During my East Coast trip I spent almost a month in Sydney. I had a bad flu back then and couldn't really go partying with my friends if I wanted to get any better, so I ended up just wandering around the city by myself most of the days. I did a lot of thinking, especially about my future while sitting in cafes and watching people outside rushing to work, home, gym or meeting friends. What path to choose and how? What did I actually wanted from my life?
Those are some big questions. I had (still have) a very good profession to rely on, but I never felt like nursing was something I was supposed to do for the rest of my life. It was a very good choice to start with and I'll write all about my profession and why I'm happy to be a nurse in another post, but I knew my place was somewhere else. After I started traveling I was completely hooked. For me traveling wasn't just a relaxing holiday to charge the batteries I had spent working hard most of the year. I saw traveling as an eye opening opportunity to learn about different places, cultures, religions, foods, history and nature. I've done only one holiday in my life - it was a week long trip to Crete, where we stayed in the same little town, ate in restaurants every day and spent our mornings just laying on the beach in front of our hotel. I felt like I wasted a week. There would have been so much to see, such a rich ancient history. There's nothing bad having a holiday and I understand my hard working friends and family who just want to relax when they're having time off work. But I wanted to travel the world, see everything, talk with everyone, learn all about history and nature and taste all different kinds of foods. I wanted adventures with a not too heavy backpack on my back, easy to carry wherever I wanted to wander next. We started carefully in most famous tourist places in Europe with my friend and now after all those years and all the trips I've done I could say I am a true backpacker. I don't see a reason to panic if accomodation doesn't have electricity or if all of sudden flights are cancelled. Everything always works out somehow. After I realised traveling is my true passion, it was time to make a plan. How could I become a full time traveller?
I have been following an Australian couple Elayna and Riley sailing the world for three years now. I decided before I started my Australia trip that I'd like to learn how to sail too. And then it hit me, like the strong espresso I was enjoying in a cafe in Sydney on a sunny afternoon last July - maybe I could travel the world on a sailboat too! At first I thought I would just learn how to sail and get on board sailboats as part of the crew. But the thing about sailing is that once you get into it, it completely sucks you in and becomes your whole life. I decided that instead of ever pursuing to have a house, I wanted my own boat. A moving home. I got a job on sailboats and that's where I met my dear Josh. He was like the missing piece of the puzzle. I was a dreamer with my feet on the ground, he was the doer with his head high in the clouds. My perfect adventure buddy!
My dream became our dream and we have made a plan - in three years we will have saved enough to get our own boat and travel for a while before we go back to work to earn a bit more just to continue traveling. We might even start a vlog to capture our journey and share to all the friends and family, who will be more than welcome to take part in sailing around the world on their holidays! I get way too excited even just thinking about all of it. But for now, we are focusing on finding jobs that we have both lost because of Covid-19, thinking about my visa options and hopefully visiting my home in Finland soon. I've been gone for over a year so you bet I'm missing my friends and family!