Behan Gifford

LATEST ARTICLES ( 537 )

• Nonbelievers in a Muslim Country

  

  The post about Brunei’s palace guard playing grab-ass during our family photo op prompted a friend to comment on her misgivings about traveling as a woman in a... Read more

  Posted on 28 August 2013 FAMILY, OUTDOORS, SEA, TRAVEL

• How Far Would You Travel to See Friends?

  

  We just spent an amazing week with old friends from Seattle. Our history together dates to a new parent's group we shared with our firstborns 14 years ago, but... Read more

  Posted on 26 August 2013 FAMILY, OUTDOORS, SEA, TRAVEL

• Arise TV Interview: More Than Just Alt Family Living

  Jamie and I recently spent time talking to Christina Brown, host of Our Take on Arise TV. We were joined by other families who choose alternative lifestyles... Read more

  Posted on 23 August 2013 FAMILY, OUTDOORS, SEA, TRAVEL

• Our Five Year Cruisiversary

  

  I look at this photo of our children at the time we embarked on the cruising life in 2008 and wonder- how did five years pass so quickly? Read more

  Posted on 22 August 2013 FAMILY, OUTDOORS, SEA, TRAVEL

• Crazy Squalls off the Coast of Borneo

  

  The west side of Borneo is giving us excellent squall-spotting and squall-dodging practice. Thunderstorms form most afternoons. It starts innocently... Read more

  Posted on 19 August 2013 FAMILY, OUTDOORS, SEA, TRAVEL

• Borneo Passage Days

  

  We do have our fair share of squalls (really, it's a daily event) but most of the time we have spent making our way from one part of Borneo to another has been... Read more

  Posted on 18 August 2013 FAMILY, OUTDOORS, SEA, TRAVEL

• And Then the Lamborghini Drove off the Dock

  

  When I returned to the Miri marina from provisioning with a friend, there was an entirely new class of transportation lined up in front of the well-used... Read more

  Posted on 16 August 2013 FAMILY, OUTDOORS, SEA, TRAVEL

• Sat Around with Your Neighbors Lately?

  

  How different would communities be if the neighbors all sat down together to relax and talk for an hour or so- say, once a month? Once a week? Read more

  Posted on 14 August 2013 FAMILY, OUTDOORS, SEA, TRAVEL

• Dancing with Oil Rigs

  

  Heading south from Brunei, a beam swell gives our gimbaled stove a gentle sway and does half the work of scrambling eggs for me. We have a rare treat to go... Read more

  Posted on 12 August 2013 FAMILY, OUTDOORS, SEA, TRAVEL

• Playing Tourist in Brunei

  

  Cruising gives us great opportunities to see the countries we visit, but we rarely play tourist. Given our short stay in Brunei, we splurged on a car and... Read more

  Posted on 08 August 2013 FAMILY, OUTDOORS, SEA, TRAVEL

• Brunei Stopover: Because Even Sailboats Like Cheap Diesel

  

  We didn’t need to go to Brunei, but it was impossible to pass up this pint-sized country sandwiched inside the Malaysian state of Sabah. Why miss the chance to... Read more

  Posted on 05 August 2013 FAMILY, OUTDOORS, SEA, TRAVEL

• Getting What You Need, and Getting off the Dock

  

  This is the goal: an anchorage in tropical paradise. Tuamotus, French Polynesia Anchored in clear turquoise waters of an idyllic atoll in the Tuamotus, we met... Read more

  Posted on 02 August 2013 FAMILY, OUTDOORS, SEA, TRAVEL

• Labuan: Borneo's Duty Free Haven

  

  Our anchorage neighbors in Labuan: oil rig supply ships. cozy! Labuan has Duty Free Shops the way Seattle has coffee shops: in such excess you cannot imagine ho... Read more

  Posted on 31 July 2013 FAMILY, OUTDOORS, SEA, TRAVEL

• Boatschooling, Part 2: Learning on Totem

  

  How to boatschool is one of the questions we’re asked most frequently. To try and offer a meatier reply, I’m breaking this out into multiple posts: thoughts on... Read more

  Posted on 29 July 2013 FAMILY, OUTDOORS, SEA, TRAVEL

• Boatschooling: Interviewed by The Sociable Homeschooler

  

  Vivienne, of The Sociable Homeschooler "...Your children, and a willing heart": the most important things you need to homeschool, according to Vivienne McNeny o... Read more

  Posted on 27 July 2013 FAMILY, OUTDOORS, SEA, TRAVEL

• Boatschooling, Part 1: Finding a Path

  

  “Are you homeschooling your children?” It surprises me how often we are asked this question, given that we have been away from home for five years with kids... Read more

  Posted on 24 July 2013 FAMILY, OUTDOORS, SCHOOLING, SEA, TRAVEL

• Back in Pretty Water Again: Pulau Gaya

  

  Resort life is great, but what we love most is to be anchored in a quiet bay, with a nice beach and clean water to explore above and below. Read more

  Posted on 22 July 2013 FAMILY, OUTDOORS, SEA, TRAVEL

• Racing, and Not Racing, in the BIYC

  

  Jamie and I met racing sailboats in Long Island Sound back in 1988, on a J-35 named Peregrine. When we moved to the Seattle area for grad school and to be close... Read more

  Posted on 19 July 2013 FAMILY, OUTDOORS, SEA, TRAVEL

• From Sabah to Sarawak with the BIYC

  

  Taking part in the Borneo International Yacht Challenge was the perfect way to get ourselves north up the coast of Borneo. The event is a series of harbor... Read more

  Posted on 18 July 2013 FAMILY, OUTDOORS, SEA, TRAVEL

• Live Like Alex

  

  News of the untimely passing of Alex Rust in May left us shocked and saddened. We met Alex in 2010, when he was crossing the Pacific on his boat Bubbles. Read more

  Posted on 15 July 2013 FAMILY, OUTDOORS, SEA, TRAVEL