In 2011, I did something that would change my life. I climbed aboard a 40-foot catamaran in Placentia, Belize, and didn’t get off again until the following weekend. Before that time I really knew nothing about the world of sailing and cruising. And the more people I talk to, the more I realize I was not alone in my ignorance. Most people don’t realize there’s a whole community out there sailing and cruising around the world, a world apart, almost. Sure, they all come from the real world, where most of us get straddled in, live our daily grind in, work for most of our lives in, the 9 to 5 death sentences; work until we’re 65 and then retire and hope we outlive our pensions or retirements.
But somewhere along the way in their lives they were introduced to a different way of living. One of freedom and adventure and exploration. One of traveling at perhaps one of the slowest paces possible, at the mercy of the ocean and the wind and the storms. But what is it they say? Life is about the journey, not the destination. This life, this sailing life, is definitely about that. At 5-7 knots (roughly 5-7MPH), you have a lot of time to think about the journey AND the destination, and you have time to experience both along the way.
Think of it as living in an RV. You have all of the conveniences of home, although depending on your budget, perhaps a lesser version of what you have at home. However, imagine there’s a new law that says that RVs can only go 5-10 MPH as they travel around the country. Then take away the roads and the highways and replace it with the ocean. Bump off the tires and make sure everything is water tight and away you go. That’s what sailing around the world is like, or how it can be.
Over the next few years, all of my moves in regards to hobbies had to do with sailing and scuba diving, the other activity I picked up from my trip to Belize. Yacht Clubs and courses and scuba diving were the things I tended to do when I had money to spend. Many of my planned vacations tended to be water-based. You could say I caught the sailing fever in Belize. And the skipper of the boat I was on started giving me things to shoot for to get more involved in that life. One of them was getting my RYA YachtMaster Certificate, which became a goal that I accomplished in 2016, 5 years after this first experience. I’ll be sharing much more about that experience and what I’ve been doing since then on this blog. I hope you enjoy it.
Let me know if you’re into sailing and would like to have more information about the things I’ve discussed. What are some of your traveling and little living hobbies? Do you have a tiny house? Do you live in a van or an RV? Are you sailing around the world like me? Please tell me about it. I love hearing stories about others living a similar lifestyle. Here are some pics from my trip to Belize in 2011.
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Living Large by Living Little! 