Well, 29-year-old Oliver Widger and his cat, Phoenix, made it to Hawaii last weekend. He left the Warrenton Marina, on April 30, sailed over the Columbia River Bar and across the Pacific. Incredibly, he taught himself how to sail mostly via YouTube, according to the UK’s Independent.

After a spinal condition was discovered that could potentially cause paralysis, he rethought what he wanted from life. “Last year, I walked away from the corporate grind,” he wrote on his fundraiser, which has raised almost $115,000 as of Tuesday. “I quit my career of 11 years, liquidated my 401K, and stepped into the unknown … I hated my job. I despised the corporate machine.

“But I have always harbored a wild, impossible dream: to sail around the world. So I quit, bought a sailboat, and threw myself into a life I knew nothing about. No sailing experience. No roadmap. Just blind faith in a better future.”

Obviously, blind faith worked. Arriving in Hawaii, he was greeted by the Coast Guard and escorted to the Waikiki Yacht Club, where he met Hawaii Gov. Josh Green and a crowd of well-wishers. He said he felt “really weird” (probably from being on a sailboat for so long). “I just feel like I have to, like, hold on to things to not fall over.”

You can watch his adventure unfold on Instagram, at @sailing_with_phoenix (along with 1.8 million other followers).

What’s next? He needs to make some repairs to his boat, but after that … perhaps a trip to French Polynesia. (Photo: AP; arrival photo: U.S. Coast Guard)