WE’RE LIVING ON A SAILBOAT

HOW IT BEGAN  How did we get to be living on a sailboat?

What began as an idea to buy a sailboat that we could use to go on holidays with and take our family and friends on, ended up becoming our floating home that we're sailing around the world on!

Before deciding to take our kids on a world adventure, we had been living in Italy for almost 8 years. We had moved there for Tims work and had made some terrific friends, the kids went to a great local school where they were doing really well and I was busy keeping the whole thing together and running smoothly.

We didn't really want for much. We ate out a few times a week (why wouldn't you when Italian food is so delish?!), we had a great circle of friends, we had great holidays, we went back to Australia to see my family every 2nd year and spent Xmas in the UK with Tim's family most years. Generally, we had it pretty good!

Sounds great doesn't it? And it WAS. 

BUT it was only possible because Tim worked so hard. He was working incredible hours and spent many, many nights and weekends working and was away from us more than he was with us. He didn't get to see the kids very much and I was missing having a husband! 

You might think “So what? that's what most families are having to do nowadays to try to get ahead” and you’d be right. But we wanted to be together more and Tim wanted to be more present for our kids, after all, it wouldn't be long before they would rather be with their friends than spend time with us.

We took a close look at our lifestyle . We thought about how hard we were working and compared it to how much time we spent together as a family. We also looked at what we earned each month and then compared it to how much it cost us to live each month. And while we were on a good income, we weren't really saving a bucketload.

Before I explain any further, I need to take a step back in time a little to mid 2015 when Tim had suggested we buy an affordable sailboat and renovate it so we could spend most of our holidays on it. We were living in Italy and with so much amazing coastline nearby it would make the perfect "holiday house!" We had always dreamed that we would have a boat one day, so that sounded great to me. But little did we know that within a few months we would decide to become live aboard cruisers and travel the world for a while.

It wasnt until 5 months later when I was recovering from a heart operation, Tims Mum had a heart attack and one of Tims friends suddenly passed away, that we stopped and thought...What were we waiting for? Was the universe telling us something?

Tim had a grand plan that he didn't actually tell me about! He just planted a few seeds, watered them a little (he knows me so well!) and boom... the dream was born!

And that's where Tims grand plan came into play. Yes, we bought a boat to take holidays on but she would also make a great live aboard cruising boat if we put enough work into her.

So we made the decision to pack away all our belongings, turn the yacht into our home and within 4 months we sailed away from our life and friends and just headed to sea.It's over 2 years later and we're currently in the Caribbean, spending our days with our kids!

I will never forget the feelings I had that day we pulled away from the dock in Viareggio with our friends waving us out. The exhilaration and excitement of what was to come, the sadness of leaving friends, the massive fear of questioning our decision to give it all up and sail away (who DOES that?) but mostly the love I felt for my husband and my kids. We were going to do this thing together...whatever came our way!

It's definately not all hammocks and Pina Coladas but it's a pretty special way to live our lives right now and I feel very blessed on a daily basis that we are on this journey.

I urge anyone reading this to take a step now and again in a direction you've never been...sometimes it's ok to do something that scares you!

Follow our adventures across oceans and exploring lands and if you want a glimpse of life aboard a sailing boat you can read my blogs ( or click BLOG here).

You can read  'About Us'  here.