A New Adventure

It’s been over 15 months since I decided to take a break from my nomadic lifestyle to settle in Christchurch. Back then, I didn’t know what exactly that would look like. I bought a caravan to live in, partly because I liked knowing that I could easily go travelling again if I got itchy feet. But at the same time, I bought a big caravan that would be comfortable to live in – even though it meant it would be less convenient for travelling – because I had a gut feeling that I might stay put for a while.

That gut feeling was right.

I love living in Christchurch – more specifically, in South New Brighton. I love the location and the community I’ve created here for myself. In fact, I love it so much that late last year, I was seriously looking into buying a house in the area and settling for good (or at least long term).

There is something very appealing about it – the idea of a simple life here by the beach, surrounded by my community.

It would be easy. Comfortable. But the more I thought about it, the more I doubted that plan. Yes, it would be easy and comfortable. But is that really what I want?

The answer is “No!”. As much as I love my simple, routine life here right now, I know in my heart that it won’t be enough in the long run. That’s not because there is anything wrong with a simple, quiet life. To be honest, there is a part of me that wishes I were the kind of person who is happy and fulfilled living in a small house, deeply embedded in a local community, going ocean swimming every morning and working enough to pay the bills, but not so much it’s stressful. I sometimes envy people who are content with that. In fact, I seriously considered whether my goal should be to learn to be content with that. I feel like life would be easier in many ways. I also think that the constant drive for ‘more’ I – and many others – experience isn’t exactly healthy or good for us.

But, at the end of the day, I am who I am.

I have the heart and soul of an adventurer. I want more from life.

I want a big and bold life. I want adventures and experiences. I want to look back one day and feel like I’ve made the most of my life. When I’m 80, living in a retirement home, I want to be the one who can entertain everyone with stories about her adventures.

Most importantly, I don’t want to look back one day and feel like I’ve missed life.

They say you are much more likely to regret the things you didn’t do, instead of the ones you did do. I don’t want to wake up one day, comfortable and safe but with regrets about all the dreams I never chased.

I came to this realisation at the end of last year. It’s simple, really. As much as I love life in South New Brighton right now, I need a new goal — a new adventure.

I spent a lot of time over summer thinking about what that means. I knew I wanted adventure. But what kind of adventure?

I’ve LOVED my years travelling in my campervans. I loved the freedom and excitement of it. I loved exploring new places, and I loved the simplicity of it. But I don’t want to go back to that lifestyle. It’s too familiar and comfortable to be exciting and challenging. I also feel like it’s getting too crowded – especially in summer.

I realised I don’t just want adventure. I also want a challenge.

I want to push myself outside my comfort zone. I want to learn new things and expand my horizons. Returning to a lifestyle I lived for almost five years would not give me that.

I considered lots of other adventures. I love the idea of doing a long-distance trail at some stage. Given my lack of fitness and wilderness skills, that would definitely be a challenge as well as an adventure. I love the idea of living somewhere super remote for a while, off-grid and away from civilisation. I considered buying some land and creating a sanctuary for rescue animals. I was drawn to the idea of a new hobby like packrafting and all the new adventures that would offer.

Those ideas are exciting and challenging, and they are still on my ‘maybe one day’ list.

But right now, there is one adventure – one dream – calling to me more than all the others.

It’s a dream that, in a way, has been there for a long time – hidden deep in the back of my mind. Every now and then, something I saw or someone I met brought it to the forefront, and I would think to myself, “I’d love to do that someday”. But it always quickly disappeared back into the depth of my mind again, almost forgotten. But never gone all the way.

The dream surfaced once again when I was in the Marlborough Sounds over New Years. I explored almost every day on my paddleboard or with borrowed kayaks, cruising around the bays and the boats anchored in many of them.

I would look at those boats, peacefully swaying in the calm bays, and that long-time, never-entirely-forgotten dream floated to the surface. As I paddled along, I imagined myself living on one of those boats, anchored in a beautiful bay surrounded by nature. I imagined myself living at sea, travelling with the power of the wind, exploring remote bays you can’t reach on land. I imagined the thrill of ocean crossings, being alone with nothing but the sea, wind and wildlife for days and weeks.

Just thinking about it felt exciting as well as daunting – exactly the kind of adventure I was looking for.

My dad is a sailor, and I learned to sail as a kid in a little dinghy. For most of my early childhood, sailing was our family hobby. As I got older, my mum introduced me to horses (much more her passion, at least back then), and sailing was quickly forgotten. For most of my teenage years, my life revolved around horses. However, I never completely left the world of sailing behind.

My dad and my brother were still very passionate about it and had started to go on week-long sailing trips in chartered cruising yachts (we lived far from the sea and usually only sailed trailer boats on a lake). One year, when I was maybe 13 or 14, I decided to join them – and fell in love with that style of sailing. From there on, I’d go on sailing trips with my dad and brother regularly (I think we did a trip most years for a while, but it might have been only every second year).

After I moved to New Zealand, my dad made his big dream come true by buying a beautiful cruising yacht. Since then, I’ve been sailing with him whenever I’m back in Europe – which, admittedly, hasn’t been that often.

In short, sailing has always been a part of my life, but for the most part, it’s been far in the background.

I still remember when I first had the idea to live and travel in a van. I don’t know where the idea came from. It was suddenly just there, and I just knew that it was the right thing to do.

It was the same this time. After considering different ideas and adventures – all exciting but not quite right – this is the one that calls my soul. I’m going to live on a sailboat!

It’s a big dream.

Yes, I learned to sail as a kid, but I also learned to play the flute and let’s just say my neighbours will probably call noise control if I pick that hobby up again (don’t worry, neighbours, I promise I won’t).

I’ve sailed less than a dozen times in the last 25 years, and always with at least one, if not two, experienced sailors (my dad and brother). The last time I was in charge of a boat by myself, I was 10 or 11, and it was a tiny dinghy on a sheltered lake. In other words, I have a lot to learn before I can safely captain a yacht.

It also takes a lot more than sailing skills and experience. I need to learn about boats and gear, mechanics, navigation and lots more. Plus, there is the not-insignificant task of buying a boat (which requires saving money first), and I don’t even know what kind of boat I need or how much it will cost. As I said, lots to learn!

It’s a big goal, and it won’t happen overnight. It’s one thing to start vanlife with minimal experience and knowhow. Sailing is a different story. You can’t just pull over on the side of the road when something goes wrong.

Unlike vanlife, where I went from idea to living the dream in a few months, this dream requires more time and careful planning.  

I intend to use 2025 and 2026 to learn. I’ve already started reading books and watching YouTube channels. I plan to join a sailing course in spring, and then I’ll try to sail as much as possible over summer. Luckily, there is a fairly active sailing club here in Christchurch. I’m hoping there will be opportunities to join boat owners as crew regularly so I can get lots of experience.

I hope to be ready to buy my own boat by the end of 2026 – in time for summer. This will largely depend on how much money I can save and when the right boat comes up for sale.

I’ll probably spend a few years sailing around New Zealand to gain skills and confidence. After that, I hope to do some longer trips, maybe to the Pacific Islands or Australia.

And one day, I’ll sail around the world! OK, now I’m getting ahead of myself. That’s years away. But if I dream big, I might as well dream really big!

I love having this plan. In fact, one of the reasons I feel so drawn to this adventure is because of the planning and preparation required. I have so much to learn. It’s daunting and exciting. It’s given me a new direction in life. When I work long hours at the computer now, I know why (so I can buy my boat sooner). When life feels a bit boring, I know it’s only temporary.

Every day, I’m taking steps to make the dream happen. And that’s exciting and motivating.

And I’m excited to start sharing this new adventure with all of you.

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