We get asked a lot of questions about our new-found lifestyle, so here are some FAQ’s, answered. If you have others, just ask and we’ll do our best to get your pondering answered!

Q: Why?

A: Well, simply, because we want to.  We love the water, traveling, seeing new things, stretching ourselves and living simply.  We figured moving aboard would be a good way to do what we love.

Q: How? (short-ish/inspirational answer)

A: You know how you make New Year’s Resolutions and dream big?  Well that’s what we did: in 2007.  Of course, the best laid plans include action-able steps and, for us, that included aggressively paying off debt, squirreling away money and increasing income by taking on extra projects.   

In 2007 we set out to take a 3-6 month sabbatical from “the real world” and in 2010 we left the States to travel in Central America (with a very good friend hanging out with Kemah in our house in Austin).  Because we knew we already enjoyed the water so much, and living on a sailboat was one of those “yeah, right, but why not?” dreams, we tried to find as many opportunities to be on the water and on boats as possible.  Often times this meant hanging out in sailor bars like it was our job: a tough, tough job.

We ended up spending the majority of our 6 month trip in Panama, which we loved!  In Panama, we had the opportunity to be on many boats as crew:  we helped S/V Santorini through the Panama Canal with some new friends Capt. Tom and Dawn-dee; we joined Capt. Greg aboard S/V Sweet Dreams to make a 9-day leisurely passage from Portobelo to Bocas del Toro; and then lucked out house-sitting in Dolphin Bay (8 miles from town by boat) for a couple of months next to some amazing cruisers from North Carolina.  Needless to say, we were hooked!

But, while all these fun backpacking adventures were going on, we still had the security of “home” and the perpetual questions of “what next (when this is over)?” looming. We eventually braved up and announced to ourselves (and later to our friends and family) that we didn’t want to do anything else:  we wanted to become cruisers.  And, not “someday” but as soon as possible.

Now, to just do some cocktail-napkin-math . . .

You know that saying “a long journey begins with a single step”?   Well, our first page in this chapter began with just deciding to do it.  And, then working out the logistics as we went, and as we go, along.

Q: How do you (financially) do it?

A: Sometimes in life the question of “how’d you do that?” is answered best by examining a series of events.  This trip is no different. Damon and I have always been interested in traveling so that initial desire has always been present.  It seems that we all align our priorities with our finances (intentionally or not) and so we have, for a long time.

Growing up, travel was important to my family and so went our priorities:  we didn’t eat out much, I wore a lot of my sister’s hand-me-downs (hers made or from the thrift store), my parents drove used cars and I was working as soon as I was legally able to.  I was fortunate enough to have no debt after graduating from a state school (Hook ’em!).  At 23, I got a loan  and bought a house, a modest fixer-upper in a fabulous neighborhood in Austin (remember how the mortgage co’s were loaning anyone money???).  For the next seven years, D and I did one project a month and in 2011, after over 60 projects, we had enough equity to sell the house and buy our boat outright.

It should also be mentioned that over those seven years, we also worked our butts off: often working 70+ hours per week to pay off debt (car loan, credit cards, etc), sock away money for a rainy day fund and build up a travel fund (it’s amazing what you can save when you have debt).

It’s not that we didn’t have any fun during those seven years: we had a whole lot of fun!  We got married, went on trips, ate out on special occasions and otherwise enjoyed ourselves.  But, we didn’t really spend much on clothes, shared a car and otherwise aligned our finances and priorities.

So, when we sat in Panama in 2011 wondering “can we actually become cruisers, like now?”, given a lot of research on boats, live-aboard expenses (we budgeted $1,000-1,500 per month) and a hard-look current state of assets, our past (financial) choices made it possible.  Yes, we’d have to sell the house and give up a lot of security.  Yes, we’d have to look far and wide for a boat we could afford.  Yes, we’d have to continue working along the way.  But, most importantly, yes, we could do it!!!  For at least, a while.

Q: What about money?

As in making it.  Most folks know how it’s spent 😉

People love to ask:  “how will you make money aboard?  Are you trust-fund kids?”.  Alas, we are not.  But, if you asked me how would I make money for the rest of my life in Austin, I’d have the same answer:  “I’ll figure it out”.  Perhaps it’s my personality and perhaps it’s that I’ve spent my entire career as an independent contractor, but I feel comfortable with uncertainty (most of the time) and feel trapped by security.

D and I have both been grateful for opportunities our previous employers have extended to come back on contract from time to time.   We’ll likely take them up on that as we travel back to the States for a couple of months apart (one works, one minds the boat) to fill up the cruising kitty and visit family and friends.

We’re also very open to finding work from the boat.  Laurie works online sometimes to help people with data, social networking, blogging, writing and photographing.  D makes music and is working with some game developers and a film-maker on their projects.  And, we’ll happily talk about working where we’re docked at many a fine establishment.  Just ask.

Q: How much does it cost to take off? 

This is the question I asked folks before we left (and the question I’m still asking folks) and the answer is always  . . .

A:  Short anwer: It depends, of course, but really, everything you’ve got (I know that’s annoying).  But seriously, it depends on how you like to live (travel/sleep/eat/drink/recreate) and what your financial obligations are back “home”.

We are budgeting about $1,000-1,500 per month and it’s been tight when we are forced into a marina for weather or repairs and easy when we’re out in the boonies where there is literally no place to spend money.

To get an idea of how much it costs a lot of seasoned cruisers, click here to view a survey of these old salts.

A: Long answer: Damon and I are pretty thrifty when we want to be.  And, we live to enjoy life.  Before we left that meant not saying “no” to night’s out on the town with friends, but with a financial goal in mind for our trip, we often picked our nights out carefully (birthdays and special occasions), split meals or used coupons or specials to “afford” this luxury – it is a luxury.

This is not to say that we ate tuna fish and crackers for years before we left – we did not – and we don’t eat tuna fish and crackers for every meal on our travels, either.  Somedays we do, because I happen to like tuna fish, but I’m not going to pass up opportunities to support a local restaurant by enjoying a native dish or miss out on a once-in-a-lifetime excursion because it costs money.

I track our expenses in a spreadsheet (shocker, I know) and will happily share it when we have a couple months under our belt.

Q: Where ya headed? 

If you know us or have spent some time on the blog you may have discovered by now, that we love Panama.  We fell in love with Bocas del Toro in 2011 and are planning on heading back down to this hurricane-free-zone by June of 2012.

To get there from Florida, we plan on first visiting The Bahamas and perhaps going “down the chain” of Caribbean islands to the east or perhaps crossing over from Jamaica, either straight to Panama (a long time at sea) or over to Honduras and down the coast (against the wind and waves the whole way).  We have a lot of thinking to do about which way we want to go – and which way will be best in our boat.  So, if you have advice for us, shoot!

A few places I’d love to visit along the way(s) include Cuba, Saba and the Rio Dulce.  Hmmmm . . . .

Q. How long are you doing this for?

A. “The next chapter”, or, “until further notice”.  It may be long, it may be short.  It is unwritten.  We’ll let you know when we’re “done” with it.   And, thanks so much for reading it with us!