From Shanghai to St. Louis, via Cadiz, Spain, our recent journeys have been filled with lots of emotions. Quite emotionally as well, we followed Croatia’s journey in Russia, to the World Cup final. This post will recap them all, as we set to embark on a whole different adventure – parenthood!
Leaving Shanghai meant leaving lots of friends and leaving an amazing city that offers a lot. But, our little one was fast approaching and we were ready to start a new chapter in our lives. For multitude of reasons, chief among them having the support of Sherry’s parents back in the US, it meant travelling back to St Louis suburbs. But first, I had one more stop to make, and a very exciting one, my ship’s dry dock in Cadiz, Spain.
Dry docks differ from normal navigation in many ways. For one, the ship is firmly “parked” in one place!
That place, it turned out, was the charming and beautiful city on the southwest coast of Spain – Cadiz. From the Grand Cathedral to long beach walkways; from all the small plazas and winding alleys to tasty, authentic food, Cadiz was really a marvelous surprise.
Dry dock itself was a unique experience, with lots of logistics required to combine all the small pieces into one big picture. The scope of the undertaking was overwhelming, but in the end, extremely rewarding as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kls0tyDFkd0
After a quick and sweet trip to Croatia to see family and friends, I was rejoined with better half of Mariners Journey in St. Charles, peaceful suburbia of St Louis, which is where we will have our little one.
This coincided with the Fifa World Cup being played in Russia, and boy, were we glued to the screen!
We followed Croatia’s incredible journey to the final and trembled and celebrated with every drama and triumph. Even Sherry’s parents, who are not normally interested in sports, caught the fever. Scenes and excitement coming from Croatia was just something extraordinary. The pride and unity that team produced in the whole nation, nation that up until then was gripped in political pessimism and migration of young people, was staggering. Unfortunately, and undeservedly I might (subjectively) add, the team lost the final, but not the spark that got them there and that infected the people. And it was reflected in the heroes’ welcome they received upon return back to Croatia, when they were greeted by over 550 000 people (14 percent of the entire population)! One can only hope that all the positive energy generated will translate to other aspects of the country.
The power of sports has always been to inspire people, and we needed inspiration to tackle the current US real estate market ourselves!
So, we weren’t just watching tv, as we were (and are!) on the hunt for our next investment project. This summer the trend of inflated real estate prices has continued and the sellers are having an advantage. That means really good deals are far and few between. We have actually made a bid on a foreclosed single-family home, slightly above asking price, but it ended up selling way above asking price. We have had to remind ourselves of Warren Buffet’s words: “Be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful.” The patience will be our best asset in this pursuit. There are always good deals, even in this market, if not as often. The benefits of waiting for the right deal, even though it’s harder, outweigh just diving in on any deal.
Speaking of benefits – one of life’s benefits is almost upon us!
We’re sure he’s going to eat into our profits, but we are still very excited for the latest “acquisition” to arrive in couple of weeks time! We will keep you updated on our Journey. After passing halfway point, 2018 is still on track for greatest year ever… 🙂