Who would have thought that one of the hardest parts about cruising and traveling full time is deciding where to go next!!

We moved aboard Sail Pending, October 2015 and spent 3 months familiarizing ourselves and getting comfortable with her around the Virgin Islands. But, since February, we have been on the move, as full time travelers. We have sailed over 2000 miles, visited 12 different countries and 64 different islands. 

The 2016 Hurricane Season officially ended on November 30th!! So, this means our insurance now allows us to go wherever we want until June 1st, 2017, which is the start of next Hurricane Season in the Nothern Hemisphere.

Just knowing that the entire world is ours to explore, in our floating home, is amazing and just a little overwhelming!!! Who would have thought that this decision would be so freakin’ difficult. 

I am sure most of you have heard that we have decided to explore the Western Caribbean with extended stays in the Dominician Republic, Cuba, Mexico, Belize and Guatemala. There are three reasons we have decided to go this route:

1.) Getting to explore Cuba, before the influx of tourism.

2.) The 1000km long Mesoamerician Reef which is the second largest barrier reef system in the world and stretches from Cancun, Mexico to the Bay Islands of Honduras. We’ve been snorkeling the same reefs in the Virgin Islands for 10+ years and the reefs are becoming bleached and are slowly dying. We want to sail along this barrier reef and be able to snorkel everyday. 

3.) Staying for an extended period of time in Guatemala is relatively inexpensive. The exchange rate is 7.5 Guatemalain Dollars to $1.00 USD. We will be able to rent a car for about $90 USD a month; marina fees for Sail Pending will be about $250 USD a month, and a really nice rental house with all utilities, will probably cost us about $450 USD a month. We’ll be able to live cheap and explore Central America from land. 

We’ll keep a close eye on the weather in June and plan to sail up the Rio Dulce River in Guatemala beginning of July 2017. This is where we’ll keep Sail Pending in a marina. We will be far enough inland during Hurriane Season, that we will be considered, “outside of the Hurricane Box” and this will make our insurance company happy. 

But, staying on the boat, up a mosquito infested river with Crocidiles is not what I consider a fun time…. So, that’s why our plan is to rent a house even farther inland in the town of Antigua, Guatemala. This charming town is by the base of a volcano and is designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site because of the amount of history, culture and ruins surrounding it.  We will completely immerse ourselves in the Spanish traditions and learn the language while we are guest’s in this country. Here are a couple of pictures of the town that I found online. 



So, stay tuned for more videos and pictures of our journey. We are getting a new and improved drone while we are back in the US for Christmas, so we will have more drone footage, as well. Thanks for following along!!