Who has not sat at their desk… Disgusted at their work situation… And not wished they were on a deserted beach in the Caribbean?
We swapped commuting and high stress jobs to retire early on a sailboat… we sailed the boat to the Caribbean from Texas and then spent the most eight wonderful years of our now 37 years of marriage.
It is not impossible, we are living proof that one can go from zero boating experience to living the life that Jimmy Buffett sings about in his ballads…a change in latitude really does mean a change in attitude.
But how do you undertake such a major lifestyle change?
It is like eating an elephant, one bite at a time… It is imperative to take baby steps with such a drastic lifestyle change.
This is especially true if your spouse is less enthusiastic about leaving a comfortable living behind and swapping that for the unknown of living on a sailboat.
In 1990, having never been on a sailboat before in our lives… We took a 4 hour shore excursion from a cruise ship on a 36 foot sailboat that took us snorkeling…we bombarded the Capt. and his wife with questions about how they lived on a sailboat.
We discovered that a sailboat is nothing more than a floating recreational vehicle… They are fully self-contained for a mobile lifestyle… The RV has wheels, the sailboat floats… It really is that simple.
Our friends families and neighbors all thought we were crazy when we announced our plans to live on a sailboat… They still think we are crazy 22 years later but that’s a different story.
Such a major lifestyle change is doable if done in a logical manner… You have to crawl before you learn how to walk and learning how to live on a sailboat is no different.
The good news is that there are companies that allow you to charter sailboats to see if this lifestyle is for you. You can start by chartering a sailboat with a Capt. and cook… You progress to chartering the boat yourself.
This was one of the processes that we went through before purchasing our first and only boat… Which became our full-time home for eight years.
So if you think about leaving the rat race, there are logical steps that you can take to do exactly that.
Are you ready to escape completely?
