In our series of interviews with travel blogger and influencers across the globe, we look for travel influencers and nomads with interesting lives who can share some inspiring stories and useful advice from their experiences. This week we have Ryan and Sophie from Ryan & Sophie Sailing blog.
Table of Contents
Tell us a bit about yourself :
We are Ryan and Sophie, a pair of international expats who decided to quit our corporate jobs, buy a boat and sail the world. We left Stockholm Sweden in 2018 and have sailed close to 16000 NM through the North Sea, Mediterranean Sea, Caribbean Sea and have crossed the Atlantic Ocean Twice (preparing for our third crossing now). Today you can find us sailing on Polar Seal, our 2007 Beneteau Oceanis 40 which we call our home.
As we travel the World we create content telling the stories of our adventures from how we actually sail the boat to the destinations we visit and the different aspects of living onboard our 1000 square feet floating house. We document both the good and the hard sides, such as living in a small space with your partner or working from places with poor communications and infrastructure.
What’s your biggest achievement as a Travel Blogger?
Impacting the direction of peoples life’s. From time to time we get emails from subscribers who got inspired by our stories to learn a new language, start a new venture, bought a boat or even set off on their own adventures. Impacting people’s lives is the most rewarding aspect working as a travel and sailing vlogger.
You have an unlimited travel budget for 24 hours. Give me your itinerary.
In a sailboat, 24 hours is a very short period for us to travel, but if we could be whisked away and magically land anywhere, this is what would happen: We have been wanting to sail to Japan in quite some time, and experience all the the country has to offer. Pleasure sailing in the Japanese islands is a fairly new thing, as such there is limited infrastructure for it. We would moor in a fishing harbor, try to meet with as many locals as possible, have Japanese street food for lunch, then take a walk to a shrine and end the day by trying to cook some Japanese food onboard Polar Seal.
The reality is that one of the reasons we enjoy this life is because the pace is slower and a lot more relaxed so we can enjoy the places that we visit a little longer. 24 hours to us, these days are just a spec of time, for many of these places we would need 24 days.
How do you fund your travel?
Sophie works full-time creating content for our YouTube channel, Ryan and Sophie Sailing. Ryan is part owner of a battery company in Seattle and manages most of it from our sailboat, wherever we are. Together, we make it work. When people ask us how long we want to do this we always say that we’ll continue doing it for ‘as long as we can afford it and as long as we are having fun’
What is the single most effective strategy that a blogger can use to bring traffic to a blog?
Being your unapologetic self while creating value for your audience, be it entertainment, inspiration or education. With so much content around the internet, genuine connections with readers/subscribers are the absolute most efficient way for them to come back!
What tools do you use to monetize your blog? Which works best for you?
Our primary source of revenue is the advertising revenue we get through YouTube and our Patreon account which together provide 90% of our income. We produce a limited amount of sponsored content and have a little merch available for our subscribers to purchase, and we are currently working on a line of T-shirt which we will launch in the coming weeks.
What is the first trip you remember taking and how old were you?
My first trip was a flight from my home town in Des Moines Iowa to Pennsylvania. The only thing I really remember about the trip was a man passing out next to me in the plane and the flight attendants putting him next to me with a big scary oxygen tank. I don’t think it affected me much because I became a pilot and am now traveling the world on my boat.
Have you been anywhere which turned out to be totally different to how you imagined? If so, how?
With the advent of the internet I think most the mystery has been taken out of the ‘surprise’ of travel. With that said arriving by the sea in the Azores and Maderia this year has absolutely blown our minds. Both places were well above our expectations and the island of Madeira was way more impressive than anything I could have imagined.
Have you had any bad experiences whilst travelling?
Most our experience so far have been tame. We have sailed through bad storms and came out fine on the other side (though with stories to tell). We did find ourselves in the middle of a small riot in the streets of Jerusalem and living onboard during the Covid lockdowns of 2020 was absolutely no fun. These were the experiences that took us some time to process, but then again, we came out the other side with experience and stories to tell!
Where is your favourite place in the world?
Anywhere in Portugal would qualify as our favorite place in the World. The entire country including its islands is filled with gems waiting to be discovered at very reasonable prices. The food and wine is unequaled and restaurants are affordable, the people is the friendliest we met while traveling and the sceneries are varied and breathtaking everywhere you look.
Do you have a bucket list? If so what is on it?
We have a couple of big bucket list items such as sailing to the south Pacific, Japan and complete what we call an “accidental circumnavigation”.
If you were not travelling what would you be doing instead?
We are both entrepreneurs and would probably be working on some new projects (while working out our upcoming travel plans, of course!)
What has travel taught you?
The biggest thing that traveling the World full time has taught us is that in order to truly enjoy this life, we need to keep an open mind on the world and cultures at all times. The world is such and big place and 99% of people want the same thing we do: have a good life, safety and happiness. Travel has taught us acceptance of that and in turn acceptance of people.
Who, in your opinion, is the most successful travel blogger? Why do you think that is?
We are obsessed with the Youtube channel Exploring Alternatives! We love getting insights into how others live their off-the-grid lifestyle and find it really inspiring
You can follow Ryan and Sophie: Instagram | Facebook | Youtube
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