“As long as you are curating and storing your experiences in your psychological memorabilia, then you are enriching yourself every day,” Shigehiro Oishi, a psychologist at the University of Chicago.
As we return to our literal home, I try to fulfill that thought in writing these blogs. They are part of my “psychological memorabilia”. The goal is not to stray too far from the water’s edge, or from the gunwale of the boat in trying to express these thoughts. After all, a blog about living aboard and sailing should concentrate on living aboard and sailing. It is not my intention to deceive the reader.
I wrote that Kalunamoo is our literal home. Since we spend 9-10 months aboard, we realize that home is also an ancestral place and a place where/when families gather. The obvious implication is that a home is much more than a physical space in any one place or time. This New York summer brought our family together on Long Island, New Jersey and the Adirondacks. We flew out to Traverse City Michigan to visit cruiser friends, and others closer by. It was all good and much fun. This added to our psychological memorabilia, but the weather is changing, and the summer heat is fading. Time to head south!
We fly to Trinidad on Labor Day, but September is going to be a traveling month. London, Istanbul, Gocek and the Gulf of Fethiye aboard s/v Salamander. All will be novel experiences and we look forward to them. Then it will be back to Trinidad and the Eastern Caribbean.
The legend of Kalunamoo attempts to convey the benefits of varied life experiences. It does not demand extensive travel, although that certainly can lead to that result. Meeting others, reading books, understanding others and just being open to other lands and cultures is required. Some have described what a “good life” entails:
“A good life is a psychologically rich life, marked by novel experiences, perspective-shifting insights and complexity, but also more discomfort and challenges than a happy life or a meaningful life…
The last words of a person who lived a happy life might be: “It was fun!”
Someone who lived a meaningful one might say, “I made a difference!”
And for someone who lived a psychologically rich life? ‘What a journey!’ ”
Richrd Sima, Washington Post 8/20/2025.
Does living aboard fulfil a psychologically rich life? Well, it does not lend itself to much physical memorabilia. There is a limited amount of space for Stuff that can be loaded on a boat! That is fine with us. Psychological memorabilia is almost unlimited. Sailing certainly presents novel experiences, complexity, discomfort, and challenges. At times it can even be fun and can make a difference in your bank account (for good or bad)! So, perhaps living on a boat does provide a rich life.
Kalunamoo 