Rosa Linda Román (00:28): Hello and welcome to New Mexi-Castaways. I'm Rosa Linda Román. And I am recording this in the car, my Chrysler minivan on the road from West Palm Beach to Fort Lauderdale airport. I'm following our former nanny, Miss Allie in her Kia. I think it's a Kia soul, very cute little car for a cute little person, big person personality, but petite and tiny in her person. And I can't express how much I appreciate people like Allie. Allie in particular, her cousin, Lauren, all the people who have helped us along the way so that we can live this crazy traveling family, traveling life. Let me back up for a moment and say, hello, I'm Rosa Linda Román. This is my show where I record the journey. I used to call it Rosa Linda's Ramblings because it is basically just where I share my perspective, my thoughts, my hopes, my fears, my dreams, my, just rants, Rosa Linda's Ramblings or Rosa Linda's Rants, right? Rosa Linda Román (01:37): But more and more I like to think that it's less about ranting or ramblings and just sharing a perspective that someone else might find interesting because we live differently, let's say. I have three kids. They range from Ahava, who just turned 13, Ziva just turned 11, and Samuel is seven. And then I have my husband, Nathan and we travel. We were living full-time on the sailing catamaran, Dawn Treader. That was my dream to do that, and live on a boat, and sail as a family. And it turned out that things didn't go exactly as I had hoped. And I've talked a lot about it here on the podcast. I haven't gone into all the interpersonal details really because there's just not enough hours in a day to share everything. Plus some of it is behind the scenes, kind of private process that our family has been wrestling with. Rosa Linda Román (02:43): But when I can, I do like to share some of the challenges that we face so that others who might be interested in the family traveling lifestyle have some idea of what the reality is like, not just the Facebook picture-perfect version of it, but you know, there's a lot of ups and downs. Anything that is great also comes with, you know, work and is not easy. And certainly living in a brick-and-mortar house is a lot easier than traveling with little kids. And then, the other factor that's maybe going to make it more difficult or has in the past, and the whole reason why I'm heading to the airport right now is that we have a, almost, two-year-old German shepherd named Nala. She grew up on the boat with us. And in the previous episode, I outlined some of the challenges that we have been facing trying to figure out what to do with Nala, and whether I'm going to get her in The Bahamas and bring her back to be with us, or if I'm going to let her stay at a wonderful resort with some wonderful people who have fallen in love with her. Rosa Linda Román (04:00): But, you know, they run a resort full time, and she's got total freedom to roam the island as she pleases, which sounds amazing for a dog. But I also wrestle with whether that's better or if she will be happier with our family back with some sense of, you know, order, and security, and three kids and two grownups who love her and adore her. So, I'm heading to the airport. I've been talking about it for a while now, trying to figure out whether I was going to make it to George Town, how I was going to get there, whether I was going to go with my husband, and my kids, and sail the boat back, which isn't going to happen because the boat is up for sale, if I haven't said that yet, the Dawn Treader is on the market, even saying that gives me, like, a pain in my chest and a lump in my throat, and I can't even bear to think about that. Rosa Linda Román (04:59): But it is the reality, she is up for sale, and we likely will not get to sail her again as a family, which is what I had hoped for, but right now that's not part of the reality. And as I'm struggling with that privately, and between my husband and myself, trying to figure out the details of that, the more pressing issue is what to do about Nala. So, I knew for sure I wanted to go to The Bahamas and see her, and get her, bring her back to the boat. And then, the captains who are supposed to be sailing the boat back for us were going to take her with them on the boat. But the more that I am now finally having time to sit with this thought, and I slept on it last night, and really have been wrestling with what to do about Nala because the people that have her don't really want to give her up and, and they're convinced that she's much better off where she is than coming with us either back onto the boat or living this traveling lifestyle that we live Rosa Linda Román (06:13): And they may be right, I don't know, you know, it's a tough call, it really is. But with that in mind, you know, I've been really trying to think about what's best for Nala. And I am heading to the boat tonight. I'm nervous by the way to go fly to The Bahamas. And then, from The Bahamas go to get a taxi, and then, a water taxi to the boat, which is not ready to live aboard really because it's been set up for storage. So, there's some work that has to be done just for me to be on the boat, but I'll get in tonight and try to handle some of that stuff and just kind of regroup when I'm there. But tomorrow morning, presumably, I'm going to go get Nala. Rosa Linda Román (07:08): That's my plan. And the lady that has her was not keen on that idea. She wasn't sure I should get Nala. And if I get her, then maybe, I don't know, she feels that if I leave her with her, but I go and see her that that will be more confusing, which is probably true. So, I said, well, I'll just get her. But then, the idea was to go, and see her there, and see how she likes it there, and try to get a sense of what it's really like, and if Nala is happy or not, which is a tall order. How am I supposed to gauge whether she is happier with these people or with me? I think she'll respond to me and will be happy to see me, but whether she'll, you know, want to be, I just don't know, I don't know what to expect. Rosa Linda Román (08:00): But I can't, like, Nathan said, let's just get you there, and then see her, and figure it out. You'll know pretty quickly if she wants to come with you, or if you bring her back to the boat, and she just is longing, or trying to jump off, or trying to, you know, getaway, then you may have your answer. I don't know if that's so true, I'm hoping I do, but, you know, it's hard to say how much of it is my emotion putting it on her and how much of it is… how she really feels, you know? I mean, I just don't know how I'll know that. But I went just now, I'm heading now to… the reason I'm following Allie is we're driving to her house. She's going to take the perishables that we have had because we've been living in different homes through HomeAway, and VRBO, and Airbnb for the past several weeks that we've been back in Florida. After our Puerto Rico trip, we came and we've been living in homes. Rosa Linda Román (09:01): And so, you know, we had bought food and Allie's going to take that, and a few of our things that I can't take with me on the plane and I really am not bringing anything to The Bahamas with me. I have a few outfits for me, my computer, you know, basics, but I'm bringing a suitcase, really a big rolling duffel bag with another duffel bag inside so that I can bring things off of the boat with me. And that's really my goal, is to go there, hopefully, figure out the dog thing, but also, to bring back two suitcase of things that we really want now, regardless of where we travel to next. So, anyway, as I'm following Allie, we're going to leave my car at her house with the suitcases for the things that we don't need right now. Rosa Linda Román (09:57): And then, we're going to go to the airport and she'll drop me off there, which is wonderful. And that brings me back to how grateful I am for people like Allie who make this lifestyle possible because she will frequently pick up our mail, she helps us in so many countless ways. So, that's nice that we have that help. And Lauren certainly is another one who has helped us tremendously along the way. Well, anyway, the morning went like this, I packed up the hotel. I was really happy because I wanted to take some time and KonMari some of the things that I've been carrying around from location to location because now that we've finally started owning it and saying that, yes, we, in fact, are a full-time traveling family, I wanted to stop lugging around stuff that we don't need and really start whittling it down to what do we need with us right now? What are the things that maybe need, but we don't need with us physically all the time? Rosa Linda Román (10:58): And, I have a tendency to carry, like, at the end of each stay, wherever we go, I end up with a suitcase, in this case, but frequently, a box. When I was moving, when I was younger, like, I would, you know, go from one job to the next because I was in mainstream media as a reporter. And so, when I would finish at one station and moving on to the next, the moving day, you know, I'd have everything, I kind of have my systems, but it always worked out that at the end there were those things that didn't have a home and ended up being put in a box and that box had lots and lots of stuff in it. And that has been the case. Rosa Linda Román (11:45): And I always kind of joked when I finally moved out of our house in New Mexico to move onto the boat, there was a box from each home I had lived in previously, each apartment, you know, when I went from my home as a child, you know, to college. And then, well, we moved but from my Miami home to University of Florida in Gainesville, and then, from Gainesville to my first job, and from my first job, which was Tallahassee and a bureau in Valdosta, Georgia, and then, from there to El Paso, Texas, and from El Paso, Texas to Tampa, and then Tampa to, you know, and then, on, and on, and on, and on, from Tampa to Albuquerque, Albuquerque to Phoenix, Phoenix to Monterey. And then, eventually, back to Albuquerque. Rosa Linda Román (12:37): Each one of those moves, I had a box that was like the last stuff that I didn't have a place for, and I just shoved everything in the box. And so, it was kind of this big joke when I was doing the KonMari process moving onto the boat. Now, if you don't know what KonMari is, then you can go through my archives of this podcast and see the process or hear about the process of KonMari, which is Marie Kondo is a woman who wrote a book called The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. And I used that process to downsize my house. And when I did, it was like, oh my gosh, I have all these boxes from these different phases in my life. And holy cow, how am I ever going to tackle this? Well, KonMari was the way that I tackled it somewhat. I never really did get to the papers and that has followed me from place to place to place still. Rosa Linda Román (13:32): So, this morning when I was in the hotel, I've got a pretty good system whittled down now. I was able to send the kids. They're all in Chicago right now. And we bought new suitcases that are more appropriate for a full-time traveling family. And so, I was able to send the kids with their things in their suitcase. And we have a few bags that are things that they didn't need with them, but they didn't want to get rid of. And then, there's the box or the, in this case, it was a suitcase of stuff of mostly papers, and tchotchkes, as my mom likes to call it, you know, miscellaneous items that just didn't have a home. And so, this morning I had a few of those. Like mostly, a few bags and a suitcase. And I sorted through the lion share of that suitcase this morning. And that felt really great. Rosa Linda Román (14:31): So, slowly but surely I am getting a handle on our stuff. My intention is to go to the boat and continue that process with all that stuff on the boat because I didn't expect to be moving off the boat at all. When I left the boat, I was just packing to go to Puerto Rico for our daughters bat mitzvah, and we ended up staying a month, and then, we ended up coming here straight from Puerto Rico to Florida, and my daughter trained at her gym, and then, had some meets. And so, we didn't go back to the boat. It's been almost two months now. And so, when I left the boat with just what we had, and in fact, I grabbed like clothing wise, I just grabbed our dirty laundry and brought that. I didn't like methodically pack and plan what we needed for this traveling lifestyle. Rosa Linda Román (15:32): And now that the boat is on the market and we're not actually sailing it back, the captains, I guess, Nathan wants them to sail it back and it will go straight into the place where we bought it, which was Lauderdale Marine Center in Fort Lauderdale. And they will show it and sell it from there. So, the moving off the boat process hasn't been the way I wanted it to go, you know? And so, because of that, I really have to… I really needed some time to sit with the things there on the boat. And that's my intention with this trip. I'm going to go there, and I'm going to sort through, and just be in the space, and sort through the things that I never got to sort through because we were always on the go, and I always had the kids with us, and just try to do basically the KonMari system again on the boat before I leave. Rosa Linda Román (16:29): So, a week from today, I'll be coming back to Florida. So, the hope is that I'll be coming back to Florida, maybe with the dog, with two suitcases, at least, of our most precious important stuff that then when they go to sail the boat back, those are things that, you know, the things that'll stay on the boat are the things we don't need right away, things that they need for the boat. Obviously, I'm not taking linens or towels, or pillows, or any of that kind of stuff, dishes. I'm just going to be looking through our private, personal things to see what we want to have with us. So, let me now pause because this recorder doesn't allow me to receive calls or information while I'm recording and I need to make sure I'm going to the right place. So, let me pause and I will be right back. Rosa Linda Román (17:28): Okay, I'm back. And I am going the right way, so that's good. The thing I wanted to talk about is what I did right before hitting the road after leaving. So, after packing up and KonMari kind of that one suitcase, I got everything, kind of, sorted, the things that I needed to give to Allie that are perishable, and the things that are going to just sit in the car that are things that we want, but I don't need to bring with me to the boat. So, then after that, I went to the pet store to get Nala some things. And it was kind of like a wave of overwhelm hit me as I approached the pet store and kind of walking through the pet store and thinking about what I wanted to bring for her, and what if I bring these things, and I'm not really getting the dog, and you know, my heart is so heavy about Nala and I feel like I'm so torn because there's the implication that I'm doing something wrong or not the kindest thing to go and claim her, right? Rosa Linda Román (18:44): Like, maybe she's so overjoyed to be there and I'm taking her away from that. But, you know, the other side of the equation is she's a family dog, and she grew up with us, and my kids on the boat. And every morning I would sit with her and we would have our, you know, mornings snuggle time, and I would write, and record, and be with her. She's a swimming dog, so she loves to swim, and she has been, you know, just, she's our family dog. And, I mean, living on a boat, yes, she's a German shepherd, and it's a small space. So, in a way, the fact that we're moving off the boat, maybe she will be better off with us because I will run with her every day, and then, the flip side is, you know, I'm alone with kids a lot. Rosa Linda Román (19:41): My husband travels, like, three-quarters of the time for work. And so, because of that, you know, if I'm going to be traveling and being in a new place, potentially, you know, every other month, or every month, or who knows, whatever we decide, or even if we stayed put in a place, you know, it's going to be a new place to us. And having a German shepherd trained who loves us and protects us, you know, that's no small thing to consider. I really like having Nala. Some of you have who have listened to my podcast before know that I have a hearing problem. In fact, I found out in Puerto Rico that I've lost almost all the hearing in my right ear. The way that I found out is that I couldn't hear any coqui. And I was like, wow, all the coqui are gone after the hurricane. Rosa Linda Román (20:31): And it turned out not to be that they were gone, I just happened to be lying on my one good ear, and I couldn't hear anything or couldn't hear the coqui, at least that spectrum of sound out of my right ear. And so, I've had a situation in the past where we were in our home in New Mexico, where we had a dog who never alerted to let me know that there was a person, and we lived up in the forest away from everybody, which I'm not really in love with that idea because I'm a people person. But anyway, this dog didn't ever bark to let me know that there was someone there. And I had a situation where I came around the corner in my living… like, I was in the laundry room, came out, and there standing in the doorway was a man. Rosa Linda Román (21:17): Apparently, the dog didn't bark, my son let him in, turned out to be the pest control guy. And it was no big deal, but like, that was really scary for me. And so, the thought that I would have… you know, the fact that I have a dog who does love us, and would protect us, and cares about us, she may need to be retrained because she's had this, like, way unlimited freedom. But, you know, I think we're pretty good dog owners. We love her. And how do you quantify that? I mean, we're not going to have a unlimited beach with unlimited coconuts and wild freedom that she has right now, but she will have, you know, consistent love, and she will get exercise, and you know, she'll definitely have an important job. So yeah, I don't know. I'm, I'm torn and struggling. Rosa Linda Román (22:09): So, what I ended up doing at the pet store is I just got the stuff acting like she is our dog and she's coming home with us. And I don't know if I'm actually going to travel with her because that's the other thing is, if she comes with me, and then, I'm leaving, she's going to want to leave with me, right? So, if she's going to leave with me, that's going to be on an airplane because I'm flying back. So, that's a whole different issue. We did have her registered as a service dog because, A, she is trained accordingly. And during the hurricanes, we could not travel with her because, you know, a lot of the hotels were like, "No, we don't take dogs." So, you know, out of desperation, we ended up getting Nala registered as a service animal. And so, she's technically a service animal, so I can travel with her. Rosa Linda Román (23:07): Do I want to have a dog on an airplane? No, I'm not really thrilled about that idea, but you know, we'll see how it goes. I don't know if she'll stay on the boat, and then, we'll pick her up once she gets to Florida. The problem with that, again, is if I see her, and she does love me and wants to stay with me, and then, I leave, will she be totally confused staying on the boat? So, these are the things I'm wrestling with and struggling with, and how to move forward with, you know, doing the right thing for the dog, doing the right thing for my family. It's not a small thing that I'm weighing. But I think that's enough of me talking. Oh, what I did end up getting, I keep forgetting to finish that point is I got her a bag of dog food, dry food, and wet food. Rosa Linda Román (23:55): And then, I got her some training treats that, hopefully, will help her kind of remember what is expected of her as I'm working with her. And then, I got her a new potty mat because on the boat there's the area that she's supposed to do her business. And she's always been really good about that, but I don't know if she'll remember because that mat blew overboard in a storm. And so, I just want to make sure she knows where she's supposed to do her business and all of that stuff. So, that's what I got at the pet store. I am hoping it's all, you know, part of reclaiming our dog and having it be the right decision for her and for our family. I will keep you posted and let you know how the Nala saga ends up. Rosa Linda Román (24:49): You know, I think about the difficulties that come with owning a dog and traveling with the dog. And I remember if you go on New Mexicast, you can see some of the drama that we faced with Nala being on the boat and, you know, she would bark, and she would upset several people around the boat. And you know, it is not easy to have a large dog on a boat. There's no question, even a well-trained dog like Nala. And if you go to my website, newmexicast.com, you can read the, what was it called? Something about the DOG. I can't remember the title, but it's pretty recent. You'll find it, just do a search for dog or Nala on my website, new mexicast.com and you'll find the post. So, that'll give you an idea of just one of the challenges we had having her on board, but, you know, just because it's harder and more challenging, doesn't mean it's not worth doing, and that's kind of our life, right? Rosa Linda Román (25:54): Like, we are not the people who take the easy way out and we rarely make our decisions because it was the easy thing to do. We make our decisions because it shapes us into the kind of people we want to be and contributes, hopefully, to this world, and the world that our children will be part of in positive ways. And hopefully, you know, helps them in positive ways as well. So, that is what I am thinking about today here on New Mexi-Castaways. And we just got off the exit to follow Allie to her house. And so, I am going to let you go and wrap this up. If you do like this podcast, and you want to continue listening and find out more, I share videos and photos of our various adventures on our private Facebook group, which you can just go to facebook.com/newmexicast and sign up. I always forget what it says, but it says Sign Up and you can join that group. And that's where I occasionally do some live reports from that, in that group. And yeah, have a good time. I hope you guys have a fantastic day and week. And as we like to say in the sailing community, fair winds and following seas. Whatever your adventures are, may they be inspiring, and uplifting, and fun, and with the people you love most in the world. Take care. Thanks for listening. I'm Rosa Linda Román.