where do cruisers vacation to?

[sailorboy1]

Where do cruisers go to vacation?
Do they dream of living on land?
Do they just sail off to another location and call that vacation.
Is the vacation the journey or the destination?
Is a vacation just somewhere where you can run the hot shower for 15 minutes?
Is McDonald's eating out?
How many great beaches become 1 too many?
Does dressing up mean closed toed shoes, if so are socks required?

seems after all my years of prep there are so many unanswered questions

[laika]

Boat's currently on the hard in North Carolina and I'm off to Colorado. I try to take a few winter projects back with me for something to do when the mountains get boring

[rebel heart]

Rounding up our first solid year of cruising and living in a foreign country, I think we look at vacations as four things now:

- Moving the boat somewhere else. We'll have been in the tropics for a year and a half so it will be nice to go somewhere cooler, and then we'll of course get tired of that, and we'll want to move again.

- Grabbing apartments for short spells. Especially in really brutal weather since we have a couple of kids, it's been nice to snag some cheap little studio for a month. Makes it much easier to do invasive work on the boat too. You also experience a part of the country that you wouldn't in the marina or at anchor.

- Going back to the States for all the various reasons one does. Family stuff, personal stuff, medical stuff, whatever. The next time I can go back with my older daughter, we're going to Disneyland!

- Moving off the boat for some multi-month / multi-year block of time. I can't imagine us being on a 36' boat with two adults and two teenage girls, so at some point we'll need to park, get a 1 bed room apartment, and go through that phase.


It's different for everyone I suppose.

The endless supply of awesome beaches can get a little played out, but if you start looking for more things (like surfing, snorkeling, sand castles, going for a run, etc) then it's not just "going to the beach" as much as you're actually doing something.

[Jim Cate]

Been cruising for 27 years now, and have never desired a "vacation" from the life. Have had to do trips back to the States for various reasons: family issues, medical issues, more medical issues... hated all of them, couldn't wait to get back to the boat.

It's interesting to me when folks say something like "Wouldn't you like to house sit for us? It will give you a chance to get off the boat!". I'm on the boat because it is where I like being best of all... it isn't a prison or a monk's cell.

We're all different I suppose, and we do know cruisers who do house sitting fairly regularly, and who go on land excursions and stay in hotels, etc. Just not my cup of tea!

Cheers,

Jim

[Astrid]

I just got back recently from a vacation in Kyoto Japan.

[Tim R.]

Living on the boat for 3 year now. Our vacations have been 4 trips to Vermont to mountain bike and a couple others to ski.

[zeehag]

4th year of cruising, including one on opb, and not even think of a vacation. this life has everything.

[rebel heart]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

It's interesting to me when folks say something like "Wouldn't you like to house sit for us? It will give you a chance to get off the boat!". I'm on the boat because it is where I like being best of all... it isn't a prison or a monk's cell.

We hear that ALL the time.

[chouliha]

Well said Jim!

Geez 27 years cruising. Was that how long it's been since we shared an anchorage? Makes me feel like an old fart! Hoping to catch up with you two in Tassie in a few years!

A vacation for us is doing inland travel but it sure feels nice to come home to the boat. We just did 7 weeks in Peru and another 7 weeks in Ecuador. Great traveling spots. Wonderful people, great food and fantastic scenery

All the best to you and Ann!!

Chuck
Jacaranda
Bahia de Caraques, Ecuador
Headed Panama next week

[belizesailor]

For me "vacation" is not having to deal with boats. By the end of crusing and/or charter season I am sick of boat maintance and repairs. About 2 months or so ashore helps my mental state and then I am ready to consider dealing with boats again.

This year we rented a house in Volcan, Panama for a few months...great place.

[robert sailor]

A Vacation is what you do to get away from a steady 9-5 job. I never met a real cruiser who wanted to go on a vacation but I have met a few wanna bee cruisers who needed a regular break from the cruising lifestyle.

[robert sailor]

Rebel Heart, the weather should be cooling off a bit by now, where are you going next?

[Celestialsailor]

Originally Posted by robert sailor

A Vacation is what you do to get away from a steady 9-5 job. I never met a real cruiser who wanted to go on a vacation but I have met a few wanna bee cruisers who needed a regular break from the cruising lifestyle.

Exactly...all I could think about was saving, saving, saving, while working. I have other hobbies from this one that are pretty adventurous also. I use to import from South east Asia and that was a blast also. I have no desire to take a break from the fun.
It was a different story though when I was younger, married and raising my child and other children. Then I needed a vacation.

[JPA Cate]

Friends who had been cruising for over 10 yrs. at the time, left their boats in Langkawi, and went trekking in Nepal. I'd call it more inland travel than vacation, though, knowing them--their whole life was like ours, on "vacation" full time.

People and their needs vary considerably. Whatever it is that cruising is, it is what we make of it and how we fit it into our life that is the challenge and much of the joy.

Ann

[Teknav]

While I like everything related to the ocean, I am not sure I would want to be in it everyday of my life. If that's the case, it would lose its "magic" of adventure. I plan and spend a few weeks of vacation by the ocean, every year...that keeps the "magic" alive and again...until next year...and hopefully forever.

Daily same routines stop being fun. One needs to look at something special to live for, on a regular basis; it's called a vacation.

Mauritz
Live your life to the max!