A good while ago I was facing a hard decision I know would change my life. I had a safe job as a teacher and got an offer to live and work on a 20m/8m catamaran sailing along the coast of Croatia, the Med, crossing the Atlantic Ocean and up the Caribbean to finish the adventure in Fort Lauderdale 10 months later. You might think: This is a tough decision? Are you kidding me? To me it was. Why? Everybody said if you quit your job you won´t get another one close to where you live now and what about your relationship? At this time in Austria there were too many teachers but not enough jobs. Plus I had to deal with being away weeks from home, family and friends.
I had a hard time thinking about the pros and cons and it got me nowhere. I love traveling and exploring the world but the same time I like being with my family and friends and in the past I struggled with home sickness.
So: Who to listen to? What I really learned and still use today when I am facing a tough decision:
Think about yourself in the future and ask yourself if you will regret it your whole life not doing it?
This took all the pressure from me and I made the decision that I will live and work (as a private teacher) on a catamaran and see many new places because I would regret it my whole life if I would have said: “No!” to this opportunity.
In retrospect I am thankful to my PAST-ME. The relationship ended, I even got a better job afterwards I couldn´t even dream about (as a principal) at that time close to my home town.
And here I am having a life with a great relationship and I will always remember the time I lived and worked on the catamaran. If you´re facing a tough decision think about if you would or not regret it for the rest of your life.
Did you face some life changing choices? Do you have any tips for us how to face them? Would be great to hear about it in the comment section.
zuletzt aktualisiert am October 29, 2019
Nen Job findet man immer wieder und ne Wohnung auch. Das sind alles nur Ängste, die einem von der Außenwelt eingeflösst werden. Einfach machen und die beste Zeit seines Lebens haben. Zumindest solange man ungebunden ist und keine Kinder hat. Und selbst dann, funktioniert das auch mal für ne Zeit. Ich war ein Jahr auf Weltreise, ein Jahr in Australien und zuletzt mit ganz kleinen Kindern zwei Monate in Thailand. Und irgendwann geh ich bestrmmt wieder. GlG, Nadine
Da hast du wohl recht, aber wenn man mitten in der Situation steckt ist es nicht immer so einfach dies zu entscheiden. Ich kann auch nur sagen, dass du Recht hast und ich auch froh bin diese Erfahrung gemacht zu haben.
Really great advice. Although for many people this should have been an easy decision, sometimes doing what’s best for us involves stepping out of our comfort zone or giving up the thought of how we see our lives turning out.
Exactly, Calli.
I totally feel how difficult the choice was for you. I think it’s a lot easier to leave a job you don’t like than one you like. When I left for my RTW trip I left a job I hated, now I want to leave again but I keep postponing because I love my job and life in Italy so much…. but I am going to leave, just need another year to save up.
I totally understand you and it´s great you already have a new plan for your life.
Great post – it’s such a good question to ask yourself. You should never have regrets in life!
Thank you, Emily. You should never have regrets in your life – that´s another great advice.
Excellent article and great advice. I think a lot of people face decisions like this at some point throughout their lives, and it may sound horrible to say, but I think a little selfishness goes a long way. You have to think what is best for you and you alone.
That´s true but some people don´t like it if you are selfish but on the other hand if you don´t do what you like you feel miserable and that´s not nice and fair to the other ones.
I know the feeling all too well – did this myself last year as I left my law firm in New York to try out life in Africa. Life seems to work out as long as you keep your chin up and put passion into whatever you do.
Great decision to live in Africa. And it´s true if you don´t put passion to your life it is awful.
What a great post. “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take”. Some of life’s best experiences come from stepping outside of your comfort zone.
I like the quote, Brianna. Awesome.
So pleased you went for it! And that we did too 🙂 It’s always better to do than not do. Great inspiring post 🙂
Thank you, Laura and great you did it too (whatever that means specifically).
What a unique opportunity! Working as a teacher… on a catamaran, of all places 😀 I’m glad you chose a path which turned out for the best. It’s funny how some of the decisions that are hardest to make are actually quite simple..
In retrospect most of our decisions are quite simple but when you are in the middle of choosing and thinking it´s like you can´t see the wood anymore because of all the trees. 🙂
Great post! Somehow many people have trouble doing what they really want to because it may seem strange to the outer world but yet it doesn’t make them happy …
There´s nothing more to add. 😀
Very true!!! 🙂
Glad to see you took the leap and it worked out for you. We left on a RTW trip last July and it was hard to make the leap when we were so settled and comfortable, but it was a great decision and we will come back richer people.
Great you made the decision. And it´s true that you will come back richer in any way.
I had to make a similar decision but sailing the other side – the Pacific. It took me exactly one night to completely change my plans – instead of going north to Mexico and home afterwards, I jumped as a crew on a sailboat going to French Polynesia and ended up in New Zealand again, 7 months later! My dad stopped talking to me for a while when I told him…But just like you, it was one of the best decisions I´ve ever made and I will always remember it too 🙂
Sorry he stopped talking to you for a while but in the end you were happy and that´s all that matters. The Pacific would be interesting too to sail. Maybe one day.. 🙂
Great advice – you always regret the things you DIDNT do the most I believe!
Most of the time for sure. 🙂
Congratualations on making that choice! So many people go through life thinking “What if?”, but you were right to follow your instincts.
I am really glad about deciding to do that cruise. You learn a lot about different cultures and people.
Good for you taking that leap of faith. Looks like things worked out for the best as well
Thank´s Bianca, and yes, it did. 😀
Always good advice. I decided long ago that I would make no room in my life for regret. I’ve moved around between continents, quit jobs to create and make room for new ones. I don’t really know any other way to live at this point. 🙂
That´s great, Bob. And as long as you are happy and have no regrets as you mentionend, everything is okay.
Great advice! If you live life with no regrets and go with your gut feeling things usually work out and I am glad it worked out for you. It would be amazing to sail around the Mediterranean, it is actually one of my goals in life!
I hope for you you can sail around one day the Med!
I completely agree with you. I had a similar dilemma in 2012. My partner had moved to a different country in 2011 and we had been apart for a long time…only seeing each other every so often when flights were cheap. I had an amazing job back at home, a nice apartment close to my family and friends and I found it incredibly hard to make a decision.
But I finally decided that my family weren’t going anywhere and I could easily find another job, but a life without my partner would be terrible. So I quit my job and moved country (Czech Republic isn’t so bad!) and now I couldn’t be happier. I asked the exact same question…Would I regret it if I didn’t do it?? 🙂 Great post!
Wow. That´s great you made your right choice and love your life right now. The Czech Republic is our neighbour state but I was never there so far.
Eine einfache Entscheidung, wenn man “ohne Kind & Kegel” ist. Mann, Beziehung, das kann alles überdauern oder eben nicht. Anders sieht es aus, wenn man auch die Verantwortung für ein Kind trägt. Da fällt die Entscheidung definitiv schwerer : )
Da stimme ich dir vollkommen zu. Mit Kind ist es nicht mehr so einfach. Aber das war ja kein Thema damals. 🙂
Glad you decided to do it! A life of regret is definitely not the way to live. Sounds like an incredible journey 🙂
It was an incredible journey and I am so thankful I had the opportunity for it.
Great philosophy. It reminds me of that quote by Mark Twain: “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover”. And in your case, since you were on a boat, that applies quite literally. 🙂
Thanks for adding this awesome quote. How true it is.