Kids’ Answers About our Adventurous Life (Edited for Grammar Only)

Here are our kids’ answers to questions related to our adventurous life.

Whenever we share that we live on a sailboat and travel full time, people ask us about the kids – schooling, socializing, feeding, health and everything in-between.

The children are not little any more, ages 16, 14 and 11 as of Spring 2022, and are perfectly able to share their opinion. We hope their answers help you, as you plan your adventures. Because what we do, you can do too!

For a teen’s perspective on sailing life, check out the post Sophie wrote!

How do you feel about selling the boat? What are you looking forward to in land life?

It was a big and difficult decision, so it would be fair to include our children’s point of view on us selling the boat and moving to land exploration.

Sophie:

“I am not happy that we are selling the boat, because I like the boat, and Mama and Joey are hurting my feelings by not wanting to cross the Pacific, go to Southeast Asia and eat yummy authentic Asian food!

In land life, I am looking forward to seeing my friends, buying lots of yarn, sneaking out in the middle of the night to go partying, smoking (that’s what teens do, right?) and having a snake.”

Joey:

“I am happy that we are selling the boat, because from the start of this I have always preferred land life.

In land life, I am looking forward to skiing, having more space and having enough electricity whenever I want it.”

Bobby:

“I don’t want to sell the boat, I think it would be cool to go around the world and I can brag to my friends about it.

In land life, I am looking forward to having a secret room in our future house, hot showers, electricity and WiFi!”

Our time aboard has been so much more than a point for comparison between land life and water adventures. Living on a boat feels closer to living on a space ship. There is a whole another planet out here, on the water.

To many friends and family, what we do is completely strange, turning us into aliens of sorts.

Boat life brought back that simple childish curiosity and desire for adventures, which many of us abandon way too soon, because it rarely fits on the grid of a desk calendar,

“OK, I will be adventurous on Wednesdays and Thursdays from 5pm to 7pm…”

As our boat gains popularity amongst interested buyers, our sunsets on the water last that much shorter; the dive-and-scrub salty “showers” feel cleaner; bringing soaked groceries aboard makes me laugh!

I have no idea what the children will gain out of those years we spent aboard. I have no idea if it will make them better people, or it will not make a difference.

At the end of the day, while remembering the feeling of being rocked to sleep, the one thing I am certain of, is that this parental decision of ours will not be keeping me up at night.

Most and Least Favorite Boat Chore

Boat chores are quite unique, so below are the kids’ answers related to chores aboard!

Sophie:

Most: “Doing the dishes, because I can listen to my music, while doing the dishes. No one can tell me to take the headphones off, because it’s part of the chore.”

Least: “Scrubbing the hulls under water. It gives me a headache and there are those tiny bugs, which live on the bottom of the boat and bite me!”

Joey:

Most: “Dropping and picking up the anchor, because I always claim “the buttons”, so all I have to do is push the buttons, while Sophie and Bobby do all the work!”

Least: “Scrubbing the hulls under water, because Dad always makes us scrub more than we need to.”

Bobby:

Most: “Sweeping and mopping the hulls, inside the boat. They are small and skinny, and I can do them with my eyes closed!”

Least: “Scrubbing the hulls under water, because I hate all the bugs that try to bite me, while I’m scraping off the fuzz.”

Your turn – send us your questions for the kids to answer. Even better – ask your kids – what would they like to know about sailing and traveling the world?