What Are We Searching For?
What are we searching for?
For my husband and me, the question began years ago, simmering beneath the surface as we lived a good life on land that somehow felt incomplete. We were happy, but we weren’t deeply fulfilled with where we called home.
From the outside, I'm sure it looked like we had commitment issues.
We lived in many places across the US and Canada and spent significant time abroad. But no single place felt just right and all that travel was becoming quite expensive. We loved it all but we couldn’t have it all.
And then this happened... I remember sitting on the couch with my hubs in Phoenix and he showed me a sailboat on Yachtworld that he was dreaming about.
And that was the exact moment we started asking ourselves: "Actually, can we have it all?"
A Search for Something More
Are we chasing something, or are we running from something? I wonder if that’s what people are thinking when they hear about our plans. Because I think about it sometimes too.
The honest answer? A little of both.
There’s the thrill of reinvention, the promise/myth of freedom, and the intoxicating idea of waking up each day to the rhythm of the sea. But there’s also fear.
There's also the quiet fear that staying put, having a home in one place, might mean stagnation. That clinging to a life we know too well might keep us from discovering something extraordinary.
Before we could start searching for the perfect boat, we had to ask ourselves: Why are we doing this?
Not just why we wanted to live on a yacht, but why we wanted to leave a life of convenience and stability behind.
Was it adventure? Reinvention? Or was it the hope of shaking loose the routines that had begun to feel like ruts?
The answer wasn’t simple. It wasn’t one thing.
It was (and still is) a messy, beautiful mix of desires, doubts, and dreams.
It's the pull of the unfamiliar, the longing to reconnect with nature in a remarkable way, and the belief that life could be more intentional, even more unconventional and aligned with the people we want to become.
The Practicality of Questioning
Of course, the question mark isn’t just existential - it’s also practical.
We’ve had countless conversations about what this lifestyle will actually look like. Will we find the right boat? Will the logistics work? Will we belong in this new world of liveaboards, transient nomads, salty seadogs and superyachters?
Will the life we imagine match the reality we’re stepping into?
There’s also the practicality of unlearning a land-based life. We’ve had to rethink everything from how we define “home” to what we consider “essential.”
Preparing to live on a boat isn’t just about buying the right yacht, gear, or learning to sail.
It’s about reshaping your relationship with space, possessions, and even time.
The Call to Live Differently
For us, choosing to live on a boat isn’t just about where we live - it’s about how.
But here’s the thing: you don’t have to uproot your entire life or move to a boat to live more intentionally.
The question we’re carrying - why do we do this, and what are we hoping to find? - is universal. It’s the question anyone can ask when they feel the pull toward a life that feels more aligned and alive.
For some, it might mean reevaluating how you spend you time. For others, it’s about rethinking priorities, letting go of clutter (both physical and emotional), or leaning into passions you’ve sidelined.
Living unconventionally doesn’t have to mean changing where you live - it can simply mean reimagining how you show up in your own life.
What We’re Hoping to Find
So, what are we hoping to find out there on the water? Maybe it’s clarity. Maybe it’s a deeper connection to each other and ourselves.
Maybe it’s a deeper sense of who we are and what we’re capable of when we’re really out of our element.
But actually… It’s more possible that the question isn’t meant to be answered.
Maybe it’s the act of carrying this question is the whole point of the journey.
Living with a question mark means accepting that we might never find exactly what we’re looking for, but knowing that the search itself will shape us in ways we can’t yet imagine.
For now, we’re in Croatia, taking our time to find the sailboat. And while the question still lingers, it feels less like a burden and more like a guide.
