Post cruise life reintegration

[dwedeking2]

With the rapid rate of advancement in technology, I'd be more concerned with a loss of skill set vs what's on your resume. My resume (if I used all my jobs on a resume) is quite eclectic. Only in 2009 did I have a hard time finding a job (in 31 years of working full time). I telecommuted for 8 years and moved frequently. None of this played into finding my latest job. Also changing jobs is more common than it was say, 40 years ago, so it doesn't have as much importance.

I also wonder wish I had a better grasp of food costs

The biggest thing with food costs is to eat what the locals eat. Anything box/canned to get an American labeled product will be expensive.

[Madwand]

I get tired of hearing the do it now mantra. Everyone can't do it now and it's not as easy as people tell you to do it now, depending on your circumstances.

So I'll be 54 when I retire, because I wasted 4 years earning a degree I didn't know I wouldn't need. But I won't be 65. Why do people think you need to be 65 to retire? Are you dependent on the government teat? Retirement is your responsibility, not the government's. Put money in the bank.

My job is paying me an extra $300,000 to stay at work from years 25 through 30. That's cruising money. That's in addition to the very nice retirement I've earned by being "wise."

So I'll be 55 by the time I can enjoy life...I also never have to go back to work again, like all the people who "go now" will. I can die on my boat doing what I want, not at some shltty job in my old age. I can travel in relative comfort, even though it's a tiny boat, because I'm not broke and worrying about where the next dollar will come from or when I'll have to go back to work.

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by brownoarsman

I found it surprisingly easy to get off the boat and go right back into logging 70 plus hour weeks. Distressingly so, actually.

I don't, to me its depressing going back, so much so that it ruins the vacation as I am counting days left until I have to go back, and I don't work nearly those kinds of hours.
Its for that reason I am retiring early and taking the risk, cause the job ceased being fun and now is very much of a drag.

That is why I told him if he loves his job, stay. Why stop doing something you enjoy?

I'm Retiring at 58, cause this is the year the youngest goes off to College

[Sea Dreaming]

Originally Posted by scottorious

Thanks for everyone's input. Most people in my life think I'm insane for even considering it. It's really hard for people to grasp why anyone would want to cross an ocean in a small boat.

I would love to cruise for six months and work six months. I already know myself well enough to know that having a home base would benefit me. My mortgage also is only 550 dollars a month, 18 dollars a day so it's reasonably cheap to keep. I also wonder wish I had a better grasp of food costs in other counties and if it makes sense to have a garden and grow and can or dehydrate as much as possible leaving food costs down to just some fresh stuff in different places. Summer in Illinois and winter in the Caribbean. Has anyone met their future employer "out there"?

"Eat what the locals eat" is good advice. But food costs are really the smallest porton of your expenses. It's a good idea to have some reserve for when fresh supply is unavailable but you don't have to grow your own veggies. It's been my experience that doing so does not save money but does give value added satisfaction. If your want to dry your own food for storage, shop farmers markets and road stands. Farmers have already figured out how to bring the highest quality and lowest costs to their crop. The price you pay nay seem high but it will be much lower than mucking around growing your own. This advice is based on the food needed for 1-3 people. My Aunt had 8 mouths to feed and found it cheaper to grow her own veg, but she had 7 "farm hands" to do the work!

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by Sea Dreaming

Waiting until retirement is wise? Heck no! Waiting until retirement is expected, nothing more.
It's been my experience that successful people generally find ways to be successful no matter what.
Waiting is really just fear mitigation, fear of the unknown.
There are so many ways to "do it" that there is seldom "either, or?".
Talk to CF member Kenomac. He works 6 months and cruises 6 months.
I'm rambling but my real point is to rephrase your current life experience. You love your job but that does not mean that is the only job you will ever love. You do love it right now, nothing more.
What else do you love?
Is working until retirement age of 65 or so part of what you actually value?
In my mind it's nuts to trade more money for experiences that open your eyes, challenge you, encourage you. It's just plain silly. It's putting off life until life is almost gone.

OP,

I've never agreed with the "all or nothing" crowd when it comes to cruising. Been doing the on/off thing for seven years now, nothing wrong with doing both lifestyles, now I'm up to six months on... six months cruising, six months land-based. 'Seems to solve the family issues and money is never a problem.

Back in the old days (twenty five years ago), I didn't like my nursing job very much, nor did I care much for working in the "nut house" more recently, but now, like you... I like my new hospital nursing gig, so it's a nice change up for four to six months per year. I can do something else I really enjoy which has a genuine plus side of producing a good income... which also makes cruising much more enjoyable.

The bottom line is, you can do both. It just takes some planning. IMHO, theres nothing fun about taking an "early retirement," then sitting around without two cents to rub together living from one government pension or assistance check to the next.

[thomm225]

Do you really need to quit your job to go sailing?

I sail from April to November most every weekend many times leaving on Friday and getting back Sunday or Monday.

In the offseason, there are deals in local boatyards at $8.00/ft so if you still want to be doing boat stuff, you can have your boat pulled and complete a project or two.

When I was racing beach cats in Florida, the season was from February up to about mid-November. That's a lot of sailing .....hard sailing with non stop tacks, gybes, adjustments, maintenance, etc

During the week, you can still enjoy other hobbies/lifestyles ashore.

[hp60]

Originally Posted by the_alpine

The thing to remember is this:
"In life, you're either a pimp, or a ho. Which one do you wanna be?"

Think about it.

Hahaha. Exactly. The employee mindset is pretty funny. All I see is opportunity.

If you are into setting up your own wastewater treatment consulting business have a look into Vetiver grass. All the best cruising areas could use it. Controls erosion too.

[brownoarsman]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

That is why I told him if he loves his job, stay. Why stop doing something you enjoy?

I'm Retiring at 58, cause this is the year the youngest goes off to College

I think you and the OP are at very different life stages though. If he's got the itch, I would scratch it for a while and then go back to work. He'll realise if this is actually something he'd like to do when he retires, and in his early thirties, he's readily employable.

I see the stay at work option as playing out with a constant yen to go cruising but never actually experiencing that life as kids and mortgages add up, until he too is 58, reasonably financially secure, and then he quits work, goes cruising, may realise he doesn't like it, but now can't go back to work he enjoys because who wants to hire someone touching sixty? From that perspective, going now for a short time is actually the least risky thing to do as a way of evaluating what it is you're working to in retirement and providing motivation during the intervening years. Then again, I may be jaded from my experience!

[a64pilot]

I see your point, I was just thinking if he loves his job why leave it?
Try to arrange for a sabbatical or whatever it called, try to get six months or so and see, that way the job is still there?
Your right though, I feel that when we go, we can't come back, being darn near 60 is a whole different thing entirely

[a64pilot]

Ken, many if not most jobs won't support a six month on, six month off schedule.
I'm glad your does, if mine did I'm sure I would be doing the same, you get to have your cake and eat it too

[brownoarsman]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

I see your point, I was just thinking if he loves his job why leave it?
Try to arrange for a sabbatical or whatever it called, try to get six months or so and see, that way the job is still there?
Your right though, I feel that when we go, we can't come back, being darn near 60 is a whole different thing entirely

That's definitely true-hedging your bet before you go with a sabbatical or leave of absence is wayyy better than just quitting. It may not be just the work he loves, but the current team, etc. And that is hard to replicate, even doing the same work in a different location.

The only reason I went back for an MBA was a hedge, really, that I'd be employable after doing some weird stuff. It was supposed to be a start-up I was hedging against, but turned into an 8 month cruise!

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Ken, many if not most jobs won't support a six month on, six month off schedule.
I'm glad your does, if mine did I'm sure I would be doing the same, you get to have your cake and eat it too

What, you or others are unable to go back to school and retrain for a more portable or less structured job like I did? I've had nine "careers" since age 15, nursing is just one of them.

There's no reason to be trapped in one's own mindset.

I've never understood the "I can't" or "It's too late" mentality. Excusses in my opinion.

[Madwand]

For some, going back to school multiple times is as much a trap. I regret getting my first degree, wouldn't want to do it again for any amount of money.

[thomm225]

My degree was in History.

Switching to that from Computer Science/Math was the best decision I ever made..

I didn't have to pay for it though..........

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

What, you or others are unable to go back to school and retrain for a more portable or less structured job like I did? I've had nine "careers" since age 15, nursing is just one of them.

There's no reason to be trapped in one's own mindset.

I've never understood the "I can't" or "It's too late" mentality. Excusses in my opinion.

This is my second retirement, unlikely that I could make the earnings I do now by starting another Career, perhaps if I were younger. My first Retirement was in 03, and that will pay me and provide medical care for me and my family until I die
Up until just a few years ago I loved this job, stressful as heck, but awfully close to my "dream" job, if it hadn't changed, unlikely I would be going cruising.
That is why I say if you love your job, don't be too quick to give it up, the next one may not be so lovely.

Everybody's case is different though, there is no one size fits all