19 Comments
User's avatar
Jaime Brandel's avatar

This is just wonderful. I love your quiet adventurous spirit. Beautiful writing. 🩵

Alexander Gunnarsson's avatar

Thank you Jaime, that's such a lovely compliment!

Anita Stegeby Öquist's avatar

Inspiring Alexander🥰

Lita Clary's avatar

Alexander, all I can say is I truly admire your courage and guts. I have to admit I am quite envious of your chosen treatment for burn out. I too, have experienced burn out and chose leaves of absence in order to walk the beaches nearby (Charleston, Hilton Head, and Beaufort, SC and Tybee Island and Golden Isles of Georgia). My ocean connection was my medicine. Llvmmm

projectivators's avatar

We really relate to the idea that sometimes you have to leave the big bits behind to discover one’s inner trout, hiding in the rivers of your own soul. Our own travelogue (from a land yacht) of a similar journey is written from river to river, starting from the Humber to the Tees. Looking forward to more

Alexander Gunnarsson's avatar

Thank you for being here, I love your analogy, it's so relatable, and I'm very curious to read more from your journey :)

Penny's avatar

❤️

Seana Smith's avatar

Hello, enjoying reading around your website. I'm a Scot who sailed around the West Coast with my family as a child, but had to leave Scotland to feel free. Have been living in New South Wales for many years. Off to read more.

Alexander Gunnarsson's avatar

Thank you for reading and for this comment Seana! Would love to hear more of where you sailed back then and if you have sailed since! Scotland to New South Wales is quite the move, but also a lot of good sailing as far as I know :)

Emma Connolly's avatar

Looking forward to reading through your posts. This sounds like a book I’d love to read!

Alexander Gunnarsson's avatar

Thank you for the support Emma, hope to get the book out there in not too long :)

Cameron Alexander's avatar

Great to read about your story Alexander, thank you for sharing it.

I look forward to learning more, and, for stories and pictures of your time out with Kismet. I took a similar journey, on foot, across Assynt very recently, a reconfiguration of sorts. I am in a transformative period in my life and the journey has played a big part in that. It seems that yours did also.

Fair winds to you too!

Cameron

Alexander Gunnarsson's avatar

Thank you, Cameron! Assynt is my favourite place and I got to sail past it with a very unique perspective from the water! I would love to return on foot, and looking forward to learning more about your journey as well!

Sailing the Self ⛵'s avatar

What a deeply resonant beginning! Reading your story felt like catching sight of a familiar sail. Having experienced a similar academic burnout and the deep need for a more fluid life, your words speak directly to my heart. While I use my Substack to blend psychology with maritime metaphors to find my own anchor, seeing how you literally rebuilt a sailboat to heal is profoundly inspiring. Wishing you fair winds and smooth sailing on this courageous course! ⛵️✨

Alexander Gunnarsson's avatar

Thank you so much for this incredibly kind comment! I always love running into other sailors here, thanks for stopping by. I’m glad my words resonated, and look forward to reading your substack as well! Fair winds

Ollie's avatar

Great to have you on Substack, Alexander. Look forward to following you on this journey. ⛵

Holly's avatar

Gorgeous. I’ll be following along.

She Let Herself Go's avatar

Landed here courtesy of John B | Affordable Travel; looking forward to following your journey.