Sunday Summary #29 - So, what's next?

Sunday Summary #29 - What's next?

Sunday Summary #29

Exciting News!

Namaste ,

Welcome to An Urban Journey’s 29th and final Sunday Summary (continue reading for why). This edition of the Sunday Summary was written from the Intracoastal Waterway in North Carolina, USA. Yes, we have a lot to update you on...

    Updates.

    When we set out on this around the world trip together, we were both at a critical point of our careers; Elliot had passed his one year mark at a large software consulting firm and Jennifer had just graduated with two Masters degrees. We knew that we wanted to pursue something we were passionate about, but we both didn’t know what exactly that was. We hoped this trip would reveal what would be next for us. Travel did just that :)

    Over the past several months we have been trying to figure out what to do next after spending a year traveling around the world and getting stuck in a foreign country during a pandemic. We didn't come back to the United States with a deep sense of "knowing" what was next for us, but the one thing that we were certain on was that we wanted to keep traveling.

    That being said, traveling during a pandemic wasn't easy in our 5 month experience and we knew that we would need to explore some creative options to continue to social distance and move around while keeping safety at a high priority. We explored many different options from converting a sprinter van into a tiny home on wheels, purchasing a used RV, to repairing Jen's step dad's sailboat.

    “A mind that is stretched by a new experiencecan never go back to its old dimensions.”-Oliver Wendell Holmes

    On January 8th, we took the plunge. We bought a boat.

    Yes, a boat. A 1989 34' Marine Trader to be exact. We bought the boat earlier this year and changed her name to PIVŌT as we're pivoting from our original plans. We made the decision to stay in the United States for the next year while we travel and explore America's Great Loop. Incase you are like us and don't know what America's Great Loop is, here is an overview of the journey...

    Photo courtesy of America's Great Loop Association.

    Chapter 2.America's Great Loop is a circumnavigation of the eastern U.S., and part of Canada. The route includes the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, the New York State Canals, the Canadian Canals, the Great Lakes, Midwestern inland rivers, and the Gulf of Mexico. It takes approximately 12-14 months to complete the loop, however it could easily take longer. Less people complete America's Great Loop per year than the Boston Marathon, completing the Appalachian Trail, climbing to Mount Everest, and swimming the English Channel. So we thought it'd be fun to attempt this journey as two newbie boaters with a deep desire for adventure.

    So far we have traveled from Jacksonville, Florida throughout Georgia and South Carolina along the Intracoastal Waterway and have now made it to our 4th state of North Carolina. We've learned a tremendous amount about our boat, boating courtesies and ways of the waterways, and have visited many small towns in America that we've never been before. It's been a great trip thus far filled with tests of our critical thinking skills endurance.

    Vlogs.

    Here are all the vlogs we’ve released since our last Sunday Summary:

    If you haven’t already, we would love for you to subscribe to our channel or share our videos with your friends and family to spread the love.

    Rebrand.

    We are transitioning An Urban Journey to Scho & Jo. As we mentioned at the beginning of this email, this is the last Sunday Summary for An Urban Journey, but we will be continuing our Sunday Summaries (hopefully more regularly) as Scho & Jo. The name of Scho & Jo is short for our last names. Elliot’s last name is Schoenfeld and Jennifer’s last name is Johnson. By shortening our last names to Scho & Jo, we were able to achieve the play on words to ‘show’ our audience and followers our journey through life and Jo came from a traveling coffee cart in New Zealand and Australia. So Scho & Jo was born! We plan to continue making videos of our time on the water as we cruise around America's Great Loop and will be sharing those with you shorty.

    Graditudes.

    We’re so grateful for this past year together. To say this past year of travel has been a blessing would be an understatement. It has taught us so much about ourselves, life, and the world we live in. Thank you so much for following our journey, watching our videos, sending us encouraging emails, and watching us grow. We hope you continue to follow our journey around America's Great Loop as we navigate the waterways, learning more about life on the water, and put our problem solving skills to the test. It's going to be another great year and we can't wait to take you along through our videos.

    This Week.

    We are currently in Carolina Beach, North Carolina with the hope of visiting 2 more small coastal towns in North Carolina before continuing our journey north. We have been making our way up north fairly quickly with the goal of spending a decent amount of time exploring the Chesapeake Bay. If you have any recommendations for where we should stop in North Carolina alone the ICW (Intracoastal Waterway), please email us and let us know!Lastly, Happy Mother's Day to all of the mothers who have supported young and crazy kids with a dream and a big heart for adventure! We wouldn't be where we are today without you.

    Peace and love,Jenn + Elliot