thinking about a circumNav, what are pitfalls of leaving a home and business behind.

[boatsisboats]

Hello

We are beginning to think about a circumnavigation and will not be 'selling everything'. Wondering what you have learned in a similar situation- the non-obvious things.

Did you rent out your home? Have someone watch it for you?
Did someone open your mail and pay bills for you?
Were you able to manage some amount of work via cell phone and internet?
How often did you go back home? At the end of each season?

Thanks for any tips!

[CaptTom]

I, too would love to hear peoples' thoughts on this. I've been thinking about doing the American great loop. That means being away for most of a year.

I have an old house in a cold climate. There's just no way it would survive a year without regular monitoring, maintenance, repairs, shoveling, etc. Obviously I can hire this out. I live in a town with lots of summer homes, so there are property management businesses available.

I worry about the little things. Anyone you hire to shovel will throw all the snow up against the house, rotting out the sills. If mice find their way in, who's going to set traps and search out the opening they used? What happens if the sump pump sticks? I don't know how you'd find someone whose "give a s**t" level is anywhere near what the homeowner's would be.

I don't think I'd rent. I've seen what tenants can do. Unless it was to someone I really, really trusted and who had good handyman skills. I haven't found that person yet. I may have someone who would at least know when to call a tradesman.

Mail is a non-issue. There are services which will handle that. When I was off cruising for three months, I put everything I could on automatic payments and electronic billing. Any mail I do get (mostly things like medical bills) can be handled with a phone call.

On my three-month trip, I had just retired so work wasn't an issue. But I do have volunteer and other activities which require my input. Post-pandemic, this should be a lot easier, now that everyone is used to remote meetings and such.

I assume I'll have to return home occasionally, and will budget for a few such trips. That means paying for dockage wherever I am, plus the flights and ground transportation. I'd be curious to hear what sort of emergencies others encountered which required them to return, and for how long.

Overall, I think it's probably easier to just sell the house before leaving, and that's what I was about to do when the pandemic hit. Literally while I was working with the realtor. I may still go that route, but now I'm leaning toward keeping it.

[Oliver L.]

Hello Nameless,

looks like you're in the "dream" stage - but you worry too much. Once you're off your life will change in ways you cannot imagine...

But for a few hard facts:
We rented our house for the first year, got tired of having it lurk in the back of our minds constantly, sold it and moved our stuff into storage.

We used a mail scanning service which allowed us to retrieve mail whenever/wherever the internet was good.

We continued to work remotely, but very limited.

We went home once a year for medical check-ups, seeing our son etc.

After our return - frankly, we both could not envision living in a big city anymore. We now live in a community of 400 souls directly on a lake, and it's perfect. Three years cruising was a dream come true, and I would not miss it for the world, but I can remember we had those moments where we weren't sure we would make the jump. Glad we did...

Oliver

[Jammer]

I haven't been on a circumnaviation, but based on the experiences of others and my own (less ambitious) travels:


[[ Did you rent out your home? Have someone watch it for you? ]]


Most people sell their house and put their "stuff" in storage.


In my experience it is unwise to leave a property for multiple years unless it's something like a condo in a high rise where there is local management. I had a relative have an unoccupied house burglarized and then quickly and quietly turned into a marijuana "grow house" without their knowledge. The ensuing hassle and cleanup/repair costs amounted to a substantial fraction of the value of the property.


Similarly, with a business, you might be best off financially selling a majority stake (or your entire interest).



[[ Did someone open your mail and pay bills for you? ]]


Most people use online banking services and have a mail forwarding service like St. Brendan's Isle handle whatever physical mail and packages they receive.



[[ Were you able to manage some amount of work via cell phone and internet? ]]


Tax and visa compliance in the many countries one visits are the main limiting factors for this. As a rule, you cannot work remotely in a foreign country on a tourist visa, and you have to pay taxes to each country where you work.


[[ How often did you go back home? At the end of each season? ]]


I think you'll find the answers as varied as the people who cruise. In my experience most expat USA citizens -- cruising or otherwise -- come back less often than once a year. It depends how far away you are, who you want to see at home, how much money you have, and whether you're somewhere where you can leave the boat safely.

[boatsisboats]

Thanks all for the input.

To put a sharper point on it:

Kids are off to college and we have recently moved from the city to a great piece of property in the redwoods that we would like to come back to. Not going to sell it. I have a full shop and a number of classic cars.

The work I do is manage properties remotely. They are our income, so can't sell those either. I just need to be available a little for larger issues. Some communication here and there.
A mail scanning service sounds great!

The longest that we have been away sailing is 3 months. We were able to get home and catch up pretty easily. And It's easy to communicate timely from the Caribbean...

I fully understand and expect that we will wish we had no ties at all. That is clearly the best way to go - if you can. We are hoping to manage traveling on our boat and 'maintaining' what we have going on now. No visa issues.
At the very least, we can try it for a year and see how we feel.

Thanks again for your thoughts.

[MicHughV]

Here's my 2c....the minute you untie the docks lines you can (or should) throw pre-conceived) plans out of the window.
No-one knows for certain what tomorrow will bring.

My experience has been that each day brings new challenges and often to go from A to B one must first divert to C.

You can sail around the world easily in a year, but most people that do such a trip take 3-4 years as they stop and smell the roses so to speak.

The worst possible thing you can do is to sail to an agenda. Any number of things....ie, bad weather, family, etc, can intervene to make sailing to an agenda an often difficult and perilous option.

Just go with the flow. Like someplace, hang out for a while, get to know the locals, etc.

Invariably you will also hook up with other sailors and there is a pretty sure bet you'll end up doing and going to places together.

[JPA Cate]

However, beware. Renters can be a problem. And some fairly close friends of ours trusted his sister to take care of their financial things, and she bankrupted them; yet Jim's sister honourable took care of ours for us, for years. Since you're into property management, apply your best standards for finding the caretakers for your lovely new place. It will likely appreciate while you are gone; and if it were to become a burden, it could be sold at that time. We have friends whose circumnavs were in the 6 -12 yrs. long range--so many islands, so little time. Probably best not to leave before the kids graduate college.

Ann

[wholybee]

I kept my home and rented it out.

My only bills were my cell phone (which I used around the world via wifi calling), my Iridium go, and Predictwind. My mortgage payment was set for automatic payments. The only mail I was concerned about was my USCG documentation. I mostly managed my property remotely, but sometimes needed a family member to intervene.

I have a classic car that I wanted to keep and left with a family member. My daily driver and all other personal belongings I got rid of. I think key to making full time cruising work is not having material things except what you keep on the boat, and wrapping up as much business as possible. I'm not sure what your property management experience is, but it is tough remotely (its tough locally). I nearly had to fly to the US from NZ, leaving my boat for who knows how long, for legal trouble from a bad tenant. That would have been devastating. I know another cruiser that had to list his boat for sale in NZ for similar reasons, ending his cruising for good.

Even so, if I sell my house, that's it. I don't think I could ever afford to buy one again. So, keeping it is a priority. I did sell a second property I had, and that has hurt me financially in the longer term, but I needed the cash to fund my circumnavigation.

I was not able to manage much work. A little here and there fixing other boats in anchorages because apparently, I am better at that than professionals that failed before me. Starlink was not available when I left. I would have Starlink now, but even so I am having trouble finding work I can do remotely even while in the US. YMMV, depending on your career choice.

I am in my 40's, and not retired and had to jump right into career mode again. My circumnavigation, while very worth it, set me back very far in retirement planning, but not knowing what my health will be in 20+ years I think it was best to do earlier. I hope to do it again when I do retire.

[Sonny36]

Thank you for just stating your country in your profile. Giving a city only, leaves me, well, nowhere. Giving only state/province/country should be provided. City alone says nothing. Sorry for the hijack.

[wholybee]

Originally Posted by Sonny36

Thank you for just stating your country in your profile. Giving a city only, leaves me, well, nowhere. Giving only state/province/country should be provided. City alone says nothing. Sorry for the hijack.

Says the member since 2019 that hasn't bothered to enter any information.
Sorry for the snarky reply, but jeez.

[chubby]

i just cruised between colombia and panama and then back home (so no where near a circumnavigation)



but previously i sold business.. and sold personal home... but still managed rental properties everseas (pretty easy nowadays with boadband internet anywhere)
years ago used google voice...nowadays there are a 1000 apps to use.

...gave away everything besides computers (and a camera)


preparing to cast off again...
however, this time the business is set to "run" more or less without me physically present...
home/personal property will be kept

....the goal is to spend the full 3-5 month season aboard..
..but if i can get a full month before needing to return i'll be happy

[Sonny36]

And I thought I was hijacking this thread! You don't know why I haven't posted in that time, but it was situations beyond my control.