They have been living on the sailboat for six years.
It's a perk to make friends around the world, but there are drawbacks.
The life is worth it even though we have more lows than highs.
The couple bought a sailboat together after they started dating.
The couple, who have more than 21,000 followers on their social media accounts, told Insider that they were dating for three months before they decided to move to the sea.
They spent $95,000 on a sailboat and renamed it the polar seal.
They said they had to come to terms with the fact that calling the ocean home isn't always as glamorous as it looks. Ellison said that the highs are so high that they make the life worth it.
The couple said that the sailboat gives you the chance to know local cultures, which is harder to do when travelling by plane.
Ellison said that arriving in a new country on a sailboat means you are immersed in the local culture.
He said that it's easy to separate yourself from reality when you're a tourist. It's not possible for us because we don't get to do the tourist stuff right away.
They have to go to the customs dock or get help if they need it. He said that they are thrown into the culture very quickly on the sea.
You end up bumping into other sailors at various ports around the world because of the bonds you make with other sailors.
People who travel by sea have good relationships. If your anchor drags, you may be depending on someone to save your home.
Darsy said there's a lot of solidarity on the sea that's harder to find on land. It could be a long time before you see the people you meet again.
They would invite people they met in port to join when Ellison's birthday came up. A person comes on my boat and presents me with a gift on my birthday. You might not see them for two years after that.
They said that the reunions are so great because of their flexibility.
It's not bad to have a first-row seat to some of the most awe-inspiring scenes.
In places they wouldn't have been without a floating home, the couple have seen the amazing power of nature in the middle of the ocean.
When Darsy said they were coming out from the Mediterranean after two years of living on the sea full-time, she immediately thought of the example she had just mentioned.
There was no noise in the sea. She stated that there was no wind. The colors of the sunset reflected in the water and created a painting of red and orange and purple. The dolphins jump in front of the sun.
There was a bioluminescence in the water when the dolphins were chasing fish around the boat. She said it felt like they were in a movie from 2009.
Life on the sea is exciting because of the quick turn around of tough moments.
Both Darsy and Ellison agree that a bad moment on the sea can turn into a good one in a flash. Ellison said he grabbed Darsy's camera to try to take some footage when they sailed through Guadeloupe.
He said that he andSophie were bashing in the waves. The $400 microphone attached to the camera got caught in the wind and flew off before they could see it.
A big whale jumped out of the water after we looked off the side of the boat. It went from us losing this gear and having a really bad time, to this massive natural animal just popping up next to us that most people don't get to see.
The uncertainty that comes with sailing makes the couple want the land to be stable.
Darsy said she misses the stability and predictability of land because she doesn't know what's going to happen.
Ellison said that there were so many nights that they were sleeping that they were up in the middle of the night because something was moving on the boat. A lot of the time, I want to be in a house that doesn't move and doesn't try to kill me.
Spending a lot of time away from friends and family makes them miss mundane things.
The couple said that boat life can be tiring, even though they love the freedom and adventure. Darsy said living on a boat and traveling the world were very intense.
She said that travel fatigue is what makes them want to stay in their hometown. At the end of the day, we are all social creatures and I long for my group of girlfriends who I go to brunch with every Sunday.
They say they'll take for granted home comforts on land, including automatic toilets.
Darsy said that they have to pump the waste away in the toilet because they have to flush manually. Every time you want to pee you have to work out.
The toilet on the boat has to be serviced by hand every four months because of the sewage situation.
Darsy said that they take it for granted that they can flush a toilet. It's nice.
They need to keep their jobs in order to afford boat life.
Darsy, who runs their YouTube channel and does consulting on the side, said that it's so inconvenient to live on board and everything is so inefficient and takes more time. Sometimes they work past their normal working hours to make sure everything is running smoothly on the vessel.
She said that a tropical storm came over two weeks ago. We didn't sleep for a whole day.
She said that she couldn't do anything when it was like that. Darsy and Ellison said they made a joint income of $5,000 a month. Darsy said that his clients still expected him to deliver.
The cost of living on a sailboat is much higher than they anticipated.
The sailboat dream of being free or cheap was not true according to Ellison.
He said marina bills can be triple that in the summer season in Europe. The majority of their costs come from food bills, but the price of food can vary depending on where they are.
They said that a trip to the grocery store can cost up to $100 a day. On top of the maintenance cost, they have their life insurance and phone bills.
The operating costs for the boat will be between 10% and 20% of the total value a year, Ellison said.
Darsy and Ellison don't have a lot of options if they need space because they spend most of their time on the polar seal.
The couple said that living and working 24 hours a day can cause problems in a relationship.
You become your partner's main focus. Ryan is my romantic partner, but he's also my best friend, my therapist, my nurse, and my colleague. It doesn't always work to jump from one role to another at a moment, because you have to fill all the roles for each other.
Don't ever think that your relationship will be saved by this life. She said that it wears it more than on land. It's near impossible to have any real alone time on the 40-foot long boat, so they take breaks, sometimes up to two months, on land.
Ellison and Darsy's eyes have been opened to the reality of the migrant boat crisis in Europe.
This year, the couple realized how not everyone is on the sea for pleasure. Ellison tried to cross the Atlantic on his first attempt. He was called by the Coast Guard to help in the rescue of 300 people on rafts trying to get into Europe.
According to the UN, thousands of people each year drown at migrant raft crossing.
Being asked to help myself was a challenge for Ellison. There are about 50 people on a raft that are likely to die if they don't get rescued. It's hard to deal with.
A better balance between land and sea is what the couple wants.
Each year, Darsy and Ellison spend an average of one to two months on land.
The couple plan to buy a home on the East Coast of the US later this year in order to establish a more balanced life on land and on the water.
Ellison said they would like to sail half the year and be on land half the year.
Some years we don't sail at all and other years we do a full year out. We have the option to go back to where we came from.
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