Where the story starts
Not a clean slate. A real one.
My divorce was filed in December 2024 and finalized on February 25, 2025. We did not turn it into a war. We divided what needed dividing and accepted that the marriage was over.
But divorce papers do not automatically create two affordable homes. I still live in the house we had lived in since 1999. It is jointly owned, and neither of us could afford to immediately start over somewhere else. So we divided our personal spaces and continued under one roof with separate rooms, separate bathrooms, and separate lives.
A carefully managed household
We share the kitchen, living room, pantry, and laundry room. It is unusual, but practical and respectful.
The household has a strict immigration policy: immediate family, people we both know, and approval from both people living here.
Current population: two people, two dogs, and two chickens.
I do not share that for sympathy or to make anybody the villain. I share it because this story begins with reality.
Less than zero
Dreams still have to balance the books.
I am working through a mountain of debt created during a very different income reality. I moved from a two-income household to supporting myself on less than half of my former personal income, while trying to build a future at an age when people assume you should already have it figured out.
Some days, the light at the end of the tunnel is real. Some days, it may be a train I need to dodge. Either way, I keep moving.
“If you are going through hell, keep going. There has to be another side.”
Why technology
I needed work that could travel.
I did not land in technology because I thought it would be easy, trendy, or because I wanted to sit behind a computer all day. I landed in tech while trying to solve a practical problem: how do I support myself while living a cruising lifestyle without putting myself in a bad legal or financial situation?
I had considered hands-on work that fit the boating world, including marine electronics, canvas fabrication, and repair. But cruising internationally brings real complications. I want work that is portable, client-based, and compatible with responsible international cruising.
I began by researching cybersecurity. Along the way, I found an AI Software Engineering program, applied, received a full scholarship, and stepped through a door that opened at exactly the right time.
My first term, Python and computer languages felt completely foreign. Then, gradually, they began to make sense. I still work hard for every concept, but I found that I genuinely enjoy working with computers: understanding how information moves through a system, building a solution, and watching it work.
Why the water
The water puts life in perspective.
On the water, you are not in charge. You can prepare, pay attention, learn, and respect the weather and currents—but you do not control the water. That does not make me anxious. It reminds me that I am overall insignificant to the earth, so relax, pay attention, and go with what is happening.
The long-term vision is a trawler in roughly the 50-foot range: a boat that can be managed by one or two people, lived aboard, worked from, and maintained realistically. The exact boat is not chosen yet, because the first boat that looks like freedom in a listing photo is not necessarily the right one.
Cash is king. The boat and initial expenses need to be paid in cash. A boat is the entry point to the lifestyle, not the finish line. The real expenses start after you buy it.
Build skills→Build income→Gulf Coast experience→Caribbean
The life I’m building
Enough, not excess.
I am not trying to become some boat-life influencer with drone videos, sponsored sunglasses, and a fake smile while the bilge pump is crying for help.
I want a low-key life. A capable boat. Work I can do from wherever I am. Enough money to stay ahead of the repairs. Good people. Good food. Time on the water. And the freedom to enjoy the day I have instead of spending every day waiting for some future version of life to begin.
If I won the lottery, I might buy a newer boat. But I would still be looking for the same life.
Life has timing
Building the foundation first.
I believe life is better when the right person is there to share it. I also know the right person is not somebody I should ask to carry the weight of an unfinished plan.
I am not closed off to a relationship, and I am not cautious because I do not care. My life is in a rebuilding phase: work, school, debt reduction, a developing business, and the financial and practical foundation for the future I want.
A meaningful relationship deserves real time, emotional availability, stability, and space. Right now, I am not in a place to pursue that possibility as deeply or fairly as it deserves.
“It is not a lack of interest. It is an effort to build something solid enough to share when the time is right.”