Unnecessary Complications

Life has a tendency to get complicated when one is not paying attention. Things sort of creep up on a person. Before long, debts, obligations and responsibilities pile up.

Imagine going on a 6 month long trip. For many people the thought of untangling from all life's complications is overwhelming. They never go. Even people with the financial means to do so can't manage to free up the time. That's when you get people who take a week off, jet to exotic location, stumble around in a mental fog for a few days, then jet back home. They collect photos of “the sights” to prove to everyone, including themselves, that they were there. (if only for a few moments)

Come fall my lovely wife and I plan on scooting out on the boat for about 6 months. That's what I'm planning for anyway. Compared to most people, our lives are pretty simple. Yet even we have had a number of those obligations pile up.

The last few years it's been too easy to just get all my mail forwarded to my dad's place in Florida. Evey few weeks we'd stop in and collect the mail. It was easy to sit down with a check book once a month and take care of the financial duties.

Now we plan moving for months at a time. We did something similar years ago when we used to go camping all over the south. We'd simplified our life so it didn't matter where we were. Occasionally we had to find an Internet connection or a phone to do a bit of business, but our responsibilities were few.

I'm parring down our debts and simplifying our bill paying. There are a few bills I'll still have to pay on-line, but not that many. At least we are coastal sailing where Internet and phone connections are common. We'll only need to get connected once a month, but will most likely be in touch most days. If we were going a blue water sail across oceans, our life would need more dramatic changes. A problem for another day?

Financial responsibilities are one thing; what about family obligations? What about our children and grandchildren? They are the reason my lovely wife has set a 6 month travel limit. E-mail, social media, Skype, and phone calls will help keep us in touch. We will miss them. Our children and grandchildren are cool and interesting people whom we love dearly. However, things like travel keep my lovely wife and I interesting. If we never did anything out of the ordinary, what kind of example would we set?

-Sixbears