Growing up Sailing the World Wasn't the Dream Everyone Thought: the Truth Is She Was Trapped

One woman who, as a child, lived on a boat and sailed around the world, admits for someone on the outside looking in, it might've appeared to be a dream. But she admits that it was anything but and was more of a nightmare scenario.

Childhood is a crucial time in every person’s life. The experiences and situations an individual encounters during adolescence impact their perspective, behaviors and the rest of their life. A happy, loving and carefree childhood is more likely to produce a well-adjusted adult than a horrible childhood. 

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Suzanne Heywood lived for a decade – from the age of 7 to 17 – on a boat, the Wavewalker, with her father, mother, younger brother and a handful of crew members. Suzanne, after her family set sail from her native England, was forced to give up everything she had known – her friends, her other relatives and even her dog, according to the Huffington Post.

She says that on the boat, she was trapped, confined to remain below deck.

“While my brother was allowed to help out on deck, I was expected to cook and clean down below for hours each day,” she said.

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As a teenager, Suzanne states that she basically had no privacy on the Wavewalker. 

“I had to share the one working toilet we had on board with my family and up to eight or nine crew and to share a cabin with adult crew members,” Suzanne said.

Suzanne Was Unable To Attend School Or Have Any Privacy While Living On The Boat

Additionally, Suzanne’s education suffered. She says that most of the time, she could not go to school. But this didn’t stop her from trying as she attempted correspondence classes and went to school remotely. 

But that also proved to be tricky. Getting and sending off her assignments would be impossible if her father changed their port at the last minute. 

But when Suzanne’s brother was 15 and she was 16, their parents left them in New Zealand. Her parents enrolled her brother in school, and she was to look after him. Their father did place some money in a bank account, Suzanne states.

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Suzanne continued her education and kept reading, trying to acquire as much knowledge as possible. 

Eventually, she was able to get herself into Oxford University. She graduated from the prestigious institution and earned a doctorate at Cambridge University. Once out of school, she got a job working in the UK government. She then got married and is now the mother of three.

 “The heart of the man of good sense gets knowledge; the ear of the wise is searching for knowledge.” – Proverbs 18:15 

 

 

 

 

 

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h/t: Huffington Post

Featured Image Credit: Instagram.com/Huffington Post