Cruising reality can differ from dreams. Several times recently I’ve had first-year cruisers tell me that the reality of cruising has been very different from what they expected.
Social Media and Cruising
I think social media has a lot to do with that, and I don’t mean that it’s intentional. But if you’re thinking about cruising, you’re likely to be following a number of other cruisers on Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube (you are following us, right?). But those are, really, a highlights reel – with a few lowlights thrown in too.
I know that what I post isn’t an accurate reflection of what my cruising days were like. Short of a minute by minute video for at least a week, I don’t think that it’s possible to give a sense of the day-to-day reality of cruising. And even then, a “typical” day is different for every different person and is startlingly different depending on where you are.
Experience and Cruising
I also know that a typical day when we started cruising was very different from what it was 5 years in, or 10 years in. Initially, absolutely everything was new to us. It took time to develop our routines and our way of doing things. What took an hour in our first year might only take 10 minutes in year 5, leaving time to do other things.
Checking out social media isn’t a bad start for learning what cruising is like – I don’t mean to imply that. But it’s not remotely a complete picture, any more than it is for land dwellers.
Try a Charter
I tend to suggest that people go on a charter trip – at least three days but hopefully a week or more – before they jump too far into “going cruising.” Again, a charter, even a bareboat, will be different than what life will be on your own boat (primarily since you aren’t responsible for maintenance and repairs), but it’ll give you a bit more insight into the life.
A charter isn’t a cheap vacation, but there are ways to make it less expensive: share a boat with friends; find a place nearby instead of a remote location; go in the off-season; cook your own meals instead of eating out; don’t stay in marinas; if you’re qualified, do a bareboat instead of a captained charter.
Dave and I did five charters before buying our own boat, three of them bareboat, one with a captain, and one with both a captain and cook/hand. We loved those trips just as vacations but they did a lot to prepare us for a life afloat.
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Carolyn Shearlock has lived aboard full-time for 17 years, splitting her time between a Tayana 37 monohull and a Gemini 105 catamaran. She’s cruised over 14,000 miles, from Pacific Mexico and Central America to Florida and the Bahamas, gaining firsthand experience with the joys and challenges of life on the water.
Through The Boat Galley, Carolyn has helped thousands of people explore, prepare for, and enjoy life afloat. She shares her expertise as an instructor at Cruisers University, in leading boating publications, and through her bestselling book, The Boat Galley Cookbook. She is passionate about helping others embark on their liveaboard journey—making life on the water simpler, safer, and more enjoyable.
Brian G. Beaudry says
I took note of this comment. “I’ve had first-year cruisers tell me that the reality of cruising has been very different from what they expected. I think social media has a lot to do with that, and I don’t mean that it’s intentional.”
No – it’s intentional. I am reading Yuval Noah Harari’s “Nexus.” The purpose of social media is engagement. It is to suck you in and keep you there. It is mostly commercials, just like television. AI will make this many times worse. There are great exceptions, such as Sam Holmes and others who educate while entertaining and informing. Most of them need the engagement to get the views, to get the money, to keep going. As Harari would say, it’s a “story.”
My rule of thumb is, if there is an attractive young women in a thong bikini, that’s the most interesting thing about it.