Kurswechsel - Einmal Leben umkrempeln bitte!

Fondsfrau Anke reports on a change of course of a special kind. She is moving from her house onto the sailing yacht "Rita". She describes why she is taking this step. For her, it is about a change of perspective and leaving her comfort zone. She finds it an exciting challenge to manage and repair everything with the limited onboard resources she has on the ship.

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Key points at a glance

A long-planned step and the good feeling of being able to handle everything with onboard resources.
You gain something when you leave your comfort zone now and then. It opens up new perspectives and lets you learn new skills.
A good school: resource management is essential on a ship. But in the end, you have to manage with limited resources everywhere.
A ship can be comparable to an apartment in size, but it has more technology on board. And these days, communication stays intact thanks to roaming and Starlink.
70% of the earth's surface is covered by seawater, so you can sail anywhere. The boundlessness of the sea gives you a feeling of open space.

Many of you have already heard: at the end of June, I am moving. Not just any move. My husband and I are selling our house in Wasserburg on Lake Constance and moving onto the sailing yacht "Rita". For the sailing enthusiasts among you: a Fountaine Pajot Belize 43, a catamaran. In terms of size, she is comparable to a two-room apartment; in terms of technology, she is more elaborately equipped. In an apartment, you need neither radar nor a wind gauge, echo sounder or watermaker; on a ship, you do. On the other hand, we will have neither a dishwasher nor a tumble dryer on board. Oh well! Communication will still be possible, thanks to roaming and Starlink. A spot in one of the two hulls will be my office from now on.

I remain a Fondsfrau

With this move, I am changing my location, but not my standpoint. I will continue to advocate for the advancement and equality of women in the financial industry and want to inform, inspire and give visibility to women through my articles, interviews and moderations. I am very happy to keep writing the Fondsfrauen blog! Alongside the Fondsfrauen, I will continue to work as a journalist, with a focus on investment strategies in the decumulation phase, a topic that in my opinion still receives far too little coverage.

Being able to sail anywhere

Many people ask me why I am taking this step. Yes, why exactly? For one thing, it is my big dream to sail around the world on my own keel. I like the feeling of being able to go anywhere there is seawater; about 70% of the earth's surface is covered by it. Where we like it, we drop anchor; where it is not pleasant, we weigh anchor and sail on. There are far more anchorages than car parking spaces. Anywhere anchoring is not prohibited, you may anchor; and fortunately, it is only prohibited in relatively few places.

Leaving the comfort zone, gaining new perspectives

Besides, I firmly believe it is good to thoroughly shake up your life from time to time, to do something completely different, to move, to take on a new job or anything else. I believe it gives you fresh wind, opens up new perspectives and, in a felt sense, extends your life. Who knows: maybe it even protects against dementia? After all, you have to reorient yourself, and that hopefully gets the synapses going.

It is often said that you should leave your comfort zone, and that is exactly what we are doing with this move. Out of the routine that lets one day flow into the next, into a new chapter of life. Yes, it is risky. But we are not gamblers; we are taking this step deliberately and with planning. We are not running away from something, we want to move toward something new, and we want to experience what it is like to live self-sufficiently on a boat.

Self-sufficiency + practical resource management

In addition, ever since we started planning the move onto the ship, I have been interested, alongside finance and gender topics, in the subject of self-sufficiency. I would like to test how self-sufficient we really are. On the water, you cannot just pull over and call roadside assistance. You have to solve the problems that will certainly arise yourself, with onboard resources. Everything on a ship is limited, except the horizon and the sea: water supply, electricity, fuel, provisions, the size of the crew and, of course, the financial means. You have to budget with all of it.

I consider this resource management a great challenge, and I like to imagine how great it will feel when we manage to be independent and tackle things ourselves. Believe me: I know VERY little about electrics, but I have to get by with the electrical system on board and, if it ever fails, somehow get it running again. The sea is more unforgiving than the strictest boss: poor planning and tinkering can have fatal consequences. The small crew has to function as a team and be able to rely on each other 100 percent. Robust quality of all materials is a must, otherwise sea air and salt water will ruin everything. Really, it is just like in business or in a family, only on a ship it is more extreme.

Ahoy & Anker auf

I say "Ahoy & anchors aweigh", and we will see each other again at the Fondsfrauen Award on October 20 in Frankfurt. Airplanes do exist, after all.

I am happy to take you along on my self-sufficiency adventure and show you how it works to handle everything with onboard resources, without giving up the good things in life.

Instagram: anke_dembo
YouTube: Sailing_Rita

Anke Dembowski

Anke Dembowski is a financial journalist and author of various investment fund-related and other financial books. She is also a co-founder of the "Fondsfrauen" network.