A to Z: International Living

Today’s post for the A to Z Challenge is International Living (IL). It’s a magazine that I’ve been subscribing to for around 30 years (I love it- it’s so inspiring!).

I’ve always loved to travel. Even as a baby, living in a cabover camper on the back of dad’s pickup truck. When I got the chance to sail around the world on a couple of traditional sailing ships in high school I was hooked.

Schooner Ariadne

I wanted to sail around the world and get paid for it! Hopefully I could satisfy my wanderlust that way.

I have been able to do some traveling by sea, through my work as a professional mariner over the last 30+ years. But not nearly enough.

I want to move overseas. Permanently.

International Living has dozens of articles every month describing how others (mostly from US and Canada) have been able to make the move. It gives me all kinds of ideas. Sometimes I actually hurt over wanting it so bad.

IL publishes stories about people who’ve moved overseas and retired, bought property, started businesses (all kinds). People write about how much easier it is to do all of those things in places where the cost of living is so much lower and the bureaucracy is less burdensome (usually). They all mention how much less stress there is and how they’re able to really enjoy day to day life for a change.

I’ve just never felt that I could make it work. That I personally had the skills (and/or money) to be able to last for months, years, decades in foreign lands without being able to work (legally). Yes, I’m sure I could probably find some kind of under the table work (I’ve done it before), but I’m much more cautious now than I was at 16. I don’t want to worry about being deported  and shipped back ‘home’. 😦

I don’t feel comfortable with just dropping everything and leaving. With not having any money. Money is freedom in my mind. It allows for options. I’m not sure I want to travel as a backpacker, staying in hostels, etc. (in fact I’m pretty sure I don’t). I want to be sure I can at least be safe. I want to be able to move immediately if things start going wrong.

Then again, things here at home are not going very well, in fact it’s becoming unbearable. The more time I spend at home, not working, the more time I have to think. The more time to watch what’s going on in the news, etc. I don’t think things here are going to get any better. I feel like I need to get out while I still can.

I have been trying to follow some of the suggestions in IL for years. Things like find some source of independent income, multiple income sources, learn useful skills, find portable ‘jobs’, etc.

I’ve gone to some of their events over the years. Retire Overseas conferences, Fund Your Life conferences, travel writing and photography courses, etc. I’ve gathered up a lot of great information and met some really cool people, but still haven’t managed to do much to actually make a move. 😦

I have been buying and renovating property for rental income since 2001. At this point, they mostly pay for themselves. There is only one that still needs supplemental income from my job. Since I have not been able to find work for the last 6+ months, I’ve had to put that one up for sale. I just can’t afford it if I’m not able to find work. Once that one is sold, I should be able to live on savings and rental income for at least a couple of years.

NOT the one I’m selling!

I’m thinking this would be the best time for me to move.

I have no job, I have nothing tying me down. I’ll have enough cash to live on for a couple of years when my house is sold. I even have a ‘useful skill’ now, since I just got certified to teach English as a foreign language (TEFL).

The only thing holding me back now is FEAR.

Now how to get rid of that (along with all the stuff I’ll need to pack up and get rid of so I can leave my house to the renters)?

Maritime Monday: “We Seek Christians and Spices”

Here’s another very interesting post from Monkey Fist via gCaptain. I love this stuff! I hope you do too… .

(found on Facebook; source unknown) Vasco de Gama arrival in Calecut on 1498: Spices in History: The Explorers Pepper Your Worlds I blog about the sea; things that float on the sea, people that ride in things that float on the sea, industries associated with maintaining the people that make their living on the sea…  […]

Source: Maritime Monday for April 11th, 2016: “We Seek Christians and Spices” – gCaptain

A to Z: Honiara

I’ve been trying to catch up with posting for the A to Z Challenge. We’re posting every day in April (except Sundays), using a different letter of the alphabet for each.

Today’s post is on Honiara, the capital of the Solomon Islands. The Solomon Islands are located in the South Pacific Ocean, to the east of Papua New Guinea. There were huge battles here during WWll (Guadalcanal). It’s very quiet now (compared to that).

I traveled to Honiara as captain of a tuna boat. It was quite an experience. We would go into port there to offload our catch to the reefer ships (photo above). We sometimes had a little bit of time to spend in town and relax after a days work. I liked to go catch up on my emails, have a few beers, shop for post cards and snacks, maybe hit the casino at night with my crew.

The first time I flew into Honiara to join my ship, I was a little taken aback. It was a complete change from Texas, where I had been only a couple of days before.

I was really, really tired from the long flight from the US. It seemed like I had stepped into a movie set, or gone back in time a couple of decades. Honiara is a small, tropical city. Hot, humid, sultry and steamy. Palms grew tall among blazing red flamboyant trees and purple bougainvillea bloomed along the dusty roads.

The main drag along the waterfront was full of locals running errands and taking care of what business they had. Some looked like vampires with mouths dripping red from the betel nut they chewed and juices they were constantly spitting out. I was happy when we got to the dock to take the launch to my boat where I climbed aboard and promptly fell asleep after a quick turnover with the departing Captain.

Only to be shocked awake soon after by the loud pounding on my door and cries of “Captain. where is Captain?” I rolled out of bed and sleepily opened the door to a crowd of local girls, all trying to shove their way past me to locate ‘the Captain”.

I tried my best to inform them that I was the Captain, the “old man” had already left the ship to go home. They refused to believe me until I let one in to check the bathroom (not possible to hide under the bed since it’s built in over drawers). 😉

The disappointed girls finally decided to accept that I was the only person in the cabin and slowly made their way out through the radio room. I assume they joined up with the rest of the crew later. I was just too tired to care.

That was my introduction to the South Pacific.

tuna boat at twilight

I really miss it.