Cruising start at 55 or 56

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

WOW you got all that just be my being able to save money. Thank you.

Actually, it's not you .................it me!

I know how to save money so I was trying to get some things across to you that you may not know.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by Group9

.

Good for him! I bet he has a completely different take on a lot of things!

Different take. Yep.

He calls his body his space suit before and especially after seeing the movie Interstellar. (the weird special effects are a lot like what occurs during a partial seizure for a temporal lobe brain tumor patient) One small problem and it's bad news. He says he lives each moment now.

Also they have chemo pills these days.

Then he had his friend from Sydney Australia come visit so they could "hang out."

I'm like what the F*$K? You are suppose to be being totally into getting well. No hanging out drinking etc

Anyway, sorry for the thread drift but if it is your life long dream to cruise please do not wait too long.

CF is a fun forum. There are also other forums that aren't so much fun like the ones for brain tumor/cancer patients.

A couple post threads started with things like this:

He's gone, now what? (from a lady speaking about her 59 year old husband that had passed) after he battled his ass off fighting the fight.

Or

I don't think I can handle watching my son (29 years old) in Hospice.

Also, the picture below of him stretching is how he prepares to do chemo. Times have changed a bit. Stuart Scott of ESPN busted his butt trying to beat cancer.

And lastly, watch your diets.

[Kenomac]

Personally, I know that I've been looking at life in a different way ever since I fell down two flights of stairs and had a grand piano land on top of me ten years ago. Somehow, I walked away from that one.

We began cruising 4-5 months per year beginning at age 52... no regrets. I wouldn't trade all the money we certainly would have saved for all the experiences we've had, places we've visited and friends we've made.

Ken

[JPA Cate]

sailorboy1, this is a little to one side of the question you originally asked, but Jim's decision to leave to go cruising was definitely hastened by the death of a working cohort who had never smoked, and who was dying from lung cancer. Whenever you want to go, you should. My first response was informed mainly by the huge cushion one more year would buy you. If that doesn't matter so much to you, maybe you should go back to plan A--but only you can decide that.

Good luck with it.

Ann

[weavis]

My mother planned for a whole change of life. Bought an apartment near me in Mallorca. My father and her were buying a new house in the U.K., had their finances set up for a date.......

I got a phone call from my sister to New Delhi where I was working telling me that my mother had suffered a major Stroke and was in a coma in the hospital. It took 2 days to get a flight back to the UK and then travel to see her. She was incapacitated all down her left side and lost her speech.

she was 53. She died six years later.

There is a lot of stress in living. My mother ran a successful business but it took its toll. Sometimes, an extra year looking forward to changing it all brings on more stress than just doing it. If you have a health condition now of a serious nature, and is recognisable by its symptoms in intensity waiting might gain you more money but may not allow you to fulfil a dream.

One other personal aside. I left an alcoholic marriage that was contentious and fraught with drama. I changed States and had a wad in the bank. I purchased a liveaboard, got a cheap marina berth and was going to live the life for a few years. Shortly after, I woke to find that my account had been emptied. I had opened another account which was not known about so withdrew the $16K in it and had a decision to make.

I chose to say, "screw it" and continued the life with what I had. It lasted nearly two years before I sold the boat and returned to work. I still had money left. I believe I could have continued on with my life style but I was not in the groove with a large offshore motor cruiser. If I had a yacht or Catamaran at that time I think I would have still been at it.

If you live your life thinking the money is the important thing, and dont get me wrong money is useful, sadly you will miss out on the opportunity to find out whom you are. If you have health issues, you will find that TIME is the important thing.

I learned that I DONT want to be an eternal cruiser. But I do want to live aboard and work or do money things in areas that I choose to.

Dockhead has the life I would choose. A great vessel, lives on it, sails all over and works from it. S/V THIRD DAY lives on a lovely boat and runs his business from it.

If cruising was what I wanted to do, Id make sure the vessel was self sufficient. Watermaker, solar, wind generator, new batteries, good sails, nice shower, storage space for lots of non perishable food, rent the house out, have good bank connections and debit/credit card facilities. I would have a nice easy to use Dinghy and live on the anchor for months. My costs would be whatever they needed to be.

Right now, I can live in the Western Med for about $6K a year in a Marina with water, Electric, showers and toilets and Wifi. The rest is up to me. If I lived on the hook and came in to a Marina when I wanted, I'd save $4K of that figure.

If it all goes belly up, you still have a house. If it doesnt, you still have a house.
If you didnt have a house, you have a boat. Given that you more than likely have a 401 and other pensions, you will, if the system continues, you will have income at some stage.

If you only had 10K, a boat and nothing else, You could still make it work.

If you wish to wait an extra year, thats entirely up to you. What you made in money can never buy your TIME back. Thats the trade off. It always is.

My best friend had the same dilemna that you face. That was 10 years ago. He never could make the move, always planning and more money to make. He sold his boat last year and goes on cruises instead.

[sailorboy1]

There's a trading of stresses in the decision. It's trading the stress of work life stuff for the stress of concern for the longer term financial issue.

I bet the choice seems easier than it is.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

There's a trading of stresses in the decision. It's trading the stress of work life stuff for the stress of concern for the longer term financial issue.

I bet the choice seems easier than it is.

It's not easy unless YOU have had a real life situation .............. not just have heard about a real life situation concerning someone else.

If something did happen to my son my plan was/is to totally drop out of society. Sail, roam, etc.

Then I reasoned, what if he beats it? Shouldn't I go celebrate, take a few years off and live near him? Sail, hike, ride my bike around New Orleans (which is fun btw)

There are two guys at work in their 70's one of them is my boss . I was kidding with my son the other day when I dropped off some paper work to my boss late one Friday afternoon. I told my son that my boss was chillin' out, totally casual. He had his tie off and top button unbuttoned!!

Point is you can always come back and work if you take care of yourself.

My son has a mutation in his tumor that could give him 20 years of life, but won't know until it happens. Imagine living like that.

Does it free you up? Maybe. One doctor said he should have an MRI every 3 months for life. (malignant brain tumors don't go away. They just sleep and wait)

[IdoraKeeper]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

If I was interested in selling my lifetime the thread would be called "Cruising start at 65 or 66".

Of course the cruising kitty low would be around $300k and assets at age 70 would be $700k. But what good would it do me?

It's going to be a rough work year for me mentally as I started this journey with the target of 55 and counting down the time was a big part of getting though the days. Now it rolls into another year in the back of my mind and the word SUCKS keeps running around it.

I remember when you bought the boat. Planning to pack up and go is long step forward from those days. It may be that you will find relief from the suckiness by extending time on the boat indefinitely. It might work, or it might ruin something you love. Take the extra year, your gonna need the money.
For myself, since I travel so much, I find that where ever you go, there you are. Being in a different place has little effect. I can be just as happy, or sad in any given spot. There's only one place when your lost in space.

[weavis]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

There's a trading of stresses in the decision. It's trading the stress of work life stuff for the stress of concern for the longer term financial issue.

I bet the choice seems easier than it is.

The choice is easier than you think.
You either do it or you dont.

The problem with choices is that we believe it is easier to do with money than without.

Your mindset is the type that thinks money is the answer to cruising, yet you dont see that in the process chains have encircled your thinking.

Let me explain my perspective on this.

You have a home. You can rent it out. If you dont like cruising in two years you go home and carry on. 80% of people give up cruising so pinning your hopes on a perpetual lifestyle without DOING it and trying to safeguard every avenue is not a viable option. You have money and you have a house.

The amount of money/assets that you have accrued is based on the surmise that it will get you through old age..........but you want to cruise as well and now you are frightened by the thought of not having enough.

If you do like cruising and want to carry on, you might just say "Go for it!" and sell everything, buy a bigger boat and sail till you expire.

As a medical practitioner, I know that illness, especially heart conditions cause elevated levels of anxiety, which in turn produce their own physical problems.

This thread is not about "one year, more money" this thread is about anxiety. It doesnt matter what the decision is, it matters that it is made without fear.

If you dont get to grips with it, you will not make the decision ever, to leave.



The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.
Mark Twain

[colemj]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

There's a trading of stresses in the decision. It's trading the stress of work life stuff for the stress of concern for the longer term financial issue.

I bet the choice seems easier than it is.

The stress of concern for the longer term financial issues is very high the moment you toss the docklines and head out, but it steadily decreases in time and is gone by year 2. It is almost unendurable at the beginning. It is mostly a perceived insecurity that gets conquered once you live without the safety net and understand your options.

The stress of work life stuff is chronic and real. There is no conquering that. However, there is a real and quantifiable reward in that set timeframe, so this makes it easy to endure.

BTW, the stress of work life diminishes greatly once you have set the date and mentally put yourself somewhere else in a different life. All the crap just washes over your head and you become unconcerned about the petty problems, your career, etc.

Are you even ready to cast off this year? It took us over a year to get everything lined up, coordinated and all the ducks in a row to cut the lines on our previous life. Take the extra year, make the money and spend that time to be completely ready to set out.

At least the above was our experiences quitting our careers and heading out cruising.

Mark

[Group9]

Originally Posted by weavis

The choice is easier than you think.
You either do it or you dont.

................
This thread is not about "one year, more money" this thread is about anxiety. It doesnt matter what the decision is, it matters that it is made without fear.

If you dont get to grips with it, you will not make the decision ever, to leave.



The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.
Mark Twain

So true. It was much harder making the decision the first time I decided to go cruising (and, I only came back because of a family crisis). Before, leaving the last time, I lay in bed awake at night, wondering if I had made a serious miscalculation somewhere and I was headed for disaster. Those fears proved to be baseless and by the second or third month, I began to appreciate the benefits of a life with almost no stress (it had been so long, I had forgotten what it felt like). By the time I returned, a year later, I was at my college weight, could walk ten miles without a moment's hesitation, had been able to quit my blood pressure medicine, and felt better than I had felt physically and mentally in twenty years.

And, it didn't take being back long before stress resumed it's unjustified place in my life. The weight returned, and the hypertension returned. I decided that living that way was just simply unacceptable.

We're preparing to leave May 1st on our second cruise, and I have none of the trepidations I had the first time about whether it was doable, or a good overall idea. I lay in bed at night now, thinking about repairs I am doing to the boat, plotting out routes and remembering anchorages I want to return to, as I go to sleep. The only stress, is thinking about the mechanics of closing out my business, which is getting less and less the farther I get into doing it.

But, we aren't burning any bridges, either, because for us, this will be a temporary lifestyle, whether we do it for 1, 2, or 5 years. We're 56 years old. We're keeping the house, (and, have decided to not even rent it out unless we are going to go past a year). I think we will be at this several years this time, but if there is one thing I have learned, it's that none of us know what life has in store for us in the future.

[weavis]

Originally Posted by Group9

So true. It was much harder making the decision the first time I decided to go cruising (and, I only came back because of a family crisis). I lay in bed awake at night, wondering if I had made a serious miscalculation somewhere and I was headed for disaster. Those fears proved to be baseless and by the second or third month, I began to appreciate the benefits of a life with almost no stress (it had been so long, I had forgotten what it felt like). By the time I returned, a year later, I was at my college weight, could walk ten miles without a moment's hesitation, had been able to quit my blood pressure medicine, and felt better than I had felt physically in twenty years.

And, it didn't take being back long before stress resumed it's unjustified place in my life. The weight returned, and the hypertension returned. I decided that living that way was just simply unacceptable.

We're preparing to leave May 1st on our second cruise, and I have none of the trepidations I had the first time about whether it was doable, or a good overall idea.

But, we aren't burning any bridges, either, because for us, this will be a temporary lifestyle, whether we do it for 1, 2, or 5 years. We're 56 years old. We're keeping the house, (and, have decided to not even rent it out unless we are going to go past a year). I think we will be at this several years this time, but if there is one thing I have learned, it's that none of us know what life has in store for us in the future.

+1

[boatman61]

For the likes of me...
Selfish, Self centred, a creature subject to whims and fancies.. I go when I can.. learnt the hard way waiting often takes a lifetime to end.
Lots of reasons folk wait.. parents, family, friends play the guilt card... "we'll miss you.. life won't be the same.."
Or... they play the Fear card.. which is a deck really.. so many fears...
And.. when you've finally got everything sorted you get slammed by the Health card...
Why is it the 'Doer's' a selfish bastard and everyone else a concerned loving person..
Wot a Load of ********...

[Training Wheels]

Wow, you guys are inspiring. I'm also 55; hoping to go cruising in the next year or 2. But, having worked all my life, and being brought up that is what you do, I'm having a hard time with actually not working. The thought of not having that regular paycheck is stressful! Hopefully, I'll get the courage to pull the trigger and just go!


Sent from my iPhone using Cruisers Sailing Forum

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by weavis

We have a saying in Ireland. You cant help the helpless.

You are in a position to fulfil your dreams, more than most people setting off this month or year with a lot less.

No worries. You will be able to read about their adventures on C.F.

I'm in sort of the same situation as Sailorboy, except I don't see us being in all that better of a situation financially two years from now, than now.
Wife and I sat down last night and ran a budget, we can afford to go, now, with almost a worst case scenario, we will still be OK.
She dislikes her job and has been ready to quit, I dislike mine and am ready to quit.
What's keeping us is youngest starts her Junior yr in High School next yr., it's a very good College Prep school and she is doing well in it. But it's getting tough, wife I think is on board with the cruising thing too. I'm not sure I can hold out another two yrs.
May just start living aboard and letting the Daughter go to a school where we can find a good one close to a Marina in Florida.

Until then, yes I'll just have to read about it on CF