This article is interview, translation of article from Slovakian magazine “Slovenka” – originally written here. I translated it to English, so all my friends, who doesn’t speak Slovak can understand. Here we go:
Planet Earth is a beautiful place. If you find a way to explore it and find joy in that exploration, it will reward you – especially when you know how to do it. One day, Braňo, a native of Bratislava/Slovakia, looked out from his apartment block and realized that life could be lived differently. So, he set out on a new path.
Braňo yearned to discover the world and its wonders. He co-founded a community of dreamers, sailors, freedivers, divers, kitesurfers, and sports enthusiasts, united by their passion for the sea, freedom, and good food. Experiences with IKIGAI Sailing include sailing the open sea and crossing oceans to new destinations, as well as relaxing weeks sailing between familiar places where enthusiasts can indulge in many passions beyond sailing.
The View from the Apartment
“Fourteen years ago, I lived in Petržalka, with a view of a parking lot and other apartment blocks. I traveled to Asia for the first time, to Thailand, to a wonderful island. I was already working online and felt amazing there, so I told myself – I need to figure out what it is. It was the sun, the sea, the great food, the friendly Thai people, and the overall vibe. I moved there indefinitely. Before that, I had traveled, but only within Europe.” From a dream vacation destination, Thailand became Braňo’s home, a significant step in his life that opened doors and showed him that things could be done differently.
It’s essential to be more open to other possibilities, not judge immediately as we are accustomed to, and to try things in different way. After many years of traveling, he sees how the world is changing. A place that was paradise a few years ago can quickly become overrun after being featured in a magazine or winning “best of” in Lonely Planet, turning paradise into something far less idyllic. “An interesting thing about traveling is that people think I’ve been everywhere. On the contrary, the more you travel, the longer your destination list grows. There are countless beautiful and interesting places, and I’m afraid one lifetime isn’t enough,” says the humble traveler.
Sailing in the Caribbean to Paradise
What might be a dream life for someone was just the beginning for Braňo. At that time, he didn’t even know what miracle in the form of the multihull boat – Catamaran he would soon call upon: “In Thailand, I met a friend, Luca, an interesting guy from Italy. We went freediving for fish, nearly died together in the sea in Indonesia – a shark saved us, where we ‘found’ each other and talked about our dreams. Apart from the shark experience, we shared the same desire – a round-the-world trip on a boat. So, we started working on it. We put together a powerful 14-meter catamaran with huge sails (the model is Catana 47) and prepared for the journey across the Atlantic. We set off from Rome, stopping at islands in the Mediterranean, passed through Gibraltar to the Canary Islands, then to Cape Verde, and sailed non-stop for 14 days to Saint Martin through Atlantic Ocean. This happened two years ago, and since then, we’ve been staying in the Caribbean, planning to cross the Panama Canal and sail the Pacific Ocean. Currently, we’re docked in Aruba and plan to spend next year mostly in paradise, which we’ve just discovered – Los Roques Archipelago in Venezuela.”
Water Meditations
Ikigai Sailing offers a lot. “Living on a special boat, the experience of being at sea, seeing amazing places, watching us catch fish or lobsters and then preparing them for dinner. We offer various courses, like freediving or sailing courses. If someone already freedives well, we teach them how to spear fish. We also scuba dive in beautiful locations, have a compressor and complete diving equipment for visitors, do kitesurfing, have Stand Up Paddle, and a kayak. Luca also does Janzu—water meditations,” Braňo describes his typical workday.
The IKIGAI Concept
This term can be translated as “reason for being”, and in Japanese culture, it represents “a reason to wake up in the morning.” According to this philosophy, everyone should find their own IKIGAI through an effort of internal searching to achieve the deepest satisfaction in their life. Applying IKIGAI means using a true compass, useful for transforming one’s individual goal and professional skills into a project that can simultaneously have a social impact and realize economic benefits. When applying the concept of IKIGAI, we see that the goal of every successful project is to ensure that four elements overlap: what you are good at, what the world needs, what you love and what you can be paid for.
Imagine four overlapping circles, and in the center, where all the circles intersect, is IKIGAI. Each circle characterizes something:
- Doing what makes us happy
- Doing what we are good at
- Doing what is good for the world
- Doing what we get paid for
For Braňo and his partner Luca, their IKIGAI is fulfilled, and now they are on a journey to help you find yours.
Riding the Wave
People usually only see the nice side, whether on the website or when they’re on the boat. However, Braňo points out the reality: “The real work and costs are elsewhere. Preparing the boat takes us 2-3 months. Last year, we took the boat out in Grenada, where we did a special Coppercoat coating, completely opened the rear part (called the crash box), and did about 100 other things, all in the sun, high humidity, and heat. There was a lot of sweat, money, and questions about why we were doing it, whether it was worth it. These tough moments are overcome by the beautiful ones. We compare life to riding a wave – waves can be small or huge, with beautiful moments alternating with horror. Sometimes it’s really challenging.”
Nature Never Gets Old
“I still get chills when I visit incredible places. I loved Dominica (not the Dominican Republic), which had a unique waterfall with both cold and hot water, where you could be half in cold water and half in warm water. I travel all the time, even when I’m off the boat. For example, I went to Yemen, to the amazing island of Socotra, a truly unique place. Now we’ve discovered paradise in the Caribbean, in Venezuela—Los Roques. It’s incredibly beautiful when we’re alone on the boat in paradise, with no one around. We don’t like it when there are too many boats in one place, like in the beautiful Tobago Keys,” Braňo says enthusiastically.
Sailing Around the World
People can join for part of the round-the-world trip by contacting IKIGAI Sailing to arrange it. “Basically, we want to cover the boat’s costs, which we haven’t managed to do yet and are still subsidizing from our own funds, and it’s not a small amount of money. Just maintaining the boat with all the insurance, repairs, and maps costs us about 70,000 EUR annually. We charge about 1,000 EUR per week of stay – it depends on location, we have three cabins, meaning six people can sleep in beds, instead of one cabin we have a beautiful shower.
On a catamaran, you spend a lot of time with friends and colleagues. We also welcome those interested in sailing, freediving, or scuba diving.” What to do in conflict situations? “It’s important to be non-confrontational, which traveling has taught me, and to solve problems as they arise. Fortunately, we haven’t had very bad experiences yet, we always manage to clarify and explain things. Regarding unplanned situations – we always look for the best solution for everyone, but if it’s not possible, then it’s not, and we don’t risk our lives or the lives of others. Overall, people who come to us are happy to be there and leave the decisions to us. On one boat, there can only be one captain.”
Irreplaceable Romance
Romance on the boat is indeed contagious. You open your eyes and see the beautiful sea from the cabin, morning swimming as exercise, and it’s great when you catch a fish and eat it raw, whether as sashimi, sushi, ceviche, carpaccio, or tartare. Braňo even bakes bread on the boat, cold sparkling water comes from the tap, and they have two desalination units for that. The boat also has solar panels, constantly striving to be more self-sufficient. When and where does Braňo feel best? “Definitely when I’m underwater. I love diving, especially when I’m alone or with good divers who don’t use up their tanks in 30 minutes and don’t kick everywhere. I notice what the fish are doing, catching fish while free diving has taught me a lot, where you’re underwater for over 2 minutes and listening to the sea. This way, I’ve heard various sounds underwater, which I’ve started to mimic and figured out which fish makes which sound. So, in a way, I talk to the fish, or rather call them for dinner (smile). Recently, in Dominica, we started training for free diving, and when you descend into the depths without moving, you enter an inexplicable meditation. I’ve reached 52 meters, but I know I can go much deeper. It just takes more training.”
The only downside is maintaining relationships, as it’s challenging on the boat. Plans change daily. Is there anything Braňo misses from home and vice versa? “I miss family and friends when I’m not with them. I love mushroom picking, which I often take on the boat. Also, the change of seasons is quite interesting, when everything blooms. Some other foods, like mustard, good sausage, or bacon, and of course quality beer. And I don’t miss stress, the vicious cycle of unsolvable problems, angry looks, and envy.”
How to Do It
“Everything is possible; you just need to want it. The biggest mistake is to stop trying. Have dreams. Talk about them. Do something to get closer to that dream. Work on yourself, learn languages, skills, stop making excuses about how it can’t be done, and find your IKIGAI. I wish everyone well, so I can show them what we experience daily, if they want. For myself, I wish to live this dream as long as possible,” concludes the contented adventurer.
