Joyce and Tad Lhamon fulfilled a dream to return to Micronesia, where they had served in the Peace Corps three decades earlier
Journeys of a lifetime
Four families describe their 'radical sabbaticals' -- long-term vacations traveling the world.
Chris Henry
Sun Staff
April 4, 2004
The Lhamons: Window of opportunity
Joyce Lhamon's father always dreamed of sailing the open sea, someday ... when he had the time. He died at 64, just months short of retirement. She wasn't about to make the same mistake.
Joyce, a former English teacher and her husband, Tad, a former accountant, took an "early, early retirement" when she was 51 and he was 54. With their two sons grown, they saw a window of opportunity and heard the ticking of a different kind of biological clock.
The Bainbridge couple launched their 44-foot sailboat in 1996 and were gone for six years. They traveled the South Pacific, and, among other adventures, fulfilled a dream to return to Micronesia, where they had served in the Peace Corps three decades earlier.
Along the way they encountered storms and even modern-day pirates, yet coming home was the hardest part of the trip, they said. Fifteen months after returning to the Northwest, they're still adjusting.
"It's like coming back to an old pair of shoes," Joyce said. "And you put them on, and they were wonderful when you had them ... now they don't fit."
Reach features coordinator Chris Henry at (360) 475-3780 or at chenry@thesunlink.com.
