(car engine starting)
(car engine revving)
(gate clanging)
(car engine revving)
(gentle piano music)
- You might be wondering how on earth
we ended up in the Hawaiian jungle
after preparing for a year and a half to live on a sailboat.
And to tell you the truth,
Lou and I never could have predicted
that we would leave Bermuda without Penelope,
but out there in the ocean,
when things got really quiet,
something inside us shifted.
It was as if we were in the middle of writing a novel
and it became clear
that it was only meant to be a short story.
And even though it felt so insane
to have worked for so long to get the boat ready
for such a big adventure,
our hearts were calling us in a different direction,
and we knew we had to listen.
Today's July 4th, 2021.
And Lou and I have been talking nonstop all day,
and we have come to the conclusion
that we actually are like, ready to commit
and start reaching out to places in Hawaii
and see if there's another place for us to live.
Hi, I am calling about your listing on Craigslist.
Hi, how are you?
This is Dana calling.
I found your listing on Craigslist.
Oh, amazing.
This is the one that has no wifi, right?
Exactly.
This is completely off-grid,
so I just wanted to make sure there would be enough power
for us to like, do our work,
just run our computers
and our like, hard drives and things like that.
Oh my gosh, that's amazing.
3000 watts of solar panels.
- [Lou] Wow.
- We've had like a funnel hose of experiences,
and now I think we're ready to like, be in one place
and get to enjoy the beauty of creating a life somewhere.
(chuckles) No, we have been to the island and we do love it.
And it's always been our plan.
It just, somehow being in the middle of the ocean,
like expedited it all.
It was just like,
we just felt that like, in our soul
that like, we were ready to move on from the boat
and to have like, a home.
All of my anxiety left when we decided to move there.
- Yeah. (lips smacking)
- Lou!
(lips smacking)
We're doing a thing. - We're doing it. (chuckles)
- We could get a puppy.
- We could get a puppy. (lips smacking)
Little German shepherd puppy.
- Oh my gosh.
Dream come true. (Lou laughs)
(water gently rushing)
(waves gently crashing)
(insects quietly buzzing)
We've gotten like, a bunch of people just to be like,
"Sorry, we went with this other couple, they were here."
Or, "Oh, sorry, we needed somebody who has a normal job."
"Oh, sorry."
Whatever, whatever.
So I'm like, this is our last one. (laughs)
(exhales deeply)
Okay. - What's the deal?
- So, one of the people that we were hoping to rent from
said to call at 8:00 AM Maui time.
It is 8:01, so I'm doing it.
Oh, my heart is beating, Lou.
- This is our best option. - This is our only option,
if we're honest.
It'll be back to the drawing board after this if we...
But it's gonna be good, it's gonna be good.
(airline engine roaring)
Lou's still sleeping in there.
He's really tired from the trip, but I'm too excited.
It's so gorgeous.
I want to walk around and see what the place is like,
because we got in kind of late
and didn't get to explore much.
But there is literally,
I'm standing under a massive mango tree.
There is a mangoes covering the ground, like, mango.
Mango, mango. (buzzer dinging)
(buzzer dinging) (gentle piano music)
And look up. (buzzer dinging)
This is all a mango tree.
So, that's incredible, but there's mangoes on the property.
Papaya, star fruit,
avocado, lemons,
tangerines, like, really a magical spot.
And I think we're actually gonna start
our own garden too.
That's on the list of things.
We're gonna get a puppy and it just seems like crazy.
Like, this is our home.
(gentle piano music)
It feels so amazing to actually have a home.
I'll have to like, walk you guys through it
once Lou's awake.
But, I just want to say hi, and welcome to our next chapter.
(knife slicing)
- [Lou] Wow.
- [Dana] Yeah.
- This is like,
one of the most beautiful places
I think we've ever lived, right?
- Oh, I think it takes the cake.
There's even a banana tree.
There's a cat and a dog that live next door.
So, we got a lot of friends.
And, yeah.
(soaring piano music)
Flip it?
Got this, like, rented it on Turo.
- [Woman] Oh, let's see, it's caught on.
- Oh, there you go. - There we go.
- There we go, it fits! (chuckles)
Yeah, nice to meet you too.
We got a desk.
I actually really like it. - Nice.
- It's gonna be
so pretty in there. - Mango wood.
- The chair is super comfortable and...
- [Lou] Mango wood.
- It'll do the job.
I also like that it has a lot of storage
because I need like, places to put all my things
because it's weird to live in one room.
So I'm like, where are we going to put all our stuff?
So this will help out a lot.
(car beeping) (leaves rustling)
(footsteps crunching)
Should we go this way, or do we have to...
- Yeah.
(rain drizzling)
That's nice.
Our new desk.
Is it yours or mine?
- It's mine.
- It's yours? - Yeah.
I'll share them.
This is perfect for me.
- [Lou] Wow.
- Don't you think? - Yeah.
(Dana sighs) Craigslist furniture
for the win.
- I really like it.
It's nice to have my own desk.
You want a standing desk, anyway.
- [Lou] Yeah.
- So I'll put this one, actually,
I think will be over there.
And then this is where you'll build your standing desk.
- [Lou] Yeah, that sounds fine.
- It's coming together.
- [Lou] This way.
Yup.
(car beeping)
- Ah, ah! - What?
(car beeping)
(both laughing)
- [Lou] Sorry.
- [Dana] Closing the door on me.
- [Lou] Good thing it has a sensor.
- [Dana] Yeah, that would hurt.
- [Lou] How's that?
- [Dana] That's good.
- Yeah? - Yeah.
(leaves rustling) (birds chirping)
(Lou chuckling) (footsteps crunching)
It's not that bad. - Yeah.
(leaves rustling)
(birds chirping)
(gentle music)
(birds chirping)
(Lou and Dana yawning)
- Ooh, hummingbirds.
- No.
- Are those hummingbirds?
No, those aren't hummingbirds.
(birds chirping)
- Where?
- On the tree, there.
- Oh. - Not hummingbirds,
or almost hummingbirds? - No. (laughs)
Good morning.
- Good morning.
- Mmm, another day in paradise.
- Mm-hmm. (Dana laughs)
- Today, we are gonna get a PO box, a mail box,
a compost bin.
Lots of exciting stuff.
- Hopefully, mail us or order a bed.
- It's fun to set up our home, isn't it?
- It's so exciting.
I wanna like, put away all our things.
- [Lou] Mm-hmm.
(knife slicing)
(Dana chuckles)
(spoon scraping)
I can't believe we're having papaya for breakfast.
- Hmm.
(rooster crowing)
- One day we'll grow it ourselves.
- [Lou] All right.
So today is finally the day
that we start organizing our new home,
which is super chaotic, but so beautiful.
- We love it.
And we've been living here for less than a week,
and we've gotten, this place was completely unfurnished,
and we've gotten a desk, a dresser, nightstand, a truck,
and (gentle music)
some kitchen stuff, but not all of the kitchen stuff.
And so now we need to stop living in the chaos,
organize everything, and get this place to put together.
We still are waiting on another desk,
the bed, and a bunch of other things.
But, I think shipping to Hawaii
is gonna take a little while,
so we can not live in chaos any longer.
It is time to get organized.
(Lou humming a marching tune)
(fingers snapping)
(gentle music)
We have cleared out the whole house.
It's like, actually an incredible space.
It's really nice to get all the clutter out of here
so that we have a full blank canvas
to organize and put the new furniture in.
We got a bunch of stuff off Craigslist,
which I think is gonna work perfectly in here.
We're still waiting on a bed.
So we'll continue to sleep
on our camping mattress on the ground,
but I couldn't stand the chaos any longer.
And I feel like, I don't know,
this is gonna be a really, really good home for us.
I have a good feeling.
The area is so beautiful and peaceful,
it's really quiet.
There's like, not a lot of people or a lot of cars,
just a ton, a ton of plants.
And you can hear them blowing in the wind,
and it rains in the evening.
And it's like the perfect temperature.
There's no, obviously air conditioning
or heating or anything like that,
but we can just keep the windows open,
and there's screens.
So, minus a few mosquito bites,
I would say this place is literally the perfect temperature.
I couldn't be more comfortable.
- [Lou] Yeah, so either the bed would go there,
or the bed would go there,
but there are already reading lights there.
- Yeah. - It is nice with the window.
Like, this is where we've been sleeping on the floor
and it works pretty well.
- Well, the first night, we actually slept over there.
- [Lou] Yeah.
- And I do think this is better
because then you look out onto those windows.
- [Lou] Yeah.
- But you are then in the kitchen.
- Exactly, it's like the bed is right here,
and the kitchen is literally right there,
so that's like, kind of weird.
- It's kinda like where's the puppy gonna sleep?
(Lou laughs)
- Well-played. (Dana laughs)
(wheels smoothly rolling)
- I mean, it's kind of weird,
it's like, the cabinets are going in, out, in, out.
(wheels smoothly rolling)
- [Lou] That's a tricky design problem.
- Hmm.
Hmm, hmm, hmm.
- [Lou] Right?
- 'Cause we were also thinking how nice it would be
to have like, a small circular table with two chairs
to have like, a breakfast nook.
(quirky tropical music)
(stove igniting)
(quirky tropical music)
(Lou sighs)
(lid clanging)
- [Dana] Do you want chickpeas or do you want black beans?
- [Lou] Chickpeas sound good.
(Lou sighs) - Yeah, nutritional yeast
in the sauce. - Mmm.
- [Dana] Mmm, I'm so grateful to be here with you.
Do you think we should just live here?
- That'd be nice.
(glasses clanking)
(spoons clanking)
(nuts clanking)
(seeds softly pouring)
(beans softly pouring)
(metal clanking)
(jars and bowls clanking)
(bright music)
♪ The sea ♪
♪ Sea ♪
♪ Ooh ♪
(bright music)
- We did it.
The place is organized.
I don't know if it will ever be this organized,
but like, for now, it's beautiful.
We have the classic handmade Wild We Roam flag.
- Ha-ha! - And,
a very happy husband because he has his desk back.
Technically, it's actually my desk.
His desk is in the mail,
but from here, the passage video will finally be edited.
So obviously, this is gonna come out way later than that,
but, we did sail across an ocean.
We do want to share that video with you.
It's just been a really crazy last few months.
Now, you can relax. (Lou sighs)
In an air bed. (laughs)
And I also want to show you
our prized possession that we just got.
(drum roll playing)
This is Ghost, our truck, and we are obsessed.
(quirky jazz music)
It's really nice to have a truck with lots of suspension.
It is a 1998 Toyota Tacoma.
And, apparently, it's the most common truck on the island,
which we have seen a lot, too.
But, we got it off Craigslist as well, and are so happy.
I drove it for the first time
for like, a full day yesterday.
I'm getting the hang of it.
It is manual, but it's actually like,
the gearbox is in great shape.
It's easy to drive.
It's very, like, you have good visibility
minus the rear view mirror, like, spins.
So that's not working,
but you can still look out the back
and you have your side mirror, so that's good.
And, oh, let me show you this.
Like, I can't believe this is real life.
(leaves rustling)
(peaceful music) (film reel clicking)
So I guess this is what it looks like
when you change your mind,
when you dive head first into one project,
and get so far down the road,
and then realize
there's actually something else that you want more.
And I hope that that's
something that you're able to like,
see in this whole process, is that,
sometimes there's a spot for grit and sticking it out.
And sometimes, you just have to embrace
what your heart is really telling you.
And, coming here with that one way ticket
and setting up a life here, a home here,
and I know we have so much to learn about gardening,
about Hawaiian culture, about so many things.
And that's the one thing that Lou and I love being,
is students.
I think that changing your mind
is actually one of the things that I realize
is a beautiful process, a humbling one.
I couldn't be more excited about this new chapter,
and thank you for being here
for processing all this change alongside us.
We're grateful and see you soon.
(peaceful music)