In the 13th of my new Ask-A-Pro series, I’d like to present you with Anne Wayman, freelance writer and boat bum.

In the Ask-A-Pro format, I’ll tell you a little about the author and how-to-find-your-dream-job expert . . . then via the Comments section to this post, please feel free to ask a specific question about the career or job in question.

Anyone (expert or not) is free to post responses to your query, and I or the author/how-to-find-your-dream-job pro may chime in as well.

This is your chance to get unbiased advice from a real, honest-to-goodness-been-there-done-that dream job professional.

Over to you, Anne.

Anne Wayman is a freelance writer who stumbled into boats and boat bumming after her children were grown.  She moved to the San Francisco Bay area for a writing job that didn’t pan out, and discovered the Sausalito House Boats.  After renting a floating studio, she was given a skiff that needed significant repair.  This led her to seek advice, which resulted in her first lesson about boats:

If you ask three people how to do something on or about a boat, you will get at least four answers, all of which will work.

She bought a small houseboat (really a converted lifeboat that had been built in the 1930s), and moved to Galilee Harbor, probably the country’s only low-income housing project where the houses are boats.  There she learned her second lesson about boats:

Boats, by definition, are never finished.

Galilee Harbor is a place that gathers together artists and members of the working waterfront.  There she got to crew on two commercial salmon fishing boats off San Francisco and one commercial herring boat in the bay.  Fishing offshore led her to explore blue-water cruising.  To finance her first trip, she polished boats, learning her third lesson:

When you’re working on a boat, it grows; when you’re living on one, it shrinks.

Anne later flew to Fiji in the South Pacific to join a boat.  The original plan was to stay on one boat, sail for four to six months, and end up in Hawaii.  She actually ended up cruising for five months, on three boats, and ended up in Brisbane, Australia, leading to her fourth lesson:

Whatever your cruising plans are, they will change.

Anne has also crewed boats from Hawaii to California, along much of the Inland Waterway of the East Coast, and on trips to Catalina and other southern California ports of call.  She also served as crew for a couple of days on a tug boat on the Napa River in northern California and is generally at home in any marina and on many boats anywhere you happen to find her.

She is currently berthed in San Diego.

Dream Jobs To Go Title
How to Bum Your Way Around the World on a Boat

Current Profession
Freelance Writer and Writing Coach

Websites or Blogs You’d Like Us To Know About
The Golden Pencil, Writing With Vision, and About Freelance Writing

What Would You Be Doing If You Weren’t A Writer?
The problem is the grandkids . . .  if I were boat bumming I couldn’t see them nearly as often as I like, although I am plotting to get them on boats.

Life Philosophy
Today? This too is passing – but overall? Life is exactly as good as I make it.

Favorite Food
Fresh caught salmon – wild salmon

Favorite Read
From mysteries to philosophy

Favorite Authors
Ken Wilbur, Faye Kellerman, Nora Roberts writing as JD Robb, and Emerson.

Favorite Travel Destination
Next, I’d like to skipper a boat on the canals of Europe.

Favorite Music
Blues – the rastier the better.

Favorite Sports Team
Who me? I’m the one who wouldn’t notice if football disappeared completely

Favorite Movie
Right now it’s Inconvenient Truth

Favorite Cities
Brisbane, Australia, San Francisco, Vavau in Tonga

Favorite Country
Oh my, do I have to choose?

Favorite Animal
MzTiz, my tabby cat

Your Hobbies
Pottery

Favorite Websites (Other Than Your Own)
Orisinal and Craig’s List 

Favorite Drink
Wet cappuccino made with Peet’s Coffee

Why Do You Live Where You Do?
It doesn’t snow here and two of my grandkids live here.

If You Could Live Anywhere You Wanted, Where Would It Be?  Why?
Costa Rica looks good . . . so does Australia…

The Greatest Things About Being A Freelance Writer and Writing Coach
The freedom

The Worst Thing About Being A Freelance Writer and Writing Coach
The unpredictable income

If A Young Person Approached You About Getting Into Freelance Writing What Would You Say?
Write, rewrite, and market

If A Young Person Approached You About Getting Into Boat Bumming What Would You Say?
Go for it!

If An Older, Career-Changer Approach You About Getting Into Freelance Writing What Would You Say?
Write, rewrite and market

If An Older, Career-Changer Approach You About Getting Into Boat Bumming What Would You Say?
Go for it . . . quickly.

How Would You Define Success?
Sometimes I define success by my bank account, but that doesn’t work very well. What works is making a gratitude list, then I know I’m successful

Any Other Comments About the World Of Work You’d Like To Share?
Go ahead, follow your dream!

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