It's not easy to leave the "normal" world and go sailing.

There is no easy answer for "Where do you live?" Mail has a hard time reaching you. Keeping in contact with friends is difficult.

But those are all relatively simple to deal with. The more difficult issue is what happens to the lost years?

I went sailing young. Most people that do it are retired, and have some form of residual income. They have made enough to last them through the rest of their years. I didn't do that. I knew from the beginning that I only had enough to last 3 to 5 years. So I made the best of it.

While I was in the middle of the Atlantic, after being away for about two years, I found out that Bungie had been sold to Microsoft. Had I stayed behind, I probably would have had something like a seven figure bonus that year. But I was literally in the middle of the Atlantic when it happened. I had days to spend thinking about it, and realized at the time, my two years had been worth the lost income. I had no regrets.

Now that I've been "back" for a couple of years, I sometimes second guess that. Which is foolish, because the important thing is that I didn't have regrets then, and that's when it was fresh. Now, however, I'm having a hard time finding my place.

When I left, I had a serious income stream, and all my friends where just getting out of school. Now they have all surpassed me.

My business contemporaries now have 8 years more experience, plus 8 years of income, while I was living on savings for 4 years.

My résumé has huge holes in it, because I haven't been working a contemporary job. I have a vast set of experiences, but figuring out how to market them is difficult.

The women that I am interested in have been working for those 8 years, continuing to make money and have successful lives. This puts me at a disadvantage, because they have more resources at their disposal than I have.

It's interesting, because one of my first girlfriend's used to say that money couldn't buy happiness. While I agree in principal, money does take a lot of stress off of situations, and allows for more chances to have fun.

Today I was helping Rick with this computer issues, and I was at his house. We watched the game in his living room, and I was petting his dog, Beau. He was a beautiful dog. Had I not gone sailing, I would also have a house. And probably a dog. But right now I'm unsure of my future, so I can't get another pet.

Would I do things differently if I had to go back? I don't think so.

Right now I'm in a difficult place. I'm actively looking for jobs where I could live aboard Valkyrie, and if I can find one soon, I'm sure I'll be just fine.

Let's just hope.