Saturday, March 17, 2012

You're doing WHAT?

That is the response I expect from our family, when we tell them.  But as of yet, this is as public of a place as I've confessed this idea.  And for the moment I'm keeping our identity a bit of a secret.

Yes, my wife and I plan to leave our careers 20+ years before "normal" retirement, liquidate almost everything we have, take our dogs and go live on a sailboat in the Caribbean...as what many in the know call a "cruiser".  Oh, and did I mention that we don't know how to sail and don't (yet) own a boat?

I would like to say that we are charting unknown territory, and for us it certainly is, but we are far from the first to have this idea.  After a couple months worth of serious research, we have found a number of people that are currently planning, or are already enjoying, this lifestyle.  We hope to be well on our way to joining them within the next year.

But...first things first...our sailing lessons start in a week.  So, stay tuned for more on our attempt to escape the rat race.

And I'll leave you with this thought from Mark Twain that seems rather fitting:
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. 

6 comments:

  1. You are SO right about getting out of the rat race and really living and enjoying life. My wife and I are also 'in the same boat' of sorts. I'll be retiring from my job in three years and then we're off. Living aboard a sailboat, even though we have no experience...yet. Sailing lessons to come and all the research involved is keeping me busy until then.

    I'll be following you and rooting you on!

    Mike
    www.siochana.us

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    1. Hey Mike,
      There are definitely a number of people out there blazing the trail ahead of us. My guess is you may have found my site thru Zero To Cruising (another Mike a couple years ahead of me in the process...he is one of my regular reads). Highly recommended read/inspiration. Hopefully you'll even find something useful in my ramblings.

      Sorry for taking a bit to reply...my wife and I were off working on our ASA 104/114 and out of internet range most of the last couple weeks. Will be posting about that as soon as I can get the posts together.

      -Mike

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  2. From Sterling Hayden's book Wanderer:

    "'I've always wanted to sail to the South Seas, but I can't afford it.' What these men can't afford is not to go. They are enmeshed in the cancerous discipline of 'security.' And in the worship of security we fling our lives beneath the wheels of routine--and before we know it our lives are gone.
    "What does a man need--really need? A few pounds of food each day, heat and shelter, six feet to lie down in--and some form of working activity that will yield a sense of accomplishment. That's all--in the material sense. And we know it. But we are brainwashed by our economic system until we end up in a tomb beneath a pyramid of time payments, mortgages, preposterous gadgetry, playthings that divert our attention from the sheer idiocy of the charade.

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    1. A very good quote. These days our society certainly does seem to be overly focused on security and under focused on actually living.

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  3. So glad I came across your blog! :) My hubby and I have the same plan, the same amount of experience, and I'm originally from Colorado! Crazy small world! :) I'm excited to follow along with your adventures!

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    1. Welcome guys! Hope you find my ramblings occasionally entertaining or informative. Believe it or not, for a land-locked state there seem to be more than just a couple people in Colorado looking at doing something like this.

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