Gaylyn | Chi (boat)
“I live on a boat called Chi, and Chi is my home. We’ve been living on the boat for six years now, and we’re going to be mooring Chi at Waiheke, and spend the winter in Waiheke, instead of going to the islands this year.
I feel inspired daily. I have a beautiful life, and I always do some grateful exercises and I get inspired quite easily. Actually, probably the biggest inspiration recently was at the festival SPLORE, and I sat next to a Māori fellow, and we talked about what I wanted to do for my next books, which is called New Zealand’s Backpacking Practical and Spiritual Guide, and I wanted to include a lot of spiritual aspirations of the Māori people throughout New Zealand, and so he told me a lot of good information, and he’s really got me inspired to get going with that project.
I was travelling around the world looking for my next adventure in life. I’d been teaching for 25 years, and I just felt that I needed something new in my life. I loved the water, and I wanted to a find a job really on a boat. I was crewing for different people, and then I crewed for this German fellow for a trip to get to Malta. I just had a friend of mine say to me, Gaylyn meet me in Malta – I miss you – come to Malta. And I went, no I’m going to Turkey – come and see me in Turkey. And she went, yeah – yeah, I’ll try and get over. Anyway, then I saw this person on Find A Crew, and I was talking to him, and he said, yes I need crew to get to Malta. And I thought, whoa okay – this is a message – I need to meet this person. Now this person’s my husband, and we’ve been sailing around the world ever since.
After 10 days he said to me, why don’t you just not get off my boat, and sail around the world with me? And now we’re in my home country, New Zealand and he loves it, and so he’s become a resident, and we plan on cruising up in the islands, teaching a little bit up in there. He does computer teaching, and it’s beautiful. You meet wonderful people. You have a family on the ocean, and I have a family here in Titirangi. My grandson’s are here, and my son and daughter-in-law are here in Titirangi. So it’s the best of the whole world.
I guess people. People; I don’t judge people. What I do is I see people living different lifestyles and living life a different way to me, and I just think it’s wonderful watching people do things and enjoy life. Their ideas give me ideas, and then my ideas grow from that, and I’m inspired by seeing the good in people. I love people and what good they have to offer the world and, and making everybody’s life more enjoyable. So, I don’t believe in random acts of kindness; I actually believe in conscious acts of kindness. I actually go out of my way to be kind.”
