Crossroads - life is full of them leaving us at the mercy of our own whim on how to proceed.
Cancel the coffee meeting with someone you just met so you use the time to catch up on other things?
Kindly decline the offer from a friend with an extra ticket to attend a concert for a band you're uncertain of?
We all know the scenarios. I would like to share a recent crossroad story which ended up providing my sister with a newfound passion for travel and adventure. About three weeks ago I was asked if I wanted to go with a friend to meet a group of guys that have just sailed into Sydney before going out for dinner. It had been a long day and I was hungry and I have to admit at first I was more concerned about getting food so thought I would hold off on the meeting. However, I had a feeling in my gut that told me I really should go say hi to these guys. After all, despite living in a beautiful harbour like Sydney - people sailing in from outside of the city doesn't happen every day so I was interested in the story.
The crossroad.
I went with my friend to say hello to these guys while on my way to dinner. As we approached the wharf where they were waiting for us I saw there were a couple people standing at the dock waiting to load us into a dinghy to take us out to their large catamaran sailboat where we were going to chat there.
Interesting. Ok I was in, dinner could wait.
I had no idea this decision would lead to me watching my sister taking sailing lessons..
In minutes we were off to the ship passing oncoming Sydney harbour traffic on the way.
Once on board I met the four sailors of the ship that quickly and very kindly entertained my many questions about their trip. Sadly one guy had to go back to shore almost straight away but the remaining three guys and my friend continued our chat. They told us stories of getting struck by lightning out to sea, swimming with whales, and about little islands that few people have ever even seen. You could tell by the way their tone lowered and eyes seemed have a thousand-yard stare on a point in the horizon that only they could see while they talked of these things, that they've just experienced the trip of a lifetime. All the guys were from Sweden and flew to the Caribbean to purchase their boat. From there the sailed across the sea on a 12 month journey bringing them to Australia where they plan to sell the boat and then return to Sweden to pursue various individual endeavours.
To make the story even more interesting - in our conversation we uncovered that the guys and I have many mutual friends in Sweden that I knew from a student exchanged to Mexico over 10 years ago! You seriously cannot make this stuff up.
I was blown away by their story and instantly called my friend Frank that is a radio host at SBS as I thought he may like to run a story on it. I was right, and two days later Frank and I were back out on the boat to meet the guys for an interview.
That interview went great and while the guys were in town I also reached out to my friend Tim who is a host on ABC radio who also managed to get them on the show nation wide. To make it more interesting they had to do that call from the boat as they had to sail north to sell the boat in Brisbane before returning to Sweden. Theirs is a great story and very inspiring so I was happy to help them get the word out there.
So, back to how this all impacts my sister.
Anna (sister) flew out to Australia to spend Christmas with me this year. I come from the US originally and have been here for 13 years so she took the opportunity (finally!) to come and see the life I've been living here for over a decade. This was her first time out of the US and she was up for as much of an adventure as she could fit into her 2 week break from her role as a nurse back home. Always being up for an adventure myself my wheels have been turning on the types of things we could get up to while she was here. Then it hit me, the guys on the sailboat are sailing north in a couple days and my sister has never seen anything remotely close to the open sea (not a lot of ocean in Minnesota). I wondered if there was a way to get ourselves on the boat as the guys headed north?! In a conversation with the guys they admitted that they certainly had the room and would be more than happy to take us along, providing we knew there would be no chance of turning around so there was a risk and a concern about seasickness as the sea was meant to be quite rough on the first day of our three day trip.
Another crossroad.
My sister and I both accepted and before we knew it we were sailing off on the trip of a lifetime the very next day!
Not only did we have an AMAZING time together taking in sights such as a huge shark trailing the boat for a while, many dolphins and at night the waves lit up with bioluminescence giving us a light show that will stay in our memories forever. The guys even took the time to give us the ins and outs of sailing which my sister absolutely loved - and was likely on the wheel for the majority of the second day. Insert proud brother smile here.
She has now returned to the US and admitted that this trip has inspired her to go see more and take on more adventure in her life, which makes me happier than I can explain. Shes even said she will join me in Norway next August while Im taking on the biggest mountain bike race in the Arctic!
Now, when her and I talk about our mini adventure due to that fateful crossroad we both get that same thousand-yard stare at a point off in the horizon that nobody else can see but us.
Here we are watching the sunrise over the ocean - sharing an experience neither of us expected.
Thank you for reading and consider your crossroads carefully :)
Josh
More on my adventures at www.outspire.org