Podcast Interview: Sailing? Adventure? Or Merely a Way of Life?

Mehari

Erik Hemingway is a father of six and a firm believer in adventure. In 2009 he sold all his possessions and moved onto a sailboat with his wife and small children. That’s right: five. And they had another baby along the way, in Israel. They turned off the autopilot of their everyday (and mostly easy) land-based lifestyle and took a harder route, sailing for three years. Now they are back in North Carolina, and they are so committed to encouraging families to step away from routine that they run a website and podcast series in which Erik interviews traveling families.

His goals are clearly stated in his opening paragraph on his site:

If you have a dream to travel, but feel like you can’t live adventurously until the kids are safely tucked away in college, think again! The goal of this website is to get you traveling & we think it’s the best thing you can do for your family! We want to give you the tools and advice to help you make decisions, and to dream BIG and GO! We think life is short and we all want to live with no regrets. 


You'll find sailors in the interview series, including our friends on Totem and others we don't know such as  father-daughter team who bonded as they crossed oceans together.

But on the site you’ll also discover stories you’d never expect: a family traveling the US by bus, a single mom and her son in Central and South America, a family doing slow, deliberate travel (and Jason is also an expert in how to jump properly), a single mum with a 9-year-old son, a single dad who understands the need to stop and breathe, a father and daughter connecting through travel – without iPods and other modern conveniences – and a family on bikes, traveling 17,000 miles, from Alaska to Argentina.

 These are serious adventurers. And you can find them and their websites and blogs here.

Momo in Fiji

In our interview, we focus on why and how we set sail with babies, the practicalities of getting underway, how we earn a living in order to carry on, the lifelong learning curve of living this way, the need for a sound vessel, the timing of departures, and the inevitable fears that influence the decisions people may or may not make to step out of the routine. And how we’re really just a couple of homebodies.

This felt more like a conversation than a formal interview. And Erik has an excellent radio voice (better than either of us; he must be trained professional).

 You can hear it here. 

 Thanks to Erik Hemingway for getting in touch. Onward!