The majority of us on TF are here because we like boating which, by its nature is a lifestyle that usually involves meeting other boaters, making friends, etc.
Yet many on TF have shied away from putting much info in their profile. Often missing is the city and state names, their boat information, etc.
Are those people who don't provide much information reclusive? If so, why be a boater and more importantly, why be on TF which is a very gregarious society?
I'd like to hear from some of you who have chosen not to fill in the blanks in your profile.
Just curious.
We value our privacy for many reasons that we feel no obligation to share, but understand we were far more private at one time than we are now and wouldn't have even come to the forum. We come here for the discussion and we like the interaction here. We share information where we think it's relevant or beneficial.
For many here, the TF online society and the in person society are the same and to those we think that's great. We have communication off the forum with some here but we choose to do that in private. While we think many people and the connections made here on the forum are great, we just don't choose to do those things publicly. While we participate on forums, we don't choose to participate in any social media. We've even met a couple from the forum without any note of our forum identity, just in the course of day to day activities. We also remain very private regarding our businesses with others serving as the face of them and the majority of employees not knowing who we are and none of our general acquaintances knowing what businesses we own.
Gregarious? Well, we normally cruise with at least 6 people and up to 12. And we celebrated our Florida Christmas over the weekend of the 30th to the 1st (tradition as on Christmas we're not in FL) and during those three days we had around 55 friends and their families at our home at one time or another. Actually my wife is the gregarious one and I'm really an introvert in my social life, although not business wise.
We admit openly to not fitting the prime demographic of the forum. Our boats don't fit. Our ages don't fit. However, our cruising grounds are the same and we average more nm per year of cruising than other forum members. As members have requested, we've shared the details including marinas of many trips including providing to two people our entire itinerary from Washington state home to Fort Lauderdale when we made that trip. We also have knowledge in other areas we share when appropriate and we learn much here even from very different types of cruisers. A good example would be we spent some time on Lake Superior while looping and Ted did the same. Although our speeds were different, we enjoyed sharing the experience.
We also just wouldn't fit in in many of the activities enjoyed by other members here. That's not meant as criticism of anyone and can be considered a reflection on us. That's fine. We're not at all into the drinking aspect of entertainment enjoyed by many. For instance, we follow the TF gatherings with some degree of envy, but a gathering that is as focused on alcohol as it is, just isn't for us. Yes, we could go and not drink, but we just don't enjoy being around so much drinking. Perhaps the fact we both had alcoholic fathers plays a role as we grew up around it. That's not saying it's wrong, nor saying you won't all have a great time there, just saying we wouldn't. It's also not saying we never consume alcohol.
We think you're all a great group of people and feel honored to be allowed to participate here. We just have for many years had to maintain a certain level of privacy and prefer to continue to do so. We know that bothers and even offends some, but it's not going to change. We have formed a very large extended family much to our shock and surprise at times and they're our group for opening up more even though there are parts of our past they don't even know.
Oh, and we do have location filled in I believe. Paradise. Otherwise known as Fort Lauderdale. Also, an area we can easily blend in as just two more boaters among the thousands.
