Go sailing around the world
Employee at a top-notch banking institution.
For many this position can be the fulfillment of a dream. Finding yourself behind a desk, in a studio on the 15th floor of a skyscraper in the center of a large metropolis, with some dependent employees and the management of large sums of money turns out to be one of the ideal jobs, or more simply the work of a lifetime. .
But for Marco Nannini, born in 1978, this was not the case. Indeed, after more than 10 years the model employee in full career has decided to give up everything and go around the world on a sailing boat!
From the desk to the wind in the stern
The story of Marco Nannini begins in 1997 in London when, after high school, the then 19-year-old Italian decides to move to continue his studies in Political Economy.
The choice of a city like the English capital was certainly not accidental: the work and career opportunities that the London metropolis had to offer guaranteed Marco excellent opportunities for personal fulfillment.
And so it was. After a short time, the new graduate Nannini managed to enter that world of documents to be signed, elegant suits and top-level salaries, all with excellent career prospects.
In the City the climb to success begins, passing through prestigious institutes such as Unicredit and covering positions of a certain depth that project him higher and higher.
But at some point something breaks. That spark goes out and suddenly Marco begins to wonder if that was really the life he had always dreamed of or not. The financial crisis amplifies that initial feeling, making the young Italian discover the dark side of that world made up of wealth and successes, but with compromises and spiritual paucity behind it.
There was a need for a pause, to disconnect and rearrange thoughts. Marco then decided to accrue all the accumulated holidays in one fell swoop and in 2009, driven by his great passion for sailing, he made his first transatlantic crossing.
Back in London, he immediately goes back to work convinced that he has recharged the batteries. However, the crossing had triggered something deeper in Marco. He had made it clear that the banking clerk was not the way to go, but sailing and above all the thrill of traveling represented his future.
Thus was born the idea of sailing the world, but to do so it was necessary to break away from the past, from that safe but unsatisfactory job position. Marco then asks for the possibility of a sabbatical, but his superiors deny it to him on the spot. The only way to cut ties was to quit, suddenly losing all the certainties that a secure job could offer. A risky but obligatory choice to pursue your dreams.
Immediately after signing the documents that sanctioned his dismissal, Marco begins the journey of a lifetime in the Global Ocean Race, a famous regatta that includes sailing around the world.
On board the Financial Crisis (name chosen specifically to recall and exorcise the old job and the economic crisis) the former banker goes around the world sailing from Palma de Mallorca in 2011 to England, where he arrives in 2012 after almost a year of regatta.
Following this incredible experience (which also earned him the title of sailor of the year) Marco tells his story in the book From the bank to the ocean, he returned to Italy and founded the Centro Italiano Vela d'Altura association in Cecina (LI), with the aim of making his passion his job and above all repeating those regattas that allowed him to change his life and pursue his dreams.
Because no matter how safe our work may be, no matter how many certainties it may offer, if we do not perceive that spark useful to keep us going, we can only continue by inertia. And a life like this will never be able to make us feel fulfilled internally.
