Sail Away With Me

The thought of sailing around the world inspires serious wanderlust in many of us, but what’s it like to actually do it? To find out, we caught up with ZIVILE and KEN POWERS who quit their day jobs to circumnavigate the globe.

- Gracie Stewart

Let’s be honest, we’ve all thought about ditching the 9-to-5 grind in favour of full-time globetrotting. After all, one look at Instagram can make it seem like everyone else is already doing it. From adventure-loving couples to record breaking solo travellers and parents who believe in world-schooling their children, people from all walks of life are setting out on some serious FOMO-inducing voyages.

But when it comes time to actually following in the footsteps of these #traveljunkies, it’s not always smooth sailing.

Life changes

After being made redundant in 2016, Lithuanian Zivile (who also goes by Isabelle or just “Z”), 41, and her American husband Ken, 58, decided it was time to trade in rush-hour traffic and the stress of their corporate jobs to create their own lifestyle – one that involved circumnavigating the world on their very own yacht and documenting their travels on social media.

Ken, who at the time owned three businesses, had just lost a good friend to cancer and was battling his own health issues. “One of the reasons why I really wanted to take on this adventure was because the doctors told me I needed new hips. I thought, well, maybe I also need a change of lifestyle. I need to do this while I still can because if I get too old it won’t happen.”

With that in mind, the pair sold their home in San Diego, California and used the money, along with Zivile’s redundancy package, to buy a sailboat in the small Caribbean island of Martinique. They officially set sail in January 2017.