Honolulu (AP) – An Oregon man who leave your job In a tire company and liquidated its retirement savings to get in Hawaii with your cat, Phoenix, reached its destination on Saturday, welcomed by fans applauding at the end of a week’s trip which he documented for his mass of followers on social networks.
Oliver Widger, who was also welcomed by the Governor of Hawaii, Josh Green at the Waikiki Yacht Club in Oahu, admitted that he was nervous in front of the crowd, which included journalists. Widger said he felt “really bizarre” – not in sea, but “I just feel that I had to keep things not to fall.”
He became an online feeling with his story, which followed a diagnosis four years ago with a syndrome which included a risk of paralysis and made him realize that he did not like his management work. He left his job with “no money, no plan” and $ 10,000 in debt – and the goal of buying a sailboat and navigating in the world.
He himself learned to navigate mainly via YouTube and moved from Portland to the Côte de l’Oregon. He spent months renovating the $ 50,000 boat he bought.
He put in sail for Hawaii With Phoenix at the end of April, documenting their experiences for its more than a million followers on Tiktok and 1.7 million followers on Instagram. He said he thought his story, who made a national news, resonated with people.
“I think a lot of people are, you know, you creak from your work all day and no matter how much money you earn at this stage, everyone is just trying to do enough to get out of it and that exhausts you,” he said. “It’s just the world in a strange place, and I think people have seen that it is possible to go out.”
Green presented a proclamation to Widger. Fans have invaded Widger after the press conference, a lot holding cameras and looking for selfies.
The scary point of the trip came when a rudder failed, Widger said. The protruding facts understood to see dolphins and whales and periods of calm water from the Pacific. “Being in the middle of the ocean when he was completely made of glass in all directions was an absurd feeling,” he said.
Widger, 29, said he never really felt alone, because he communicated with friends including a video conference. But he also deplored that he did not experience open waters in a way that other sailors – who did not have access to tools like Internet Starlink satellites – have years ago.
He said he could travel next to French Polynesia. But he said he had focused on going to Hawaii and not what he would do after that. He said he also had to repairs to his boat.
