In 2006, we were living in Fort Lewis, Washington and Lisa’s mother had come for a visit. While she was in town we decided to take a whale watching tour with P.S. Express around the San Juan Islands up to Friday harbor. It was there we met a young female marine biologist who was guiding the whale watching tour. During the trip she was telling Lisa and I about how her and her husband were sailing around the world on their 40’ wooden sailboat. They were in port for the winter to refit and take a few jobs to save money for the next leg of their trip. She kept me enthralled with her stories of sailing around the world and traveling when and where they wanted.
After the whale watching tour I started to look into sail boats and reading cruising magazines. I was eagerly trying to talk Lisa into purchasing a 26’ MacGregor sail boat so we could purchase it outright and start sailing around the world. Fortunately for Lisa, I finally saw one in person during a sailboat show in Seattle, Washington. I finally ceded her position that maybe, possibly 26’ would not be quite large enough to move us comfortably around the world for any amount of time.
Some of the common questions we get when telling people about our retirement plans are:
Where will you guys go? The short answer is “Everywhere”. Since our whale watching trip we have been noting every interesting place we hear about. Whether it is from a web page article or something we happen to see while watching television. I have been keeping a library of places on Google earth. I think I have talked Lisa into seeing Polar Bears and Penguins in their natural habitat.
How long will you sail? However long it takes. We’re semi-set on around 10 years. I had to start Lisa out with something a little less drastic. Originally it was only 5 years for our circumnavigation. I’ve steadily worked her up to 10 years with the excuse of not wanting to be rushed when we get somewhere gorgeous. Stay tuned to see how long I actually talk Lisa into sailing.
How will you pay for that type of lifestyle? Fortunately I was smart enough to marry a smart woman. She has had me saving for retirement since I have been in the military. We have saved and have been frugal with our spending. We have both always worked and sometimes worked a couple jobs at once. We are going to wait until my retirement from the military to start our adventure. We will be a little older than some when we start our sailing trip, but we are willing to wait and save for the boat we know we’ll be comfortable on for our long journey. We have had lean times but hopefully it will pay off when Unwritten Timeline finally splashes into the water.
After the whale watching tour I started to look into sail boats and reading cruising magazines. I was eagerly trying to talk Lisa into purchasing a 26’ MacGregor sail boat so we could purchase it outright and start sailing around the world. Fortunately for Lisa, I finally saw one in person during a sailboat show in Seattle, Washington. I finally ceded her position that maybe, possibly 26’ would not be quite large enough to move us comfortably around the world for any amount of time.
Some of the common questions we get when telling people about our retirement plans are:
Where will you guys go? The short answer is “Everywhere”. Since our whale watching trip we have been noting every interesting place we hear about. Whether it is from a web page article or something we happen to see while watching television. I have been keeping a library of places on Google earth. I think I have talked Lisa into seeing Polar Bears and Penguins in their natural habitat.
How long will you sail? However long it takes. We’re semi-set on around 10 years. I had to start Lisa out with something a little less drastic. Originally it was only 5 years for our circumnavigation. I’ve steadily worked her up to 10 years with the excuse of not wanting to be rushed when we get somewhere gorgeous. Stay tuned to see how long I actually talk Lisa into sailing.
How will you pay for that type of lifestyle? Fortunately I was smart enough to marry a smart woman. She has had me saving for retirement since I have been in the military. We have saved and have been frugal with our spending. We have both always worked and sometimes worked a couple jobs at once. We are going to wait until my retirement from the military to start our adventure. We will be a little older than some when we start our sailing trip, but we are willing to wait and save for the boat we know we’ll be comfortable on for our long journey. We have had lean times but hopefully it will pay off when Unwritten Timeline finally splashes into the water.