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
Thank you for shooting me this link, Mike. This is a great post. It seems like a vicious cycle sometimes doesn’t it? You have to have money and freedom to cruise, but you have to show up to work to have money, which takes away your freedom. We keep trying to scheme up something that will allow us to quit working for a few years and worry only about our next destination… not an easy plan to come up with!
Sounds like you guys have kind of the same cruising plans that we do; take it slow, enjoy every moment, and go anywhere we can. Of course we would like to sail around the world, but making it all the way around isn’t the whole point of it, and it is refreshing to hear from other people that seem to get that. Good luck with the next three years of planning and plotting your escape, and hopefully we will see you on the water in the future 🙂
I’m looking forward to keeping up with your blog-
-C
Thanks! You’re absolutely right about ‘the point’ of it all. I assume we’ll eventually sail further distances. Maybe around the world, maybe just across to Ireland, England, or the Med. But the point of it all is to enjoy the lifestyle we’ve chosen and just be on our own time. Not tied down by deadlines or commitments.
Hopefully, we’ll see you out there too!
Mike
Found your blog thanks to your comment on ours … hi there! We often refer to the ole “hamster wheel”! It seems really hard to get off that thing. It also seems that once you get the cruising bug, that wheel becomes more and more obvious.
Like ya’ll, we’re soooo ready to slow down and enjoy the simpler things in life! BTW, we’re in our mid-40’s, so there’s no way ya’ll are too old cause then we’d be too. =) It seems a lot of cruisers are much older, which is inspiring.
Thanks! I’ve been following your blog for a few weeks now…you’re serving up some inspiration for us too. You’re a lot closer to it than we are, but I know time will fly and three years will be here and gone before we realize it. At least I hope so..haha.
Mike
Mike,
I found your blog from a comment you made on PacificSailors.com.
I couldn’t agree more with the comment above “You have to have money and freedom to cruise, but you have to show up to work to have money, which takes away your freedom.” Also the line “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” from the original post. These definitely describe how I have been feeling for the past year or two.
I find it funny how many people I run into (in person or electronically) that seem to have this same sentiment. I used to be a very “type A” personality that defined my existence by my job/career. When I would meet someone and they would ask me what I do, I would proudly say “I’m a geologist” and then go on some lengthy description of what a geologist does. Now I tend to make some sarcastic comment like “a little as I can get away with” or “I’m trying to become Travis McGee” or “I’m trying to live the life style Jimmy Buffett wishes he could”. I don’t want to talk about work, politics, the house, etc. Sports barely hold my interest any more. But if I find someone that wants to talk about cruising on a sailboat, I could talk all night. It’s great to talk to all different people and get different perspectives and ideas about how to get there. I also like to try and find out when and how they made up their minds that being a dirt dweller was not for them.
My wife and I have worked out a plan to set sail for southern waters on June 26, 2015 (my 40th birthday). We know it won’t be forever, because we won’t have enough money to make it last that long. But we hope to discover a different life style that will allow us to not have to go back to work full time while having lots of adventures along the way.
I’m glad I found your blog and have added it to my “Cruising Blogs” folder in my favorites. Can’t wait to read more.
Fair winds!
Jesse
Hi Jesse, I’m glad you found me! Thanks for the comments you made; I wholeheartedly agree with you too. It’s funny how you mentioned making some sarcastic comment about your job because I find myself doing that same thing nowadays. Almost everyone I work with is fully aware of my retirement countdown!
I checked out your blog as well and I’m excited for you that you guys have set an actual day/month/year to take off! That’s great…and almost coincides with my timeframe. I’m eligible for retirement in September of 2015. I’ll be 42.
The income I make from pension should cover all our expenses provided we preserve a frugal lifestyle, and I plan to work my side business a little. Given those circumstances we should be able to cruise indefinitely if we desire to. I sure hope you can too.
I added your blog to my RSS feeds and I look forward to interacting more.
Siochana,
Mike