Retirement

Tonight I received an awesome email from a reader. She was wondering how we came to the decision to cash out a portion of our retirement to make this dream possible, and what struggles we had to overcome before feeling comfortable with the choice. I responded to her privately but then realized that I have been dancing around this in other posts. Rather than try to rephrase what I said, I’m going to post my reply in full, right here; with one caveat that I repeat in the body. This is a serious decision with serious consequences. In this email I was preaching to the converted, but our path is not the best for everyone. Also, to protect my dad’s honor and reputation I should add that while he is incredibly supportive of us and our dream, I don’t believe he would recommend this course of action if I asked him directly. This blog post is for entertainment purposes only. ...

I wasn’t at home when we were tied into slip A58 in Monterey Harbor. I was homesick. Surprising yes, since I was on my own boat, tied up with my usual dock lines, cooking in my own galley, and sleeping in my own bed. I spent my time in Monterey constantly checking the three forecast areas on NOAA to find our perfect weather window to head north. Again, I was surprised at myself. The trip north is usually hard, wet, and cold. Our boat is in great shape and we could actually (foolishly) cash in Tucker’s retirement accounts and head south for at least a year. I always want to go south, or anywhere warmer than wherever I am. But I wanted to go north, to go home. ...