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To boost my two blogs (this one and one in my language – Afrikaans), and get me into the right mental space for writing, I have made a daily commitment to write a thousand words. So far, so good, with only one day missed since I started on this project a week ago.
This coincides with a radical change of dreams on my side, one that’s so crazy that it rolls every previous completely bonkers goal into a ball and hits it for a six (home run, for those unfamiliar with the game of cricket!) over the stands and into the parking lot.
Yes, you need to sit down. And I hope you took your meds this morning.
This hooligan wants to buy a boat, and spend the rest of her life traversing oceans, blogging, and vlogging all about it! Being a “gran-influencer” while traveling the world sounds like a perfect way to fritter away a perfectly good retirement.
The boat has been picked, most of the sums have been made (a princely sum, to be completely frank), and now it’s all about getting the requisite paperwork in place. And that, Gentle Reader, is part of the rub.
I need to get some “seafaring experience” under my belt. That involves a given number of hours on a boat under the supervision of a documented sea captain, one notch above my current experience level (which is zero, at this point!). The question is whether all the hours have to be supervised, or whether I can do them by myself. Either way, I would have to keep a detailed log of my experience. No one can answer that question for me. Yet. I keep on asking it.
Where do I see myself in the next five years?
Being on a boat – especially one retrofitted with an electric engine – would give me a measure of freedom and access to places that the average traveler can’t reach. From hunting trolls and Vikings in Norway to discussing dietary choices with cannibals in the South Pacific, life will just be… easier… on a boat. It’s also a quiet life, perfect for reflection.
I’ll most likely support that lifestyle by writing and publishing books and blog posts, and by recording vlogs and podcasts. That also involves me learning a mix of new skills, and fast!
I seem flippant about this goal, because – honestly – it scares me to death! Everything about it – from acquiring a skipper’s license to actually being able to afford to buy and refit a good boat – scares me shitless. And that’s just on Mondays.
The money involved is mere pocket change for an oil sheik: €26,500 for the boat and another €50,000 to refit her with an electric engine (and all the peripherals). However, it’s every cent I possess and some I would need to scrounge up! And if anything goes wrong, it would be a disaster that I won’t ever be able to recover from.
And it’s that uncertainty that keeps me up at night. All the “what ifs.”
In the meantime, I’m working to do what I can in preparation for this giant leap into the unknown:
- Decluttering my possessions to the bare minimum that I would need to survive in a space the size of an average shipping container.
- Fixing up my apartment for sale.
- Editing novels for publication, and outlining new projects.
- Setting up and reviving blogs and vlogs and finding out how to start a podcast that people would want to listen to.
- Planning all the courses that I would need to take to qualify for a skipper’s license, above and beyond the actual category exams.
- Finding ways to earn extra cash to support this crazy dream and its ramifications.
Some people say you should not share your goals with the world until it’s done. It’s because there’s nothing “polite society” enjoys more than to tear dreamers apart. I disagree. If I put my dreams and goals “out there,” I would attract support to make them happen. After all, if nobody knows I need help, how would they know to offer it to me? And I’m not only talking money and other resources, here. Encouragement is equally valuable. Ideas, too.
I can learn from the negative ones, too. And from the mistakes of others who have attempted the same crazy feats I am contemplating. That’s where blogs and vlogs come in. I shall be reading and watching many, many onboard experiences, whether on sailing vessels or power boats.
The key to not becoming discouraged, I think, is not comparing my messy “behind-the-scenes” life to others’ “highlight reels.” After all, that’s what YouTube videos and Instagram reels are – the highlights from a week’s worth of everyday life condensed into ten minutes or less.
And one day in the not-too-distant future, I shall publish my highlights, too!
Postscript
I am not ungrateful for what I have. On the contrary, I count my many blessings daily. But I do feel extremely trapped in my current work situation: bored and unappreciated. That is why I am constantly considering ways to escape. Buying and refitting a small trawler-style boat with an electric engine would be one of the ways to do just that. The main benefit of that electric engine is that I won’t have to stress about running out of fuel in the middle of nowhere. And I think living life aboard such a vessel would make a fantastic series of stories for blogs and vlogs, and even provide some nice pictures for Instagram.
What also makes this a unique idea, is that most cruisers/yachters are young couples, not single middle-aged women and their cats. So I would be able to provide a completely different perspective, I hope, from the usual.
Lastly, being South African, most “civilized” countries have lots of sticky red tape for me to negotiate before I can visit. Fortunately, the countries that I can and want to visit by boat, do not require me to have a visa – or only an e-visa at most. And that would also make a difference in the stories that I will be able to tell… A massive difference.
