I have some pretty big and exciting changes happening in my life!
If you follow the blog, you know that I am a passionate lover of this planet. I think we have the most amazing natural environment on our planet and that in my time here I want to see it, share about it and protect and conserve it as much as I can.
Exploring, nature, and my passion for living lightly on the planet is what fuels me. Travelling is something I find hard to justify. Flying around the world to see new places is as enlightening as it is damaging to the planet. This has always been a conundrum for me.
So when I met my husband 7 years ago and he introduced me to sailing – it was the solution I had been looking for. Wind powered transportation!!!
Base (my husband) grew up sailing and has done a large amount of time on our big salty oceans. So he taught me the ropes( literally) and in the early days of us dating we would dream about setting sail on our own boat to far flung places. We dreamt of a lifestyle that was simple and full of things we love – surfing, time in the ocean, connection to nature and exploring new places and above all a great deal of adventure.
That dream started 7 years ago as a far fetched idea… is now a reality.
We are moving onto our 36 foot sailboat “Lady C’ next week, and are planning to set sail headed North towards Indonesia by mid May.
The feelings of excitement, nerves, joy, fear, and delight have been swirling in my mind over the last year as we planned in detail how we were going to make it happen. Now these emotions are all heightened as we get closer to departure. My journey from non sailor to full time co-captain has been one that I put a lot of effort into – working on boats, volunteering for Sea Rescue, and taking nautical studies at Tafe. So I am confident in what we are about to do. But there is a lot of risk involved, and we are also aware of that part too.
The best part about this trip is that it means we have to be self-sufficient, minimalists, and very conservative with our resources. My Eco-Living journey over the last decade has been the most amazing preparation for this upcoming sea change (hehe, another literal one).
Making my own toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo, food from scratch, plastic free and package free living, water conservation, power conservation, and overall simplistic living will all serve me well! It’s not like we can run to shops whenever we want on the boat!
I am certain living on our boat will also teach me so much more about being eco-savvy, and efficient. So I hope that as I learn more, discover more and explore remote parts of our planet you can follow along with me and learn about living lighter on the planet too.
Of course boating has eco-implications and as much as possible we will be working to minimize our negative impact, that is why sailing and using the wind over fossil fuels as much as we can is the main benefit of this mode of transportation.
My mission in life is to show that we can all be living amazing, fulfilling lives that are lighter on the planet! This is how I am living out my beliefs. I am living life to the fullest and doing it with the least amount of impact as I can.
If you’d like to know more about our sailing journey and follow as we set sail check out: www.saltytimes.com . We are also on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. We have some exciting eco-science projects we are working on as we go, and are partnering with some great organisations too!
Stay tuned for a post about how I have had to take a crash course in de-cluttering and embrace living with less as we go from a 3 bedroom home to a 36 foot boat.
xx
Jamie Van Jones