When I began to feel overwhelmed by my job, I made a decision that would change the course of my life. I started saving money with the goal of moving to a sailboat and escaping the daily grind. My husband and I spent 18 months sailing from England to places like Scotland and France. The journey was not easy, but it taught me about my own resilience and helped me grow in ways I never expected.
In 2020, my perspective on my job as an auditor began to shift. The pandemic forced me to work from home, spending long hours on video calls and glued to my computer. Work became more stressful than ever, and I felt a deep sense of purposelessness. I also started experiencing chronic migraines, extreme mood swings, and even hair loss. I knew something had to change.
My husband and I discussed what we wanted our lives to look like once the world returned to normal. While he didn’t share all of my feelings, his job offered some flexibility, and he had always dreamed of traveling for an extended period. We both had basic sailing qualifications from a few years earlier, and I came up with an idea: What if I quit my job, we bought a boat, and we left the UK behind to sail into the sunset?
We began saving money to make this dream a reality.
The idea excited me, but I knew it wasn’t something we could jump into immediately. We needed time and financial stability. I continued working, but this new goal gave me a sense of purpose that helped me push through the next few years. In 2022, we found the boat that would become our home, but it took another nine months to buy it and prepare for the trip. Our boat was older, so we had to update its 20-year-old electrical system. Finally, in spring 2023, we were ready. I quit my job, moved aboard, and set sail.
Life at sea wasn’t as perfect as I had imagined.
I had naively thought that leaving my job would bring relief, but dealing with such a big change all at once was challenging. I hadn’t taken time to recover from burnout; I had just pushed through. Now that we were on the boat, the goal I had been working toward suddenly disappeared. I felt rudderless again and started clinging to an ambitious schedule to keep myself motivated.
The first summer living aboard was tough. Our boat had everything we needed—a bedroom, living area, small galley, and bathroom—but it felt cramped. We hadn’t planned our route well, and we ended up sailing for four days from the south of England to Scotland within just a week of moving aboard. Although we had sailed together before, this was our first time traveling overnight. We couldn’t stop when it got dark—we had to stay awake and watch the sails. We slept in two-hour shifts, swapping out every time.
When we reached our first port in Scotland, we were exhausted but incredibly proud of what we had accomplished.
Eventually, I learned to slow down and enjoy the journey.
We sailed around the Scottish islands during the summer, having a great time but running on fumes. After four months, it became clear that this wasn’t sustainable long-term. We needed to scale back our plans and move at our own pace. I realized that instead of embracing this new lifestyle, I had carried my old corporate mindset with me. I had to let go of my plans and mindset to truly change.
Over the next 18 months, we took our time and slowly made our way from Scotland to Antigua. We spent six months in France, Spain, and Portugal, rather than just a few weeks as originally planned. My husband worked remotely part-time, so we’d spend a few days sailing, then a few days in one place working and catching up.
I learned to take my time and be patient as we balanced working remotely, sailing, exploring new spots, and caring for our 20-year-old sailboat. Slowly, I started to think less about our destinations and more about the journey itself.
Now, my time at sea has come to an end—thanks to my husband starting a job in New York—but my sailing mentality has helped me adapt to my new life. After all, moving internationally is stressful, but it’s much easier to fly than to sail across oceans.
The future is uncertain, but I’ve gained enough confidence in myself to go with the flow and work through problems as they arise. And though I might have reached the destination first this time, my journey is just beginning.
