How To Quit Your Job & Travel (On A Sailboat) | How To Afford The Boat Life

[@rbnhood39]

Elena thank you all the information you provided. You are so very smart. Really gonna miss you guys.

[@SailingKittiwake]

Wow thank you! Don't worry, we have plenty more videos coming 🙂

[@SailingKittiwake]

Hey guys, just a note to say that this is a great moment to PLAN for this lifestyle. As mentioned above, it takes a long time to organise things and launch a business. This video's intention is NOT to promote travel during the pandemic, but to prepare anyone who is willing to try out an alternative way of living after it is safe to do so. Also, this video is a STARTING POINT - you need to do a lot of in-depth research that's specific to your circumstances (where you're from, your skills, where you'd like to travel, etc.) to come up with a realistic plan that works for you.

[@BillChild2njoy]

Thank you SOOO MUCH !!! I have shared this with my many Fb friends and I am very interested myself. You have done a great service for all of us living on a sailboat or off grid in the wilderness in some ways.

[@JustMe-pp1mp]

Wow, you covered a lot in 12 minutes. Trust all's well and you're enjoying whatever time you have left on the boat. Ciao! :-)

[@arthurkettle3010]

You have such a lovely positive nature Elenor ...thanks for the tips 👍

[@cathytodd3996]

Hope you are feeling better. Wishing you all the best.

[@HansQuistorff]

If you have the experience, qualifications and reputation for your skill [example in my case Massage therapist] you could arrange classes in the country you are visiting. Some people arrange to travel to a vacation spot for continuing education. Providing training for residents and bringing in tourists is a double argument for permission from local authorities.

[@SailingKittiwake]

Great tip, Hans!

[@rasheedmasthan6779]

Great Video..♥️👍

[@denniss9004]

Cheers from Southern California! Bummed to see your selling the boat but I understand. Elena, you and Ryan are a good team and your going to do well back home. I do see you guys buying another boat in the future and I wish you both all the best.

[@lauracornea9420]

Hello....Elena,can you tell me,please,what sewing machine do you use ?

[@SailingKittiwake]

Toyota Jeans. I don't recommend it unless you only use it with softer (interior) fabrics. It couldn't go through more than 2 layers or canvas.

[@lauracornea9420]

@@SailingKittiwake thank you.I will follow your advice🙂

[@SuperRobyd]

I’m totally unskilled in everything

[@SailingKittiwake]

Ok. That's obviously not true - every adult has some sort of life skills. Like I mention in the video, there is plenty of free material and courses online to teach yourself a new skill.

[@bryonensminger7462]

You could just do a large part of your life in the construction trades I can build anything and run a large number of heavy equipment so I have skills I can sell anywhere

[@velwheel3135]

It took us about a year and a half to get resistance in Costa Rica. This was with a lawyer which cost around one k.

[@SailingKittiwake]

Ok and it was your choice to go through that. There are many countries in the world and only some will be easy to get residency there, based on your citizenship and circumstances. You've got to be realistic and choose to travel where it makes sense, or accept the challenges of moving to a country that's not convenient for you. For example, I would not choose to go to the US or Australia as those countries seem to have very rigid laws (no matter how much I'd like to travel there). The easiest way to move around is by being a digital nomad, a remote worker - people go to Costa Rica for 3 months as digital nomads all the time. Even then, you need to choose countries that are convenient for you to go to. And like I said, you may need to change jobs. It's not easy, it's not straightforward and your choices are limited, but if you want to travel, you'll be used to making tough decisions and learn new things.

[@richardhenderson191]

it is not clear why you say it is illegal for a digital nomad not to pay tax. This is not correct. With very little planning it is perfectly possible to establish a position where you are not liable to tax in any jurisdiction.

[@SailingKittiwake]

It's not that simple to do so legally in most countries. Maybe in your country it is, it must be an exception.

[@albertogallina2104]

ragazzi ho comprato la barca ALBIN VEGA 27 e alla mia età potrei insegnare a far la polenta ..un abbraccio

[@SailingKittiwake]

Hahaha! Bellissima. Ciao Alberto!

[@williamlewis8741]

buongiorno Elena, che piacevole sorpresa sentirti parlare del "lato economico" del voler essere un marinaio e avventuriero a tempo pieno. Sono un fotoreporter che vive in Francia e parlo un ottimo francese. Sono un gran lavoratore e mi piacerebbe pescare come Ryan e lavare i miei vestiti nella cabina di pilotaggio. Sono contento che voi due stiate bene. ti auguro il meglio ciao

[@SailingKittiwake]

Grazie mille William! Se riuscissi a trovare dei clienti che vogliono foto di barche, mare, posti turistici, qualsiasi cosa riesci a raggiungere da fotografare da una barca, ecc. Potresti farlo 🙂 certo questo non é il momento migliore per il business dei viaggi, ma il settore della nautica sta crescendo parecchio. Grazie per il commento 🙂

[@terryparmeter99]

Hi big fan I have a sign shop and have dreamt of traveling the world and making boat signage along the way. Do you think that would work?

[@SailingKittiwake]

Thanks a lot. It could work if you build an online presence maybe? You'd need to ship the signs to your customers though, which would limit your cruising range.

[@ctndiaye1]

Can you make shirts, hats, do embroidery also? Maybe folks would like boat swag.

[@markcilliers2943]

Hi Guys! I enjoyed your videos. Sorry to hear that you are selling your boat. Have you guys ever considered buying a long boat and cruising the cut, as for now at least with Covid-19, it is not easy to cruise around the world? Best of luck with your new adventures.

[@SailingKittiwake]

Thanks, Mark! No, we will consider it after we've had a little break on shore.

[@techcommandosinc4147]

How reliable is Internet in order to work remotely?

[@SailingKittiwake]

It depends on the area. It's been very good in Europe and the Caribbean for us, while in the South Pacific we hear it's slow and unreliable. You need to research each place before deciding where to go 🙂

[@wojtekbear9832]

Uhm, sorry, but what country let’s foreign citizens “just register as a resident in each country you visit and start working”, lol wtf , it can be difficult enough to extend tourist visas by a couple days, many times impossible. Let alone getting a work permit and residence status as you jump from country to country. Work permits are also usually reserved for highly skilled and specified professionals, like doctors and engineers and often require a company to sponsor your which is both time and cash consuming. This sounds totally disconnected from reality. Yes you can find under the table jobs everywhere in the world, but let’s not pretend it’s as easy as walk in any country you want and register.

[@Frustino]

Is a language importan - say Spanish as it is quite popular?

[@SailingKittiwake]

It depends on where you're travelling and what you plan to do. If you plan to register to live in each country, then you would be better off learning the local language as you'll need to register, file taxes, speak to an employer,... If you will work remotely, you will benefit from it in your day-to-day life, but your work will be in your own language :)

[@nealmcdaniel2619]

Did you guys sell Skua?

[@SailingKittiwake]

Not yet, plenty of videos coming your way 🙂

[@stedebonnet1340]

Sorry but it is completely unrealistic to think that you can just show up in a foreign country, "register" and start working legally there. Every country has strict requirements and a lengthy application process to gain residency and work permit. Further, if you are caught working illegally in a foreign country you could find yourself in the slammer, paying a heavy fine and/or deported...possibly without your belongings in forfeiture for fines you cant pay.

[@SailingKittiwake]

Of course it's realistic. You enter with a tourist visa and then apply for a different visa once you see a job that could work, or you apply directly for the working visa if you have found the job beforehand (like I suggest in the video). Or if you travel within, say, the EU, you skip all of that. That's how it works. As an EU citizen I could move to France tomorrow by just "showing up and registering." No one is suggesting working illegally anywhere.

[@stedebonnet1340]

@@SailingKittiwake You're right about EU citizenship (and very lucky to have it). But for immigration/work permit purposes, you are essentially traveling within the same country as long as you stay within the EU nations. But as an American looking to expat, I have studied various immigration schemes from several countries including New Zealand, Australia, Indonesia, Panama, Belize, Mexico, and even EU nations. They all have their different programs and requirements and all take several months to even years to get perm residency with full work permit status. And they typically cost thousands with fees and requirements along the way - medical exams, criminal record checks, biometrics fees, documents notarized/translated, etc. One of the most open countries is Canada. My wife is Canadian and we are considering what would seem to be a simple move. But even for her to sponsor me as a spouse is quite a process. And we have been married 20 yrs with a teen aged son who is dual citizen. We could go visit as you say and I could apply for perm residency (which takes about a year). And I could apply for a provisional work permit (which takes 3-4 months to get and you have to be IN canada to apply for it) which would allow me to work while waiting for the perm residency status. It is understandable that countries have to protect their citizens from outside labor, but very frustrating. I think we would all get along much better if we were able to freely travel and live as residents in any country we wanted to experience. I was telling my wife the other day that it sure would be nice if countries had a "citizen swap" program...Where you find a person with similar education and skill set and change places. Nice Idea I think but it makes too much sense for today's world :) BTW: we love your channel and are anxious to see what your next adventure is. You guys are down to Earth people and I think give a very realistic portrayal of cruising for every day people. I just didnt want people to think it's easy to simply roll into a foreign country and get a work permit. I think remote working as you guys do, or even seasonal (commuter cruising) makes more sense. The advantage to remote working is - you can start before you begin cruising. That way it's tried and tested.

[@SailingKittiwake]

Thanks. Maybe we have different views of foreign countries. To me, any country in the Eu is foreign: they speak a different language and have different laws. And there's many Americans who move to Florida to cruise the US Caribbean territories, or to California. Some pop out to Mexico for 3 months and get back to Cali. Australians love to circumnavigate Australia and pop over to Fiji. You don't need to move to a totally exotic place to live this lifestyle. People spend 10 years circumnavigating the Med, while others are happy going up and down between Florida and the Bahamas for years. You need to adapt your dream to your reality.

[@mralanvideo]

more details on how you make a living and what you earn on KZbin etc would've been way more interesting

[@SailingKittiwake]

But not very valuable at all. It's extremely hard to make any money out of KZbin. "Normal" work is way easier and safer, it's what kept us going for 4 years and allowed us to buy boats and maintain them.

[@mralanvideo]

@@SailingKittiwake if you subscribe and watch your channel as I do not knowing how you manage to make a living is a big part of the story missing

[@SailingKittiwake]

It's explained in this video: I am a freelance marketer.

[@professormoptop]

KZbin don’t pay shit esp after they changed the pay scale

[@Zenlifeonline]

@@mralanvideo it's also explained on the SK blog

[@twigwonderkid]

But if you are British house prices are rising day in day out. It’s increasingly hard to buy a house. So if you are your age and you buy a boat, it depreciates so you end up losing money. If you come back and try and get in the job market in your mid 30’s you are stuffed. It’s a difficult market with covid so chances of you getting a job in your mid 30’s having no job history is extremely difficult. You are joining a market of folks in early 20’ or late teens who aren’t paid as much. You’ve also lost out on the pension contributions where your employer would pay in and as it looks like the pension will be scrapped for folks now in their 20’s. So you are worse off. Totally you had a brill time, and fab memories. But too old to get a job, too old to get on housing market, lost out on pension, and working in a call centre with a bunch of kids calling you grandad because you’re 10 years older and renting

[@SailingKittiwake]

You are making too many assumptions that are simply not true. Not true that you don't have a pension as self-employed, not true that you can't find a job after being self-employed or going on an adventure (I hired someone who did myself), not true that you can't save money while living on a boat, etc etc. These assumptions stop most people trying to follow their dreams. Don't let your assumptions ruin someone else's dream.

[@arthurkettle3010]

I think you're mega projecting there dude...Eleanor and Ryan are as sharp as tacks and have multiple skills, they'll have no trouble in the job market.....unlike yourself, stuck in that call centre 😀

[@twigwonderkid]

I’m not saying it’s not a superb thing to do. When you get to your 50’s you will have great memories when you look back. But I’m just saying weight up the consequences of doing this, life and colleagues move on with houses and mortgages and pensions and children and careers. Take a year out, that time is perfect for memories and minimal effect on mortgage, career etc and possibly sets you up. But 4, 5, years is a big chunk where houses have gone up, careers have started and progressed. But yes don’t leave it until you are old either. When you are young you are fit and healthy and zero commitment and leaving family or worse selling house and then in your 60’s trying to buy a house back again is difficult. But weight up the consequences. The jobs you mention aren’t career sustaining apart from teacher maybe. You do some of those jobs and get to 40, the employer will look and say “I can get a 20 year old to do what you do and half the price, you don’t have any specific skills apart from experience and I as an employer can teach that 20 year old that. It’s no doubt an amazing thing to do, but do think it through

[@mikehurley5052]

To improve your life you have to take risks, you have to go for it not wait for it to come to you.

[@SailingKittiwake]

Of course we thought it all through. I only see assumptions made by a person who doesn't truly want to do it here, to be honest. It's fair enough that you personally don't want to risk (this is your assumption) missing out on progressing your career and mortgage, but these are not decisive factors for some and that's totally fine. It's all a matter of perspective. I had 2 cancer scares at 26 and 28, I lost friends to sudden illness or accidents who were 8, 21, 28 and 32 years old. We personally have different priorities to money and career - we know we could be gone tomorrow (I could get that cancer I managed to prevent via 2 operations at 40yo and die). And by being a freelance marketer all this time, I have gained experience (and saved money) every single month, so on land I can keep doing what I'm doing and just gain more experience, if I wish. I am also pretty confident a marketing agency would hire me, as I have been working in marketing (no holes in my CV) and running a KZbin channel at the same time. I have personally hired two people in their 40s who were freelancers before applying at the agency I worked for and 1 person in his early 30s who took a break to be a skiing instructor in the Alps. It's all strategy, choice, priorities, different paths. This is not the 90s anymore, people value life experience, too.