I say this without meaning to be crass and nosey, but I notice that you guys can afford to eat and stay in some pretty fancy looking places - do you get anything complementary for writing/reviewing them? How do you afford them because the other sailing blogs i read, people don't seem to get such luxuries.
We sometimes get free things, clothes, accessories, equipment and we occasionally get to stay in hotels and resorts free of charge. In return we offer our photography for promotion. Very rarely do we get something complementary from restaurants or bars. What is the difference, I believe, is that we make more money through the blog and this lifestyle, than what the other blogs that you read, does. Except for the quality of work that we deliver to our clients, partners and sponsors, what I think is attractive, is that we have so many readers, we are constantly growing and we also appeal to a wider audience than what most other "sailing blogs" does.
We make our living through advertisement and sponsorships that you can see on this site, as well as photography and videography assignments, sometimes modeling, sometimes web consultancy and soon I will tell you about a company that we've been appointed to be brand ambassadors for. So because we have found many different ways to make money on this tour/our lifestyle/our areas of expertise, we can afford the things that we find are valuable to us. We work hard to be able to maintain a certain lifestyle and to be able to refit our boat to perfection so this blog doesn't just "happen". We do pretty good, but being freelance workers, you don't always know when you will have the next gig so sometimes we can afford luxuries, sometimes not. I hope this answers your question.
Great stuff! Thanks for the very comprehensive reply. Well done for being so entrepreneurial. I'm a freelancer as well so I know how touch and go jobs can be. I think it's fantastic that you manage to juggle so many things while also enjoying the serenity of sailing. Perhaps it is the sailing lifestyle that gives you more energy to take on more projects. Sometimes when you live in cities one becomes lethargic and uninspired. I hope you go from strength to strength. All the best!
