In June last year, Ryan texted me about this article he read, telling the story of Matt and Jessica, a couple who had quit their jobs, sold their house, bought a sailboat and left a conventional lifestyle to start sailing the World together with their cat.I wished it was Ryan's way of telling me that he finally liked cats and want us to get one. But it turned out to be the beginning of what will probably be the biggest adventure of our life so far. Sadly, still no cat in the picture.

I did not recognize the sound of my alarm when it suddenly went off on Monday.The bed I was laying in was unfamiliarily soft and the sheets dry. Ryan felt far. It took me a moment to remember where I was, what day it was, and what I was gonna do."Right, going to the office..."

Back in August, we decided that the first step towards our big sailing adventure would be a two weeks intensive sailing class in Gibraltar. The point? Learning how to sail, get some practical experience, experience life on a sailboat, and eventually decide if we really like this or not.We eventually chose Hercules Sailing School in Gibraltar, that delivers RYA certified courses, for the way Mandy and Chris welcomed our ambitions and tailored a two weeks program for our specific objectives. We're now 7 days away from departure and here is what we've been doing to really get prepared!

Yes, that tiny detail... We've never actually sailed!Although Ryan claims that I "have some good sailing experience from growing up in the west cost of France" (probably referring to my optimist sailing when I was 9), together, our combined experience of sailing is close to zero.So how do you consider sailing around the world with no experience, and where do you start when you're totally new to sailing?