From Corporate Powerhouse to Free-Wheeling First Mate

I don't think there's a single person out there who hasn't dreamed of chucking it all and sailing off into the sunset, in one way or another.

Well, Annie's doing exactly that. Literally. Sailing off into the sunset. For real.

She traded in her high-powered, high-pressure, high-paying job for the high seas. She's sailing the world with her Tom and her EMMA. (Tom's her gorgeous man; EMMA's her gorgeous sailboat.)

Annie fell in love with sailing a few years back and planned her vacations around charters and lessons. She met Tom at a sailing class in Florida and fell in love with him, too. Both had dreamed of sailing around the world as a lifestyle, not just as an extended vacation. Tom had already decided he was going to do it: he'd begun plans to leave his construction job in Ohio and go hunt for the right sailboat. Now, with a partner and a shared dream, Tom and Annie set off together.

Annie and Tom tell the story much better than I can. They have their own blog, in which they've been chronicling their story, right back to the day they found EMMA in a boatyard in Newport, Rhode Island, and throughout the months of preparation until EMMA was seaworthy: sailblogs.com/member/emma.

Now they're at anchor in Annapolis, Maryland, where they've spent the last few months bonding with local sailors and preparing themselves for an autumn journey south to greet warmer seas before winter sets in. Tom's been earning some money by refurbishing a schooner (One World) in a local yachtyard. They are going to be part of the crew who helps deliver One World to the British Virgin Islands.

My joy was meeting up with them this summer and witnessing firsthand the remarkable transformation Annie has made, from Corporate Powerhouse to Free-Wheeling First Mate. She's relaxed, she's happy, she's learned to live simply. She makes bags from old sails and sews canvas dodgers for paying clients. She rows a dinghy ashore with her foldable bike to shop local farmers' markets. She bakes cookies and apple pan dowdy in her tiny galley.

I hope you'll follow Annie and Tom's blog as they set out for far shores. It's not very often you a real tale of two courageous people who risked everything and did what the rest of us only dream about: chucking it all and sailing off into the sunset.