There were life jackets under benches; pots and pans inside cupboards; and fresh fruit inside tupperware. A clever combination of in home storage solutions and sailing boat ingenuity, the captain of the 12 hour excursion seemed to have everything, including a metal drinking mug labeled captain.
Your family has taken many short trips and longer vacation in the past, and you have often use the sharing economy as a way to book places to stay. For this 17 day trip to Greece, however, you were branching out. In addition to booking accommodations, you were also scheduling a few experiences. On this one, you met your selected sailor at a grocery store near the pier. You autographed a form, he filed the paper, and you were off on a dingy trolling out to your home for the day. A medium size sailboat was waiting for you just a few minutes from the pier, and after managing your unsteady and unused sea legs you were able to climb aboard.
Specifically Designed Storage Solutions Can Make Any Place More Functional
You were not exactly surprised when you booked the day trip and realized that an overnight adventure was also an options. What you did not realize, however, was just how many boat storage options would be in place. You knew, for instance, that on a boat tables dropped down to become beds and that over the head shelves could become bunks, but you did not realize just how many other storage solutions would be used by this weathered sailor who had to be close to 70. He seemed to have an interesting combination of hand crafted ideas alongside the latest commercial items. He offered you tea, coffee, wine, beer, soft drinks, and orange juice. He served a Greek chicken and potato dish that had you, your husband, and older daughter asking for seconds and thirds. He even offered a vegetarian option for your youngest daughter. And while he joked that some people said he was a better chef than a sailor, you were impressed by both.
An hour after giving you a ride in the dingy to a nearly empty beach he returned to bring you back to the boat for the feast. When you went down the steps of the boat to use the bathroom and clean up before the lunch, there was little evidence of the utensils and pots and pans that it must have taken for him to prepare this meal. He was already doing dishes with just two pans on the cooktop keeping the chicken and potato dish hot.
Family Time Is Quality Time
A long lazy lunch later you had eaten a spectacular meal you enjoyed a conversation that, like the anchored sailboat, gently rocked from one topic to another. The old sailor talked about on land boat storage garages and tales of being at sea alone. His English was good, but there were several times when the stories required extra questions and repeated words to understand what information he was trying to share. But all five of you enjoyed the conversation. As far as experiences go, the 12 hours on a boat were the best of the trip, and once you returned home both girls were determined to declutter their rooms and their cars so they could enjoy the a more relaxed lifestyle.
Your family has always lived a pretty charmed life, but those hours on the boat made you all realize that it might be better to live your days with fewer things. And while we live in a time when professional storage units of all sizes can provide a family with their own personal, private space to secure valuable vehicles and belongings, the girls learned an important lesson from the Old Man on the Sea: time with family is the most important and we do not need full closets and dressers to live the best life.
The latest research indicates that there are an estimated 52,500 storage facilities currently located in the U.S., but you are hopeful that when it comes to their own storage solutions your girls will now be able to do a better job of doing more with less.