I was having an email conversation with a new contact who has similar plans to begin the cruising lifestyle and was moved to share some of the same information I shared with him. This might just be some ramblings, but I think it’s good to document how I’m feeling about all this.

I wish I was closer to the water. I’m in Ft. Worth, Texas currently. At minimum, a six hour drive to the coast. I don’t currently have any sailing experience…in fact, I’ve never even been on a sailboat yet. For quite some time now I’ve had this feeling that I need to be on the water. Once I finally realized my calling was to retire onto a liveaboard boat, I considered both motor and sailboats. Ultimately, I decided it had to be a sailboat…the peacefulness, serenity and reliance on nature finally sealed the idea for me.

I feel like I’m on a “hamster wheel” sometimes. I’m a police officer and while I enjoy my job and I’m good at it, I feel it’s stolen a lot of who I am as a human. I tend to look at things differently now. I’ve been doing this work for seventeen years and when I’m able to retire in three years, I want to take back what’s been taken from me. I want to experience everything life has to offer and not be concerned so much with the day to day grind of that hamster wheel. God has definitely placed a spirit of adventure within me and I fully intend to live that out.

My youngest son will finish school in May, 2016, so by that time I hope to be ready to set sail. I’ve talked a little and I’ve dreamed a lot about sailing around the world. That, I think, will be accomplished but will probably be a couple years after I begin the cruising lifestyle. Most likely plan will be to sail [taking our time] from wherever I buy the boat [probably Texas or Florida] down to the Caribbean. There, I’ll continue to learn more about the boat and the tricks of the trade, so to speak, about the lifestyle. I figure a couple years of island hopping from the Bahamas down to Grenada or Trinidad or South America will give me a lot of experience necessary to tackle a longer voyage across the wide expanse of ocean.

What are your thoughts and feelings about this? Am I striking a similar chord with anyone else out there?

Siochana,

Mike