I met a retired couple that has lived on a Yacht for the last 15 years.
I was checking out a Cave near Margaret River when I met them.
They asked me where I was from. “Melbourne”.
I asked them.
“NSW but get this, we have been living on a Yacht in the Mediterranean Sea near Greece for the last 15 years.“
I hit them with a flood of questions.
Why?
What?
How?
Is it expensive?
Seriously, how?
Do you get bored?
I had this sense that they could teach me something, so I chased them down again and asked even more questions.
I left inspired.
Here are my 8 takeaways
1️⃣ They introduced themselves as “Young Merv and Princess Judy”
A clever way to adopt a favourable identity that you can’t help but live into.
Despite being in their 70s and 80s, they were young.
They still went on long walks and rode their bikes.
Sure, living on a yacht and exploring the world would keep them young.
So does their language.
2️⃣ They broke the conventional rules.
I thought living in a house was kind of something we all have to do.
Nope.
I wondered what other rules I was blindly following.
—> Could I live somewhere else? or in something other than a house?
—> Could I work less, still make enough money, and help heaps of people?
—> How much money have I been conditioned to think I need and how much do I actually need?
—> What if I didn’t have a phone? or use the internet?
3️⃣ They tried stuff with their careers.
Princess Judy had worked as a teacher, ran a few businesses, fixed boats, and a few more I can’t remember.
It was inspiring to meet someone who consistently redefined that answer to the question, “What do you do?”
A fun thought experiment for me.
What would I do, if I wasn’t a doctor?
No longer Dr G, but ‘G’.
4️⃣ They were busy living.
“What do you do on your free time? Do you watch things on Youtube or something?” I asked.
They laughed.
“Free time? What free time? All of our time is spent either fixing the boat, exploring a country, or researching our next destination.”
5️⃣ “My kids are older than me”
A hilarious and powerful statement.
I almost felt they were talking about me.
How many of us are guilty of getting serious about life?
How many of us have lost touch with their sense of adventure, wonder, and spontaneity?
6️⃣ “It’s a wonderful way to live”
They said this multiple times.
How often do you hear people say this?
When someone does, pick their brain (and write about it in your newsletter 😉).
7️⃣ They made us laugh
“We decided not to have kids. We will tell them in the morning.”
Humour was key to their youth, assuming they were joking.
8️⃣They taught me a new word: Coddiwomple
Coddiwomple means to ‘travel with a sense of purpose towards a vague or unknown destination’.
Doesn’t it sound nice to not have a fixed end goal for once?
Purposefully moving towards an unknown destination and letting life unfold sounds kinda nice.
My perspective transformed in one conversation.
At the very least, I know now that you can live on a yacht for 15 years.
I have a young man and a princess to thank for that 😃
✨ What’s ONE thing you will try to bring a little bit of Merv and Judy into your life? (CONTACT ME BELOW and let me know!)
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Much love to you and of course, myself.
Dr G
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I love to work with people who want to do the same and need a system and the accountability.
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