Family who ditched the UK to spend eight years sailing around the world reveal their outgoings have DOUBLED since returning home

DAILYMAIL.COM • 3h ago

By RUTH STAINER, REPORTER Updated: 10:07 09 Oct 2026

A family who ditched the UK to spend eight years sailing around the world have revealed that their outgoings have doubled since they returned home.

In 2017, Alan Wood, 57, and his wife Irenka, 55, set sail on their 53-foot 1997 Amel Super Maramu sailboat from Greece when their children were just five, eight and 11.

Over the course of eight years, the family sailed more than 40,000 nautical miles through more than 40 countries and territories.

Now, the family have returned from their global adventure and are facing the reality of Britain’s crippling cost of living – after becoming accustomed to spending just £1,500 in monthly outgoings at sea.

Since being home, that number has increased to nearly £3,000, due to increased energy bills, amenities and school expenses for their sons.

The two youngest children, brothers Darroch, 17, and Yewan, 14, are also now acclimating to full-time education and full access to phones and social media.

Alan, an author based in Brighton, East Sussex, said: ‘It was an amazing adventure for us as a family, but the adjustment back to real life has taken us aback.

‘Especially for our youngest, Yewan, who has spent more years of his life on sea than on land. When you go from bribing your way through the Suez Canal with fuel or fleeing from Sudanese pirates to a regular school day, it takes a moment!’

Alan and Irenka decided to set off to Greece in 2017 after becoming ‘tired of the rat race’ in the UK.

‘We had been seriously thinking about doing a long term sailing trip ever since Yewan was born. We reached a point where each of the kids were going to be entering a new stage of education and felt if we didn’t do it then, we never would,’ Alan said.

The couple put their Brighton home on the rental market, with the rent they received helping to cover the mortgage and some living expenses.

Alan explained: ‘The rent on our place back in Brighton really helped see us through at first. But we’d also started making videos, just for ourselves, so when I’d go see a boat we might want to buy, I’d post the video online for Irenka to see it as well.

‘Over time we decided to make more videos and it became a decent source of income over the eight years.’

During their travels, the family explored all corners of the world and embraced a slower pace of life.

The children were homeschooled for around two hours a day on the boat, though Alan added that ‘their education was as much off the boat’ as it was on it.

‘Seeing wild seals in the Galapagos Islands was like a geography and biology lesson in one,’ he said.

‘Learning how to sail is all physics and they were constantly surrounded by new languages, cultures and foods.’

In May last year, the family decided to return to the UK. Their two youngest had reached ages where they needed to take exams, like A-levels and GCSEs, while the eldest, Rowan, had already been back in England studying since 2022.

Alan said: ‘Rowan had headed back to the UK about five years into the journey when she was 16 to complete her studies.

‘The boys were now reaching an age where we’d want them to return back to a more normal life, get their qualifications, and grow up.

‘We felt we’d given everything we could to this experience, and it gave back to us in equal measure.’

Now, back in Brighton for just over a year, the family are settling back into routine, with the boys in six-hour school days as opposed to two-hour sessions and access to more screens than ever before.

‘To be honest it’s been a bit of an assault on the senses, in a good and bad way!’ Alan said.

‘It’s been an adjustment for the boys to get involved in school, not only academically as it’s a whole new framework, but also socially in some ways.

‘But the kids are very adaptable and have gotten used to things- especially being on phones and tablets!

‘We were always out and about while sailing, but back home there’s a lot of life that happens on screens, as we’re learning.’

Irenka and Alan have also taken some time adjusting to life back in Britain. The cost of their weekly shop had doubled, and their energy bills soared, especially in direct comparison with using solar panels and a hydro generator on the boat.

Alan added: ‘The effect of inflation hit us big time, especially as we’re having trouble selling our boat because the market’s pretty flat right now.

‘Our weekly shops almost doubled in cost and the price of heat and electricity was truly stunning.

‘Our old gas boiler was struggling so we turned to our wood burning stove and found that a dumpy bag of kiln dried logs was now well over £100.

‘Additionally, water (which we had produced with a watermaker or rain catchers) and electricity (which we’d produced with solar panels and a hydro generator) were expenses we hadn’t properly accounted for.’

Family who ditched UK to sail the globe returned and outgoings doubledComments are subject to our House rules and TermsNewest{{#isModerationStatus}}{{moderationStatus}}

No one seems to have shared their thoughts on this topic yetLeave a comment so your voice will be heard first.

{{upVotes}}{{downVotes}}{{#replies.comments}}{{^isLast}}{{initials}}{{userAlias}}, United Kingdom, {{formattedDateAndTime}}{{message}}

{{upVotes}}{{downVotes}}{{/isLast}}{{#isLast}}{{initials}}{{userAlias}}, United Kingdom, {{formattedDateAndTime}}{{message}}

{{upVotes}}{{downVotes}}{{/isLast}}{{/replies.comments}}{{/replies.totalCount}}{{^replies.totalCount}}{{initials}}{{userAlias}}, United Kingdom, {{formattedDateAndTime}}{{message}}

{{upVotes}}{{downVotes}}{{/replies.totalCount}}{{/isComment}}The opinions and views expressed in the comments section are solely those of the individual users and do not represent or reflect the opinions, views, or positions of MailOnline. MailOnline does not endorse, support, or verify the accuracy of any user-generated content.Terms|Privacy|FeedbackOldest{{#isModerationStatus}}{{moderationStatus}}