This summer I went on a special trip and surprised myself more than once
Author: Lina Anastasia Jost, August 2025
In 2008 I went dolphin watching on La Gomera. Soon after entering the boat I turned to a greyish-green, a colour I have never seen on myself before or ever since. I was so terribly seasick that I just lay on the boat trying to sleep, throwing up from time to time and praying “Let it pass.”. So, though there were many right next to the boat, I didn’t see any dolphins that day. That experience stuck with me and apart from two big ferries I didn’t enter any boat ever since. I even felt a little bit sick on a pedal boat once.
Then, this spring I fell in love and he asked me if I wanted to join him on a sailing trip in Greece with his friends.
My first response was: “I can’t. I get seasick.”
He asked again.
I responded: “I wish, I could just say yes. But no way! I will get seasick and ruin the whole trip for you guys!”
But the idea had sparked something within me. Wasn’t there a way?
My grandpa and my brother went sailing on Thor Heyerdahl and loved it. I love being near the ocean, walking barefoot along the beach, feeling the sea breeze and listen to the breakers. I appreciate the craftmanship of ships and the romantic idea of adventure and freedom associated with sailing.
I felt this longing and the romantic idea of adventure, freedom associated with sailing. I decided it was time to rewrite my own story – but how?
One day, leaving my practice after a heart-warming feedback of a client following a hypnosis session, a new thought emerged: I would hypnotize myself.
For years I have helped people letting go of their habits and internalize empowering belief systems. For example I cured exam nerves, fear of flying, being in groups or crowded places. So, why not give it a try and hypnotize myself? I agreed to the trip and started with preparations. I bought Seabands, chewing gums with ginger and stocked up my homeopathic travel kit. Then, two weeks before the trip, I recorded a hypnosis that addressed my belief system and anchored within me calmness and all the reasons why I wanted to go on that trip. I addressed possible stressors and how I would deal with them, breathing techniques among the most important of them. I listened to the recording twice and once more on the first morning of our trip.
Then the day arrived, we flew to Lefkada. I was already calmer than my boyfriend. The next day I met my crew for the first time and we entered the yacht. The six of us would spent the next six days 24/7 together on the yacht. During the first night I woke up by every new sound (murmur, ripple, burble, bumping, pumping), but felt energized in the morning. At 9am we had the first briefing by the flotilla captains and I tried to get as much information as possible to calm myself.
Then we left, with one and a half to two hours travel time to our first lunch spot. The first day I was very focused, monitoring myself. I remembered that the first rule was to keep calm.
I wore the seabands and used chewing gum for stress release only on the first two days. Everything was fine, I relaxed more and more. I ate with appetite. The next day I could already help with the fenders and lines. And day by day I expanded my radius on the yacht and enjoyed the experience more and more. My favourite spot soon became at the bow when we went on motor. I kept on smiling and took in the sea breeze and stunning landscape.
On day four my boyfriend broke up with me and was so overwhelmed with the whole experience that he left the boat. We had started the trip together, in many ways I had done it for him, for us.
>>Sailing makes you or it breaks you.<<
I felt that we couldn’t fix our relationship, but deep inside I felt that for me this experience was supposed to continue. I decided to stay and soon felt like a real crew member, doing tasks I had never done before, surprising myself each day. I remembered a quote by Astrid Lindgren:
>>I never tried that before, so I should definitely be able to do it.<<
Pippi Longstocking
This peaked when we went to Vasiliki, sailing in 20 and up to 26 knots of wind, just flying across the Ionian sea. That night there was no spot in the harbour so we stayed on anchor. The dock was in sight, but too far to swim there and in the dark we didn’t want to take the dingy. Everytime I looked up, the boat had rotated presenting another view. That evening I cooked dinner. I didn’t feel trapped, instead I felt free and homelike. The others had been sailing before and later said: “I was even nervous and holding on to the boat and clinching my jaw and you looked so relaxed with a bright smile on your face!”
I am very proud of myself. I exelled and got to know myself even better. I felt my resilience. It was in fact a transformative journey.
My calender sheet in my practice for that week of my vacation announced:
>>>Life doesn’t give you what you want, but what you need.<<
I share my experience because I want to encourage you to open up to new experiences and challenges. I will gladly support you in rewriting your own story and fulfill your long cherished dreams.