Plan? No Plan? A plan written on beach sand?

[conachair]

Originally Posted by Pelagic

The bottom line which I think we all agree on (except bullish Kenomac[emoji6] ) is that every person has the right to decide what's good enough for them.

Knowing when good enough is plenty good enough means you're plenty good enough

Imho, each to their own.

[Mr B]

My plan is the destination for that day,
How I get there, well thats another story,
3 hour 300 kay trip can take me 7 hours and 700 kays,
I do like the scenic tour, hahahaha

[weavis]

I Know Mike O and Pelagic to be fine men peops... and now I add several more.

What I take from this thread is that it's fine to follow a plan... but allow latitude for events, whims, differentials to interfere without thinking life is ruined... When I lived in the USA, I saw a lot of my 'merican friends come back from 6 weeks in Europe and state they have "done" Europe.

Following a strict schedule, " If its Tuesday it must be Belgium". that is 'doing' Europe, but ..................

An ex Army friend of mine sold his company in 2012 for a lot of money. Kids grown, just him and his lovely wife. They decided to go to France for a holiday and spent a month cruising the French canals. On the return, they bought a narrow boat for the English waterways. I visited them in February 2019 where they were moored near Oxford in the UK. He looked years younger and fitter. We took a day trip through some fantastic scenery, and also did a few locks. His plan was to do the entire UK network of canals .... twice and then return to one particular area which they really liked... sometime.

3mph limit.. proceed as desired, stop as desired for up to two weeks and then carry on. He had his plan, just the execution of it had no time limit or burden on them. I could feel the stress of my life peeling off me in a matter of hours... it got to lunchtime and his wife asked me what food I felt like...I left it to them and soon we moored off a branch to the main canal and walked to an old fashioned pub... We spent a couple of hours there and then wandered back to the boat, moved on for a while, then stopped again and we all had a nap.

A little later as it got dark, we moored up and went for dinner somewhere, and I booked a room for the night... they insisted I stay with them but the place was so intriguing I resisted their kind offer. The next morning, I took an UBER to where my car was parked and then came back to the boat and we all piled in and went to Bicester where we had memories...

He said that this life they lived was so amazing, and noted that he never had time to even consider it when working.

His plan was to enjoy it as long as they could.

Now that is a plan.

[Pelagic]

Sounds absolutely delightful Weavis

I'd love to try the canal thing one day.

A gentle journey thru time of an interesting gastronomic region
In the company of a Connoisseur.

Unfortunately, when cruising oceans you have weather variables and safe anchorages to plan for?

The upside is you don't have all those cows staring in thru the portholes [emoji4]

[weavis]

Originally Posted by Pelagic

Sounds absolutely delightful Weavis

I'd love to try the canal thing one day.

A gentle journey thru time of an interesting gastronomic region
In the company of a Connoisseur.

Unfortunately, when cruising oceans you have weather variables and safe anchorages to plan for?

The upside is you don't have all those cows staring in thru the portholes [emoji4]

Them darned locks will keep you fit despite all the best efforts to just eat the food...

You do have weather variables on a canal. Sometimes in England, the sun shines!

[Pelagic]

Does anyone remember
Sod's Law of the Sea?
Hilarious!
http://www.asiaatsea.com/sods-law-of...spedding-1977/

[daletournier]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

I find the work hard-play hard model works best for me, so that’s what I do and what I plan for. I have a job which I find very rewarding in many ways, which didn’t just drop in my lap by accident, I needed to work towards it.... without a beer in hand.

There’s no way I could just sit around and stare out at the same scenery day after day... I’d go nuts.

Personally Ken I believe work some of the year and then cruise is probably the best balance as long as you enjoy the job. Employment provides more than just money at times and the contrast between the two lives can add pleasure to life.
I don't work but have considered trying that balance.... pity I'm unemployable [emoji3]

[conachair]

How free will might not be all it's cracked up to be >>

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00050p8

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by weavis

...3mph limit.. proceed as desired, stop as desired for up to two weeks and then carry on. He had his plan, just the execution of it had no time limit or burden on them. I could feel the stress of my life peeling off me in a matter of hours... it got to lunchtime and his wife asked me what food I felt like...I left it to them and soon we moored off a branch to the main canal and walked to an old fashioned pub... We spent a couple of hours there and then wandered back to the boat, moved on for a while, then stopped again and we all had a nap.
...

Sounds perfect to me Weavis. Why go fast, when you can go slow .

[Jdege]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

Sounds perfect to me Weavis. Why go fast, when you can go slow .

I've always liked Sailing Uma's shirts:

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by Jdege

I've always liked Sailing Uma's shirts:…

I like

Another one I use to describe our (my spouse and I) approach:

“We have no where in particular to go, and all the time in the world to get there.”

But I know my approach is not everyone’s. I have good friends, much like Ken here, who would “go nuts” if they anchored for two months in one remote location. To me, it was perfect. To them, it would be like suffering slow water torture (drip, drip, drip).

[robert sailor]

What a great drift and some wonderful writing. I know one thing and I repeat it to my wife...if I drop dead tomorrow just remember I’ve been fortunate to do pretty much everything I really wanted to do. I’ve had a great family and a beautiful and kind second wife. It’s all I ever hoped for and it’s been a life filled with adventure. I’m a lucky boy and it sounds like there are a number of lucky boys on this forum. If my luck holds out I’ll continue to have fun for many years.

[Pelagic]

Originally Posted by robert sailor

.....sounds like there are a number of lucky boys on this forum. If my luck holds out I’ll continue to have fun for many years.

Its what I love about the forum... Generally upbeat and positive people. doing or "planing" to do what they enjoy on the water.

One caution for us though
If you keep patting yourself on the back, their is a tendency to walk around in circles!
[emoji4]

[Dave_S]

An interesting thread, I haven't read it all yet but I will tonight.

I have spent my working life planning, not just my time but other peoples time down to the last minute allocating people and there skills to individual tasks in the finest detail. Then adapting to changes and replanning and figuring ways to minimise production times.

I am not naturally a detailed planner and I hope I can leave it all behind.

I hope my current plan is my last plan, In 12 months I would like to be on my boat with my wife somewhere north from here with an idea that it might be nice to end up in the Kimberly one day and maybe across to French Polynesia another day but if I see something shinny on the way I might go there instead.

[Mike OReilly]

Indeed Robert, I too feel very lucky for the life I’ve lived so far. Good friends, a loving family, and a spouse and partner who, after 31 years, still enjoys life with me. None of this was planned .

But speaking of planning, a sketch of our coming season is starting to take shape. Tomorrow I’ll begin some research on final destinations, but it will likely involve relatively short distances, with lots of time to get there.