevin and Ruth, yikes are you tired yet? Crazy how this takes us over. Happy travels guys!
20 years! I can’t believe you’ve been posting that long. I’ve been reading almost as long, and I still remember your early posts. When we did our own circumnavigation of the Carribean in 2013, largely inspired by you, we frequently referred to the lessons we learned from reading your blog (including what the sound like frying bacon on the bottom of the boat was). I commonly talk about “Pat and Ali” to my wife the same way we talk about old friends . Thanks for 20 years of reading and inspiration!
Awesome, Scot! Amazing how much can be remembered just by it happening to someone else first. I’m most certainly sure we have never made the same mistake twice. 😉
I found Bumfuzzle from a friend at work about 17 years ago. He knew I wanted to travel around the world and suggested your blog. Been following your adventures since… and yes, we did travel for a year… so fun. We even met up in Houston (Kemah) for a Bumfuzzle get-together, which was a blast to see your Blue Bus/RV. So glad you all are still traveling and I can continue to show my wife, “See… Bumfuzzle is doing it… we can too!” Happy 20th!
Awe, that’s awesome! We met the nicest people at that BBQ in Kemah. https://www.bumfuzzle.com/texas-bbq. So glad our friends Tracie and Steve got that together. Please tell your wife sorry from Ali. 🙂
I saw a post about Steens mountain, which I’d been searching for somewhat nostalgically from our home in Italy, me being from Oregon originally.
https://www.bumfuzzle.com/bumfuzzle-september-2008/
Nice! Enjoying seeing what everyone searched for to find us.
I first met you while preparing for the great race,,, we also consulted together about the Travco,,, in a cold Wisconsin barn.
Here’s to twenty healthy years,, and more to come!
Rich
Hey Rich, oh the Great Race so much fun! https://www.bumfuzzle.com/june-2007/ And yes, I remember Pat saying he would have never figured out the awnings without you! https://www.bumfuzzle.com/new-bikes/
Oh Bums!
Congratulations on 20 years! I remember finding you just after you left on the first circumnavigation. I’ve read all of your posts many times, especially during the cold Canadian winters. You inspired me to go to Mexico (by myself) and learn to surf in my 50’s! And, really, pay more attention to my finances and start travels.
Your blog is simply my favourite part of the internet. I feel like I’m checking in on my friends who live this amazing lifestyle. I’ve got a pink bum hat which I wear proudly!
Cheers to you for sharing your family with a whole of bunch of friends you’ve never met.
Awe thanks, Stacie! Appreciate you as a friend we haven’t yet met.
I first found the blog during your circumnavigation (Franci told me about it), and have followed ever since. Once, I was sitting at the Abaco Inn in the Bahamas with Stephen and Franci and saw your post about wanting a place to park the Travelall and Airstream near San Antonio. I showed Franci the post and she immediately had to respond that her place was available and came with airport transfers. That’s where I met y’all and took the last photo of the Travelall and Airstream together as you left their house.
As for wheter you have inspired me, I am currently looking for a boat to do the Great Loop next year, and I definitely have been Bumfuzzled!
George, you’ll have to send us the photo again, we’ll put it in the post! https://www.bumfuzzle.com/grand-new-home/
Thanks for being with us all these years!
Thanks, George, got them!
Read your book Bumfuzzle before I moved to Mexico. Actually saw you and your family walking around Isla Mujeres. I was cruising by on a golfcart and regret I didn’t take a minute to say hi.
Jeanette! You should have said hi! We had so much fun in Isla Mujeres! https://www.bumfuzzle.com/familia/
After reading your blog for years and dreaming of the day we could take off and cruise, I was so excited to hear Bumfuzzle talking on the VHF radio in Isla Mujeres. I figured it must be you as who else would call their boat Bumfuzzle. Good times ensued in MEXICO AND Guatemala and it was truly a pleasure to meet you all. We still enjoy reading your blog posts!
I think you need to catch up, so we can hang out more now that our kids are older. Or it would have been fun out at anchor together, unlike always being at marinas at the same time. Until we see you again friends!
Been a great journey! Met you guys on a beach in Baja while driving the blue motorhome!
Baja on the beach with a motorhome = awesome! https://www.bumfuzzle.com/baja-at-last/
Thanks for keeping with us!
I’ve been following you for many years. I don’t know how many but enough that I remember when Ouest wanted to go to school in Mazatlán.
My son is one of your investor club members and I’m 62 days into doing America’s Great Loop. Perhaps reading of your blue water experiences gave me the courage to start this.
Keep on keeping on! I love reading your blog and seeing the photos. We were just in French Polynesia in December so loved seeing the islands through your eyes.
I’m writing about our Great Loop trip on Facebook – Loose Moose on the Loop. Blogs are more trouble.
Hi Kathe K, Ouest going to school, OMG. https://www.bumfuzzle.com/first-day-of-school/
Awesome your son is with us at Wanderer! And I will follow your trip on FB. Hope you have a good loop!
I want to say that I read about you on Mr. Money Mustache. Maybe in a comment or something. You were in the Travco then. I have spent the last 35 years shut in a windowless room teaching other people’s children how to read. It’s been a great career but with the current political climate it’s time to be done and get outside as much as I can.
Hi Susan, a tough career but oh so worth the joy of teaching children to read on their own. I hope you can find a way to continue with windows and without politics.
That’s amazing! We’ve been following you forever– first time I’ve commented, though. We also have spent 12 years living on a sailboat but are going for land travel now. We’re from Minnesota and have lived in Woodbury; currently in Hudson, WI, for summers and San Carlos Mexico in winters. I feel like you are close friends and love following every adventure❣️
Oh wow, Woodbury, that is a small world. I hope you have amazing land travels! (and sorry for our non-positive thoughts from San Carlos.) https://www.bumfuzzle.com/san-carlos-or-north-dakota/
I’ve been along since your first blog post, but probably a year or so into the journey is when I picked it up. I just couldn’t stop reading about this couple with no fear–about inexperienced sailing on that really deep and rough ocean, or starting from scratch when it was over, crazy adventurous, the independence from family expectations and flipping a big bird to societal expectations. Such a difference from my conventional safe existence. I was fascinated in watching you dare to give birth on your own terms and raise kids with such values. It thrills me to see them as curious and compassionate. You’ve done everything right. I stay because I want to see Lowe and Ouest grow up and see what they do with this untethered to convention life you’ve given them. Pat can fix anything and Ali, just the fact that you provide three meals a day in a tiny kitchen with a limited and unreliable supply of groceries – and your kids EAT whatever you fix just impresses the hell out of me.
Haha, Betsy. I really do not “make” 3 meals a day – but yes, I guess I do provide them. 🙂
Great to have you with us this long!
Happy Anniversary! I think I’ve been following you all since at least 2015 — the Dodge bus. I’ve seen you through sea & land, watching the kids grow up. I get attached to each home you have and then reattach to the subsequent homes you have. I admire you all. I look forward to seeing all your adventures and I can’t even imagine how they will evolve — where will you all be in 5 years? (Heck, 1 year?) Will you be on land? on sea? will the kids still be with you full-time? will they be off to college (it was wrenching when they spent there first summer camps away). Anyway…thank you you for opening up your lives to us. Showing us another way for families to be, for a life to be lived.
Ha! I have the same — where will we be, land or sea, kids to college – questions going through my head too. 🙂
And truly so many ways for families to be, for a life to be lived – it’s all good.
I was searching for VW bus rebuild ideas in 2008 and you guys came up. Been following ever since. Bought a Downward 38 in 2013 and lived on it for 3 years. Good times.
Thanks for sharing your adventures and congratulations.
PeterB
Good on you! And thanks.
I was windsurfing in Baja in 2002 reading Patrick O’Brien books in my tent when I decided I should get a sailboat so I could start learning how to sail and take care of a larger boat in case I ever wanted to explore the world by sailboat. A got a Cal25 with a friend in Milwaukee and after a few years I came across your blog. I don’t remember where you were at that moment because I wanted to read it in order and started from the beginning until I caught up with where you were at that time (Indonesia I believe) I remember reading one post where Patrick was talking about how he realized that day was the 1 year anniversary of living on the boat and you guys were almost across the Pacific. He decided that since it had been a year he should rebuild the winches. Looking in the West Marine catalog for the rebuild kit was when he realized they were 2 speed winches! Your blog convinced me to buy a catamaran vs a monohull which I did in 2006 and sailed it back to Lake Michigan from FL to run sailing and scuba charters while I learned and improved the boat. At that time I hadn’t found a partner with similar goals yet. In 2014 I did and in 2018 we got married, moved on the boat, and sailed it out the St Lawrence and down to the Eastern Caribbean. We’ve been living aboard full-time ever since. We are currently anchored in Bocas Del Toro, Panama with our 8 month old new crew member and are looking forward to the Pacific in the next year or so. We are looking at exploring Baja f and Mexico for a season and then across. And it’s all your fault! Haha! 😉
Pat’s fault. 😉
That’s awesome, Rick! Happy to hear you are living the life you want. We were actually trying to get to Bocas Del Toro with our Grand Banks, had we not jumped ship to this catamaran. And yes, Baja and Mexico is a great place to explore and then stock up for a crossing. Good luck, and awesome with new crew too!
THE winch post: https://www.bumfuzzle.com/july-2004/
Aloha and congratulations!!
You guys are pretty well aware of my bumfuzzle story by now. We’ve pretty much live this one together. I’d love to look back at the 10-year comment, I’m sure it was entertaining. I think of all the many stories from the bums and a smile comes to my face. Among my favorites are discovering that the 2 speed winch had…. Two speeds. Or that they some total of your sailing experience was a half day lesson on a lake in Minnesota. I was impressed then and I’m impressed now.
I’d like to think that I’ve had at least a little influence on your voyage from time to time, including where your kids were born. I just couldn’t see Mexico City.
I also have to say that I’ve never been that surprised it any particular movie made, as we tend to think along the same lines. When you leaked that you were a trader, I think it was in New zealand, that was no big shocker. You had to be making money somehow, you cut your teeth in Chicago, and being a trader myself, you were taking chances that a trader would take.
I love the fact that you did the Red Sea when nobody was doing it. Also, the cigarette pirate is one of my favorite bum stories.
Then there was the Volkswagen van. What another epic adventure. One of my favorite outtakes from that trip was Ali somehow becoming seasick for the very first time I think I had a pretty good idea when you started collecting carousel horses.
I wish I was still in the Bay area when you took possession of your second boat. That Marina is probably an hour’s drive from my house. But, as you know, we were already pretty well in scouts in Maui
I really enjoyed all your time in the bus around PV. That place remains near and dear to my heart, having lived there almost a year and a half.
As you know, I was never much into the third floating home, as she was a stink pot. I know you loved her so I tried to love her along with you. She sure had beautiful teak work. Needless to say, I was excited when you decided to trade her in on your current home. Although, I must say you probably made the very best of the pandemic of almost anyone I know.
That brings us to the current boat. So far with a little tweaking she seems to be ideal. The part I’m really jealous of, now that I almost have two kids away at school, is that your kids will be spending some really magical years including I assume all of their high School sailing around the world. And also, you get to see it through their eyes which will be great. I can’t wait for the various adventures.
As usual, fairwinds, have fun, be safe and continue to post like banshees. Your host will just have to put up with it.
Aloha nui loa,
Your good buddy still along for the ride,
Mark
Right back at you, Mark! Be great if we can share stories in person some day – make it IRL friends.
I started reading during the VW van days, I had a ’66 at the time. I did eventually go back and read it all. Your early days of figuring out the boat stuff were part inspiration, part humorous, part terrifying. (Windex!)
I seem to remember you used to always go to McDonald’s, which I found pretty funny for a world traveller. Then it was fish tacos, and after the kids arrived y’all seem to have gradually shifted to home cooking.
I still read, for inspiration and to remind me of the reasons I don’t want to maintain a vintage vehicle. Or a boat! I just finished a month on the road with my sons – we don’t aspire to full time, but not many single moms are able to hit the road for long periods of time. Luckily my kids’ dad is flexible, and was able to join us for part of the trip.
Hi Dorothy, Windex! ha ha and about the rigger calling Pat out on that not being a bowline. Although that was a painful stop for us – we had so much fun on the islands and with the locals. https://www.bumfuzzle.com/july-2004/
A month on the road with your sons – awesome! Those are the best, as it seems to be different than when you are just living it full time. Great memories. The kids still loved our 2-week Porsche trip the best, as there was no work, no electronics – just us, scenery, fun stops along the way. https://www.bumfuzzle.com/a-minnesota-send-off/
This is my first comment, but I have been following you for about ten years. I was chatting with a client about my love of all things water and boating and about my husband and my sailing retirement dream. She said, “why wait?” And recommended your blog. Fast forward…..we have read all your posts, some more than once, my hubby is on Wanderer, and we are two years away from the goal we set 3 years ago to follow in your foot steps, ditch this American “dream” and do the Caribbean with our kiddos. Thanks for the inspiration! I am so grateful you showed us that kids can not only survive the boat life, but thrive! Happy Anniversary!!!!
That’s awesome, Beth! And a Wanderer too – niiice. Keep moving toward those goals as the end year is the hardest, start that cleaning out (selling now, if you can), minimizing gift giving to memories, etc. It all adds up, and is more work to unload when you are ready. And I hope you comment more now, and definitely when you take off. I would love to hear it!
Not sure when I first started following you, I think it was perhaps less than a year into your first voyage. My ex-wife and I had decided we wanted to buy a boat and do some sailing so we looked for blogs and found yours. It certainly inspired us to buy a catamaran and sail the east coast of Australia from 2014 to 2018. When you get to Sydney (assuming you are coming this way), I will try to contact you and take you all diving on my boat.
Looking forward to all your future adventures.
Michael, that would be awesome! Although I must admit we don’t have plans for Australia on this around. Your diving photos on FB our amazing.
Wow. I have been following bumfuzzle for over 15 years. Found your blog and was hooked!! I went back and started from the beginning! What fascinating lives. I definitely felt like I knew you guys and felt like family when The kids came along and though ‘wow these kids are going to have amazing lives’. I was scared for them managing on a boat. My favorite vessel was the vw van and second favorite was the travco rv. I still don’t know how Ali managed travel in the Porsche 😂. Oh another favorite was the catamaran days Anyways. I love your journey and look forward to many more blogs as I continue live vicariously through your family’s adventures.
Well thank you, Maria, we hope to keep on posting.
Congratulations on keeping the Bumfuzzle Blogs going for 20 years, I believe I’ve read everyone of them.
I first found you when you were entered into the Great Race, a customer of ours was also entered and I was researching it when I found a story about you two.
Anyhow to answer your other questions, yes I do feel I know you and your family a bit.
I have not been cruising yet, I did most of my travelling when I was in my 20’s, Africa on a motorcycle and budget travelling around the world, I was offered to join the crew on a sail boat that was crossing the Pacific when I was in Mexico about 35 years ago but declined, I have occasionally pondered where I would have ended up if I’d taken that trip.
We did just take delivery of my fist ever new boat, a Stabicraft aluminum boat made in NZ, it took 10 months to get it built and delivered to Canada, looking forward to getting on the water and enjoying some adventures with my teenage sons.
Cheers.
David.
Thanks, David, and that Great Race was a blast — too bad they filed bankruptcy and we didn’t get to see how we did against the veterans the following year. Happy boating to you in Canada!
Super cool! I met you in Rio Grande Argentina I believe.. We we’re both heading south- You in the bus we on motorbikes. I started following you after that and have read every blog since. In that time we have motorbiked through Central and South America. Yukon- Africa- most of Europe and Australia. Had a blog but a series of bad luck saw the laptop get stolen and the host losing everything in the span of a week. Now I just take mental movies.. Way to go you guys! You set a fine example of living life on your own terms! I look forward to 20 more years of Bumfuzzle! Cheers- John
Hey John, yes I remember meeting you too. Nice job motorbiking all those awesome places – that has be the best mental movies you can get!
I found you guys in 2013 towards the end of an Afghanistan deployment, looking for an escape from where I was at the time. You were the veteran cruiser bloggers from the land before YouTube and I’ve always appreciated your candidness, approach to life and the fact that you continued documenting all this time. You definitely got me into cruising and while we currently charter in the PNW, we’ll be liveaboards doing the Caribbean or great loop once our kids are a little older! Happy Anniversary!
I know it is titled 20-years, but not sure I’m in love with the “veteran cruiser” title. 🙂
No better places than the Caribbean or Great Loop for cruising with kids (well maybe Mexico…). We hope you have a great time out there making memories.
I found the Bumfuzzle blog during your first circumnavigation when you had made it through the Panama Canal and were awaiting the completion of repairs in a marina on the Pacific side. Like just about everyone, I suppose, I went back to the beginning, reading forward and catching up as you first pushed into the Pacific (with a little, unexpected detour into Buenaventura, Colombia.)
I almost bought the first Bumfuzzle after you were back in Ft. Lauderdale, driving down to S. Florida from California to meet the two of you and to have the boat surveyed. A close friend talked me out of buying the Wildcat after we carefully went over that survey. Who knows how my life might have been different had I consummated that deal?
One of the singular moments that still sticks with me after all this time and hundreds or thousands of blogs was when you were coming up along the SE US coast right toward the end of your first circumnavigation and ran into some dicey weather. You posted that Ali asked you, “Are we OK?” There is just so much wrapped up in that little question, and it hit me in a place I didn’t even know I had . . . and it stuck there.
The funniest moment I remember from your wealth of blogs was when you were in, I believe, S. America and you wanted to try milk fresh from the goat. When the goat whose milk you’d been drinking ran dry, you posted that when “he” ran out, they placed another goat on the milk stand to provide more milk. That really hit my funny bone, because I doubted they’d been able to get any milk out of “him,” but if that WAS a “he” up on the milk stand, then what you’d been drinking didn’t come out of a goat’s udder . . . and it wasn’t milk you’d been drinking!
That memory still makes me smile. 🙂
Here’s to twenty more adventurous years, Bums!
Oh yes I know you TaoJones, I remember Pat writing that he had to get out the duct tape to hold me back from going after you. Haha, I just looked it up – and he said, “Ali just ran out the door with the duct tape and knife…” https://www.bumfuzzle.com/may-2007/
And yes the storm off of Miami was the worst weather we had sailing around the world, plus we were done and just wanted to get the boat back to where it all started (and party!). https://www.bumfuzzle.com/april-2007/
And too funny, we had just been talking about that Goat Milk story as in Papeete when we were stocking up, I had accidentally picked up a 6-bottle of Goat Milk in error (they looked the same and it was in French!) – we couldn’t even give the stuff away to other cruisers. https://www.bumfuzzle.com/bumfuzzle-january-2009/
Hello from the mountains. Sitting by a fire right now.
You’ve helped me have the courage, leading by example and giving encouragement, patiently. Thank you for everything.
Awe Booth, thanks for more fond memories of Portland for us.
Happy Anniversary Bums!
We “met” you when we bought your book in 2011. We’d just moved to Panama & thinking about learning how to sail. I love boating but did not want to live on a boat, no way! My husband had other plans-LOL! Your adventurous spirits inspired me to go along with him & we bought a catamaran-powercat-& lived aboard for 2 years. While we had lots of fun we both realized we’re landlubbers at heart but still nomads, now in New Zealand. I send a link to your blog to anyone I meet who is remotely thinking of ditching the 9-5 & doing the wild thing! 🙂
Keep on having fun adventures! You & your kids are living the life for sure!
So nice, Gail, good on you for trying! And New Zealand isn’t a bad place to be a nomad! Keep sending out that link! We might need to start a referral incentive. 🙂
Just a quick PS to say that even though we’re landlubbers, we get to float along vicariously with your liveaboard adventures & we so appreciate that you share your blog with the beautiful photos & family news! Thanks so much!
We have been following for 11 years. Found you when we were deployed to Afghanistan. Now, I’m writing this from a bed I built in a travel trailer as we finish a 3 month trip around the US and Canada. My wife and I came up with our daughters’ names when we were on watch in the middle of the night on a sail from NC to Bermuda. We thought we just saw a Grand Banks at a nearby marina the other night. Thank you for sharing your life and your adventures with us. I cannot explain how much you have inspired us and changed our lives.
Josh, you cannot leave it at that! “My wife and I came up with our daughters’ names…” and not share them!!! 🙂
That is awesome good job all around!
The kids were small… don’t recall boat, bus or camper? I found it remarkable the exposure for your children! Well done… Goodonyas! Entertaining reading and a visual feast! I so look fwd to hearing of the choices that Ouest and Lowe make as young adults. Cruising kids have the best awareness of “self”!
Again, Goodonyas!!!!
Aahhh the “Goodonyas Scotth”! You always leave the most positive comments. Sorry we missed you in person in Puerto Rico!
I found the blog 5ish years ago (from a forum post about your first trip)….and I just want to say thank you….for showing folks there is a way to balance working (remotely), exploring the far ends of the earth, raising a family and staying connected to your extended family. While also providing great stories and visual splendor. I look forward to every post.
Well thank you, JLO. It is a lot of juggling but after 20-years it seems we might just have it (mostly) dialed in.
I first found the blog during your 1st circumnavigation. Some other? Sailing site was criticizing your foolhardy adventure !!
I was hooked — as a sailor your blog made real working sense to me. Loved the -make lt work- attitude most of all !!!!
Thank you for sharing your life and your adventures.
I definitely felt like I knew you guys and felt like family when The kids came along and eventually met all 4 Bums in St Thomas Virgin islands — when you sailed #3 into Brewers Bay — my daily beach spot.
You are GOOD People !!
Stay Safe out there. And ENJOY ! Doug
Capt Doug, you pushed and pushed us to come to the USVIs during COVID — so happy we (finally!) listened, it was the most awesome time to be there. No charter boats, no cruise ships, no tourists, no $30 a night mooring ball fees… It was amazing. So thank you. https://www.bumfuzzle.com/island-hopping/
Congratulations on 20 years!!!
I’ve been along for the ride for ~15 years. I read all the way back to the beginning when I first found you and haven’t missed a post since. I’ve read the books and was part of the WF community for a couple of years. I’ve watched your kids grow up “alongside” my kids, aged 14 & 18, and I’ve been inspired to buy a sailboat and chase the life I want rather than the life society thinks I should live. Thank you Pat, Ali, Ouest, & Lowe for sharing your life and journeys with us!!!
Oh wow, that’s awesome Mark P! We are happy we are small part of all that. Enjoy it!
We met you when you were docked with your monohull on the Sacramento River (?) when Ali was pregnant with Ouest. There were 4 or 5 of us girls from Southern Oregon who had been following your blog for sometime. We brought pizza and had a great visit. At the time, we all had trailerable sailboats and sailed at Howard Prairie Lake in Southern Oregon. We all made it at least once, up to the beautiful San Juan Islands to sail. My husband and I are now in our 70s and are enjoying our life in Ajijic, Mexico. Two of our friends on that trip, now live full time on their Grand Banks in Sequim, Wa. You have brought hours of joy to us all. Thank you!
Mary Jo, you guys were the best. You brought “Monster” with you too! It is awesome to hear you are enjoying Ajijic, and that two of you are on Grand Banks as well. Amazing. Oh and I was pregnant with Lowe, not Ouest. 🙂 https://www.bumfuzzle.com/may-2011/
Congratulations on 20 years! I found the blog about 5 years ago, when I began looking for information about people cruising with kids, I think. My husband had just introduced me to the idea of going cruising, and I’m another person who went all the way back to the beginning and read the whole thing. I also bought the Bumfuzzle book and read it. We have kids almost exactly the same ages as yours, and your blog is part of what inspired us to go on our own cruising adventure from December 2021-May 2023. We weren’t as brave as you–we only sailed from Kemah, TX through the Bahamas and Eastern Caribbean (island-hopped down to Grenada and back up). It was amazing, though, and we will definitely be out there again in the future. The kids are definitely missing boat life now that we’re back on land (and so are my husband and I!). Thank you for continuing to post all this time–it inspires us to keep dreaming and planning for our next adventure.
That’s awesome, Casey – and no small feat going all the way to Grenada and back. There are some miles there! Happy to have been at least a positive force to you decide to go.
Been there from the start! Signed paperwork in Puerto Vallarta when Ouest was born. Lowe sat on my lap while I had a molcajete with Pat in the Nuevo Vallarta marina. Helped get a flat fixed on the RV in Mesquite, Nevada, and are still following you today! Best wishes and looking forward to running into you again down the road.
That had to be a very strange meet up story to tell. Well actually TWO very strange, random meet ups. Do you ever wonder where those papers you signed are now (that building is gone, we went by it when we got back to PV last year)? And you showing up to the rescue in your golf cart in Nevada. That was awesome! https://www.bumfuzzle.com/may-2011/
Happy Anniversary! Long time readers and guess what? We bought a Nordic Tug and have been exploring all the coastline here in SE AK. It’s our first boat and we are having a great time but I gotta be honest – the water makes me nervous. I actually visualize your family to give me courage when the water is rough, lol. “If they can do this, I can too.” When are you bringing the kids to Alaska? Stop by the Clara E docked in Juneau. We’ll have the rhubarb pie ready!
You had me at rhubarb pie! My neighbor when I was in middle school had the smallest garden, maybe just rhubarb planted, and they made the best pies! AND at Nordic Tugs – I call those “cute” – they just have a great look. Happy for you guys, and it would be great to get up there to meet you – but probably by land not sea.
You guys are an institution now! I followed you on your first circumnavigation. You started shortly before we set out on our first pacific crossing in 2005. It was great reading then and still is now!
We headed back to Mexico and the South Pacific again in 2014-2016 and I hoped that we would cross paths. I did see your classic van in Sayulita, but that was it.
Keep it up! I look forward to reading all about your current trip and hopefully it will spur us to head out again, maybe all the way round this time.
Go Bumfuzzle!
Awe thanks, Mark. Well get a move on so that we can meet up in person at some point! 🙂
The first time I recall hearing about the Bumfuzzle’s was when my husband couldn’t wait to tell me all about this couple who were living and traveling the country in a VW bus. I recall how touched he was upon reading about a very young Ouest’s limited and wise choice of possessions for your home on wheels. We looked forward to each posting, especially after the acquisition of the underwater camera and resulting photography. Watching Lowe’s and Ouest’s growth over the years, and reading postings from the restored van and previous boats; having a shared love for VW buses and sailing, we were always thinking we would surely meet up with the Bumfuzzles somehow/someday … but most likely in or around Stillwater, which was our introduction to Minnesota, and still home to many friends. After his end-stage-renal disease diagnosis, he seemed to travel vicariously over the waters and around the world with your every post. He passed in 2021, but every time I check in with a Bumfuzzle post, it’s like checking in with a little part of him too … I’m very certain he now follows you with much better winded and heavenly sails.
Thanks for sharing your story. I’m sorry to hear your husband passed away. It would have been great to have bumped into you in Stillwater during our many Minnesota stays.
I’ve been following you since your VW days. Absolutely love your journey! I’m probably one of the weird ones who isn’t remotely interested in following in your footsteps. I’m quite happy with my lifestyle but I love that everyone has their own path and finds joy in doing it their own way. Your adventures are fascinating and exciting to read about and I wish your family nothing but more happy memories, good health, and safe journeys.
Thanks for commenting, Lisa. The VW trip, was a trip! We were counting the number of nights in the bus, as when we were getting ready to go, we always said, yeah it’s small but we can get hotel rooms whenever we want to stretch out. Haha we loved that little love bus. https://www.bumfuzzle.com/cost-to-drive-the-americas/
Dreaming of the day that we could retire and set out on a sailboat, I read a LOT of sailing blogs. I think I read your first blog after I read your book and saw your name on a few discussion boards. When we finally did retire, I was so happy that you were still at it. And then, to have the opportunity to cross paths with you in the Sacramento Delta as we were sailing south to Mexico and you were working on your ketch; well, what a treat. Ouest was a baby at the time. You invited us to the boat and, having read about your taste in food, we stopped for pizza on the way. Next time we crossed paths was in Baja a few years later (Lowe was on the scene by then). We also crossed paths at a function you threw in Portland at a brewery but I can’t remember for sure where that fits into the timeline. Then you and your Dodge Travco and us and our Toyota Dolphin spent time together in the beachside RV park in Mazatlan. Once we settled on land, we were so happy to have the Travco parked in our driveway in Bisbee while you waited for some mail you’d had shipped to our house. Then you were back in Bisbee again in the Bluebird a year or so ago (probably longer) and we all had lunch at the Bisbee Grand. It’s been great getting to know you and your family and seeing that you are just as down-to-earth and nice in real life as you seem on the blog. And it’s SO much fun to watch an alternative to the normal lifestyle unfold. We really admire you guys.
Hello friend! Wow pretty amazing list of places to be meeting up at over the years. Amazing. First visit you forgot to mention, pizza AND Pabst Blue Ribbon! Portland brewery was fun and something we don’t do a lot (like never). https://www.bumfuzzle.com/date-with-strangers/ Hanging in Mazatlan always = nice. https://www.bumfuzzle.com/death-spots/ And yes, finally our last visit we got a photo together! https://www.bumfuzzle.com/around-bisbee/
You forgot to mention Lulu crocheting Ouest’s camera strap and all my (too beautiful to use) pot scrubbers.
First lets wish you a happy anniversary! But I have to say my dream is stuck behind this dang computer while I pretend to want to be here instead of out there with you…There are armchair quarterbacks, backseat drivers and then there is me, a desk jockey wishing his family could see the intangible life they live and give it up for the tangible. Instead of being serfs for the oligarchs, to be a free person…God speed to your family Pat. Keep living your life the way you do, it is an inspiration to those of us who long for the open life…
Hi Fred, yes that is a hard place to be. It’s never too late…
I think I’ve been on board since near day 1? Back then someone linked you into a thread on http://www.expeditionportal.com with the tune of “Check this guy out. He thinks he’s gonna buy a boat and sail around the world”. My first thought was “Right on, that’s great!”, then when I saw ‘he’ was a trader and loved Lou Malnati’s, well, I was in.
I’d submit that all this time later that if someone cares to read between your lines, they’ll find an enlightened approach to existing being conveyed. What’s more the message is both tastefully and masterfully unsaid. Your actions do the talking.
All the best, thanks for allowing us to see your diary. CK
Hey CK, awesome and thanks for sharing. Funny enough we were just in Expedition Portal again recently. https://expeditionportal.com/from-land-to-sea-overlanders-weigh-in-on-the-transition-to-sailing/?fbclid=IwAR2P3GWXoc_JSn6eSwCyq-nisL2jhMNlrOmC0elcBsQ8PlqGNAw7Lh3TlmA
Yes, I almost feel part of the family! I first saw your posts when you had the Porsche and were travelling in the US and Mexico. Maybe earlier, that was many years ago. Congrats on such a great life I’, for your family! I’m not a boat person but am a travel junkie!
Thanks, Arlie. Great having you along for the ride!
My partner and I met you in the campground in Patzcuaro in 08 I think. I knew sailing and remember being impressed by the go for it attitude. Took me a couple years but then I remembered to find your blog and have been a dedicated reader since. You serve to inspire. We took a break from the rat race from 12 to 15 and boy let me tell you I am itching to do that again. Life is so short and to be limited by fear of the future ‘not being able to’s’ of finding a job or retiring or whatever seems so damn stupid. Thank you for continuing to share your story and being the inspiration that you are!
Allison
Night 65 in the bus for us. Newbies. Did you have a cat by chance? The only photo we took of the campground was of a cat. 🙂 https://www.bumfuzzle.com/january-2008/ And you aren’t kidding on the fear of the future going on in many brains out there. Good luck!
Wow, 20 years!! Congratulations!
I’ve been following you since sometime in your first year. I accidentally stumbled upon your blog when I was looking for information on catamarans, as I was getting ready for a simple two week journey bouncing around the Virgin Islands. I’ve always enjoyed reading about your adventures, and have always been a tad envious too. Your story is such an interesting one, and I applaud both of you for raising your wonderful children in such an amazing way!!
Congratulations! Happy ongoing travels! Love reading all about your adventures!
Thanks for letting us tag along and inspiring us. Saludos from Minnesota,
Your amiga from Ikea:)
Hi Marion, you made me laugh out loud with “Your amiga from Ikea” – I really do talk to everyone, it drives my kids nuts. We might have to meet up for meatballs next time I’m home!
Thank you, Amanda. That is actually called going down an internet “rabbit hole” right there. 🙂
I think it was on Sailing Anarchy way back that I read about a couple sailing around the world having never owned a boat prior. The mostly dockbound “anarchists” made fun and I was hooked early in your first adventure. I took particular interest in the VW bus trip as I had built a few sandrails and was restoring a ’67 bug at the time. I dropped off during the motorhome days but picked up again when you acquired the Grand Banks and just missed you passing through our area.
We have owned and traveled on both a 32 sloop and a 36 Grand banks but not outside of Florida and the Bahamas. Being a futures trader for many years, the similarities in our lives are just crazy. I have read both of your books and looked into the Wanderer enterprise.
We have no children by choice but it has been a great joy to “know you and watch your family grow up” and I look forward to every post and wish you continued success, safe travels and calm seas.
Hey Gene, sounds like you have some stories to tell. Hopefully you have another one on the horizon.
Best wishes on your 20 year adventure! Been following you from the start. We left Lucy the Elephant back in NJ a few years ago and moved to Texas to be able to tour the American West more easily (and to be closer to our grown-up kids). My wife is not a boatie, so I still hope to emulate your land travels in the coming years. Y’all inspire us to get out there!
Hi Chuck S, Oh Lucy! That was a fun, unexpected stop for us. https://www.bumfuzzle.com/lucy-the-elephant/ And there is nothing more spectacular than touring the American West. Enjoy!
Hello, and Happy Anniversary!
I don’t remember exactly when I found your site, but I do remember I’ve been following you since you started searching for your first boat and finally found it in Florida I think and have been along on your travels and your children’s births ever since. I’ve certainly enjoyed the ride and hope you have many more to come.
Thanks, Elaine, me too.
I can’t remember how I came across your blog the first time, but it would have been near the beginning of your journey. We were a cruising season behind you, and I remember finding your boat card in an Internet cafe in French Polynesia and thinking, “Ugh! Just missed Bumfuzzle by one season!” I sent you a note, and you said “Hurry and catch up!” Well, there’s no hurrying when you’re sailing, and every plan you make evolves from one day to the next.
Since selling Mico Verde in Singapore in 2008 we lived in China for six years, and then came back to the Seattle area. It’s been almost 10 years since we’ve been back in the states, and we’ve go the works: two kids, a house, and jobs. I started teaching yoga to help deal with the stress! But we are throwing around ideas for the next adventure. It may or may not involve a boat (Warren is thinking million-dollar power boat in the Med … what do you think?), but it will definitely help us scratch our itch for travel and figuring out how to navigate new places in the world.
We still haven’t caught up but we hope to someday!
It’s crazy we haven’t met up in person yet – maybe our next Seattle stop over. Sounds like all is going good in your world – enjoy it!
Oh and forgot to say, YES to Warren and the million-dollar power boat in the Med. We will see you there! You guys are hosting. 🙂
Wow, thanks for 20 years of great writing and pictures! Holy cow! I’m a relative newbie at four years. Found Bumfuzzle through another blog. Took me several days to get caught up back then and I’ve been a loyal reader ever since. And as often as I can I tell others to follow you also. Especially those seeking another way to travel and enjoy life. As always, fair winds and safe travels.
Thanks, Rick & Brock the dog, your positive comments over the years help keep us going strong.
I’m a relative newcomer, having started following early last year. While searching for articles on 356 Porsches, I ran across the episodes where Ali and Patrick were rallying across the country in their 356. Fascinating stuff. Seemed like really nice people. I was hooked and went back and started from the beginning. It took months to catch up, of course. By then I was envious and really proud of how the Bumfuzzles were living their lives and raising their kids. Wonderful!
If I was a lot younger, it would be tempting to try something similar. The problem is that I owned my last 356 (a 1964 SC) back when it was new. There were probably people making Bumfuzzle decisions back then, but I didn’t hear about them or even know it was an option. There was a lot of skepticism just when a buddy and I took six months off to travel coast to coast in a ’57 Chevy. Fun until we ran out of money and had to go to work. The Internet would have opened up the possibilities. No regrets, though.
Any way, thank you Ali and Patrick, for sharing your lives with all of us. We are so happy for you and your kids. Aloha!
Al
Hi Al, you aren’t kidding the internet opened up so many possibilities. Imagine another 10 years from now…crazy
Love the “I owned my last 356…” would that mean you’ve had multiples? 🙂
The Great Race in our 356 was too much fun. https://www.bumfuzzle.com/Pictures_Website/Articles/Registry%20Article.pdf
Ali – Yes, I was lucky enough to enjoy two 356’s. The first was a $400 nine-year old red ’54 cabriolet that I sold for $600 a year later. So much fun. But I was being sent to Germany for the Army and wanted a newer one there. I found an Irish green ’64 SC demonstrator at the Porsche factory for $3250. Seems cheap now, but it was the equivalent of three Beetles. I kept that one 12 years through a move to Dallas, courtship, marriage and two kids. For perspective, you and Pat are the age of my younger. No Porsches since 🙁
Keep doing what you love. All of us following along love it, too.
Thank you,
Al
I started reading your blog when my suburban “salon” group had as a topic a certain news story about another family who was trying a boating adventure that went spectacularly wrong. That week’s presenter brought up your blog as a compare and contrast sort of thing. The concept that she brought to the group was that it wasn’t an unconventional lifestyle that did them in as much as what she viewed as the tendencies most of us have to resist a change course even when it becomes clear that such a change should occur. I believe she discussed the situation when your daughter was a baby and had a medical condition that needed tending and you made an immediate change in what you were doing. The idea was that whatever path one has chosen ….a conventional life or not ….success comes from knowing when you need to make a change and how difficult that is when one has planned for something and dreamed about it for so long. How do you know when you need to do something different. How do you resist resisting change? It was such a fascinating discussion and I started reading your blog as a result. Unlike many ( most) readers I don’t wish for a life like yours. It would be all wrong for me. But I’m a believer in trying to understand how others choose to live in a way that’s different than ours and how they make that work for them.
Wow, Annie, that is a very interesting way you came to our site. Sounds like it was a very good group. Fascinating discussion for sure.
Thanks for 20 years of vicarious thrills, enlightenment, and inspiration! One of these days…
Thanks, Rik, for being along and all the comments over the years!
Congratulations on 20 years – jealous in the best way possible!
I found you guys as I worked with one of Ali’s cousins and she, one day, mentioned this cool adventure you guys were setting out on. I started following immediately – I have massive Wanderlust, at all times.
I absolutely love reading about and watching you all grow from your experiences. Continued safe travels, and thank you for always being an escape for those of us who are still taking baby steps towards a life of adventure!
Oh good, happy to have you along.
20 years, amazing! I can remember reading from the beginning circa 2008/09 at my boring office job, quickly changing the screen whenever anyone walked past my desk. Haha. Definitely a huge inspiration in us moving to Florida and living in the Keys and making our life on the water. Eventually living on a boat, and now on boat #2 about to move on with our daughter. Thanks for all the memories!
Haha, at my job we could barely use the internet (especially for personal reasons) when we were researching/selling and getting ready to go (Nov2022). There was one blog I was reading, and so one day I printed the entire thing at work (not many photos in blogs back then), and put it in a folder, then I could pretend I was doing work easier.
That’s great, Bill, happy for you!
Wow. 20 years. I can’t believe I’ve been lurking around that long. Started with post #2 after some naysayer linked it. Funny how they are long gone and here you are on adventure number ohdamnivelostcount. Originally followed you for the detailed accounting as I was trying to determine if ditching everything and going sailing was feasible. Eventually decided land bound suited us better – stayed on for the adventure. Thanks for 20 years of enjoyment and here’s to 20 more!
20 more?! Not sure our 50/60s, can compare to our 30/40s. I guess we all wait and see.
And yes, the money posts are always eye-opening. Of course, everyone’s will be different but a starting number helps. https://www.bumfuzzle.com/budget-for-a-sail-around-the-world/
Oh my gosh, I can’t believe it’s been 20 years! I started following y’all maybe back in 2004??? I was one of those back trackers who had to read from the beginning when our daughter who was working and living on sailboats in the BVI’s told me “MOM, you gotta follow this blog!!!!” Then I had to buy the books, and then hats, and now shirts. I still carry my canvas bag to school filled with my stuff. Tomorrow is hat day and guess what I’ll be wearing? We need to figure out how I can get the kids books on Kindle because I’m sure there’s nothing at the Book Fair they’d be interested in, and besides, this is my last year at the school. You guys have always been an inspiration even if I’ll always be a dry lander. I love keeping up with y’all. Fair winds <3
Hi Texas Book Lady! So glad Jolea sent you our way. You are appreciated for all the books (and gifts) you have sent over the years! Plus all your positive comments you send. Have a great last year! And I hope to meet you in person to give you a big hug. https://www.bumfuzzle.com/diving-down/
Dear Ali, Pat, Ouest, and Lowe,
We have followed your adventures for many years and love you from afar. You are an inspiration for many reasons.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
We were in rural New Mexico a couple years ago at a little primitive CG near The Catwalk and struck up a conversation with a couple neighbor guys. They said they lived on a boat in Puerto Vallarta. I asked if they knew you. They had high praise for you and your wonderful family.
If ever you find yourself near Lizard Scrape Mountain in east Alabama, please visit. We have plenty of space and a musical soiree every week.
Happy Trails!
Lynwood and Gina
Hi Lynwood and Gina, I love what a small world we live in – but it becomes so big when you have a blog for so many years. Amazing. Thanks for sharing, and for the invite.
Wow 20 years! I can not believe I’ve been reading this blog for that long. I remember first hearing of your first adventure reading a tread on the cruisers forum about a young couple setting off on a circumnavigation with no sailing or cruising experience at all. The comments on that thread ranged from “they are going to wreck that catamaran and have to be rescued by the coast guard” to “when they get older they are going to regret not getting any Social Security.” The last comment still baffles me. I gust had to go see the web site that inspired such a rant, and I was hooked. Two cruising boats and a 1960 airstream later I’d have to say you and your family have inspired me much more than the “old grey beards” on that forum.
Thanks for all the years and I hope for may more.
John SV Restless, Puerto Vallarta MX.
Hi John, Ohhh Puerto Vallarta — missing that place right now, the temperature is just about to turn, and then it is the most wonderful place in the world. 🙂
And those forum posts just cracked us up! https://www.bumfuzzle.com/february-2006/
30 pages long https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/f2/unfortunate-turn-1541.html
Thank you Bumfuzzle. I started following you when I was 14 (now 33 years old). You were starting your round the world adventures. Your stories have given me joy and have shown me how a life of adventure can be lived. Wish you many more years of successful globetrotting and adventuring.
Wow, you started at an early age, Javi! Awesome, that is just what we would want someone to see – how there are different life choices to live. All the best from our crew.
I’ve been reading since somewhere in the Pacific first time around, found the blog from the snickering comments at Cruiser’s forum or Sailing Anarchy. I remember your posts about fast food and winches, thought you guys were either honest newbies or trolling the armchair sailors, both commendable–so I started reading you guys instead. There were a few other boat blogs at the time, I remember the family that had to be rescued because of the sick baby. I follow mostly youtubers now, but still admire your dedication to independant DIY blogging.
I’m a landlubber with occasional day-sailing, dreaming of doing what you do. Instead, I moved across the country to have land-based adventures and started a blog around the same time as yours. My own blog didn’t last, so I know the work and dedication you put into yours. Also had kids around the same time as you, so I often wonder what if I had chosen a life at sea. I think your Spindrift was my dream boat, but then I saw all the engine troubles and I realized I was idealizing too much. Nevertheless, I admire your perseverance and I really enjoy all the slice-of-life photos of far-flung places. Thank you for all the photos and stories.
Hi 205Guy, DIY blogging, haha that might be telling how long we’ve been around. 🙂
The forums always made us laugh more so, as they were bringing more people to our blog with their comments, then us “promoting” ourselves on them.
I found Bumfuzzle first through the book. After reading that I went back and started at the beginning of the blog which I loved. Next came Live on the Margin, Then Wanderer Financial. My wife and I are now deep in our plans to move onto a cat full time and sail around the world. Thank you for everything! Looking forward to the next 20 years!
Wow that’s awesome, Sean! So happy for you. You’ll have to share your blog, or youtube with us so we can check in on you. Have a blast and thanks for your comment. Makes us smile.
Happy Anniversary Bums. What a great ride. Been following from the tail end of the first catamaran.
Wow that’s a long time, Carterzest! Thanks for staying for the show.
I’ve been following, since about three months after you started.
15 years ago, Pat was at our house staying when we flooded due to hurricane Irma.
Glad you guys have made it and made it fun. We will continue to follow you in all your travels.
Hi Brad, 15 years ago??? Irma was only 6 years ago, and I’m glad Pat was there to help you guys that night. Still hoping to meet up with your beautiful family and get our nearly same age kids together. https://www.bumfuzzle.com/hurricane-irma/
I’ve been following (lurking?) since you bought the first cat. Even met for a pizza in North Portland when Ouest was just a toddler. Your travels and life stories are always inspiring and worth waiting for.
Thank you both for sharing so much of yourselves.
You’ve been a great, positive commenter all these years, Jim. Thank you! If you are still in Portland, we will have to do a follow-up pizza date. 🙂
A new follower, post 9-6-2023. Always an inland (US) boater. Seeking to move into the coastal cruising world upon retirement in a few years. Found your blog from a post in Trawler Forum only a few days ago. Thank you, thank you thank you for writing about your adventures and capers. I have not read every post and I have read several years worth. And most of the comments too! All the best!
Action Jackson! Awesome – happy to have you join us. It’s funny I miss our Grand Banks more than I thought I would – she was set up so great, I knew how to do everything myself (unlike our current boat – still learning). Thanks for commenting!
I have been following your adventures from Luxembourg for about 12 years now! My husband and I lived in California and took our boat to Mexico, cruising for almost 1 year. Then life took us back (I am French & he is from Minnesota) to Europe. When I found your site, I was so happy to follow your adventures which reminded me of our short one. I felt I could relate (Minnesota, cruising, we have a 14 years old boy, loving new adventures…). We have a project to go back to cruising life in the next couple of years (fingers crossed). Thank you so much for sharing your life on board and seeing how Ouest and Lowe are adapting and loving it so much!
Hmmm so just a year (or so) after we spent a rainy day/night in Luxembourg. We only took (posted) one photo from our VERY short stop. Interesting you are living there. Minnesota, cruising, and a same age kid – we could probably have a great dinner conversation together for sure. Get going and get out here! https://www.bumfuzzle.com/june-2009/
followed for years, bought your books, researched boats, convinced I would make the sail boat thing happen. haha…divorce, remarriage and 7 kids together….well I took a day sail once and was sooo sick. tried snorkeling, surfing, boating anything moving…insane motion sick. So we bought houses instead, mountain house, desert house and planning our beach house- and the RV that will take us in between. Traveling, experiences is where our money goes…Thanks for the constant inspiration, and the many hours you keep this page updated. Check it weekly and feel like a friend even though we have never met 🙂
I’m sure you aren’t the only one, Amber, (books, boat research, planning, and then…). And motion sickness is no fun – Lowe, still gets it for the first day — but we just keep trying new things. Currently he just eats and drinks a ton on day two. 🙂
Sounds like life isn’t too bad not owning a boat. 🙂
Congratulations on the milestone!
I started following Bumfuzzle in 2010 and got caught up from the beginning. This helped fortify the idea that I wanted to explore and did not want to be stuck in the Midwest, so I pursued an internship while in college to Alaska in 2011 and 2012. I exchanged some emails with you in August 2012 with some questions about your time in the VW in Alaska. I won myself a sweet Bum t-shirt back in 2013, that was cool. I moved to Alaska in 2014 and spent 7 years there and camped all over the state and spent a couple weeks each winter in different places, mostly Central America and once to South-East Asia. I then ended up in Washington but now live in NE Metro of Saint Paul, Minnesota where my wife has family to help better care for my son and his medical needs. I enjoy catching up on your journey about once a month so thank you for all that you do!
Hi Tony, haha not wanting to get stuck in the Midwest – so head to Alaska. Love it! Oh the Alaska landscape is so not Midwest, but the snow… We still want to get our kids up camping in Alaska, it was just so carefree and breathtaking. https://www.bumfuzzle.com/july-2008-2/
So do you still have the t-shirt from 2013? If yes with photo proof, we’ll send you a 2023 version on us!
Ordered and shipped! Maybe see you when we are home next time! All the best. Ali
Hello there, Bumfuzzlers!
I found You Folks when You started with the T1 Bus around the world! Following since then!
It has Never been boring.
Despite I improve my English whilst reading.
Happy anniversary!
Holger
By the way: Sent You some music 15 years or so ago and wrote a handfull of comments. Never been noticed 😉
Hi Holger from Germany! Sorry if you feel neglected we do appreciate everyones comments over the years. Happy to hear we are your Duolingo!
I’m a relative newbie to your blog, as I found it & started binge-reading in 2020 when I was craving travel…and using the past travels of others to lessen the craving! Congratulations on 20 years of both the blog and full-time traveling!
Thanks, Nichole, 20-years just pure craziness. I hope you have gotten out traveling since the binge-reading has ended. 🙂
I believe I found you via Slapdash
we were heading out with our 3 young boys for a years travel on Highfive in 2007. It turned into a much longer journey. Well 16 years later and we finally met in PV. Boat kids make the best sort of adults! One of our sons is now married and told his wife this winter while in La Cruz, “we have to raise our kids as boat kids”.
I’ve loved following along, and joined the Wanderer clan. I’m so pleased to have met you and heard Ali’s laugh in person! Congratulations on 20 years of living your dreams!
Hi Janine, it was so nice to have met you at Paradise Village. Awesome job with your boat kids!
I am 83 and just wanted to thank you for allowing me to accompany you on your travels, I don’t think I took up too much room as you never complained. I have seen so many places that I could never have visited in person. It has been wonderful.
Hi Tom, and it is a pleasure to have you along. 🙂
Wow! I started following a couple years in. Can’t believe it’s been 20 years! At one point we exchanged emails about PV because we were considering moving there (which we did). Thanks for 20 years of inspiration!
Oh! And so funny, Ali, I just saw in your post above that you were at Paradise Village when you were in PV. So funny … when we moved there we ended up buying in El Tigre, part of Paradise Village. Small world.
Awesome, Greg! Missing Mexico myself. The good weather is coming quick now for PV! Our favorite time.
I’ve been following Bumfuzzle.com since Fort Lauderdale and boat#1. A friend of mine had a Wildcat in FLL at the same time and there is noooooo way we would have ventured the globe in that thing. We used to start the engine just to tack. His boat also delaminated but luckily he sold it before it was an issue. Actually it was your experience that convinced him to trade up to a Privilege 45.
Haha Jason, we too had to start the engine to tack. Amazingly Bumfuzzle number 1 is getting prepared for another world trip. Who would have thought?! Thanks for being along all these years.
I stumbled across Bumfuzzle in ‘19 while looking for blogs of families sailing with kids. I was a new mom, needing something to read while up late at night breastfeeding, and reading through the archives of Bumfuzzle from the very beginning did the trick. My husband and I discussed moving onto a boat once our kids (the second one only a hypothetical at that point) were 3 and 5 and potty-trained. The pandemic, nursing burnout on my husband’s part, and crazy housing prices sped up that process. I joined Wanderer Financial in Feb ‘21, we sold our house in March ‘22 and moved to my in-laws’ property, we bought a trawler in the Puget Sound in Sept ‘22, my husband quit his job Nov ‘22, we spent the ‘22/23 winter kiteboarding in Baja California Sur, and we cruised the San Juan Islands for ten weeks this last summer (www . duckstowater . us for a work-in-progress documentation of the summer). I’ve stepped away from trading for a bit as it wasn’t working for me; in order to pad the travel pocketbook, my husband is currently working a nursing contract so that we can fly to southeast Asia for five months this coming winter/spring with our kids, now 4yo and 21mo.
Thanks for being an inspiration to not wait until later but to go now!
PS I feel like I know your family quite well, which sometimes feels a bit stalkerish. lol Hopefully we can cross paths someday so that the relationship won’t be so one-sided.
Hi Joanna, 2019 was trawler life for us. Happy to have you with us during those nighttime quiet moments. And I can imagine your husband’s burnout – happy you got out on a boat and enjoyed some family cruising together (I have your blog bookmarked for our upcoming Fiji passage). We enjoying your time with Wanderer, you were a positive member to our group. Thanks, and have an incredible time in Asia!
wow.. It Blows .My .Mind!! you guys are still traveling and blogging after all this time.. Congratulations..Well done.. you must be exhausted. 🙂
I read your Blog back in 2008 and it really inspired me .my wife and I took our 3 kids (10,7,4) from Australia to Ft Laud. to buy a catamaran. and sail her back downunder.
Each time I asked myself, WTF are you doing?, (which was often), I would slap my ego and with a ” well if Bumfuzzle can do it ,we can do it”. I will say you definitely have an entertaining and witty writing style that makes your Blogs so approachable..I really enjoy reading them. Anyway congrats again and safe travels .. Ps we are back on the water again, in SE Asia. new boat & sans Kids, so hope we’ll see you at anchor someday.. Cheers Jay
Happy 20th anniversary! We found you at the beginning of your travels on the original Bumfuzzle. My husband and I had started building our catamaran in 1995 completing her in 2010. We had a son still in school and a seasonal business to keep up. Finally with the boat launched in 2010 and sailing our maiden voyage in 2011 from Maine down the Atlantic East coast to Florida. We are now 14 years into all this. Your story helped us to realize our dreams. Although we are not world sailors, we enjoy a seasonal lifestyle that beats all others. Thank you for the inspiration that helped keep us on task!