Julie Bradley was born with adventure genes and shares her passions in her books “Escape from the Ordinary” and “Crossing Pirate Waters”. Both are true stories about an 8 year adventure of sailing around the world with her husband, Glen.
After twenty years in the Army as a Military Intelligence Officer she traded her uniform and worldly possessions to pursue the dream that had inspired her to keep going through the long separations of military deployments.
During those years her stack of Cruising World, Sail and Latitude 38 magazines grew to hoarder proportions until the big purge of all belongings to buy their new home: a French built Amel blue-water sailboat.
Julie shares more about her passion for adventure and sailing and what it was like selling everything she owned to sail around the world.
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*Content Warning - during this episode - addiction to alcohol is talked about.
Show Notes
- Julie in her own words
- Living out on the water with her husband
- Joining the army after high school
- Getting hooked on an adventure
- Julie's decision to leave the army after 20 years
- Sailing around the world with her husband for eight years
- Not worrying about the money
- Julie and her husband's background in sailing
- Delivering a friend's boat
- Being a company commander and sailing at the same time
- Selling everything and buying a sailboat
- Sailing in the South Pacific
- What it was like to sail through the storm
- How did they spend their days on the boat
- Writing her books Escape from the Ordinary (Escape Series Book 1) and Crossing Pirate Waters (Escape Series Book 2)
- How she lost control of her addiction to alcohol
- Keeping a close relationship with her husband
- Deciding to stop sailing
- Final words of advice
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Meet Glen and Julie, sailors who follow their dream and discover that reality can be even bigger than imagined. From Force 10 storms in the North Atlantic to the crystal blue waters and native dancers of French Polynesia, Escape from the Ordinary (book 1 of the Escape Series) opens a window to adventures in extraordinary places not found in travel brochures.
Told with keen observations and sparkling with wry humor, Julie describes the terrors and pleasures of living a life of total independence on a sailboat where even simple decisions can have big consequences. This exhilarating, true story will thrill those planning to sail off into the sunset as well as armchair adventurers. Escape from the Ordinary reminds you of the unlimited possibilities in life and offers inspiration to go “all in” on your own dreams.
You don’t have to know a spinnaker from a mainsail to enjoy this adventure book. Join Glen and Julie as they continue around the world through less traveled, dangerous areas on the far side of the world.
Turmoil in the Mideast convinces Glen and Julie to linger in the South Pacific visiting primitive villages on remote islands. But hang on tight, because to finish their voyage they must leave friendly shores and navigate through trouble in the Indian Ocean, Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea before arriving in Europe.
Full of dry wit and compelling descriptions, Julie takes the reader along for the ride of a lifetime in this sequel (book 2 of the Escape Series) to her previous bestseller, Escape from the Ordinary.