....a year makes. This year for my birthday, I was lazy. And hung over. I was forced to go out the night before, against my will, and made to consume copious amounts of several different types of beverage. So yeah, nothing much happened.

The year before, for my birthday, I got a root canal from a Russian dentist in Sochi.

But now, a decade? That makes a hell of a difference. Ten years before the root canal, I rented a 42' Catalina sailboat with a 11 friends, and pottered around the British Virgin Islands just outside of Tortola. It was a brilliant day, we were all young (except for Captain Jurgen, whom I suspect was born at 50), and nobody gave a shit about anything but enjoying ourselves and enjoying the perks that life has to offer when you're 24, getting paid, and in quite nice places. Snorkelling, jumping overboard at full motor to freak the crap out of my girlfriend at the time (she made me pay for it later), sunbathing, drinking and eating (but mostly drinking), and thinking about the sailboat "I could get used to this."

A year later, I was living in Las Vegas, didn't have many friends, didn't have a girlfriend. I think I probably went to PT's on Silverado Ranch with Scott. So quite a bit of a difference there.

And then Sochi. And then This year.

But next year. Next year.

I don't know where I'll be next year. I don't know if we'll be at sea, or in port, but I'll be on another sailboat, I'll be with friends again (unless the work pool comes true and I get hoofed overboard at some point before then), and I'm really looking forward to the huge difference that this year is going to bring.

It's starting to feel more real now. I sent off my last payment cheque over the weekend, so assuming the exchange rate doesn't do any obscene gymnastics (which it's started doing, thanks Greek election), I'm paid up and official. I've got my flight for crew allocation day, I can air miles my flight for race start, and I'm trying to decide if I need a dry suit that I can buy for a discount until the end of this month. I know some of the ports, and I'm talking to my parents about where they're going to meet me and when (South Africa, and when I leave and we work hard to cross the Southern Ocean, they're going to go on Safari. Bastards). I'm starting to coordinate with friends who are scattered across the planet and see if I go close enough to meet up with them. I'm looking at travel visas, and shots for yellow fever and tetanus and a couple others. I'm seriously thinking that at some point soon I really swear it this time guys, I'm going to start getting in shape......

So I guess this post is stupid. Yeah, a year makes a difference. And obviously twelve will make a difference (twelve being the jump from sailboat birthday to sailboat birthday). But it's just worth being aware that things will inevitably change. People get old, people move on, and that's as it should be. Because I'd hate to still be stuck in a fucking dentist in Russia getting a root canal.

And for those of you wondering about my birthday, yeah, it was last week sometime.