Hello, out there, you lovely people. How are you? I hope you are well and please know you are in my prayers daily. Can you believe we have reached June already? I am sorry if I bore you to death with my amazement at how fast time flies. It is simply mindboggling for me, to be honest. We just welcomed 2021 in with lots of hope for more normality and now the year is nearly over. With… well, some normality at least here in the UK. Even though I fear that this month’s promised full open up will not happen because of the rapid spread of the Indian variant.

But let’s not linger on these things. Two weeks ago, I promised to let you know a little more about our “plans” to sell everything and move on a boat. We are pondering this for a while because life is short and work is getting harder and harder. The best husband and I have been through a lot in recent years and living on a boat was a dream of his for a long time. As a teenager, I thought it would be so cool to live on a houseboat but like many things, I never thought it would be possible. So we are both on the same sheet here.

Of course, it sounds so easy: we sell everything and move on a boat. First of all, we are both older and owning a house is only possible with a mortgage. So if living on a boat doesn’t work out we won’t be able to get back onto the property ladder because we won’t get another mortgage. You can see, this decision is a big one.

The children don’t seem to mind what we are up to. In fact, I think, they are rather excited about the prospect to visit us on a boat which makes everything much easier. We wanted to leave them something when we are gone that was one motivation to buy a house in the first place. Another reason was to be able to grow our own food and have some chicken. We have achieved that and letting it go feels tough. At least for me even though the best husband does most of the work so it’s more up to him in my mind.

For all of you not familiar with the British canal system and its boating life here a video that explains what we are looking into.

We would have a bigger boat about 60ft (a little more than 18 meters). We would move around like Robbie does but have the advantage of a “regular” income with the best husbands pension from previous employment (I married an ex-firefighter … sigh … 🙂 ). We also think that house prices have risen so much in this area that we could buy a boat outright with something to spare so no repayments necessary. I have a certificate for teaching English as a foreign language and am a blogger which means I have a way of creating an income if necessary. And there might be odd jobs to be found on our travels which we are more than happy to do.

To me, it feels, like our house has “prepared” us for living in a tiny space like a narrowboat. Both our kitchen and our bathroom are each maybe three by three metres. Exceptionally tiny because we live in an ex-council house and they were added probably in the 60s or so. Of course, both kitchen and bathroom are even tinier on a boat but we already get along in a small space so getting used to that should be a smaller deal than for people who are used to huge kitchens and bathrooms.

However, what every single boater we have read or watched says is: ” A boat is tinier than you think even if you expect it to be tiny.” I am rather curious in finding out how much more we need to leave behind than we think.

All in all, this makes me very excited. It feels like the perfect lifestyle for us now that the children are grown up and leaving them a boat they can either live on or use as a holiday home feels good too. There are many more things to consider but I am writing more about that next week.

For now, let’s come away to St. Kitts and Nevis.

1. Introduction to St. Christopher Island and Nevis

Do you know about St. Christopher Island affectionately called St. Kitts and neighbouring island Nevis? I had never heard of it until I started “Come Away With Me”. I am not into the “posh” holiday making and parties on boats or shopping sprees rather appall me than entice me to go on holiday.

St. Kitts and Nevis are small islands and their possibilities of creating an income are rather small. So offering holidaying on the high-end price range is probably a good idea. If “Investing to get a St. Kitts and Nevis passport” is such a good idea too, I am not sure. Please find out more about the islands with this short playlist. No, I have no rights to any of the videos and please be patient with the ads. A vlogger needs and income 🙂

So, now you know about the place that doesn’t really want to be known… huh???? 😉

2. No Artist of St. Kitts & Nevis

Yes, peeps guess what? I couldn’t find an artist of St. Kitts or Nevis. So we need to make do with a video about the culture of the Island.

3. A Climate Crisis in St. Kitts and Nevis

Yes, not only the island nations of the Pacific are threatened with drowing if the climate heats more up. The Carribean islands are affected as much and one would think that the rich people who want to go on holiday would do more to save them. But maybe they prefer to go to the moon? Sorry, for my sarcasm:

4. Food of St. Kitts and Nevis

Sorry, again. I am running out of time and simply leave you with a video on food from St. Kitts and Nevis. If you like meat it’s a good place to be 🙂

And here some more info and recipes, if you like to try something new 🙂

St Kitts Food | What to try and where to eat? – A Life Well Travelled

5. A Poet of St. Kitts

Woa, they are small but have a poet. Just no video about him. So please enjoy the Poetry Foundation 🙂 ;

Robert Charles O’Hara Benjamin | Poetry Foundation

6. Mental Health in St. Kitts and Nevis

Like in many other countries it is the youngsters who are affected the most by the pandemic. This school did a good job to give their pupils an outlet for their problems but also offer solutions. The creative way 🙂

7. Some Musicians of St. Kitts and Nevis

Yea, no playlist just two videos. Enjoy 🙂

And where are we going next week?

Come Away With Me 2021 Musical Challenge Country for Monday, June 14th, 2021

I am taking a rather random route around the world, but sometimes it makes sense. Next week we venture to Antigua . Please find musicians from Antigua at the Antigua Blog.

As for the suggestions to take part:

1. Join in! No matter where, when and with what. You missed the first year? Don’t worry. Just jump in when it suits you.
2. Send us the link! The ping-back option does not work because my blog is now private so please leave a link in the comments of the post on the day you take part. Or leave it at the “Come Away With Me 2021 FB page“
3. Tag your post either with ” Come Away With Me Musical Challenge”/ #CoAwWiMeMuCh” / “Come Away with Me 2021 Musical Challenge” o/“CoAwWiMe2021MuCh” / . You can also use these as hashtags for Twitter and other Social Networks to give your post more exposure. If you add #blog and #music with your hashtags it will get you more readers.
4. No matter which music or country the prompt favours you create with it whatever you please. This is supposed to be a fun challenge and no chore.
5. I post a prompt for the next week with every “Come Away With Me 2021 post” I write.
6. If you like, use this picture for your readers to find the posts.

Just one more thing before you go: The hospital that is treating me is fundraising for a dedicated breast cancer unit which would allow some same-day diagnosis and better premises for patients and staff.

Please, if you can spare a little money hop over to their Just Giving Page and give as little or much as you can. Or share the page on your social media. So far the campaign has raised about half the amount needed: £450,081 of £800,000 (May 2021).

Your support means a lot to me! Thank you very much.

Thanks, my dears, for staying with me until the end.

I appreciate your presence.

Please stay safe, stay kind and remember that you rock!