Roamin' holiday: take that dream vacation and you may return a more thoughtful consumer and a more compassionate human being. It happened to these three families

Natural Health, Sept, 2007 by Jean Weiss

VACATIONS ARE VITAL. They help replenish energy, focus, and creativity. But for all the good they do, as many as 51.2 million Americans don't take them. And of those who do, 41 percent check e-mail or voice mail while on vacation or take too brief a break to benefit from it. The usual excuses--too much trouble to organize, the kids don't want to go, we can't be away from work for that long--keep most people from spending anything more than a long weekend away. Instead, their big vacation ideas remain dreams. We talked to three families who turned a dream into a reality--and discovered riches they never expected. Here's how they did it and the irreversible way it changed their lives.

BLISS FAMILY ROBINSON

FOR TEN YEARS, Dave and Margie Robinson dreamed of taking a substantial break from ordinary life. "We'd been saving a slush fund for years, thinking about how we wanted to spend it," says Margie. Their musings ranged far and wide, but they had certain parameters. "We wanted to leave the country, have some adventure, and spend time together as a family," says Margie. When they considered their interests--travel for Dave and sailing for Margie--cruising on a sailboat seemed like the perfect option. Only one small hitch: Although Margie had grown up racing small sailboats, Dave had never sailed in his life. Undaunted, the pair enrolled in a coastal cruising course off the Florida Keys. After that, they and their two young children signed up for a series of charters on the East Coast and in the Bahamas. "We had so much to learn," says Dave. "Sailing, navigating, reading weather maps and charts."

They also had to figure out the logistics of leaving their Boulder, Colo., home for a year. Dave planned to quit his job running a vitamin company (Margie had already switched from therapist to full-time mom). They gave away their cat, leased their house for a year, and researched homeschooling options for both kids (son Chris was 6, daughter Natalie was 10). By the time they bought a 37-foot catamaran in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., in June 2001, they had been on a sailboat together for only four trips--a total of 25 days.

Realizing they needed more experience navigating the boat and living together in close quarters, the family tested themselves off the U.S. coast. Cruising in and out of the Intracoastal Waterway and mooring in familiar port towns, the Robinsons practiced anchoring, ocean sailing, and a night passage. Five months later, they felt ready to hit the Bahamas.

Sailing in the aquamarine waters of the Caribbean was idyllic, but day-to-day life on the catamaran was tough. "Living on a boat was like being in the 19th century," says Margie. "A lot of our time was spent worrying about safety or the weather, or securing food and water." Or cleaning. "It is hard being salty all the time. You never have enough water. You have to take a short shower, no blow-dryer," says Margie, who admits it took her a year to adjust.

Certain aspects were a welcome change, however. No television or computer games meant the family spent hours reading and bonding. "We brought a ton of classics we'd always wanted to read, like Treasure Island. We read to each other. We played games," Margie remembers. Dave and Chris learned how to spear fish, providing many a family dinner, and Natalie earned her scuba certification.

Originally, the Robinsons planned to sail for one year, but after visiting the Turks and Caicos, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands, they voted to extend their trip. Margie, especially, felt she needed more time to enjoy the experience.

During the second year, the family embraced the slower pace and different demands. Leaving the Caribbean, they traveled to the northern coast of South America, where they visited Venezuela, Colombia, and Panama. They appreciated the lower cost of living and the chance to practice their Spanish as well as experience different cultures. From there, the Robinsons sailed back through the Caribbean, stopping in Honduras, Guatemala, and Belize, before returning to the United States and selling their boat.

Overall, the Robinsons agree they had an adventure of a lifetime, and they're glad they pushed themselves to go. "The hardest part of the trip was untying the dock lines and leaving," says Margie. "The dream and the plan are important. But if you never leave, all the dreaming and planning in the world doesn't mean much."

When they returned home, the first thing Margie did was lie down on her kitchen floor. "I said, 'Oh, my God, I've got my kitchen back.'" Her kids bolted for their friends. Dave was glad to take a long shower; Margie savored a glass of good wine.

While grateful for the luxuries of a hot shower and fine wine, the Robinsons were newly aware of how much they consume. On the boat, they had lived comfortably on 150 gallons of water a month. At first they were hyperconscientious about conserving resources and consuming fewer things. They are much better about recycling than they were before the trip, and they try to limit the amount of plastics they use. "Almost every windward beach in the Caribbean is littered with plastic products that come to rest and decay on a beautiful stretch of sand," says Dave.