When we sold our first barge Odysseus in 2011 we planned to eventually return to the barging life. There were many places we hadn’t yet visited and several we wanted to revisit. The lifestyle was relaxing and adventurous at the same time. Also, with Europe’s great transportation system, our home on the canals would be a great base for exploring other parts of the continent unreachable by water. We just weren’t sure how long the hiatus was going to be. We had a project house to finish, jobs to wrap up, money to save.
This Wednesday, KLM will whisk us from Los Angeles International Airport and set us down in Amsterdam to begin the search for our new European home. The first part of our journey will take us to southern Holland to the small village of Stevensweert which we’ll use as a base to visit boats in nearby Roermond, Nijmegen and then a day trip back up to Zandaam, near Amsterdam. From there it’s off to stay in the the village of Lechatelet in Burgundy for a trip to the boat brokers H2O, who handled the sale of Odysseus, and Pont a Vaux. Then maybe a trip to the Midi in southern France. Hopefully by the end of May we’ll be able to move aboard whatever boat we choose.
Because of visa restrictions, this year’s trip will be limited to 3 months; we’ll return to the US in early August. Next year we’ll have a long-stay visa allowing us to spend as much time as we like (no winters, though. Brrrrr!)
We hope you’ll join us, either virtually or actually!
Don and Cathy Jo
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