Brian Trautman worked 60-hour weeks as a software developer for companies like Microsoft for years. Eventually he realized that the best part of his day was the bus ride to and from work. On one of those trips, Trautman decided he needed to make a change.
After two years of saving as much as he could, in May 2008 he sold everything he owned, including a three-bedroom townhouse in Redmond, Washington, and began a two-year sabbatical to sail around the world.
“[I thought to myself] “After two years, I’ll be ready to come back and know exactly what I want to do for the rest of my life, and I just never came back,” Trautman tells CNBC Make It.
Trautman purchased a 53-foot sailboat named SV Delos for $398,000 with an $81,000 down payment. It has three cabins and two bathrooms. He made his last payment for the boat in 2019.
Trautman purchased his sailboat in Bellingham, Washington in the summer of 2008.
We are sailing
When Trautman set sail, he had two years of savings, about $48,000. It went out three times, he says. According to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It, he maxed out his credit cards, cashed out his 401K and took odd jobs while traveling the world to survive.
Then, in 2011, while docked in New Zealand, he met his now wife, Karin. The two began filming their adventures on the boat together and started their YouTube channel Sailing SV Delos.
“It shouldn’t be a full-time job. It was just to feed us and help finance the trip a little. And now it’s all we do,” says Trautman.
The couple uses the money they make from their YouTube channel and crowdfunding to maintain their lifestyle.
The sailboat has a cabin in the back that serves as a bedroom for Trautman and his wife, a cabin in the front of the ship for his daughter, and a third cabin for guests. The boat also has a kitchen area with a convection oven, dishwasher and toaster.
“We have many modern appliances and amenities that you might find in your own home. Everything is just somehow smaller,” says Trautman.
The sailboat has three cabins and two bathrooms on board.
We are sailing
Although the SV Delos has three refrigerators in which the family can store lots of meat or fish, fresh fruit and vegetables are a big problem. The couple can only keep enough to last them a few weeks before they have to go back to land for more. Which is a lot harder than it seems.
“We live and die by the weather out here, so the weather dictates everything we do,” Trautman said. “This life is often uncomfortable. It’s a lot more labor intensive than living in a house.”
During a typical shopping trip around town, the couple spent about $500 on groceries that should last several weeks to months, depending on what is perishable and what is not. In addition to groceries, the couple spends about $1,900 a month on boat insurance, maintenance, fuel and utilities. You also pay $250 per month for satellite WiFi.
Trautman and his family are currently docked in French Polynesia.
We are sailing
Since traveling the world by boat, Trautman has visited over 45 countries and logged 70,000 nautical miles.
When Karin was seven months pregnant, the couple briefly moved back to land. They moved to Sweden, where Karin’s family lives and Sierra was born. When Sierra was four months old, the now family of three returned to life on the sailboat.
“It was a big change in our lifestyle but very rewarding. We can sit in the back of the boat and see the sharks, rays, pufferfish, dolphins and whales,” Trautman said. “She’s able to really see all of these things instead of just in a book.”
To stay in touch with their family members on land, Trautman says they have loved ones visit them when they dock. For example, his parents visited her in the Caribbean and Karin’s family visited her in the Philippines.
The couple stays connected with their family online and plans trips to places where they dock.
Brian Trautman
Now that Sierra is four years old, Trautman says they plan to stay in French Polynesia for the next year, but are considering returning to Sweden full-time so their daughter can grow up in Karin’s culture and family.
“This trip has basically changed my DNA and I am a different person than when I started,” says Trautman. “I have a different perspective on priorities and what is important in my life. The time I spend with friends, family and loved ones is what counts.”
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