Day 2,025 - Fort Myers Bch, FL (26° 24.5N 81° 53.1W) 08:43hrs - December 15th 2012 Extreme Journeys

It's been thirty-six days since I was in the ocean. For most people that's not significant, but for me, who scuba'd, swam, snorkeled or spearfished every day from Dream Time, it feels unnatural, like I'm missing a fundamental ingredient of my life.

We've been back in America now for five weeks, and I feel a little like a fish out of water, like I don't quite fit here, or more accurately, like I'm not synchronized. You see, in the last few months we've gone from extremes - the complete isolation and serenity of the Tuamotus, anchored off tiny uninhabited islands where the days we're long, warm and relaxed, to the cold, claustrophobic, heart-racing pace of Times Square in winter. Heck, even here in Fort Myers Beach, Florida, an agreeable area of America known for its comfortable climate and relaxed lifestyle, everyone seems to be in a hurry. And most residents are retired!

From the couples marching along the sidewalk in matching plaid shorts, to the ladies competitively collecting shells on the beach, everywhere there seems to be a steady stream of urgency and efficiency. Even yesterday on Bonita Beach Road, a Cadillac driven by a tiny wrinkled pair of hands and a fedora, blasted me with its horn when I hesitated a microsecond at the light.

It's not surprising how different, and fast, everything feels to us now, after-all, we have been living on a sailboat for over two-thousand days! - our average speed has been a mere five miles an hour, so we're the ones out-of-sync with society.

It's going to take a while to adapt to life back in America, but the thing is, we don't really want to, at least not yet. There are some things we simply can't avoid while we're back, like having to carry keys with us wherever we go, the rush of humanity, the noise, the distractions, and the awful news, which seems to permeate everything. And other things, which we've happily lived without for years, we've re-welcomed back into our lives with giddy appreciation - like having a warm shower every day, cool fresh running water, ice, outlets everywhere flowing with electricity, access to our very own washing machine, wifi so fast we don't even see a status bar, and a dizzying selection of shops, restaurants and services for literally anything we desire.

We'll be flying back to Dream Time in fourteen weeks to continue our world circumnavigation, but in the meantime, to fill up this space, we'll be updating the site with photos and stories from our 'Cruise Across America' - from Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, California, and finally, as long as we don't get snowed-out, the very northern area of Idaho!

I know, driving across America in winter could not be further away from sailing across the Pacific in summer, but if one journey gives us a greater appreciation for the other, than we're still on the right track.