Is the dystopian actuality of late-stage Capitalism weighing you down? Sick of spending a minimal of 40 hours every week, a quantity that averages out to about 1/3 of your life, gazing a pc display screen or busting your rump to make a dime whereas your boss makes a greenback off your labor? Then dwell vicariously by way of the journey of the courageous 29-year-old who left his company job at Low cost Tire, ditched his secure company life in Oregon, purchased a sailboat, realized the way to sail his boat, and is now on day 14 of his voyage crusing from Oregon to Hawaii.
Oliver Widger was identified with Klippel-Feil syndrome, a situation that may typically end in paralysis as a result of two or extra of the bones in his neck are fused collectively. He informed NBC Information in a video interview that this analysis led him to ponder his mortality and are available to the belief that the oppressive and all-consuming nature of a full-time job really sucks, so he knew he needed to change one thing. The state of his cervical backbone means he can expertise sudden paralysis at any second, so he determined to take the leap of religion and pursue his dream of crusing throughout the Pacific, together with his cat Phoenix on board.
15 days later
Prior to purchasing his 33-foot Com-Pac 33 sail boat and naming it Phoenix after his cat, Oliver did not have any expertise crusing. He purchased it final 12 months in mid-Could, then spent a bit over a month fixing it up, and took it out for its maiden on a river in Oregon on June 23. He spent a number of lots of of hours out crusing earlier than he sailed his boat to the Oregon coast in preparation for the voyage. After performing and documenting a collection of in depth and costly repairs on Phoenix, he set his sights on Hawaii and commenced his voyage on Could 1.
Oliver posts each day updates about his journey and plenty of extra candid story posts on his social media pages, they usually lately went viral. When he first began vlogging his journey of buying the boat and studying the way to sail and dealing on it, he had just a little over 2,000 followers. He now has amassed properly over one million followers on Instagram and over 800,000 followers on TikTok, and I feel he deserves each one among them, particularly since he is funding his journey by posting content material.
There’s one thing for everybody
Oliver posts tons of content material — utilizing Starlink, in case you’re questioning — from each day updates about how his journey goes, to posting pictures and movies of his candy little kitty Phoenix being lovable, to discussing his weight-reduction plan at sea. Should you return in his feed, you may even watch all the wrenching he needed to full previous to embarking on his voyage, and although we’re not rooting for mechanical points, a few of his each day updates embrace some technical repairs that he has to do alongside the way in which. It is estimated that his journey will take anyplace between 14 and 21 days.
We’re all wishing he and Phoenix a secure journey, and Oliver in case you learn this, I noticed you talked about promoting a Lotus with a view to assist fund your expedition and I actually wish to know extra about your automobile historical past, particularly given that you simply spent 11 years working at a tire store. Godspeed to you dude, from all of us right here at Jalopnik.