Erin Carey never imagined she would be sailing across the Atlantic Ocean with her husband Dave - especially not with three young children.
In 2015, they were content living in Adelaide, Australia and working in well-paying jobs. So why did the couple leave home to sail the globe?
"We were not sailors. We never dreamed of doing something like this," the 41-year-old tells Euronews. "One night, we sat down to watch Netflix and my husband randomly chose 'Maidentrip', about Laura Dekker, the youngest person to sail across world. Something about that documentary made us completely change our lives."
Their first thought was: Can we do this ourselves? A quick Google search helped them discover dozens of families living full-time on yachts. They decided it. They would spend the next two years saving up to buy a boat, then take a two-year sabbatical to sail the world with their children.
Seven years later, the family of five is chasing their dream. They stayed two years in the Caribbean, then traveled to Portugal, Spain, Tunisia, Malta, Italy and Croatia.
Before they set off, Erin and Dave had to learn how to sail. Over the next 18 months, they attended sailing, sea survival and first aid courses, as well as completing their licenses to take a boat. After that, they saved for two years and managed to buy a yacht worth 64,000 euros, and also borrowed some money because they would not work for 2 years.
They are personally involved in the education of their three sons. Erin knew she couldn't go back to her previous job, so she was inspired by YouTube channels to start and run an adventure travel PR agency. She runs the agency from an office in a yacht cabin.
Is this lifestyle difficult? Homeschooling remains the most challenging aspect of living on a yacht. "After four years, we're still struggling and we don't think we're doing it right," says Erin.
They have planned to spend the end of the year at home in Australia and in the spring they will start again on the yacht to sail to Turkey, Morocco and Cape Verde.
"Don't stress about not knowing how to sail. You can learn, it's not rocket science,” says Erin. “Be really tight with the budget for two years. And finally, do your research. If you go slow and do everything reasonably, then it's not as scary or dangerous as it might seem."
