I have always thought of my life as a trade-off . . .. But actually, it is more a process of letting go of my past life and concerns and loves. Thinning down for the journey which only looks like a trip around the world when in reality it is a trip out of it.
Retirement can truly be anything you want—if you’re willing to sacrifice. Just ask Marguerite Welch who, at age fifty-two, embarked with her husband Michael, a career naval officer, on a fourteen-year circumnavigation of the globe: an extraordinary feat even by the standards of their hometown, “Sailing Capital of the World,” Annapolis, Maryland. Together they logged 43,822 nautical miles, visited 60 countries, and spent up to 27 days at a stretch exclusively in each other’s company aboard a sailboat smaller than the typical school bus. And for the first two years, as far as Columbia, they had their Labrador retriever onboard!
At a stage of life when many women discover the spa, she traded battered limbs, broken nails, and salty-stiff hair for a life of discovery, roseate dawn-watches, and dolphins frolicking off the bow. While she might have been reading to her grandchildren, she was exploring at length all the places she’d read of her whole life: Bali, Rome, La Mancha, Morocco . . . Some ports disappointed, some exceeded the couple’s expectations, and others—like Vietnam—had changed beyond recognition in the decades since their youth. The take-away was an appreciation for the universal brotherhood of all cultures, and a heightened appreciation for home, God, and each other.
The Welches named their boat Ithaca after a poem by C.P. Cafavy, who advised, When you start on your journey to Ithaca, then pray that the road is long, full of adventure, full of knowledge. At a conversational 315 pages, this newly released memoir would make the perfect holiday gift for any adventurer. To get a feel for the author’s easy-going style, watch this interview. https://foxbaltimore.com/morning/waterbourne-a-slow-trip-around-a-small-planet