We crossed an ocean backwards!

What we learned from going straight into the wind.

Apr 27, 2023

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”We just crossed an ocean backwards.”

~ Will Sueiro, April 2023

I was in Europe alone two months ago for several reasons, one being the building of our Barcelona group trip in October. By day I would roam the colorful and energetic streets finding the perfect places for us to rest our heads, as well as darling eateries for our food adventures with the group. At night I dined with our friends and shared traveling lifestyle stories over laughs and ceviche. It was a great trip, but simultaneously Will and I had to make a big decision in under 48 hours with 5,000 miles separating us and a six-hour time change.

Our life has always been a series of events going straight into the wind. We don’t get to live like this because we go 120 degrees off the wind, 365 days a year.

When I returned to the boat from Barcelona we almost immediately crossed the Panama Canal and set off on our 2050 nm journey north to Mexico. A journey that was a result of the big decision we made in Spain to wait a year to cross to French Polynesia. This sailing journey north was supposed to take a little over two weeks but ended up being a full 22 days. We had one crew member (Samuel) who joined us for the entire journey and another (Louise-Océane) who we picked up in Mexico for our final two weeks. It was a rough passage. Some seasickness, a lot of broken stuff (boats don’t like to bang into the wind for 22 days), a temperamental water maker (water on the boat), an oil leak, you get the picture.

I spent my days and nights gazing into the ocean during my watches thinking about our journey directly into the wind (literally and figuratively) and what we have learned as a result of not always taking the path most traveled in life.

It will get uncomfortable

This sail was super uncomfortable. I had to use my seasickness patches the entire time. Louise-Océane threw up for a couple of days, which never happens to her. My neck was sore from all the bouncing. But, we survived with some discomfort, the journey however was amazing. Dolphin sightings, ceviche made from our daily catch, funny stories, deep conversations, and lots of learning, lots and lots.

This travel life is full of discomfort, which is why the saying “If it were easy, everyone would do it,” is often used when referring to WorldTowning. If you want easy trust me when I tell you to stay put. You will always be able to know the plan, understand the grocery store items, request the barista who knows exactly how you like your Starbucks, and much more.

However, the growth happens in the discomfort. And one day you will wake up craving the discomfort. Craving the unknown. Craving to be way out of your comfort zone. You will long for the unrecognizable items at the grocery store that you are certain is cheese and you get home, bite into it and not only is it not cheese, you have no idea what the hell it is. You will order a decaf tea and end up with a decaf coffee when you are confident you asked for the tea, but you will find delight in decaf as you had never once drunk it before. And what was the plan for the day, will not be, but a new plan will emerge that is better than you had ever imagined.

Whatever your life path is there will be discomfort if you are going after your true north.

Things will break, hopefully not the people, but if they do they too can be fixed.

Never have we had so many things break on a sail? Never. Even after the 2,800 nm crossing of the Atlantic. You name it and it had an issue. And all of us crew had our breaking days as well.

When things break it brings a great understanding of how they work and an appreciation for their purpose. One of the harder parts of things breaking in this WorldTowning life is that a solution is not always 24 hours away and arrives in an Amazon box. We have to hack it, improvise and problem-solve the heck out of it.

Things break in our lives, just like on a boat. How we handle it emotionally and figure out a solution is the difference between continuing or not. If we don’t fix it on a boat we could sink and die literally. If we don’t fix it in our lives we sink and die figuratively. It is important to fix those things before they sink. Fix the career, fix the relationships with those you love, fix ourselves, the trauma, the self-hate, the jealousy, all of it.

Problems need solving on their schedule

If only the boat would wait until August each year when all we did was fix things in inexpensive places around the world, with perfect wifi, yummy food, good community, and free massages. Ha! Never has a sailor ever seen this scenario.

The problems on the boat decide when we fix them. Just like the couple who is struggling in their relationship or the teen who needs to be heard. We don’t get to schedule these solutions for when it is convenient for us. Being flexible to all the problems, complications, and emotions that emerge in life and dealing with them when they need it is a challenge, to say the least with busy lives, social, work, etc but honoring the problem allows us to deal with it head on and not send it to purgatory for eternity.

You always have a choice

We had a choice to not motor directly into the wind. We could have tacked back-and-forth sailing and added a week to our sail. We decided otherwise and chose to face the music and that music was loud, but we got to make that choice and we are happy with where we landed.

You have a choice in how you live your life. You can go into the wind directly and take life head on or tack back and forth and meander, hoping it will work out. Choices can also change. On our sail, we talked about tacking back and forth and everyone agreed that the sail was shitty and we only had a couple of days left so we forged ahead.

Attitude matters. Laugh.

When you are throwing up, the water maker is leaking, the cat shits on the floor and you step in it and you catch a fish while the blood flicks into your hatch and subsequently on your bed, you have to laugh. The attitude you take will either make or break the experience.

We have had an RV fire, been robbed, slid down a ravine, been assaulted, been verbally abused, and mansplained, all of it. If we did not have a good attitude we would have been back home living with our parents scared and upset. It takes a thick skin, yes to live the life of your dreams, but also a great attitude.

Directly into the wind is how we have lived our lives together, it’s how we parent and it is how Will and I were before we ever met each other. It’s not for everyone, but what I can say is that tacking back and forth when it does not feel right will not yield what you want in life. Crossing an ocean backwards is very symbolic of how we have lived our lives as well, backwards from many, criticized by some, but have crossed many an ocean in life (literally and figuratively) banging it out and living those dreams. You can do it too.

Thank you for joining us this week. Would love your thoughts on going against the wind in life. Has it worked for you? Are you opposed to it? Are you thinking about trying it out? Have a fabulous weekend.

xoxo,
Jess

Last week’s vlog

It has been almost two months since we released a vlog which makes us horribly frustrated, but life has happened and much has been beyond our control. We have to sit in peace with that, but it does not mean we like it. In last week's vlog we finally leave Colombia, share all of our boat upgrades, and make our way to a new magical land. Drop us a comment on YouTube or share your thoughts below. What would you like to see more of? Less of? New topics you wish we would explore? See you next week!

Dungeons and Dragons Clubs by Largo!

Registration is open, the website will be ready this weekend, but for now message Largo (largo@sueiro.me) the time slot you want and for information on payment. The clubs will be for 10 weeks with 4 kids in each club.

Starts May 5th and ends July 7th, on Fridays.
4:00-6:00pm EST (ages 10-12) (2 remaining)
6:00-8:00pm EST (ages 13-15) (2 remaining)

If there is interest in a Saturday morning group he will offer it as well for those of you in Europe and Asia or who do not fit in the above time zone.

8:00-10:00am EST (ages 10-12) (2 remaining)

This will be a fee-based club for $75 USD, for 10 sessions, lasting 2 hours each week.

It is not necessary to be experienced as he will teach those who have never played before, but slight knowledge of the concept is needed.

He looks forward to guiding your child through the D and D experience.

Come hike with us in Spain

The Camino has made the “Top 5 Experiences” list by all four WorldTowning family members year after year. Avalon, Largo, Will, and I hiked the entire Camino Frances in 2018. 44 days, 516 miles, and loads of memories. It was magical, enlightening, a test of our endurance, an intense family bonding time, life-changing and so much more. Everyone should go on a nice LONG walk, but if you can’t carve out that much time then how about a week with Will, Largo, and I?

The Camino de Santiago known in English as the Way of St James and also just “The Way”, is a network of pilgrims’ ways leading to the shrine of the apostle Saint James the Great in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in northwestern Spain, where tradition holds that the remains of the apostle are buried. Originally a religious pilgrimage it is now home to those seeking recharge time, exercise, personal enlightenment, big decision-making, celebration, connection to their hiking partner, and yes, for some a religious pilgrimage. Most consider it a mental, physical, and spiritual challenge.

We will start our days at dawn just after we enjoy our café con leche and a Spanish-style breakfast. Our hikes on the Camino, a UNESCO World Heritage site will take us through fragrant forests, small villages with ancient churches, and architectural eye candy. We will arrive at our accommodations welcomed with a comfy bed, hot shower, and a peaceful setting, often will church bells tolling in the far-off distance. Our evenings will be filled with local Galician food which could include tapas, pulpo (octopus), and of course vino tinto (red wine), all while we enjoy deep, meaningful, and fun conversations with our new friends.

Watch our 43 Camino vlogs to learn about what you might expect from this trip.

We will hike 5 days for a total of 100km from Sarria to Santiago and receive our compostela at the finish line. On our final day, we will walk into the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela or admire it from the outside, depending on your wishes.

What are the advantages of walking the Camino as a group?

You will make friends with other WorldTowning Voyages guests who are like-hearted, seek adventure, and love to learn. In essence, be part of a really cool group. Our group will also be a support system for those tough days and a helping hand when you might need an extra snack or a Band-Aid.
We plan it all for you. We reserve your accommodations. You can forward your backpack if you don’t want to carry it (an additional fee applies). And if you need a zero-day we can arrange transportation to the next location (additional fee applies). You walk and we handle the rest.
We have reserved fabulous eateries for breakfast and dinner, you are only responsible for lunch and we can guide you to a meal you might enjoy.
You get to hike with a family (and WorldTowning Voyages founders) who have hiked the entire trail and who are full-time travelers. We are a relationship-based group travel company. We want to get to know you.
Swag (big wink). We are having special gifts made for this event and this amazing group of humans.

For full details, itinerary, and pricing head over to our website. We look forward to meeting you and hiking together.

We are hiring a vlog editor

This is a 100% remote opportunity.

NECESSARY TECHNICAL SKILLS:

Proficiency in Adobe Premiere Pro
Proficiency in Adobe After Effects
Mac user

RESPONSIBILITIES:

Take original files in Premiere Pro timeline and trim out the non-essential parts.
Assemble the remaining clips into a cohesive storyline in PP accompanied by notes with ideas for adding in effects, color correction, music, and transitions.
Upon delivery of the rough cut, we will complete the projects on our side until we become comfortable that our existing editing styles are compatible.
Eventually, the goal is to transition the majority (if not all) of the editing to you and we will do the final touches.
We normally shoot about 60 minutes of footage per weekly episode. We release on Fridays in the AM.
Eventually take over dynamic thumbnail creation.
We will be looking to you to make suggestions on how we can improve the vlog regarding quality and content. We value your input.

MUST POSSESS THE FOLLOWING QUALITIES:

Reliable workspace, wifi, and computer.
25-30 hours a week, 1 vlog per week & start of the next week's vlog.
$1600 per month.
Video editing experience.
Ability to manage a project from start to finish.
Ability to tell a story.
Experience posting on social media.
Creative and able to adapt to new trends.
Self-starter able to work with ambitious goals.
Eager to learn and grow.
Ability to meet deadlines.
Strong problem-solving skills
Fast learner
We travel full-time which means we shuffle between timezones and the perfect candidate would need to be cognizant of this and flexible to meet our deadlines.

Please send your CV (does not need to be editing-based) and sample links to editing projects you have completed to jessica@worldtowning.com. Also, please share why you are the ideal candidate.

She is coming back for 14 days!

Goodbye, big building, Carnegie Mellon University, cold weather, hello boat, backpack, and sweaty bodies. Avalon has an action-packed summer which I will share with you as it unfolds. First up is closing out her freshmen year at uni and then a 14-day traveling adventure in a new state with a friend, 5 days of which she will solo travel. Then we get her for 2 weeks on the boat. We will frolic around some amazing Mexican islands, do a 4-day sail, and then 4 days of boat work, no free rides on Friendship. She will then leave us for 3 weeks in NYC for an intensive summer program to exercise her creative juices after an intense academic year. More on her fabulous first year later in a future newsletter, but for now let’s say we are so darn excited to see her. After NYC she will join us in a far-off land for some travel as a family and solo travel with her BFF, Mr. Largo.

What questions do you have about her first year of university? Drop them in the comments and I will answer them in a future newsletter.

Where are we now?

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Leaving tomorrow or Saturday so I thought I would get this newsletter out early. Yippie! As I mentioned before, we try to release on Mondays, but some are later and some are super early depending on our travel schedule. Our fabulous crew, Samuel and Louise-Océane left yesterday for their Pacific Crossing which should take around 22 days so why hang around any longer? The Baja peninsula in Mexico is calling our name. It should only be a 3-day sail and not terribly difficult, but we do have a leaky water maker to contend with first. Always something to fix on the boat. Have a great weekend everyone. If you are a $10 a month and above Patron expect to see Will’s detailed posts on the tracking link. I love to wake up and read them. Don’t you? Join us!

To learn more about us, our mission, and our business you can visit us at WorldTowning. To view our most recent group trip offerings head on over to WorldTowningvoyages.com. If you are interested in booking a coaching session to realize your travel dream, schedule it here. If you want to follow the travels of our WorldTowning family, you can find us on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok

the "WHY" matters

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