Today is the day: the go live after months of preparation. It is an appropriate time, as Michelle and Ed spend 20 hours aboard commercial jetliners, and losing a day crossing the international dateline, to introduce myself. My name is Andrew Beale, Ed’s younger brother, and as Ed and Michelle are currently airborne, I have now assumed ‘stateside’ command of both the West By Sea web-blog and Facebook pages. Over the next three and a half months it will be my responsibility to oversee the maintenance of the blog, copy edit the content, and at times facilitate the upload of content in the event of satellite internet lapse. I have been fully briefed on the theme and intent of Michelle and Ed’s project and will endeavor to perform these duties in that spirit. Kickstarter backers, I’ve been apprised of your individual commitment and reward levels.
When Ed first told me about their idea for this amazing journey, and then developed the idea of blog and book, my only concern was that he and Michelle would become so overly concerned with the production of a product that they would lose sight of the reason they were doing this in the first place; to experience the world together. I didn’t want them to be so tethered to a computer that they’d miss something incredible. It was then that I offered to perform background support.
On a personal note, I am very excited to be involved with this project, not just because it’s an opportunity to follow an adventure undertaken by close family members, but also because I’m looking forward to first hand accounts of places I will never visit. Growing up when learning about history and geography, there was always a thought that one day the opportunity would present to visit all those fantastic places, but with the reality of middle age and the accompanying commitments comes the realization that there are simply places I’ll never get to see.
I’m looking forward to my brother and sister (inlaw)’s descriptions of exotic places as much as the rest of you. To quote Ed, ‘The only goal that matters is the horizon’. They’re currently chasing it, and it’s about to get fun!
Allow myself to introduce… myself.
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