What We Do on the Yacht
The first mate answers:
— No, we don’t get bored ☺. We’ve been travelling for many years, and every time we came back, someone would inevitably ask us, “So, did you have a good holiday?”
We’re not on holiday; this is how we live. Of course, not everyone understands that people can do more than simply fritter their lives away and lounge around on deckchairs (well, since living on a yacht obviously means spending all your time in the tropics): they can also
work without going to work
And do something useful for society.
About the Boat and Everyday Life
Repairing the propeller—in the murky waters of the Saloum River, Senegal
Most of life on a yacht is taken up by the same everyday chores. In other words, everything people do ashore gets done here too. Except that ashore, children are taught at school, little ones are looked after at nursery and attend developmental classes; cars are repaired at a garage, while specially trained people come to replace pipes and wiring.
If you do all of the above yourself, it takes up nearly the entire day. On the yacht, we do it ourselves.
What Else Fills Our Days Aboard
We travel and plan our future routes. And it isn’t simply a matter of changing the view outside the window. As you discover new places and meet new people, you learn not only about the world, but also about yourself. How you respond to new impressions, what resonates in your soul and what you pass by with indifference, what discoveries your children make.... From this, you can draw some interesting conclusions both about yourself and about how to live from here on.
Andrey has a couple of projects in Russia that provide our main income. He often spends a great deal of time on correspondence, communicating online, or simply searching for various information we need. But that’s when we have a connection to the World Wide Web ☺.
We study foreign languages (at the moment, Andrey and I are learning Spanish, while Nastya is learning French) and read books. In ordinary life, there often isn’t time to read. Andrey, for example, had long dreamed that one day he would have time simply to sit on deck and read.
My second degree is in journalism. Whenever I have time left over from everything else, I write. That includes the journal, commissioned pieces, and drafts for current and future projects.
I run three projects online: one is social, the second is commercial, and the third is this very website about travel, inspiration, and the fact that nothing is impossible 🙂 (+ groups on social media). These projects are what give life meaning.
An agility and grip-training machine. Lada is 2.5 years old
The Fly in the Ointment
If you’ve ever seen the perfectly sugar-coated life of people who are winning in every aspect of existence, tell us about it! 🙂 Because the yachting lifestyle has its downsides too:
We get bored sometimes, just like most people. Though it isn’t really boredom, but rather loneliness, or something like that. All four of us have close friends and loved ones, and they are very far away. If they were nearby, there would be more heart-to-heart conversation, fun get-togethers, and a greater sense of camaraderie.
We are together as a family almost all the time. So sometimes we want to be alone or spend time with other people; we lack personal space and the chance to miss one another.
None of the above means that we’re isolated from society and suffering as outcasts :))). It’s simply an objective picture.
A Heart on Fire
When a person has a goal and understands their mission, existence becomes filled with meaning. Recently, we found a goal that drives us forward. Achieving it will solve many problems, from satisfying our own ambitions to saving nature ☺. Once it has been achieved, new horizons will open up—they are already in sight.
I don’t want to play coy by shrouding everything in mystery: “We won’t tell anyone what this goal is or what our mission might be”—eyes darting sideways—“...mmm...” But we aren’t yet ready to put everything that sets our hearts on fire before the court of public opinion. Forgive us. Once we have taken substantial steps in the right direction, we’ll tell you about them.
When you intend to do something great—and, necessarily, something good—it fills you up inside. It becomes an engine, a guiding star, and the straw that pulls you out of melancholy and adversity.
I wish for all our friends, acquaintances, readers, and those who were simply passing by to kindle this fire in their own souls. With it, you never get bored :).
Applied Geography in the Atlantic Ocean
More Photos of Everyday Life Aboard:
Watching the start of a regatta in Malta
Making music—one of our pastimes
Fishing in Malta. Lada assists a local fisherman
Jigsaw puzzles in the Canarian “taiga”
Playing “The Wolf and the Seven Little Goats”—the toys and Mum have been cast as the little goats. Dad is the wolf
The floating school