Hitchhiking across the oceans

Berlin-based Sanni Müller gave up her job to travel around the world as a sailboat hitchhiker. 

Sometimes a friend's invitation is enough to change your whole life. In the case of Sanni Müller, it is an invitation to a sailing trip around Lanzarote in March 2019. Müller grew up near Berlin, the sea never really played a major role in her life. Despite the proximity, the Baltic Sea was always the great unknown. The first contact with sailing came during her studies in business communication when she took part in a course as part of university sports: "Of course I capsized the boat directly," she says.

But on the trip around Lanzarote, Müller immediately felt that she had found a new passion. She fell in love with the Atlantic and the feeling of being carried across the high seas by wind and waves. “I knew that I would like to spend even more time at sea in the future. I just couldn't get enough of it. "

On the one hand, there was her regulated life with a good job in the communication of a software company, a nice room in a nice flat share and the close connection to friends and family. And on the other hand, the great desire for an adventure. She absolutely wanted to experience the feeling of freedom that Müller felt for a few days while sailing around Lanzarote. Preferably even for months. It was a long struggle between work in the office and adventure on the high seas. In May 2019, however, she finally gave up her termination with her boss, setting the starting point for a new phase in her life.

Sanni Müller, who sits in the office, should become Sanni, who sails across the oceans. In the three months she still had to work after she quit, she began roughly planning her trip. She posted an ad on Facebook and came into contact with a Belgian family who wanted to go from Flensburg to Spain in mid-August. That was a good fit, because Sanni was initially drawn to the Iberian Peninsula. On August 10, 2019, the day of the train journey towards Flensburg and thus the farewell, the 30-year-old broke out: "I only cried for hours." and leave the familiar environment behind. However, Sanni received support from family and friends. The father had only one condition: that she didn't let sharks eat her.

The Berliner finally started her great adventure from Flensburg on August 14 with the Belgian family. Already at the first stage Sanni noticed that not everything went according to plan on such an expedition. On September 1st the yacht reached Cherbourg in France and not Spain as originally planned: “From then on I knew that I could only think in broad directions. I didn't want to go to certain places anymore, I wanted to go south, for example. ”

To advance, Sanni uses the "hand against bunk" principle. Boat owners and crew members can connect with each other on one platform. Except for the catering, there is no cost for the studied communication scientist, because the take-away is through her own work - cooking, scrubbing the deck, navigating. . . - will be paid. In this way Sanni came into contact with an Irishman, with whom she sailed to Lagos (Portugal) and later also crossed the Atlantic.

The highlight of her trip so far followed in January this year. From Barbados, the adventurer started the trip from Barbados to Martinique with boat owner Wolfgang and crew member Miriam. Sanni not only has to constantly adapt to new yachts during her trip, but also to new travel companions. And 18 days on the Atlantic are also not always pleasant: "When every wave hits your neck with full force, you sometimes ask yourself: Why am I doing this here at all?". But it is usually only brief moments of brooding. The beautiful moments outweigh the exhaustion and the lack of sleep if you have not come to rest at night in the 3-square-meter cabin - which is also shared - "When the water is reflected at dawn, the sea takes on all colors and Swiming dolphins past your boat is hard to beat in terms of magic. ”

After 18 exhausting days Sanni finally reached the island of Martinique and after a short stay the Dominican Republic. She has been living and working on the boat of a Portuguese couple for several weeks now. With the corona virus pandemic, it is currently difficult to plan exactly when to proceed.

But the rough direction is: “Next, the boat on which I currently live should go to Panama and also through the Panama Canal. This is my next big dream, which I will fulfill, ”says Sanni while she is watching the sunset at the harbor with a papaya in hand. And the waves that they will soon be carrying across the oceans again.

You can follow Sanni's journey on instagram or on her website. 

By Nico-Marius Schmitz