Goals

October 28, 2016

I've always been a goal oriented kind of guy. I seem to have a need to be working towards something. If I don't, I feel stagnate. I've had lots of little insignificant goals over the years, but the major goal of getting us to Mexico on our boat is about complete. On Sunday, we are leaving San Diego, crossing the border on our little floating home, and then we should be checking into Ensenada, Mexico sometime on Monday morning. Major life goal...check.

Yesterday, Brenda asked, “what is your goal now that we've basically made it to Mexico?”

It's an interesting question that has sort of thrown me for a loop. Since I've always had some major goal that I've been striving to achieve, and my goal of the last 20 years is basically done, what now? I hadn't thought about it until Brenda brought it up, but now my peaceful and zen state of mind is going berserk.

I've been thinking that I could have a new goal of getting us to a specific country, like Madagascar or something outlandish like that, but that doesn't seem realistic. Cruising for us isn't about getting to a particular spot on the map (other than getting to Mexico) or about being in any one place for a given amount of time. It's about us experiencing life. It's about us seeing new and exciting things, taking things day by day, and enjoying what comes our way.

Yesterday Brenda made some cream puffs that apparently weren't all for me to eat. “They are for sharing” she tells me (they are incredibly delicious and I really didn't want to share). So, last night we had a little gathering on our boat with some of the other sailors in our anchorage so we could “share” our treats with complete strangers. It was an interesting mix of people with an interesting mix of backgrounds and cruising goals. And yes, they ate all of my treats.

The thing that struck me the most about our little get together last night, was the fact that even though each of us came from a very different background, from different walks of life, and some of us from different countries, we are all sitting in the same place with the same basic goal – to see the world by sailboat and experience what is out there.

If you dig a little deeper into the goals of the people who were eating my cream puffs and get beyond the basics of cruising, I found that the goals were vastly different. One guy was trying to get to Norway to be reunited with family - plain and simple (maybe not simple...he's thinking it will take him 2 years to get there). Another wants to simplify his life, live off the grid, and surf in exotic locations. One couple has dreams of tropical islands in the South Pacific. A different couple has been sailing the world for 9 years and attempting to make a difference in peoples lives by delivering optical exams and glasses to remote regions where those types of things are unheard of. And then there is us.

So, what is my goal? After we make it to Mexico, what is next for us? What am I striving for? What is my purpose?

Well, the short answer is I don't know yet. But the good news is that I have plenty of time to figure it out. I am guessing that somewhere down the line, while I am sitting on a sandy beach, eating tacos, and debating whether or not I should go back in the water for another epic surf session, an epiphany will come to me. I'll figure out what it is that I'm hoping to accomplish. Until then, the little goals will suffice.

If you are wondering what my little goals are, here is the short list:

Speak better Spanish (this may turn into a major goal)

Eat more tacos (should be easy to accomplish in Mexico)

Play more guitar

Surf more

Do more

It's a pretty simple and generic list of minor goals that should all be pretty easily doable, but it's what I got for now. I'll keep you updated if an epiphany reaches me.

And speaking of keeping you updated, I am not exactly sure how much internet access we'll have once we cross the border into Mexico. Especially once we leave Ensenada and are traveling down the Baja Peninsula. I'm told that we shouldn't expect much until we get to Cabo. We'll post updates when we can.