A Life Less Stressful

A couple of weeks ago, I was chatting with a friend of ours at the marina about our respective future plans, and she said that when she and her husband returned to the U.S. for a visit people kept coming up to them and saying that they'd changed, that they were different somehow, more relaxed and happy. I have found myself feeling much the same way - relaxed, happy, not worried or anxious about stuff and pretty darn excited about our travels and the future. All of which got me to wondering, why does this life seem so less stressful than our lives back home?

You could say that it's from not working, but we do work. We work on our boat all the time and on other people's boats on occasion. Granted, it's not the kind of work where you commute two hours a day and toil away in a concrete box under florescent lighting, but it's also not always peachy either. It's hot, sweaty and often times filled with bits of varnish. In addition, we have been traveling in places where we don't speak the language and don't always get every cultural nuance, making for some frustrating situations. Add to that, trying to get parts in foreign countries and dealing with bureaucracy and the pot might boil over, so to speak.

Not to mention, that sailing itself isn't exactly stress free. Squalls pop up. Essential equipment breaks. The wind or the current isn't always in your favor. You have to be able to make good decisions under pressure, to problem solve in a way you rarely would in the suburbs, all while knowing that if you can't figure it out there is probably no one else nearby who can help you. 

And yet, for all that, it's a much more pleasant way to live, and here's my theory as to why. The stressors people are subjected to in the modern world are a constant hum. Small as they may be, there is rarely an escape. When cruising, however, your adrenaline spikes when a squall comes out of nowhere. You reef the sails and get ready. Then in 30 minutes or an hour, it's over, and you go back to staring at the never-ending ocean. When stressors come up, you deal with them, and then they mostly get resolved. But dealing with that morning traffic on a freeway never goes away until you either retire or move to a town with public transportation.

Plus, the pace of life is just plain slower in Central America, and it also helps that we get to be outside all the time with lots of swimming and beachy goodness. So for everyone planning to sail off into the sunset, the experience has brightened my mood and my perspective, and I would love to hear some other thoughts on this topic from other cruisers.

Here's a nice post by S.V. Nyon that touches on a similar theme.