Losing Your Cruising

Whenever Carol or I get stressed out about something silly, we jokingly ask each other “Are you losing your cruising?” – as in, are all of the hours of relaxation gone in an instant because of some very silly thing like (literally) spilt milk?

We also apply the phrase “losing your cruising” to the more unfortunate phenomena of cruisers who get pissy about locals while running boat errands.

How is it that a group of people (cruisers) who have made the conscious choice to prioritize their lifestyle over the endless pursuit of material goods, when in “boat errand mode” suddenly are unable to respect someone else (a South Pacific Islander for example) prioritizing their own lifestyle over the endless pursuit of material goods?

((if your brain hurts right now, I empathize, so does mine))

It is as if the relaxed, laid back cruisers flip a switch in their behavior when they go to do errands that puts them in “business mode”.

While in business mode, they expect that people will hold to a fixed schedule, will proactively force things to happen instead of reacting to events outside of their control and will value money over a balanced life.

Once business and boat errands are finished, the cruisers go about enjoying their completely unfixed schedule, reacting to the weather and opportunities that come up, and continue valuing their lifestyle over the endless rat race.

Let’s all try this: When doing boat errands, refuse to lose your cruising.