What life is like for a family of 4 traveling the world on a 50-foot sailboat

• Sailing enthusiasts Domonkos and Anna Bosze decided to turn their hobby into their lifestyle.
• They sold everything and moved onto a 50-foot sailboat with their two daughters, ages 6 and 8.
• They have been sailing around the globe since June 2020.
• Visit Insider’s homepage for more stories.

What started out as a hobby for Domonkos and Anna Bosze is now their lifestyle.

The Hungarian couple got into sailing 12 years ago after seeing people sail by while they were on vacation in Croatia on a ferry between islands. 

They fell in love with the sport, and began renting boats to sail whenever they could.

Still, they were mostly hobbyists, and didn’t commit to buying their own boat – the 50-foot “Teatime” – until four years ago.

The two had always dreamt of sailing around the world with their daughters, Boróka, 8, and Katalin, 6, and decided to make it happen in November 2019.

They sold everything, docked their boat in Croatia, and moved onto it full-time, beginning to make repairs and outfit it for long-term travel, literally testing the waters to see what it would be like to spend so much time in close quarters.

When the pandemic hit only a few months later, they decided to go through with their trip anyway. 

The Bosze family left Croatia in June 2020, and has been sailing since

While they had planned to leave in April 2020, lockdowns made them push the trip to late June, which is when they left Croatia, sailing around Italy, Spain, and Gibraltar, before hitting Cape Verde and crossing the Atlantic.

They spent Christmas around Martinique, St. Barths, and Guadeloupe, and are currently spending time on the Caribbean island of St. Martin. Their plan is to head to the US Virgin Islands next, before crossing the Panama Canal to continue on to French Polynesia.

The beauty of their trip, however, is that they're in no rush, and are happy to let pandemic restrictions and weather dictate their route. They monitor coronavirus rules closely, taking COVID-19 tests as required to enter a new country, or quarantine if needed.

Domonkos told Insider that arriving in the French Caribbean, which required a 14-day quarantine at the time, was easy, because their days at sea were counted as quarantine. Since their ocean crossing from Cape Verde took 16 days, they were good to go upon arrival.

They plan on sailing for 4 or 5 more years

The couple wants to make sure their kids are around others their age by the time they're 12 or 13. Since their eldest is 8 now, they figure they have another four to five years of sailing the world ahead of them.

Currently, the girls are homeschooled by Anna in the mornings, who closely follows what their classmates are doing back home. When the internet allows, they'll check in with their teachers over Skype or Zoom. Domonkos also said that if they're in one place long enough and COVID restrictions allow for it, they'll enroll the girls in a local school for a bit.

"They get to learn more about the local language, about the culture, and meet people," Domonkos said.

Domonkos is an IT software developer and works remotely from the boat. While internet access can be a challenge sometimes, like when they're on the open sea, he makes it work, using his satellite phone to call into meetings if need be.

While no two days are alike, Bosze said that typically the whole family works and studies in the morning, and spends afternoons exploring their new location. They make it a point to teach the kids about local flora, fauna, and culture, trying to create lesson plans that relate to where they are.

While doing ocean crossings, however, Domonkos said that either he or Anna needs to be at the steering wheel at all times, which throws a wrench into the routine.

Thanks to solar panels and a desalinating water maker, they're pretty self-reliant

To date, the family's longest ocean crossing was 16 days at sea, from Cape Verde to Martinique.

Domonkos said they usually have enough dry goods on board, such as rice and pasta, to last them a month, but that they also eat a lot of fresh fish that they catch themselves.

They also have a desalinating water maker that makes ocean water potable, and solar panels to provide their generator with energy, meaning that they're pretty self-sufficient.

Their sailboat is 50 feet long and has three cabins, each with its own bathroom. As long as there aren't any guests onboard, each of their daughters gets her own room. Each bathroom has a toilet and shower, there's a living and dining room area, and a small kitchen with a stovetop, microwave, coffee machine, a small fridge, and even a dishwasher and washing machine.

"It's small but quite comfortable," Domonkos said, adding that less is more furniture-wise when there are big waves to contend with.

Living in such close quarters has made their family stronger than ever

While Domonkos admits that it can get a little tight between the four of them, he loves life at sea, saying that family problems and gripes get resolved faster than before because they have to be.

He said that back home, he'd be so tired after work he just wanted a little alone time to watch TV and unwind, but now he's more present with his kids. 

"I can watch them growing up, and really live together," he said. "We spend much more time together."

Domonkos said that one fixed family tradition they had back home was having afternoon tea, which is why they named their boat "Teatime."

"This is just a longer teatime," he said of their adventure.