Oliver Widgeger, also known as Sailing_with_phoenix on Tiktok, exclusively talks to Fox News Digital about his decision to abandon his job, his space 401 (k), sell all his property and sail the Pacific Ocean to chase his dream.
Exclusive: More than 600 nautical miles off the coast of California, Oliver Widger, 29, re -invented his life with his cat, a sailboat and a dream.
“What will I say myself before embarking on this sail?, Man, I got a degree of crazy work in front of you. I got a degree of crazy work in front of you,” Widger told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview.
“Even if you scrolled down when I first started publishing on Tiktok, this person is completely different. This person had already resigned, but this person is completely different from the person I am now,” continued. “I am unknown compared to whom you were a year and a half ago. A completely different person.”
Widger – also known as the name sailing_with_phoenix on social platforms -Tens of thousands of followers earn every day and actively document a journey once in the age of Oregon to Hawaii with his cat, Phoenix.
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About one year ago, Widger made the decision to leave his professional career for 11 years in Tire, Filter 401 (K)Selling all his property to buy a sailboat and travel around the world. He claims to be tired of the management of “mice race” for America, and a chronic neck injury that has long stimulated ambition.

Oliver Widger rose to Tiktok’s fame less than two weeks ago, when he sailed from Oregon to Hawaii at the age of 29. (Foxbushing/tiktok/@sailing_with_phoenix)
“I was at risk of paralysis,” Widger said. “The way the doctor prescribed is, I have the backbone of a person like 115 years … hear this type of comic.”
“Once you got rid of the idea of being equivalent, and not paying attention to money, everything has been made,” he said. “I made every bad financial decision that you can make. I have filtered my 401 (K). I mainly funded this on credit cards with a unjust plan, as much as I will pay, but I succeeded.”
He bought a sailboat in about the nineties and lived on it during the past year, as he heated his skills in the captain before embarking on the open ocean. As of Tuesday, Widger faces 13 days of his journey and is expected to reach his destination by May 25.
“I didn’t know anything about how to sail. I didn’t know anything about how to keep a boat, I didn’t know anything about social media, I did all, and I learned all of this at the same time specified,” he said. “So I neglected every corner of my life and focused only on these things, and I ate rice and beans for a year in a row only to save money.”
Widger added: “I went on the same precise day that I sailed. So the past nine days were completely crazy, you know what I mean?” Because I am crossing the environment, then I also went at the same time. It is like these two crazy things.
The Widger family and his friends have supported him since the sailing decision, and now, as well as TIKTOK users all over the world. Gofundme started For $ 10,000 to pay credit card debts, but has more than $ 30,000 of donations today. Strangers on the Internet even created accounts to track Widger’s coordinates day after day.
“It is the modern American dream.”
“I expected to be a debtor by the time when I arrived in Hawaii, and to spend six months to a year at work there Payment… so all I should do now is to reach Hawaii. “
“It is very good to put positive energy in the world,” widger expansion, “like people who find inspiration as well … I think many people feel trapped and many people can call. They only see it, and they see it as possible.”
The newly discovered captain hopes that the worst corridor has ended, after facing the broken helm during the volatile ocean storm. Widgeger claimed that it was the “most violent thing” that he was carrying, as sailing boats took some water on its sides, amid large waves such as “two -storey building”.
“I am in the middle of the ocean, you know what I mean? I cannot put my guard down and a kind of relaxation … My guard must be awake … something really cool, it’s terrifying. The ocean is completely crazy,” Widger pointed out. “Now I am not terrified, but as when the rudder failed … it couldn’t happen in a worse time.”
“I have received from one side (from the boat) to the other, constantly,” continued Widger. “I definitely came out of this position as a different person … but there is no choice, right? It is like, I am either fixing this problem, or at some point the boat turns, settles the rudder or something crazy happens, and this is drowned and that’s all … you just have to do that. You have to discover that. It is very pure.”
“There is no time to worry about useless things when you are literally on the edge.”
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When he arrives in Hawaii, Widger indicated that he is looking forward to bathing, washing and enjoying a burger with a cold beer. But at the present time, live “Modern American dream.”
“All this was impossible for me, like everything I did, in my opinion, was completely impossible and cannot be achieved. In some way, I did it. So you do not need to be the smartest man in the world, and you do not need to know everything or everything has been discovered because it is possible … to chase your dream.
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