I’m not sure what is more difficult… becoming a sailor or re-entering American society.

The standards of Americans challenge us when we are in the States because we want to feel at home and have all the luxuries we were used to before we decided to travel. So, we have found ourselves at a crossroads between being travelers and just feeling homeless.

How should we continue to travel, yet also have a sense of home and relief from travel. I see travel as a completely different experience than vacationing. “Travel” usually means fewer showers, more street food, language barriers, new forms of transportation and being excited/scared often. Although worth every minute, it can become exhausting. Where do we put up our feet to take a break from this and feel comfortable again?

We are straddling two worlds right now. Do we go back to living comfortably and going on vacations, or do we have a crash pad to stay between countries? We have yet to determine its purpose, but we have bought a little townhome near Denver, Colorado we can call home for now.

Mexico is beckoning, as sailing season is upon us again. We both want so badly to go back to the S/V Luckiest and see the rest of the Sea of Cortez, but we are in the middle of renovations of our new home. We bought a fixer-upper built and decorated in 1974 — the same year as our Cal 35 sailboat. We have a ton of changes to make before we even move in, but we are both excited to see of what we are capable of in the rehab world. After we complete the reno, we will likely be rushing down to La Paz to get a couple of months of sailing in before the season ends. We hope to make it across the sea to the Gold Coast near Puerto Vallarta.

The idea is that we set up American-style lives for part of the year and spend three to six months of the year traveling in different countries. It seems good in theory, so stick around and I will let you know if it works. In the mean time, here are some before shots and renovation photos of our new place.

The before shot of our entry way.

Wallpaper from 1974 covers most of the home’s surfaces including the kitchen. Orange and green flowers and stripes have got to go.

The flower powder room near the kitchen.

Old dirty staircase.

Tim is scraping the popcorn ceiling off. It was a huge mess, but we did it before we moved any furniture in.

We pulled all the carpet up first.

I am pulling the wallpaper off the pantry column in the kitchen, which will be an island.

Tim begins to cut the pantry in half to make an island and a more open concept.

We stacked all of our bigger furniture in the living room while we still renovate. All the wallpaper is off, the ceilings are scraped and the shag carpet is gone.