Post-Travel Depression
Written Post-Bahamas trip in February 2023; after an epic adventure on Sail La Vie, a 46’ sailing catamaran, with Steph, Cole, their dogs, and a few other awesome ladies.
Is there such a thing as post-travel depression? Or a depression you get after having an epic experience and come back to real life and not know what to do with your life? I’ve fully hit reverse culture shock. Put me back in the Bahamas please.
The minimalist lifestyle. It’s so simple. Back to the basics, living off the land and ocean.
I’ve always wanted to live off the ocean and land. I’ve always wanted to hunt for my own food, catch my own ingredients, and prepare them. Live off grid and survive out in the wild.
Who else gets to do this? Only the ones who risk it.
I have been in a weird funk all week. I just got back from the Bahamas and was so excited to share the memories that were created on the trip. I have shared with my friends what I experienced while sailing in the Bahamas and how epic of an adventure it was. But, to understand the magic of it, you had to be there to experience it. Now, back to reality.
After talking with the owner of the boat, Steph, about chasing dreams and making plans to make it happen, I went through a few days of knowing exactly what I wanted to do with my life in the coming years. Now I am in a weird stage of “What am I doing with my life currently? Do I really have to go back to reality?” I love my life and am so thankful for all that I get to do, but now I am not on a boat… living boat life. FOMO is real guys…
On the boat, I felt like I really connected with like-minded humans. They understood my dreams and what kind of life I wanted for myself. They understood, all too well, that 99% of people tell you that you can’t do it and roll their eyes as you tell them what’s eating you up all the time. When people ask what’s on my mind, sometimes I don’t want to explain. They will just say that I have the dreamer’s disease.
But why else are we alive, if not to dream, and chase after what makes our hearts beat?
I want to live on a sailing catamaran, instead of a house.
Dream it
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Dream it 〰️
After I returned home, I immediately went through my entire closet to clean things out that were unnecessary, as if I had been living life incorrectly; as if I needed to detox my life from its reality. Why am I living with so many things?? Why do I need clothes in my closet that I’ve never worn or have only worn once a year?
I want the minimalist lifestyle that living on a boat has to offer. Living simple; not above my means. Just because I can buy something doesn’t mean I should. When you don’t have a huge amount of space to store things, you put more thought into what you purchase.
When prepping for the trip, Steph told me to pack barely anything. She said to only bring two pairs of shorts, a few bikinis, and two shirts. We could share everything else.
I literally wore one pair of shorts the entire trip and two shirts. They didn’t even get dirty… maybe just a little salty ;)
But I don’t mind that at all. I love the feeling of being salty.
I went grocery shopping the day after returning home. When pulling out of the driveway to head to Publix, I thought to myself, “Wow, I have to buy my fish at the grocery store, not dive for it. Weird. I don’t have to physically work for my food.”
I asked the fish butcher at Publix where the fish came from. He told me to look at the label. I looked at the label and it read Iceland. My next question was answered when I asked how fresh the fish was; the butcher replied, “Look at the label.” Well, the label stated fresh, never frozen.
But how could it not be frozen when traveling from Iceland to Florida? How do I know where it had traveled and what it was put through during its journey? How fresh was it?
I am doing further research on fish freshness, courtesy of Valentine Thomas, and I’m still learning about the packaging of fish. Feel free to comment if you have any insight.
After the sailing trip, I fell into post-travel depression and reverse culture shock. Why does no one else talk about the dreams they have inside their heads? Why is no one else questioning where things come from or what journey it has been through to get to you?
I think we get so caught up in life with our jobs and activities, that we forget we are here to make memories and try things that excite us. I know how I want to live. I want to make it full time.
I want to hunt my fish straight from the source, filet it myself, and cook it on the spot.
I want to make pirate punches with friends (rum punches), talk about our craziest adventures, our dreams, what we plan to do with our lives short term and long term, and how to make it all work.
I want to live how most people don’t. I want to go off the beaten path (literally), straight into the ocean and travel my big heart out. Time is our most valuable asset in this life. We don’t know how much we have of it and we forget that often. We should make the most of it while we’re here.