We left in 2024, so it might look like we have been on the road for a long time. Yet it feels different.

During our trip back to the Netherlands there were many moments of reflection. Long conversations with friends and family naturally invite you to look back and ahead, especially as a new year begins. We have been travelling for one and a half years now. That sounds like a long time, but emotionally it still feels like the very beginning.

The first half year was mainly about adjusting. Learning how life on board works. Finding our rhythm. For us the weather did not help much either, so that real sense of sunshine, swimming and slow enjoyment took its time to arrive. The Atlantic coast challenged us, and before we knew it the first six months had passed.

And then came 2025. A year we truly embraced, almost as if the real discovery only started then. Living more with the wind. Short crossings with the three of us. So many new places, people and impressions. Spain felt like home, Italy surprised us with its warmth and culture, and Greece welcomed us in a way we already knew we would love. Our goal for the first half of 2025 was Greece, to be there for the summer. And just like that, the second half of the year flew by too.

We loved having so many guests on board. Travelling together might be even better than travelling alone. Then there was our time in Greece, starting in the Ionian. We fully immersed ourselves in the life of the Scabby Kidsboat community. A group of around one hundred to one hundred and twenty family boats spread across the world, with a large cluster sailing the Ionian. What a gift that was. For the children endless play, new friends in every bay who quickly became familiar faces. And for the parents too. Like minded souls, sharing the same dreams and challenges. Helping each other. Being there for one another. More than ever we learned how essential community is for us.

It was also a time of major boat projects, which certainly left their mark, but still we enjoyed Iris Pontoon and the ease and beauty of the Ionian so much that we are even considering returning there this coming summer.

Later in the year we sailed on towards the Cyclades and spent the winter around Poros, near Athens. The final months were wonderfully nomadic again. Oma Ria joined us on board for the third time, friends sailed alongside us, and we soaked it all in. With the three of us we ventured deeper into the Cyclades, pure and breathtaking. More calm arrived. More clarity.

And then life around Poros. Our own growing Dutch community of eleven boats, alongside slowly blending into the local winter rhythm. Theatre classes for Phi, living room concerts, familiar faces, a steady pace. The alternation between quay and anchoring, between civilisation and nature, feels just right here. The climate has remained comfortable so far, even if it is a little cooler at the moment.

So yes, this journey suits us. Simon Hendrick has become our home, wherever she lies. Even after a beautiful holiday in the Netherlands, which felt like coming home too, to friends and family, and where Philou felt the weight of leaving more strongly than ever, we now feel it again. We are home. Content. For now, that is enough.

Of course we also look ahead. The most asked question remains what are you going to do next. And the answer is still vague. We want to enjoy even more. We sense that this way of living will not last forever, so the question of whether we have truly taken everything from it lingers in the background. For now the intention is simple. Enjoy. Let the wind guide us a little more. We are almost certain that we will stay in Greece throughout 2026. With six thousand islands, there is still so much to discover.

We are thinking of slowing down. Less goal driven. More open to what unfolds. We will need to put Simon Hendrick on the hard for about a month at some point this year, though that place is not yet decided. Concretely, we are considering sailing south towards Crete at the end of this month if the weather allows, for slightly warmer temperatures. Then slowly heading north again, via the Cyclades or the Dodecanese. Nothing is fixed.

And beyond that? That question is there too. We trust that over the coming year an answer will emerge. We both feel that the Mediterranean suits us well for the years ahead, individually and as a family. It offers space to grow, to explore, to unfold. A new path, with details that will reveal themselves along the way.

For now the plan is to follow our course. First guided by the wind, then by the direction it gently pushes us in.

And that feels like the start of a new and exciting adventure.

So let this new chapter begin. 2026.
Here we go, with open hearts and sails ready.

Written by: Mirjam