Question for the long-distance cruisers

[MB750]

Either if you are seasonal where you head out for a few months, then fly somewhere to work to fill the kitty, or are full-time, this question is for you.

How do you deal with the fluff from the everyday life you left behind?

Specifically, the following:

Important mail, or just mail in general
Taxes (having them done annually)
Phone services
Permanent address
Official communications (like possible legal matters)
Other urgent matters not mentioned above

I'm a total noob with all this so please bear with me. One day I'd like to sail away from it all but the planner in me keeps nagging me about the what-ifs.



Thank you.

[Matt Johnson]

Originally Posted by MB750

Either if you are seasonal where you head out for a few months, then fly somewhere to work to fill the kitty, or are full-time, this question is for you.

How do you deal with the fluff from the everyday life you left behind?

Specifically, the following:

Important mail, or just mail in general [family checks mail and emails important stuff]
Taxes (having them done annually) [I do them myself online]
Phone services [Skype US phone number]
Permanent address [families house for mailing]
Official communications (like possible legal matters) [families house for mailing]
Other urgent matters not mentioned above

I'm a total noob with all this so please bear with me. One day I'd like to sail away from it all but the planner in me keeps nagging me about the what-ifs.



Thank you.

But, if you don't have family you're willing to burden with the chore, there are mailing services that can handle this. https://www.sbimailservice.com/ is an example.

Matt

[s/v Jedi]

Check out St Brendans Isle: https://www.sbimailservice.com/cruisers-home-port/

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by MB750

Important mail, or just mail in general hardy get any, bvut I send to my daughters house
Taxes (having them done annually) do them all online like I have for the last 10 years
Phone services yes we have cell phones, they are great
Permanent address use our daughters address
Official communications (like possible legal matters) never had any, but that's what email, mail, and phones are for
Other urgent matters not mentioned above only urgent thing is where to have dinner out, it's a daily ongoing battle to handle
.

no one "sails away" anymore really, we are just in a relocate mode all the time

[Capt Doug]

Aren't daughters great as a live-aboard sailor for several years as time goes by less and less needs to be worth worrying about someone asked me don't you ever go out sailing you've been on The Mooring for 2 years my answer was when you see me leave in the morning I won't be back later in the day it's time to find a new neighborhood so many places to go so many things to see some for a short while Some are better for longer

[john61ct]

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...at-203561.html

[Cthoops]

Originally Posted by MB750

Either if you are seasonal where you head out for a few months, then fly somewhere to work to fill the kitty, or are full-time, this question is for you.

How do you deal with the fluff from the everyday life you left behind?

Specifically, the following:

Important mail, or just mail in general - We have a UPS Store box that we contact periodically to forward our mail to where we are
Taxes (having them done annually) - we do them online
Phone services - we are about to port our number to Google Voice so we can suspend our TMobile when we are in the Bahamas
Permanent address - we just use our UPS Store box address
Official communications (like possible legal matters) - if I was going to get something like that and I didn’t want it to go to the box, I’d have it sent to a relative
Other urgent matters not mentioned above - Hmmm. Can’t think of any.

I'm a total noob with all this so please bear with me. One day I'd like to sail away from it all but the planner in me keeps nagging me about the what-ifs.


Thank you.

We were all noobs to start. Heck, I still consider myself a noob having just finished up our first year of full-time cruising. Don’t let the what-ifs stop you if you really want to do it (within reason of course). You won’t be able to anticipate all of them anyway.

[Discovery 15797]

Originally Posted by MB750

Specifically, the following:

Important mail, or just mail in general
I have gotten rid of 'snail' mail in general...if it isn't email it is likely junk mail. For "important mail" see Official communication.

Or, as indicated there are mail handling services.

But, in general everyone with whom I want to correspond knows how to contact me via email, SMS, or ham radio.

Taxes (having them done annually)
Schwab manages my finances and I have a CPA for taxes. We talk twice a year.

Phone services
I use an Iridium Go plan if I need to call someone or someone has urgent message for me.

Permanent address
I use a family member's address. You could use a mail service if you don't have (or trust) a family member.

Official communications (like possible legal matters)
Legal matters are handled via email, SMS, and by specific power of attorney. In my case my family member has specific power of attorney to sign specific documents.

Other urgent matters not mentioned above
Mostly handled via SMS or email or a brief phone call. For example, even if there is a death in the family, or serious hospitalization...it would likely take me at least 1 week to get back. So, even most 'urgent' matters are handled via email or text messaging (sms).

It's really hard to break free from day to day life...but in general, if you really plan to break free...break free. It requires that you allow someone (or multiple people) you trust to manage your finances, and someone to manage "official" matters via power of attorney.

Everything I need and want I can get via email, SMS, ham radio, Iridium Go satellite, or the internet while in port (Skype, Viber, and other social communication apps).

There are a lot of coastal cruiser's who go up and down the ICW, or west coast that are still bound to the land-locked life...perhaps because they are afraid to let go. But, once you truly break free you'll be amazed at how much correspondence and other 'matters' are simply noise.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by MB750

Either if you are seasonal where you head out for a few months, then fly somewhere to work to fill the kitty, or are full-time, this question is for you.

How do you deal with the fluff from the everyday life you left behind?

Specifically, the following:

Important mail, or just mail in general
Taxes (having them done annually)
Phone services
Permanent address
Official communications (like possible legal matters)
Other urgent matters not mentioned above

I'm a total noob with all this so please bear with me. One day I'd like to sail away from it all but the planner in me keeps nagging me about the what-ifs.

Permanent address, where mail and vital correspondence goes, is the same as my sister's. She reads and electronically forwards anything vital.

Taxes done electronically, so can be anywhere with Internet access.

Phone is a VOIP number. Basically an Internet phone.

As Cthoops says, don't get bogged down with the endless "what ifs!" Best thing you can do is get free of land entanglements. Most especially financial ones.

Get debt free, figure out what you need (not necessarily what you want), and go for it. These other things are niggle details.

[gmakhs]

Nonpermanent address I put myself as homeless in the tax office of my country , and having residency in Africa , saves me from a lot of hassles

Taxes annually online

Phone I don't really need but occasionally buying from where I am

Emergency phone my old number still works so I receive messages calls

Mail, unmotired anyway all the important staff are online

Income , working where I am and hopefully soon some rent .

I do sail to enjoy the freedom and be away from all the daily hassles of life of land so I choose to be distant from everything that relates to it, so I can remote with no communications for really long time (if that is even possible with all the WiFi around )

Soon planning to purchase a satellite phone but that's only because I do need to generate some income and I need it for that else I wouldn't even bother .

[captmikem]

Specifically, the following:

Important mail, or just mail in general

Most mail you just throw away anyway. A good mail forwarding service will trash the "auto sort". But I do not have any experience with them. I have gone a couple of years without receiving mail. I have found that rarely is the time I have spent sorting thru a bunch of mail was worth the effort.

Taxes (having them done annually)
I always file an extension and deal with it when I can. Not a great answer for you but it has never been a big deal.

Phone services
I have never had a need for a phone while cruising.

Permanent address
I have used a good friend (no mail sent there) for driver license, passport etc. seems someone always gets this address but I tell them to just trash any mail that comes.

Official communications (like possible legal matters)
Have not had the need.

Other urgent matters not mentioned above

I have always used a Pactor modem with an ICOM SSB. Not much use for coastal cruisers but a great thing for people who cross oceans. You get good weather, you can send and rcv text emails, and you can talk to friends ashore and on other boats. Some people use sat phones nowadays but I find they tend to own you more than you own them. Being unreachable in an instant by phone is one of the great pleasures of being at sea.

Hope this helps,

M

[Tom and Maje]

We were cruising for 3 years before hubby decided to go back to work for a while.

We still use St Brendan's Isle for mail.

Do your taxes online. Keep a US account so that you can get a direct deposit.

We used T-Mobile because of it's world wide roaming plan.

Why do you need a permanent address other than a mailing address? Just use that address for everything. SBI sends you an email when you have mail. They even scan in my checks so that I can make online deposits to my bank.

Maje

[singlespeed]

This is our thirteenth year with St. Brendan's mail service and we cannot recommend it enough. They offer different levels of service. For us this includes tossing circulars and junk mail. We have on occasion asked them to open and copy to an email format (pdf) registered mail, for a timely response. They will notify you of registered mail received with an email. Being members and using our email address allows us to obtain Florida drivers licences and to vote. Having a Florida address also means that for the majority of us, no state income tax.

[Cpt Mark]

Trusted friend handles all my mail and can sign on back accounts and legal. Taxes online. Most everything important is online except for Drivers license, USCG which are catching up to the electronic world

[gulfcoastsailor]

There should be a “what if?” category in the forum.��