Talk about first world problems. I had my first Facebook status highjacked this week! I knew it was bound to happen, and I should have seen it coming, but I recently posted to our Sailing Journey Facebook page and the comments took on a life of their own!
For the past year I have been watching as Tasha and Brittany put themselves out there and blog/post about every detail of their lives. Well the days of my jaw dropping as their virtual “friends” grumble at them are over! They’re coming after me now, too :)
On Wednesday I posted this pic of a boat that had rafted up to us while we were out exploring Vero. My caption was “Came back from a romp in town and found another boat attached to us. Leo was not pleased and neither is JR :) Bad Vero!”
What I didn’t say was it was dark, after marina hours, and when we pulled up to Journey, we were greeted by a flustered single hander who almost immediately jumped in his dinghy and left to go “have dinner with his wife.” Huh?
Now, if you follow our blog, our Facebook page, or if you know us personally you know that we are mad thorough, you know that we are usually open to new experiences, you know that we are pretty dang “go with the flow”, but something about this post seeped through our virtual safety net that consists of people who know and understand us, and made it’s way to people who don’t know us at all, and they, too, began to weigh in. And boy did they weigh in.
Before you start yelling at me about putting my business on the internets, I already know. I get it. If I’m gonna put my biz nass out there, I should be prepared to suffer! And suffer I did!
I’m not going to go into specifics about what people said, people who don’t know us and didn’t bother to get to know us before they posted their opinion, I’ll let you read that for yourself, but I was upset! I woke up Thursday morning and read these comments from strangers telling me what I should have known and where I could go if I didn’t like it, I was like, “WTF!? Who are you and why are you being mean to me?!” I wanted to respond to them and say, “We did know this might happen, it’s just…” “Of course we noticed others rafting, but…” “We are go with the flow, but this guy…!” “We do like meeting people, but…!” And I let it fester and work me up for a good bit.
And that’s really my point for this post. I’m really disappointed in myself for caring. Who cares? What power do a few negative words from strangers have over me in the grand scheme of things? Why on earth do I care!? I wasted a few hours of a BEAUTIFUL, sunny, 70 degree, Vero Beach morning worrying that Mr. and Miss Stranger don’t think we were “go with the flow” kind of people. Shame. On. Me.
And then I went for a paddle to clear my head. That’s right Mr. and Miss Stranger-who-probably-won’t-read-this-anyway, I went for a PADDLE, on my PADDLE BOARD, that I keep on MY BOAT, that is currently in FLORIDA! What a beautiful life I have right now, and I wasted a few precious hours of it on nonsense. Again, Shame. On. Me.
Clearly I’m still learning… I’m learning what it’s like to be a cruiser, and I’m learning what it’s like to be a blogger, and I’m learning about the price you sometimes pay for putting your business on public social media. I got it, you only wanna see sunsets and happy hours but that’s not always our reality. Sometimes sh*t gets on our nerves and that’s part of the experience too.
We decided to be public with our adventures in hopes of inspiring and helping someone else, so if I have to deal with an occasional grumbly, know-it-all here and there, bring it, I’m toughening up because life is good, really, really good!
Sailing Journey 
Sigh. Sorry this happened, Drena. Life as a public figure certainly has its down side. You made it just a little farther than I did. My barrage came in St. Augustine. ;-) Keep. being. awesome.
Life as a public figure! I love it :) I’ll have to look up your St. Augustine post, I’m intrigued :) Thanks for being awesome, yourself <3
Dreena there will be more good than bad! Magnolia is certainty inspired by you and JR and must believe others are too. On that score you are certainly a success!
I know, I know… I am very guilty of caring too much about what people think of me. So vain :) Thanks for being inspired, y’all inspire us too <3
Good for you to realize that you shouldn’t care what these people (who are most likely sitting at a desk in the middle of winter) think about you and why they are being mean. They are probably just grumpy because you are in the warm sunshine. Live it up girl! You guys worked hard to get where you are. Enjoy it!
I am in the warm sunshine! And it’s a beautiful life that I am so lucky to have! Thanks for reading!
Hi Guys,
I’m not even sure what the heck happened here except that an uninvited mariner decided to raft onto your boat while you weren’t there. Not cool. Then afterward, apparently various people decided to criticized ya’ll ………… I guess I don’t really understand how social media works and I’m beginning to realize that’ s probably good. Please don’t feel too slighted by shallow people.
All I know is that I love following your blog…… and love dreaming of the day when Heather and I are able to do the same grand adventure.
It’s no fun experiencing unjustified abuse. I suspect though that both of you have ample good will to forgive and most importantly, forget. Especially at Christmas time. :)
Hugs
Rick and Heather Dow
Canada
Rick, you are so kind! The social media thing is a double sided sword, so much good comes from it, especially during a trip like ours. But, there is ugly everywhere! I am glad you are reading and I can’t wait for you to set sail too! There are so many beautiful Canadians out here that have come a lot farther than us! Thanks for the hug, and for reading!
I love that you posted it. I have rafted up once or twice, but with people we know. I had NO IDEA that strangers could just raft up all willy-nilly. And I never would’ve known if you hadn’t shared. So thank you. And yes, don’t let anyone ruin your day with their unnecessary negative comments. Haters gonna hate. And you will be busy getting a tan on your SUP while they do it. :)
Haters gonna hate fo sho! I’m glad that ya learned something. We had no idea that Vero was like this until the day we decided to head here! I don’t think many places are like this, but it’s been a great experience overall. It is a super cute town and I’m glad we’re here. Thanks for reading!
Oh no! I’m so sorry this upset you… Vero was a weird place for us, too, last year. And I hear what you’re saying about adjusting to a life on the internet… sometimes you get feedback on stuff you didn’t want feedback on, and sometimes you get surprised – you get really helpful feedback where you didn’t expect it. So I feel like you get both, and you learn to sift through the negative and forget it, but take the nuggets of positive where you can. But people were being mean?! I’m so sorry! I hope my comment didn’t sound mean… I actually thought you didn’t know it was a raft-up place and that’s what you were upset about. If I sounded mean, I certainly didn’t meant o.
When we were in Vero last year, we were actually the couple that were hated for rafting up to another boat. We called in to the marina when we arrived, and they told us who to raft up to. And when we arrived, that couple was really unhappy that we were rafting up to them and let us know it the whole time we were tying up. Eventually, they made us so uncomfortable that we untied in the morning and left to go tied up to Anne-Teak, who turned out to be a lovely couple to be rafted up to. So it was a bad beginning that led to a fabulous stay…well, not exactly fabulous – I still can’t stand the no-see-ums in that godforsaken place. But the cruisers were great. As were the cruisers happy hours!
Anyway, just keep writing and posting… you’ll get good and bad feedback, but I think it’s more good than bad!
-Tasha xx
Thought I replied to this a week ago! Dang mobile internets! Anyway, thanks for reading and sharing your experience. I cannot believe that people were that openly mean to you guys. Didn’t they know you were Tasha and Ryan from Turf to Surf!? Sheesh. I am a tad bit sensitive, but I’m working on it :) The no-see-ums haven’t been too much of a problem yet, but other people are getting it worse than me. You must be really tasty! Thanks for reading, Tasha. It kinda makes me giddy :)
I am sorry if I offended you with my post, it was not my intention, but I can’t speak for others. How could anybody know you were a go with the flow guy? Your post was one of clear irritation. Words matter, and if you make a statement with insufficient information, it will probably generate a reaction, and people will fill in the blanks. Not everybody knows you, and or knew that you were not a neophyte to the cruising life and rafting. In contrast to your opinion, I read the replies to your post, and thought that sailors were actually trying to be helpful, as they always are, and have been to me. At the risk of irritating you further, your reaction, based on the fact that you let it ruin your next day, leaves me to conclude that you may have been a tad thin-skinned, and felt put upon, but hey, you’re entitled, nobody’s perfect. You don’t need to defend that. But as you acknowledge, whatever blog posts you make might take on a life of its own that you didn’t intend, sometimes involving interactions between people responding to each other in a thread, having little or nothing to do with your original remarks. Let it roll off, hassle is not worth it. Continue laughing and enjoying life, which I think your probably do for the most part. You guys seem like a really neat couple, and I wish you well. (If you find my posts, in particular, offensive, please let me know and I will stop following your adventure).
Thin skinned?! Now you’re starting to get to know me better! You are right, I am extremely thin skinned and you’re also right that I left out some important info in my status (in my defense I added it in the comment section pretty quickly, I’m sure you saw it) but I’m guilty of writing for people who know, understand, and “get” us, I’m learning. Saying my cat (Leo) was annoyed as well as my little happy face emoticon we’re my indicators that we weren’t really, really annoyed, just kinda’ taken aback. Once my friend Christine commented, I realized I should clarify the whole Vero Beach thing and I did. I shouldn’t have assumed that readers would read comments before adding their two cents. I’m learning. Since I’m guessing you are new to our FB page and blog, you wouldn’t have known who Leo is and that I was status updating in jest. I am aware that tone is a tricky thing to do with the written word especially over social media. I’m learning. You are also right to say that the commenters were trying to be helpful. I was worried that people who were reading thought we were unprepared and unsuspecting. We were not, we were very aware of how Vero works as you can see from my comment on the post. Having strangers chime in and size me up based on one sentence is new to me. I’m learning. I am truly glad that you are following along and I hope you will continue to get to know us. I am Drena, by the way, a girl not a guy, and I do most of the posting. JR is my husband, he’s very thorough and handsome and he chimes in on the blog once and a while, but rarely on the FB page. I think you might like his writing style a little more than mine :) This in no way ruined my day, I thought I made that clear in the blog. I am doing my best to enjoy this incredible opportunity I have been afforded, thin skin and all! Thank you for reading and following up, and for the record we are still in Vero, planning on spending Christmas here, and very much enjoying it. Take care.
Your a BEAUTIFUL couple and I am SOOO happy for you. Don’t let people who don’t have a life shed a bit of cloudyness on yours. Your skin may change to TAN but let that be the only change that happens to you both. Those who know you love you and should be happy for you. Enjoy your journey and thanks for sharing. P.S. Get a sword and a “plank” and use it! AARRRGG!! LOL Jeffro!
Thanks Jeffro! Love you!
Drena, you and JR are wonderful people! We are proud that you are the owner’s of our beloved Journey. Some times are better than others, just like sunsets. You are allowed, as is everyone else, to be human. Besides it takes two to tango! Hold your breath, count to 10 and keep that great smile on your face! We enjoy your posts on your blog and facebook. You’re inspiring to us. Please don’t stop being the people you are. Can’t please all the people all the time but you sure are leaving a good impression where ever you go!
Thanks David <3 <3
Just wanted to say love y’all and sorry for the meanies!! and as always thanks soooo much for sharing :) the heat wave over here has us in the low sixties.. so weird!! Stay awesome :) Hugs, – D
We miss you, Diana! Happy New Year!