By: Harriet Havanich

Harriet Havanich — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 21:06:15 +0000

Hi, Judy & John,
It’s probably too early to decide – 5 years is a long time and you may feel differently by then. Or your daughter may get a scholarship or change her path. If you can fit sailing into your current life, that would be a good start to finding out whether you want to even try it. Also, there’s nothing wrong with a “try it and we’ll see how it goes” attitude.
All these thoughts come from my own experience, since my husband and I left to go cruising at 45 with the idea that we’d do it for 2 years and see if we liked it. Twenty years later, we still consider ourselves cruisers, although we’re ashore right now caring for elderly parents.
At your age, we both had jobs we loved and our son was in high school. Within 5 years, he got fired by new management and I got laid off in a corporate downsizing, our son quit school and joined the marines and we sold our “weekending” boat to buy a bigger one. So, we sold our house, which was not located where new jobs would have been, stored everything we couldn’t bear to part with in his father’s basement and moved onto our bigger boat for a couple of years of cruising. After that, we never went back.
The first year we were in shock, but we’ve learned that living with less and having time to enjoy the cruising world really suits us. So, go sailing, see if you like it and reassess it all in 5 years. Meanwhile, save for your daughter’s education, just in case you want to go.
You only get one life – and only you can decide how to spend it.

Comments on: Should I quit my job and go cruising? Sherry McCampbell responds

By: Harriet Havanich