I was dragged kicking and screaming (not literally, but it DOES make for a good story!) by my husband to a part of the country as far from my home in Seattle as it is possible to get, because of his job. I went — because I knew it was temporary — but I was miserable. I had given up the sunset-over-the-mountains-Puget Sound view, complete with ravens, orcas, blue sky and clean air…for a 37th floor condo in a concrete jungle. I was miserable. And because I was miserable, he was miserable. On New Year’s Day, a year into the move, we agreed that the best way to survive the unhappiness was to plot our “escape” by asking: “What would be a big enough reason to make staying in this godforsaken city worth it for the next couple of years?” In other words, “let’s play this like a game. What would make the game worth playing?” We agreed that the coolest way to get home at the end of our exile was on our own boat. We broke out poster board, magic markers, magazines, crayons and post-its, and covered the wall of our living room with the perfect plot: Buy a boat, and when his job was finished, we’d return to Seattle on our own boat — a journey of about 7,000 miles. We played like little kids — and produced a three-year calendar with ‘drop dead dates’ for research, courses, certifications, charts, and other resources we’d need to throw off the lines — and set a date by which we’d start the journey. On January 21, 2007, AS PLANNED, we threw off the lines and headed out to sea on our 49-foot trawler Emma Jo. It’s now November, 2010. We’re a little over 1/3 of the way “home” — currently at a marina in Huatulco, Mexico. In the three years, he’s returned to his regular work (as an engineer on a ship) and I’ve created a new income for myself as a freelance writer — something I can do from anywhere in the world there’s an internet connection. No, we’re not rich. But our life is. The success lies in taking action together to make the most of our circumstances, set common goals together, and create a common goal that lights both of us up. I started a website chronicling our journey — it’s at http://www.emmajo.net.

Frank Kern Internet Marketing

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