What I've learned from the Atlantic ocean
When I realised my university contract ended mid November, I decided it was a nudge from the universe to sail across the ocean. In this series I will share what I've been taught.
We (that is, Falkor and I, plus our changing crew members) have been sailing for two months now. More than 4000 nautical miles from Barcelona to Martinique (I have failed to count the exact number). Big waves, big places, big smiles, but also the gnawing existential dread that comes from the feeling that I’ve left everything behind, and that this journey, once embarked on, is not one from which I can easily escape.
But that’s the challenge I have sought: to face my fears head-on. I haven’t been so scared of the risks of sailing. Not the waves, not the wind, not the remoteness, not the storms. What scares me is giving up on the security and comfort of a settled life in Europe—stable income, career, friends, family. I’m curious about what we will find and who I will be once we are on the other side of the ocean. Will this experiment work? Will I find the answers that I’m seeking?
I probably should have shared some first reflections from this journey many weeks, if not months, ago. My psychic reader (yes, I have a psychic reader) said that this expedition was meant to be shared. She saw me with a camera in hand and mentioned something about a documentary. Since then, I’ve filmed endless snippets of landscapes and maintenance work onboard, which are now accumulating on my hard drive. I even made a “first episode” that was diligently posted on YouTube and which, in the best of cases, created some unfulfilled expectations of future videos that have not yet materialised (they will—just need a minute).
Conclusion: I am not as prolific a videoblogger as I am a sailor. So, instead (or in addition), I have come up with this newsletter as an alternative, which will hopefully please my psychic reader as well as some of you! Through these letters, I want to share a collection of field notes with pictures, videos, and reflections from the journey.