In a dog-eat-dog world, we dream of a place where our daily grind is left behind and we think of nothing else, but eat, drink and be merry. For sailors, we dream of sailing into the sunset, leaving everything and not looking back.
For me, this was not an easy decision to make. I had this thing at the back of my mind that I need a solid ground to stand on, have some place permanent and live a "normal" life. Being an accountant, I need everything to balance, numbers have to be accurate and every entry posted to the right account. I could not handle the unknown and I needed to have answers to the what-ifs. On the other hand, I am good in making 5 year plans and staying focused on that. In fact, I would say my past life is easily divided into 5 year segments. I am glad of this too, because by the time I was introduced to sailing and the idea of sailing-into-the-sunset dangled in front of my nose, I was almost ready - not to take off, but to start dreaming. It was within our reach, but we still had responsibilities - my son, our home, our work. Certain events came into place, but the main thing that really made us seriously think about taking off was our health. We were under so much stress managing the business and both of us were so drained out. I still remember the constant twitch in both my cheeks which was quite annoying, but it was a sure sign of being "stressed out and demotivated". Once the decision was made, we both started being alive again. The excitement, the preparations, the practice run, all the readings and research work - it was wonderful. It was like a chance of a new life was bestowed on us. I didn't even think of my own fears and my inexperience. Maybe this is the typical Filipino attitude of "bahala na" - meaning, come what may. Gone is the accountant in me - nothing has to fit. Bahala na! We will deal with it when it comes.
So we did. First, our finances - we arranged a power of attorney for my sister to access and manage our accounts and bills. Then our medical insurance - we had to cut off from Canada's medical services plan and arranged for a private expats' medical insurance. We also had all our vaccinations done specially Hepatitis A and B, anti-tetanus, polio, etc. We went to see our doctors to get prescriptions for our firstaid kit. Next came our house. We gave away to Salvation Army as much as we can, but had to leave some behind in the house. We were able to move most of it to a couple of rooms, and allowed a caretaker to live in it using the rest of the house. Luckily our friend, a police constable, found another constable to stay there. Our neighbors love it when a police car is parked in the neighborhood. My son - we made sure he has settled into university life in Calgary for a couple of years before we departed. Our wills were also updated and stored in a secure place. Meanwhile, we prepared the boat for offshore sailing as mentioned in previous articles. My one dilemma was how to fit all the things I wanted to bring with us, into the boat - our personal items, our files, provisioning, parts and supplies, tools, more tools, more parts. Our waterline went down a couple of inches.
To those who are still dreaming, I can only say - DO IT!
One of the readers here has emailed me and told me of his dreams. I take this opportunity to post it as the first comment and hopefully, others will add on - what their dreams are, or if they've already done it, how and what they had to do to achieve their dreams. Learning from each other is important. We certainly didn't have anyone to talk to during our preparations. It would have been much easier if we had.