Hurricane Ian Turned our FAMILY’S HOME (AND OUR LIFE) Upside Down...
This past week has been like no other we have experienced before. Hurricane Ian slammed into Southwest Florida with sustained winds of 155mph, just 2mph less than a Category 5 hurricane, and it brought with it the greatest level of storm surge that any one had ever seen. In fact, the meteorologist had to make a new color on their charts to indicate the level of 12-16ft.
REWIND. Back a few months to Brittany and I having just spent the entire summer in Europe traveling in our new Portuguese camper van, “Espiritu,” meaning “Spirit” in Portuguese, named after our Sprinter van in the US, “Spirit.” We bought this camper van, a lightly used 2004 Citroen Jumper, to house and transport us as we continued in search of our Portugal “Dreamland,” a continuation of our search from the year before. Along with touring some real project type properties, we of course enjoyed the journey, making wonderful memories amidst our hunt for a one-of-a-kind (and our very 1st!) piece of property to purchase.
Living as Digital Nomads since 2014, we have to claim residency somewhere (if only for the sake of our Driver’s Licenses), so we settled on my parents’ address, which happens to be in Fort Myers Beach, Florida. To give you a bit of background, I moved to the southwest coast of Florida in 2005, where I attended Florida Gulf Coast University well before traveling the world. Looking back, “The Beach” was always a dream place to live, and I’m really proud of my parents for working so hard to call their dream place “home.” The photos below were taken 10 days before Hurricane Ian.
Although Brittany and I consider ourselves “citizens of the world,” my parents’ home is where the few lasting (tangible) pieces from my childhood live. These items were carefully kept in a couple boxes labeled as “Keepsakes,” stored in the bottom of their home, just like you might keep these kinds of things in your basement or attic. With that being said, let’s FAST FORWARD to last week, when Hurricane Ian’s historic “1000-year storm surge,” burst through my parents’ home. Transforming the 1st floor of their house into a catastrophic washing machine, where sand, silt, house parts, trees and memories lay scattered and broken on the floor…
While minimalism is something that Brittany and I have always tried to practice, keeping consumerism at a distance with a 10ft pole, we truly value the few precious items that spark our joy and aid in us living our best lives... a few of those items, the ones seeped in nostalgia and fond memories, are the ones that Ian came to sweep away in his merciless fury.
First and foremost, we are deeply and eternally grateful that our family evacuated and is safe. Secondly, we are left speechless by the kindness and generosity of this community who has helped us raise over $6,500 which will 100% go towards helping those less fortunate than us, left completely devastated by Hurricane Ian. Thirdly, those precious irreplaceable momentos, cherish them and understand that there will a time for us all to let them go…
With all my childhood photos taken as victims of the storm surge, and the childhood photos of both of my parents, we have decided to take photos on our phones of what remains and use Qubii Dou to back up them up safely, storing them on an external micro SD card.
This convenient little cube stacks right on top of our charging block, so when we plug in our phones at night, everything automatically begins backing up according to our preferences, while simultaneously charging our devices. We share this in hopes that it might help offer you, and your priceless memories, some assurance ❤️ Along with some more details about it below, you can get 10% off Qubii Duo's auto backup cube using our code "adventure" here: https://hk.maktar.com/e3w or if you prefer to buy on Amazon, use code "10QQTCWM" here: https://amzn.to/3Ca3IQN
Compatible with iOS and Android TM.
Two-factor authentication content security
Automatic backup on demand
Extensive storage up to 2TB (microSD card)
No monthly subscription
Shareable with multiple devices
Navigate with our app
Secure offline database storage
Compatible with Windows & Mac OS
Supports backup of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Flickr and more.
This This product offers a one-year warranty, and ten-year warranty option.
See us love on Quibii Dou in our Youtube video here, which was filmed in my parents’ Fort Myers Beach home before Hurricane Ian.
With our phones being so easily accessible and with us all the time, by backing up these devices on tiny SIM cards, we can now have peace of mind that our data won’t be lost forever should anything happen to our phones.
The priceless photo below of Brittany and her dad walking in the rain using the take out box as an umbrella, was taken on Saturday, September 17th, walking through the iconic “Times Square” in Fort Myers Beach. The photo to the right is an overview of that same spot just 11 days later, after Hurricane Ian.
The iconic FMB pier, before and after.
Below, take notice of the pool near the center of the image and then look at the following photo.
Below, I’m standing on the stairs of The Whale bar and restaurant (the colorful building in the photo above). Again, this is just days before the storm.
What is the remainder of homes pushed off their foundations and piled like match book sticks in the middle of the street. The amount of damage is unimaginable.
This video shows the true intensity of this monster storm more than any other we have come across.
All things great and beautiful take vision and hard work,and I have no doubt in my mind and heart, that Fort Myers Beach, and all areas touched by Ian, will be made beautiful again in their own time. We look forward to helping make a difference.
