Plans & Schedules & Fate

"A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving" ~ Lao Tzu

"Those who fail to plan, plan to fail"

The second quote there is what I have heard from my Dad throughout my life.  I think there is merit to both.

As we get closer and closer to the start of our adventure, I hope to be able to transition more to Lau Tzu's line of thinking.  But it has been a mixture of planning, schedules, and the un-planned that has gotten us this far.

When we went to Jamaica for our honeymoon in 2006, I had never been on a sailboat, let alone to the tropics, before. There are moments in your life when time divides, when it splits to what came before and everything after it.  To me Jamaica was one of those.  It was totally un-planned but has largely determined the past four years of our lives.

Though our time in the Caribbean was transformational, the idea to actually live on a sailboat probably didn't hit until sometime in 2008, almost two years later.  We made a trip to the Newport, RI boat show and that was probably the beginning of the actual realization that we could in fact live on a boat.

Since that time, we have had a mixture of plans & schedules.  Our schedule got pushed off from last year due to the economy and real estate markets at large.  We deemed that it wouldn't be worth selling our house at the time for a variety of reasons.  So our plans and schedule changed. 

Our current schedule has us listing the house for sale within a month and to be moving south to find a boat by September.  That is, unless we find a boat here in NY before that (we have a few scheduled to be looked at in the next month), then our plans will be tossed aside and fate will have intervened.
 
There are people out there who spend so much time planning and preparing and trying to figure out the perfect conditions and set of equipment, that their boats never leave the dock. 

On the other hand, if we were to go buy a boat tomorrow and sail away with little experience it could be hazardous to our lives. 

But, yet again, there are people like Pat & Ali who bought a boat after a weekend of looking and circumnavigated the globe with a day's worth of sailing lessons.

For us, I think it will be a balancing act of these three approaches.  As of this writing, we have no intention to circumnavigate the globe.  We would however like to sail through the Bahamas and into the Caribbean, perhaps setting up shop in the US Virgin Islands for a while.  We believe that we can do that with a little more practice and "big boat" (30 ft. range) experience.

So, these are our plans, in no particular order:

• To buy a boat small enough to be in our price range, but big enough for the two of us. 
• To learn to sail said boat to the best of our ability.
• To live minimally and simply enough to make our lifestyle sustainable on less than $1000/month.
• To enjoy ourselves while we are young and try not to go back to "work" again.

 Who knows what fate will have to say about these plans...

One final thought:  I've read that the most dangerous thing you can have aboard a sailboat is a schedule.  This has to do with rushing to be to the next port despite the weather or other conditions.  I really cannot wait to not have a schedule.

How about you, have you had plans where you feel fate has intervened?  Or the converse, were fate has led to your plans?

What do you do?

I've always hated that question.  You know, when you are at a party, or out to dinner with new friends, before long the question will come up:  So, what do you do?  Or, where do you work?

I've always felt that the question is so limiting.  I suppose its only natural for people to want to try to peg you down based on the stereotypes of different professions.  But its always been an awkward question for both Trish and I.

The expected and easy answer is, "I work in marketing at a mid sized A/V company".  More appropriately I might say that I sail, kayak, and generally try to enjoy life.  The questioner would probably look at me funny and say something like, "No seriously, what do you do?".

I'm not sure where the discomfort with this question comes from.  Maybe its just that I haven't found my true calling.  Or maybe that I grew up in a family of entrepreneurs.  More likely I think it is because I have come to value life and living above material possessions and status.

This post has mostly been inspired by a book I just read entitled "The Best Life Money Can't Buy", by Andy Deering.  Andy's answer to the question is: "I Live".  Andy and his partner, Lisa, have had some wild adventures including sailing the Pacific, and living through winter in a small cabin in Alaska.  At the heart of his book is the idea that life is short and the time we spend on this planet is finite so it is best to enjoy it.  Andy's personal sense of enjoyment and my own are pretty similar I think, except I don't want to experience any winters for a while after we get out of NY.

I'm sure there are people out there who truly enjoy their jobs and get real satisfaction when they tell people what it is they do.  In my experience they have mostly been people who have a direct and positive affect on other people, i.e. social workers, special education counselors, and teachers.  Maybe that is the answer.  Maybe if your work truly benefits others you will enjoy it the most.

As we embark on our great adventure I can't help but look to the other side of it and wonder where we will come out.  Will we find enlightenment that will lead us to our "path"?

On the other hand, maybe this adventure is our path.

Shutting off our TV

Recently we have been limiting the time we allow ourselves to get stuck watching TV in the evenings.  I say get stuck because that is what it feels like.  You know the feeling...there is nothing on that interests you, but you keep flipping channels trying to find something.  You might tune into something that is mildly entertaining and watch it for a while, but really has it done anything to enrich your life?

By shutting the TV off we have become much more productive and taken big strides towards our dreams.  It is amazing how much time we used to waste just sitting there hoping to find something entertaining to watch.  So now instead of sitting on the couch we have been putting the finishing touches on our house to forward our plans to sell it this Spring so that we can move South and find a boat.

Now I'm not saying we don't watch any TV at all.  We will tune into the news a few nights a week, or watch one or two sitcoms or shows.  But we came to the realization that outside of a few shows that we really enjoy, the rest of the time in front of the TV was spent flipping or watching something that was just "passing the time".  But really, how much time can we afford to pass?  Time is the one resource that we personally can control, and it is finite.  Years from now wouldn't you rather look back and say that you worked towards your goals?  Or would you rather look back and know who won American Idol?

11 Months Later

It's always amazing to me when you look back in time at how fast it seems to have gone, while the future always seems to to be so far away.

We started this blog almost a year ago to chronicle our journey towards a new life. Unfortunately we haven't made it there yet. The biggest obstacle to overcome has been the sale of our home here in upstate NY. A year ago the real estate market was looking pretty dismal and we decided to step back and regroup before going forward.

When last we blogged, we were determining whether or not to renovate the attic into a functional second floor. Well, we decided it would be best to go forward with the work in order to add more equity. The work began in September and by November of 09 we had a fully functioning second floor. Thus far everyone who has seen it has been very impressed, and we are hoping it will be the edge that helps with the ultimate sale of the house.

The plan now is to list our house for sale on or about May 1st, 2010. That will be the 4 year anniversary of when we bought the house. As always there is a list of projects we would like to complete in order to get everything in tip top shape before the sale. If we can get near our eventual asking price, we will have enough to break free.

It's hard to believe how fast the last year has gone by, and all that we accomplished with this house. In a short few months our lives will be very different, I can't wait to look back a year from now and see what we've done.