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Old 20-11-2015, 15:07   #31
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Re: Young(er) cruisers who sold everything

Hi awaywego,

It has been a really long time since we left to go cruising. I had two very hard times during the process: when I gave my dog away, and when I closed out my house in which I had raised 3 kids.

I neither sought nor received support from anyone other than "my" Jim.

There are a number of threads here on CF about making the transition. Ultimately, you give up *stuff*, and what you gain is up to you!

Someone asked "how does the cruising lifestyle benefit mankind?" IMO, it is only in small, occasionally subtle ways. Sometimes it is making or fixing something for local people. Exposure to foreign cultures reinforces how similar people are: similar problems to solve (food, shelter, education, perhaps medical care), but different solutions--one learns from this, and they, do, from you. Does this benefit mankind? It depends on what you think benefits mankind. We have been told that those of us who do go cruising are an inspiration of what is possible for those who stay home. Again , is this a benefit to mankind? Is it an antisocial act saying "my culture that nurtured me is not enough?" Arguable, IMO. Is it a relevant question for these young people who want to give their kids a very different lifestyle than today's violent schools? Heck, no. Benefitting mankind is a huge job, and there is little agreement about it, even among philosophers.

Be aware, awaywego, there will be people who will say you shouldn't do it. Ignore that static. There really is no way a land based person (whether they are your family or friends) can really empathize. They tend to see only fears. What you gain is simplification, to basics, weather, sea, food, and homeschooling, plus enrichment in the form of travel and exposure to different *stuff*, including people with very little in the way of material possessions who are joyful. Always barring unforeseen circumstances you are masters of your fate. It is good.

Ann

PS There's a CF'er called robert hamic who has posted a link to his blog. They have left recently, with kids, and also skipgundlach. I have not read the blogs, so I just put it out there, just 2 names I recall, no evaluation.
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Old 20-11-2015, 15:37   #32
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Re: Young(er) cruisers who sold everything

I only regret that I didn't do it at a younger age. I'm getting ready to sell all and buy the boat in the coming year.
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Old 20-11-2015, 18:50   #33
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Re: Young(er) cruisers who sold everything

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Originally Posted by awaywego View Post
I'm looking for some empathy. If you are a cruising couple (possibly with young kids) who have sold your home, cars, possessions, etc. as part of your cruising plan, please respond to this thread. We have arrived at this phase of our plan and it's making me very nervous to be eliminating all of this from my life. It's scary when all you've ever known is to have a "home" and a job and a typical routine. We're committed, and it is definitely happening, but I'm just looking for someone who's been there already and dealt with these same emotions I'm experiencing.
We went through this a year ago and have no regrets. Been cruising around SE Asia the whole time. We sold two properties, all our furniture, 2 cars and our wine collection. Simplifying our lives was one of the most liberating and satisfying parts of this grand adventure. We want to look back on life and not have regrets about the things we should have done. Just do it!!
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Old 20-11-2015, 18:53   #34
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Re: Young(er) cruisers who sold everything

You aren't alone - not by a long shot. We closed last week on our new boat, and will fly down to move aboard about January 15th, so we are heavy duty into our downsizing..

To complicate the matter, we are finishing a master bedroom addition onto the house that must be complete prior to renting the house out!

And we have 3 kids as well. (8, 5, and 1)

The change is huge. We would be nuts not to be nervous, but we are also thrilled to finally be taking hold of the dream.
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Old 20-11-2015, 19:27   #35
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Re: Young(er) cruisers who sold everything

Did you really come to the looney bin and ask the residents if hearing voices is normal?

The great news is that you don't really have to leave everything behind. Like us you can balance work and cruising for as long as you need so that you end up financially stable later in life (if you are not there yet). So do not let that be a factor in your decision on leaving.

I thought we were young (and we are discovering this is true given all the 60 y.o. friends we have been adopted by) when we set out. I just turned 45 and my wife is older. What can I say? I dig hot older women.

I will say one thing - and when I say this I mean no offense to our elders here on this forum or at large - sometimes being the youngish couple can get lonely. We try and seek out the younger cruisers but anyone under 55-ish is in a distinct minority.

Sometimes older cruisers can get downright cranky and high-horse moral. Our past does not have A LOT in common with our elder generation, we often have more energy (not as much as THOSE 20/30 somethings though), and we have not learned all the life lessons that are there to be learned yet. Sometimes we feel judged. Rightly so in many cases but "oh well" no one is perfect.

With that said, you will find you have a lot of loves in common NOW. The love of sailing, the love of freedom, the escape from the hamster wheel.

We are not as financially stable as our older friends with dual guaranteed pensions and dual social security income. We have to watch a lot of our friends leave and go sailing while we get stuck working professional jobs, like we are doing now. You MUST do your time now or do it later. I'm saying you CAN have you cake and eat it too but you should expect to have to temper yourself if you want to make it work over the long haul.

Now, we sold the new 3500 square foot house in the DC suburbs. Sold the motorcycles, the BMW's, the trucks, the fancy stereo equipment, etc.

You know the hardest part of that whole thing? People that we had spent every weekend with for the last 7 years stopped talking to us and dropped us as friends like we were Pattaya hookers with an adams apple. We were non-existent. From what we could tell they were deeply offended that we would give up this suburban lifestyles everyone had seen as the epitome of a good life. We have no other explanation.

Anyhow, you will be fine.

Welcome to the looney bin, please take number and the doctor will be right with you.
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Old 20-11-2015, 19:27   #36
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Re: Young(er) cruisers who sold everything

We've been slowly transitioning to full-time cruisers over the past two years. Last year we moved our boat to the southern Great Lakes, and this past June we said goodbye to our land home. It was difficult to get rid of most of our land possessions ... not b/c they were valuable or cherished. No, it was just physically hard to give, sell, donate and toss all our junk. And believe me, we didn't have that much compared to most.

We did keep some stuff, including some unique keep-sakes (paintings, antiques), bikes, and enough basic kitchen ware to set up a simple house should we need to. We stored this in a storage trailer, which is located on a friend's farm (for free).

It is/was harder letting go of careers and friends. But perhaps most interesting is the letting go of security, both financial and, for lack a better term, social. By stepping off the treadmill at relatively early ages (48/52) well before we are financially secure, we'd chosen a life that is less certain. This is both exciting, and a bit scary. But so far (and it is very early yet), we have no regrets.
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Old 20-11-2015, 19:40   #37
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Re: Young(er) cruisers who sold everything

Heya,
I'm 30 now. I didn't sell my stuff-I gave it all to my ex girlfriend when we broke up!
The bigger risk for you is not going if you have the itch. You'll spend the next few years wondering what life would be like if you had, and every day you don't go you'll probably spend some minutes wishing you had.
Also, for young people, there's not much risk. You're not the 55 year old engineer or mid level manager who just got laid off and can't find another job because everyone is wary about ROI on a senior hire. You're young, the economy is booming, the last jobs report was fantastic, etc. If you head out and don't like it, you CAN come back!
I got back from a six month cruise, and had a well paid job within a month of getting back. It helps to have already been a consultant with a really solid network for getting future work. The only downside is that the 80 hour work weeks make me wish I was still out there. Still, I'll work six months and then have the summer cruising New England before selling the boat and going back to full time work.


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Old 20-11-2015, 19:43   #38
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Re: Young(er) cruisers who sold everything

Also, Hi Bo! We met in Marathon and shared the early morning tennis court workouts and a sail with Adrienne to the sombrero dive site. It's been fun seeing your sailing posts pop up on Facebook-as well as that fun trip to Qatar


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Old 20-11-2015, 19:58   #39
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Re: Young(er) cruisers who sold everything

Really appreciate everyone's responses and some of you really took the time to share a lot! Thank you. The common theme from the responses seems to be that there are always insecurities and emotions that come with leaving your current life behind. We're committed to leaving, but it is comforting knowing that we're not alone in feeling the way we have occasionally.

A little more about us....we are both in public education and so this will be our last school year for a while. My wife and I are both 34 and our daughters will be 4 and 3 when the summer and our departure date arrives. We will actually still have a townhouse here in Beaufort, SC when we leave so I guess we're not technically selling EVERYTHING. The townhouse has a history of responsible renters and is completely paid off, so this helps to provide a little security blanket in the way of income each month and a place to live if the cruising life just doesn't work out for us.

But we will be leaving our careers, selling the house that we built and brought two babies home to, and leaving friends and family behind. Despite these big changes, I am still REALLY looking forward to this change. We cringe every single day that we put our girls into day care and head off to work. Cruising will allow us to spend these early years with our daughters and that, I think, will be the biggest benefit of them all.
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Old 20-11-2015, 20:08   #40
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Re: Young(er) cruisers who sold everything

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Originally Posted by awaywego View Post
A little more about us....we are both in public education and so this will be our last school year for a while. My wife and I are both 34 and our daughters will be 4 and 3 when the summer and our departure date arrives.
You will have NO problem finding work.

1) Go to large anchorage - say Georgetown.
2) Hang out shingle saying "professional teachers have daycare and schooling."
3) watch kids show up for school in consideration for a small daily donation

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Old 20-11-2015, 21:30   #41
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Re: Young(er) cruisers who sold everything

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You will have NO problem finding work.

1) Go to large anchorage - say Georgetown.
2) Hang out shingle saying "professional teachers have daycare and schooling."
3) watch kids show up for school in consideration for a small daily donation

Surely you jest!

I think they want to not dilute the experience, but who knows what the future holds. The people we knew best who home schooled were both professional people, and extremely structured. Play happened afternoons, school in the morning. Their kids were 8 and 12 during their cruise. They had to cut short their cruise due to a family tragedy, but that's another story, and they had been having a super time.

Ann
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Old 21-11-2015, 02:46   #42
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Re: Young(er) cruisers who sold everything

A few years ago, while we were visiting a harbor on Maryland's eastern shore, my wife, Nancie, was talking to a couple working on their boat in the yard. They asked her, "So, how difficult was it to sell everything and move aboard your boat?" Nancie pondered this, wondering why she had never thought of the move as difficult and then the answer came to her, "It was easy, we never had anything!"

I remember packing a 12 cubic foot box with all our possessions that were not suitable for living aboard. The box sold at a consignment auction for $40 in 1971.

We don't own anything that's not on our boat and it's an easy start when you are young. There's a great freedom in non-ownership!
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Old 22-11-2015, 23:51   #43
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Re: Young(er) cruisers who sold everything

with terrorist on land killing many I think being on a sailboat in the exumas is safer
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Old 23-11-2015, 00:21   #44
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Re: Young(er) cruisers who sold everything

...... have to disagaree. There is no such thing thing as permature in this particular world. We are not nuturing a baby.
My very first experience of sailing, actual not via an arm chair, was climbing into my very boat, all 32ft of it, in Cape Town, and sailing to South America. Look at the You Tube series of La Vagabonde of a young Aussie guy that did similar in the Med and then met his girlfriend and are now in the Caribbean. Yeah, some people need the comfort of starting slowly and 'learning the ropes' that way but for anyone to start mandating that you have to do it this way is baloney. Some of us just jump in the deep end and swim.
It is dependent on you, your character / personality type etc. It fits some people but does not apply globally.
I met my wife and her first passage was from Durban to Madagascar on a cat (she had been on a monohull trial with me for a few hours and hated it). There are no rules and that should be heeded. Yeah, some people shall leap out of their fire side chairs, totally outraged at this statement - most likely 'cos they have not done this themselves but the reality is that many of us really do this. If your personality is just do, then DO IT!!
Life is too short to sit around procrastinating and even worse is to listen to others that say 'you must do it this because........' when they really mean that they did not just to pile in and do it themselves. I accept that many people have to learn to walk first but do not try and make this a 'rule' and force it upon others.
Right now, I am in Europe with my family and getting my kids settled for 'varsity. I cannot simply sit on my backside - whilst here I have started a little business - we have bought a small office block and am now converting it into a dozen 2 bedroomed flats. I know how much money I shall make and it is eye watering. I am doing this without using any of my own (boat) money. What I am saying is that some people are driven differently with different motivation.
Mine is about grabbing opportunity and improving my life, those around me and loving sailing.



Quote:
Originally Posted by Cheechako View Post
The hardest part for me when I was young was the financial uncertainty. If tht is not an issue for you... it's a no brainer.
However, what's your sailing history???
Have you been out for a few weeks at a time?
Lived aboard?
Chartered?
How about your wife's sailing or adventure history?


If all these are near zero... you are way premature. You need to know that you will like cruising, the hardships as well as the good, and be comfortable at sea. If you aren't very confident in this, it may be a big mistake. ARE YOU?
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Old 23-11-2015, 03:24   #45
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Re: Young(er) cruisers who sold everything

Brilliant - couldn't agree more! All strength to you and yours.

Quote:
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A few years ago, while we were visiting a harbor on Maryland's eastern shore, my wife, Nancie, was talking to a couple working on their boat in the yard. They asked her, "So, how difficult was it to sell everything and move aboard your boat?" Nancie pondered this, wondering why she had never thought of the move as difficult and then the answer came to her, "It was easy, we never had anything!"

I remember packing a 12 cubic foot box with all our possessions that were not suitable for living aboard. The box sold at a consignment auction for $40 in 1971.

We don't own anything that's not on our boat and it's an easy start when you are young. There's a great freedom in non-ownership!
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