Were exploring the world, slowly and deliberately. Were boat schooling our children in math and science, world history, diesel mechanics, sail handling, the discipline and details required for offshore, blue-water sailing.
Why would you quit your job, sell your house, sell your cars, give away your stuff, take your kids out of school and sail away? It sounds like insanity!
It’s a great question.
Here’s the truth of the matter: everyone has a personal calculus and here is ours.
I loved my job, I love my wife, our kids, we love our friends and family. We liked our house. We were not at all dissatisfied or unhappy in any way!
Both Helen and I could go on and live rich and fulfilled lives in old routine. But we know better. Days turn into weeks, weeks into months and years pass away. Literally thousands of patients tell me: it goes too fast: don’t put off adventure, your body won’t always be able to do it. Your kids grow up and move away. Time accellerates because of routine. Don’t fall into it. On your death bed, in your nursing home, you will look back and the routines will not stand out! It will be the rare peaks and valleys of experience which populate your history. How frequently do you purposefully build those experiences, and do it as a family? How often do they expand our horizons and understanding of the fabric of the world?
The mind, and secondarily the brain, requires stress and adaptation. Once one routine is mastered the brain goes into auto-pilot. Why do those days pass into years? If the mind is no longer tested and stressed, we don’t build new memory. We develop our comforts, our patterns, and just like muscles that fall into the sleep of torpor, our minds and souls do too.
Experience does for the soul, what education does for the mind.
We’ve got a few more years and our oldest reaches launch velocity. She’s gone to the world! How exciting! But at the same time, have we given our girls the respect of true engagement with the complete world and with us? Or, have we been parallel playing with overlapping routines? I certainly didn’t want to be.
We have the opportunity to mold and shape our girls into compassionate contributors who hopefully understand the world far beyond the “commercial” projection America currently provides… We have the opportunity to travel the world. We’re not rich, but we are by world standards. We are capable and tenacious!
There is little certainty in this step, and there is significant risk. Do we know enough? Are we resilient and disciplined enough? Will our family be able to withstand the stresses applied by a small boat with us as her small crew in wild oceans? I don’t know the answer. But when the answer is yes: what magic is found within that crucible of trial and experience?
We are given two lives. We live our first life. Once we realize we have only one life, our second life begins.
Please come along and share this adventure with us.
Route thus far:
Martinique--Guadeloupe--Punt Cana--Exumas--Andros--Fort Lauderdale (FTL)--Bimini--Grand Bahama--Abacos--West End--FTL--Keys--FTL--Bimini--Berrys--Naussau--Exumas--Abaco--Berrys--FTL--Bimini--Berries--Abaco--FTL--Berrys--Naussau--FTL (IRMA)--Keys--FTL--Berrys--Exumas--Jumentos--Raggeds--Cuba-- FTL--Berrys--Eluthera-- Bermuda(Almost)-- St. Thomas--St John--BVI--St Thomas--St John--BVIs--Tortola--St. Martin--Martinique--Illes de Saintes--Guadeloupe--Montserrat--Nevis--Bonaire--Colon--San Blas--Colon--Canal--Panama--Islas De Las Perlas--Vista Mar.
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