Why Do We Cruise?
Well… There’s really no one answer to that question. I suppose it starts here:
Community
We love the idea of getting away, but that shouldn’t be confused with being alone. We enjoy being part of a community that shares similar interests… and this one is certainly well established (although admittedly, it can be a rough one to break into to). Plus there’s a bit of a romantic element at play here… Horatio Hornblower, Jack Aubrey, Travis McGee, Dirk Pitt… and we like that too.
Self-Reliance
It is very important to us that we act responsibly and be the smallest strain on our environment we can manage. On Garuda, we use solar energy for power, desalinate ocean water for drinking, and travel powered by wind.
Food/Diet
We differ a little on this one but we’re both primarily vegetarian (we do occasionally eat some fish). Our shared goal is to reduce or eliminate the consumption of processed foods. Cruising gives us access to fresh fruits and vegetables while allowing us to support local growers and markets… all while allowing us to harvest what we need from the sea.
Activities
We live an active lifestyle and enjoy many outdoor activities: paddle boarding, surfing, swimming and scuba diving (Herb is a PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor) – so living on the ocean fits our leisure interests.
Intellectual Pursuits
We’re seeking a lifestyle that lets us pursue our intellectual interests; writing, filming, playing music, listening to podcasts, reading books, and continuing to learn things as we experience the world on our own terms.
The rest is a little more personal…
For Herb:
I was fortunate enough to spend my youth chasing dreams – adventuring in my own way in foreign places shared with interesting people. In undergrad I majored in Liberal Arts (Sociology/Anthropology), traveling and studying in Europe, East Africa, and Central America. Then I got married, had a family, and life went in a different direction. Adulting trumped adventuring, and colorful dreams turned to fading memories.
Skip ahead thirty years and all those little compromises led me far from… me. Things were okay; just not what I had hoped they’d be. There were highs and lows, goods and bads, and many things to be proud of; still I was far from where I longed to be. In the gaps between competing demands I’d engineer moments of escape to pursue my own interests – I’m an instrument rated, single engine pilot; an avid scuba diver with hundreds of dives; and even learned alpine mountaineering and avalanche rescue out of Danali base camp. I have memories, scars and a lot of ink… but none of them matched my daily life. And more and more I found myself struggling to keep the act up.
I was lost. And when I looked for myself within, I couldn’t seem to find me. Instead I began reliving a half century of mistakes and regrets, one-by-one. Then starting over from the beginning again. I hadn’t slept in months, I was getting physically sick from all the conflict, and my mind just couldn’t deal with all of it. It was all just too much… so with Heather’s help, I let it all go.
I ended up walking away from it all, resolving to never again make someone else’s dreams my priority or to suppress the parts of me that some might dislike or find unattractive just to be accepted or acceptable. We’ve gotten rid of most everything we used to own – all the stuff I thought I needed to feel happy or successful. We don’t make any decisions or take any actions based on money, and we’re working to steer clear of toxic people and meaningless conflict. In short, it we started doing our own thing to live more purposefully.
Along the way we started traveling abroad again – hiking trails, climbing mountains, learning to surf – and slowly, the air cleared.
Then we bought an old sailboat…
I don’t know what’s next – that’s kind of the idea. I’m figuring it out as I go along. Garuda is part challenge, part partner. She’s got her own personality and presents me with endless puzzles. If you’ve ever owned a boat, you know what I mean. If you haven’t, think of her as a forty-year-old off grid tiny home in the most hostile environment on earth. Still, we’re in this together.
Lastly… I’m just going to say it: It’s great to be the Captain of my own vessel. James Kirk, Han Solo, Jack Sparrow… too much? Ok, well metaphors aside, our ship goes where we want, when we want, and with the crew of our choice. And that’s pretty sweet.
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For Heather:
For as long as I can remember, I have been infatuated with the ocean; it’s vastness, full of possibility and mystery. My reason for choosing to live a sailing life goes like this: I was working on a disaster recovery project in the U.S. Virgin Islands (my home was in Texas), and while the U.S.V.I. is a beautiful location to be assigned, we were only permitted 1 day off each week (let me just say how uncool that is). Obviously, I spent most of those “off days” at the beach, which commonly had sailboats nearby. One day I remember sitting on the white sand beach of St. John, watching this particular sailboat sit at anchor, and my imagination took over. I sat dreaming about what it might be like to live on a sailboat, the freedom, the exploration, the different lifestyle.
At the time, my life was generally OK; but I’d had this “knowing” or intuition that had been nagging me for a very long time. I could feel that I was living a life incongruent to my true self. I wanted freedom and adventure, exploration and nature. I wanted to wake up in the morning with a sense of excitement and wonder for what the day would bring, vs. the dread of knowing I’d be sitting at a desk in a dimly lit office space for the next 8 hours. Usually, I could quiet the nagging monster by taking a trip somewhere – Hawaii, Honduras, Iceland, Italy – all experiences I still deeply cherish – however, inevitably I would return to a sense of unease…. Until that one day on the beach in St. John, when I allowed myself to dream. Strangely, when I spoke to Herb later that day, he was much more receptive to the idea than I’d expected. It was destiny, I guess, that we were both ready for this new life right around the same time.
What About the Vlogging?
The YouTube videos were only somewhat intentional (we were inspired by other YouTubers after all), but we mostly saw them as a way to keep our family and friends up to date. Truth be told, we found ourselves having a lot of the same conversations with folks (most of whom thought the whole idea was crazy and surely wouldn’t last). “How’s the boat?” “Are you actually living on it?” “How awful is it?” What are you working on now?” “Send me some pictures.” Shooting a video update to answer everyone at once just seemed like the natural thing to do. But it’s also a bit… scary.
Living a public life (even sharing a little corner of it) inherently gives others licenses to comment on it. Voluntarily creating a forum for it?? Well, that feels a bit… crazy. Still, here we are.
So Why Then?
Because we don’t think we’re alone in searching for an alternative.
Because some inspiration (even just a little) is more positive than the voices that limit us.
And because others did it for us (frankly, we may not have done this without them).
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