Everything Optional – Ep. 73

On this episode of the Osborne Adventure Podcast, we talk about the lessons we have learned as parents while preparing to set sail. Apparently, kids don't need nearly as much as we thought. After three months of living in a boatyard with no running water, no working toilets aboard, and a 16-foot ladder between us and a bathroom, our kids are somehow happier than ever. We talk about trading possessions for experiences, watching our children turn old boat parts into toys, and the realization that the things we put so much emphasis on just might not matterAs our world has gotten smaller, we have grown closer in ways we didn't anticipate. We talk about parenting, discipline, routines, keeping our word, and why the time we spend with our kids matters more than all the things we work so hard to give them. We also get into raising Ren, finding the balance between structure and freedom, and learning to let our children become their own people. Somewhere along the way, we realized the adventure we thought began when we sailed south happened long before we left the dock.CLICK HERE to check out our t-shirts, hoodies, and hats!Thank you to the companies and organizations helping share our story.Battle Born BatteriesGoDuRaymarineRocna AnchorsRonstanTylaska MarineWeems & PlathWichard GroupYacht SolutionsFor more information visit our website:www.osborneadventure.comDonate Today (Osborne Adventure is a 501c3 nonprofit):https://www.osborneadventure.com/donationsFollow Us on Instagram:www.instagram.com/osborneadventure

Lane and Jody Hughes join us aboard Salome to share what two years of living aboard have looked like. They’ve made it to Nicaragua while we’re still in the boatyard, and Jody would like everyone to know they’re currently winning. We talk baby humpback whales, “little” crocodiles, and how a new air conditioning system became a recurring shellfish removal project.They take you aboard for a frightening night trapped in a powerful storm off El Salvador, with solar panels flying, a headsail coming loose, and lightning far too close for comfort. Between the stories and laughter, we talk about choosing a boat, changing plans, and whether they’d do it all again. Oh, and Paul has a few thoughts about aluminum boats, and nobody is surprised.CLICK HERE to check out our t-shirts, hoodies, and hats!Thank you to the companies and organizations helping share our story.Battle Born BatteriesGoDuRaymarineRocna AnchorsRonstanTylaska MarineWeems & PlathWichard GroupYacht SolutionsFor more information visit our website:www.osborneadventure.comDonate Today (Osborne Adventure is a 501c3 nonprofit):https://www.osborneadventure.com/donationsFollow Us on Instagram:www.instagram.com/osborneadventure

Three kids, one sailboat, seven bears, and apparently a perfectly normal childhood. This week on the Osborne Adventure Podcast, we're handing the microphones over to Roake, Ren, and Freyja to find out what they really think about living aboard Salome in the middle of a parking lot. From sleeping in hammocks and building swings to swimming, making friends, and bears dismantling cars, life in the boatyard is anything but ordinary.We talk about what the kids love, what they miss, and what they think about boat life. Somehow, living on a sailboat perched high above the ground has become just another day in their lives. We're starting to wonder if we're raising exceptionally adaptable children or if they've stopped questioning our judgment.CLICK HERE to check out our t-shirts, hoodies, and hats!Thank you to the companies and organizations helping share our story.Battle Born BatteriesGoDuRaymarineRocna AnchorsRonstanTylaska MarineWeems & PlathWichard GroupYacht SolutionsFor more information visit our website:www.osborneadventure.comDonate Today (Osborne Adventure is a 501c3 nonprofit):https://www.osborneadventure.com/donationsFollow Us on Instagram:www.instagram.com/osborneadventure

On this episode of the Osborne Adventure Podcast, we are finally recording from aboard Salome. Unfortunately, she is also sitting 16 feet in the air with her masts down, her floors torn apart, and thousands of pounds of lead scattered around the boatyard.We talk about living aboard during the refit, removing and weighing nearly 9,000 pounds of ballast, finding a few more things that need welding, Val's trip to the top of the mast, composting toilets, the kids, and what life has really been like as Salome slowly comes back together.Somewhere between all of that, we get into the harder part of chasing a dream this big: the money, the stress, the days when everything feels amazing, and the days when you wonder if you're completely screwing up your life. Turns out living the dream can occasionally feel a lot like living the nightmare.CLICK HERE to check out our t-shirts, hoodies, and hats!Thank you to the companies and organizations helping share our story.Battle Born BatteriesGoDuRaymarineRocna AnchorsRonstanTylaska MarineWeems & PlathWichard GroupYacht SolutionsFor more information visit our website:www.osborneadventure.comDonate Today (Osborne Adventure is a 501c3 nonprofit):https://www.osborneadventure.com/donationsFollow Us on Instagram:www.instagram.com/osborneadventure

On this episode of the Osborne Adventure Podcast, Salome is finally out of the water, and apparently finding three thumb sized holes in your keel can be good news. We talk about hauling her out, the long awaited hull ultrasound, what we found hiding beneath some old repairs, and why the results actually answered one of the biggest questions we’ve had about the boat.With Salome on the hard, the refit is moving into a completely different phase. The masts are coming down, the standing rigging is being replaced, and after a year of working through one hurdle after another, it finally feels like we’re gaining real momentum. We also talk about the people we’ve met along the way, watching the kids put down roots in British Columbia, and that growing realization that this isn’t some distant plan anymore. We’re actually getting close to the part where we untie the lines and go.CLICK HERE to check out our t-shirts, hoodies, and hats!CLICK HERE to check out the Safe Bed Model 100 by Safe Place Bedding and use discount code "sleepwell10" for a 10% discount on anything on the site.Thank you to the companies and organizations helping share our story.Battle Born BatteriesGoDuRaymarineRocna AnchorsRonstanTylaska MarineWeems & PlathWichard GroupYacht SolutionsFor more information visit our website:www.osborneadventure.comDonate Today (Osborne Adventure is a 501c3 nonprofit):https://www.osborneadventure.com/donationsFollow Us on Instagram:www.instagram.com/osborneadventure

On this episode of the Osborne Adventure Podcast, we share a major update on the Salome refit and some of the surprising decisions that have come with it. From self-tailing winches and storm shutters to galvanized rigging and a pilot house painted search-and-rescue orange, the boat is changing quickly, and not always in the ways we originally expected.We talk about the challenge of balancing the traditions, costs, safety, and aesthetics required to sail around the world. Along the way, we discuss burnout, momentum, and the strange feeling of watching a dream slowly become real. Sometimes the biggest changes aren't happening to the boat at all.CLICK HERE to check out our t-shirts, hoodies, and hats!CLICK HERE to check out the Safe Bed Model 100 by Safe Place Bedding and use discount code "sleepwell10" for a 10% discount on anything on the site.A Huge Thanks to our Partners!Battle Born BatteriesGoDuRonstanTylaska MarineWichard GroupYacht SolutionsFor more information visit our website:www.osborneadventure.comDonate Today (Osborne Adventure is a 501c3 nonprofit):https://www.osborneadventure.com/donationsFollow Us on Instagram:www.instagram.com/osborneadventure

On this episode of the Osborne Adventure Podcast, I sit down with one of the few people who has known me almost my entire life. We met as kids, and somehow through decades of moves, chaos, marriages, parenting, loss, and life, we’re still here.We talk about the traits that define people, optimism, stoicism, cynicism, perfectionism, idealism, and all the other little “tisms” that shape how we move through the world. Sometimes, if you’re lucky, you find someone whose wiring fits yours. This is a conversation about lifelong friendship, family, resilience, and the rare people who keep showing up no matter what.CLICK HERE to check out our t-shirts, hoodies, and hats!CLICK HERE to check out the Safe Bed Model 100 by Safe Place Bedding and use discount code "sleepwell10" for a 10% discount on anything on the site.A Huge Thanks to our Partners!Battle Born BatteriesGoDuRonstanTylaska MarineWichard GroupYacht SolutionsFor more information visit our website:www.osborneadventure.comDonate Today (Osborne Adventure is a 501c3 nonprofit):https://www.osborneadventure.com/donationsFollow Us on Instagram:www.instagram.com/osborneadventure

On this episode of the Osborne Adventure Podcast, Val and I share an unexpected experience, being invited to an elementary school where 300 students gathered for an assembly about Down syndrome. The speaker, a fourth grader named Hailey, and what followed was thoughtful, funny, and far more meaningful than we expected.After Hailey’s presentation, the floor was open for questions for all five of us. The kids asked about sharks, storms, food storage, homeschooling, sailing around the world, and life with Down syndrome. Ren, Roake, and Freyja each took their turn answering, and it was amazing to watch how naturally they stepped into it. The surprise was seeing firsthand how kids connected with our mission, and how different it feels when hundreds of students experience it together.CLICK HERE to check out our t-shirts, hoodies, and hats!CLICK HERE to check out the Safe Bed Model 100 by Safe Place Bedding and use discount code "sleepwell10" for a 10% discount on anything on the site.A Huge Thanks to our Partners!Battle Born BatteriesGoDuRonstanTylaska MarineWichard GroupYacht SolutionsFor more information visit our website:www.osborneadventure.comDonate Today (Osborne Adventure is a 501c3 nonprofit):https://www.osborneadventure.com/donationsFollow Us on Instagram:www.instagram.com/osborneadventure

On this episode of the Osborne Adventure Podcast, Val and I sit down and talk about something we don’t always say out loud, what it actually looks like to raise a child with Down syndrome. We share stories from the early days, feeding struggles, developmental delays, therapy, and trying to figure things out as we went, without really knowing what to expect or where things would land.The conversation moves through what life looks like now, including speech, impulse control, and elopement, which has shaped more of our day to day than we probably realized at first. Some of it is heavy, some of it is funny, but mostly it’s just an honest conversation about our experience and the parts that don’t always get shared.CLICK HERE to check out our t-shirts, hoodies, and hats!CLICK HERE to check out the Safe Bed Model 100 by Safe Place Bedding and use discount code "sleepwell10" for a 10% discount on anything on the site.A Huge Thanks to our Partners!Battle Born BatteriesGoDuRonstanTylaska MarineWichard GroupYacht SolutionsFor more information visit our website:www.osborneadventure.comDonate Today (Osborne Adventure is a 501c3 nonprofit):https://www.osborneadventure.com/donationsFollow Us on Instagram:www.instagram.com/osborneadventure

On this episode of the Osborne Adventure Podcast, I sit down with three of the kids in our lives, Hannah, Hailey, and Roake, and just let the conversation go wherever it takes us. What starts with favorite books quickly shifts as they share what it’s actually like to know Ren, not through a diagnosis, but as a friend.We talk about the things they notice, the things they don’t, and how life looks different just by being around him. It’s honest, unfiltered, and at times a little surprising. We talk about bigger things too, like what we’re willing to give up for something we care about, and how kids sometimes can see life more clearly than we do.Mostly, though, it’s just a conversation worth listening to.CLICK HERE to leave a comment or ask a question.CLICK HERE to check out our t-shirts, hoodies and hats!CLICK HERE to check out the Safe Bed Model 100 by Safe Place Bedding and use discount code "sleepwell10" for a 10% discount on anything on the site.A Huge Thanks to our Partners!Battle Born BatteriesGoDuRonstanTylaska MarineWichard GroupYacht SolutionsFor more information visit our website:www.osborneadventure.comDonate Today (Osborne Adventure is a 501c3 nonprofit):https://www.osborneadventure.com/donationsFollow Us on Instagram:www.instagram.com/osborneadventure