How One Couple Ditched Expensive California Rent for Life on a Sailboat

When Elizabeth Shipton and her partner Trevor moved to San Diego for college, neither imagined how a simple sailing class at San Diego State would change their lives. What started as a casual hobby quickly became a passion, leading Trevor to spend summers skippering boats in Europe—and planting the seed for their dream of “boat life.”

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But it was California’s notoriously steep housing market that turned their dream into something more practical. The idea of working endlessly just to afford a modest home felt crazy. Elizabeth wanted to write, Trevor loved sailing, and both were hungry to see the world. Why not find another way?

Over six dedicated years, they saved diligently and made big career changes—Elizabeth shifted from music to software engineering, while Trevor became an electrician. By 2021, after buying their 43-foot sailboat, Loki, they were finally ready to cast off and begin their adventure.

Here’s their inspiring story about choosing a life at sea—and all the joys, challenges, and unexpected lessons they’ve discovered along the way.

Can you walk us through the moment you finally set sail in 2021—what was going through your mind as you left Santa Cruz?

To be completely honest, I don’t remember at all hahaha! I’m sure I was excited and probably pretty nervous. I didn’t learn until later how scared Trev was in those first few months – he’s the captain and takes on a lot more of the immediate responsibility of sailing and maintaining the boat.

I don’t think I fully grasped exactly how nerve-wracking it was for him at the time (I ended up writing about it later in one of my books!)

You’ve cruised from California down through Central America and into the Caribbean. Which leg of the journey has been the most memorable, and why?

Such a great question, and one that I really struggle to answer. I absolutely loved Baja California, and Mexico in general. It’s beautiful, and parts of Baja are still so remote and feel really off-grid. Panama was gorgeous – you don’t typically think of Panama when you think of a tropical getaway location, but it has some truly amazing spots like San Blas and the Pearl Islands.

Costa Rica was wild – we spent the entire time anchored all alone at the edge of the jungle with parrots flying overhead and monkeys yelling in the trees. We also spent a really lovely couple of weeks in a tiny town called San Lorenzo in Honduras, where we felt like we were friends with everyone by the time we left.

What have been the biggest challenges of transitioning to off-grid living on the water—any unexpected hurdles?

I was not prepared for how much I would miss normal showers! We have a handheld shower that we use on the stern ladder, and while it’s fine (at least in the Caribbean where the temperature is rarely below 80) I do miss shaving my legs in a regular indoor shower.

We also made our lives needlessly complicated by bringing a dog with us, which means we go back and forth to shore with her for walks. Honestly, this is probably good for us because it gets us off the boat, but there are nights when you just don’t want to put on your bathing suit at 9:30 PM and land the dinghy on the beach in the dark so she can pee!

Loki is a 43-foot Morgan Center Cockpit—what made you choose this particular boat, and what do you love (or not love) about her?

Not a ton of boats like it came up for sale in our area of California at a price we could afford, so when we saw it, we jumped on it. We’d looked at a few other boats prior to that, but none were in as good shape, or as close to home.

We love the space, especially with the dog, and we also appreciate the center cockpit and the stateroom in the stern, which has a big, comfy double bed. There’s also a very easy-to-access engine room, which makes Trev’s job doing maintenance much easier. 

What’s been your scariest or most challenging moment at sea so far?

The passage we did from Colombia to Curacao and then Curacao to Puerto Rico in 2023 was straight up hell. It’s a notoriously bad passage – most people don’t go that direction across the Caribbean because it’s upwind and very rough.

We took water over the bow for basically the whole way. All of us were sick, the portholes were leaking, so the entire inside of the boat was soaked with saltwater (literal puddles on the floor), and one of our spare diesel canisters leaked, covering the entire top deck with diesel.

It was so rough that our solar panels, which are mounted on an arch on the stern, came loose and nearly fell into the sea. Trev and I had to rig them to the boat with a rope to hold them in place (at 2 AM, while it was so rough that I was struggling not to puke.)

What are some of your favorite simple pleasures of liveaboard life that people might not expect?

You are truly free from any kind of schedule (except your dog’s.) Life really does slow down, partly because chores just take longer when you don’t have access to things like a car or Amazon. It can be a struggle at times to be patient with that, but once you get used to it, you start to appreciate days where all you have to do is go to the grocery store, or walk the dog and write.

One question people always want to know is this: How do you fund your journey?

Trev and I made a pact that I would keep us floating financially if he could keep us floating literally. I’ve been working as a freelance tech writer pretty much since we left in 2021, and I started writing fiction around the same time. My fiction stuff started taking off a bit last year, and I now support us primarily through my creative work – a combination of book sales, a publishing advance, Kickstarter, Patreon, and my videos on social media. I don’t make a ton, but that’s the beauty of sailboat life: you don’t need a ton to get by 🙂

Trev manages all our boat maintenance, route planning, travel logistics, etc., and recently, he’s started taking on some admin from me so we can grow the fiction writing into a full-blown business. I hope to be able to quit freelancing and support us entirely with my books by the end of 2026!

How has your sailing life influenced your speculative fiction—do you find the isolation or adventure changes your storytelling?

Absolutely! My first series (Thalassic) was directly inspired by our sailing adventures. I started writing when we left California, and I wrote most of the first book on my phone while I was sitting at night watch between 2AM and 6AM. We were sailing down the Pacific Coast of Mexico while I wrote books 1-3 of that series, and lots of things that we saw and experienced made their way onto the page (including our dog!)

Your books explore deep themes like mental health, addiction, and climate change. How do your personal experiences inform these topics?

I put a lot of myself into all my main characters (I don’t know who else I would put into them.) The first three books of Thalassic are really just me doing a lot of introspection about my own habits, mental health, personal history, etc. I quit drinking right around the time we left California, so that was very top-of-mind for me and ended up in the books. And once I quit that, a whole slew of other issues kind of emerged from underneath it, so those ended up making their way into the books as well.

As for climate change, tech creep, and the looming collapse of society…those are just things I think about a lot.

Do you have a creative routine onboard, or is it more about grabbing writing time when you can?

Part of what’s so great about this lifestyle is that I get to write all the time. It honestly might be kind of a problem? I literally never stop.

I’m starting to try and work in some more work-life balance this year and maybe not write, like, 9 books all at once.

What’s one piece of advice you’d give aspiring authors who want to combine creative writing with a nomadic lifestyle?

I think a minimalist/nomadic life is an amazing way to be an artist! It gives you the financial freedom to explore creatively, plus some incredible experiences to draw on, an outside perspective, a view of cultures and ways of living beyond your own…but more than any of that, it gives you the time and space to think deeply and figure out what you actually want to say about the world.

You mention “technology creep” in your work—how do you personally balance staying connected with living off-grid?

We started using Starlink for internet in 2022. I have mixed feelings about it (and not just because of Musk.) On the one hand, I wouldn’t be able to earn the money we need to keep us going without it. On the other, sometimes I miss the days of our early adventures, where we had no connectivity. It was a pain in the ass trying to cobble together cell service so I could meet freelancing deadlines, but it forced us to do things like, you know, read and talk to each other.

What role has Aloy played in your adventures—do you have a favorite memory of her at sea?

She’s a constant source of both joy and frustration (as are all dogs.) We love that she gets to chase dolphins, roll around on beaches, learn what monkeys are, make friends with strays, guard the boat, and hang with us 24/7. However, she does make this lifestyle exponentially more difficult, and having her aboard has definitely limited the places we can go – if not for her, we would most likely have crossed the Pacific in 2022, or the Atlantic in 2023. 

But she’s a huge part of our lives, and we make a lot of our major decisions based around her happiness. She’s also probably my readers’ favorite character in the Thalassic Series!

How has living in close quarters changed your relationship? Any advice for others about to switch from a house to liveaboard life with a partner? 

We’ve always lived in small apartments, so we were somewhat used to it. That said, being together 24/7 takes its toll. We do a lot of chores together – walking Aloy, grocery shopping, and working on the writing business – so we try to remember to do fun things together, too. We do the Wordle and Crossword most evenings, and we like to go out to karaoke and a dinner here or there every week or so.

You develop ways of coping with each other’s annoying habits, and it’s important to have spaces where you can be alone. Time apart is critical – you have to miss each other sometimes!

Looking back, is there anything you wish you’d known before setting out on this adventure?

There’s no need to rush! We spent a year in Mexico, but we feel like we could have been there longer. This year we were planning to go up the East Coast of the US, or maybe across the Atlantic, but we realized we’d rather stay in the Caribbean for another year. We felt guilty about that at first – like we should be exploring or adventuring or moving on and seeing new things – but ultimately, if you like where you’re at, there’s no reason to go rushing off somewhere new.

What are your future plans—both for your sailing journey and your writing career?

As far as sailing, it’s very up in the air. We won’t attempt a major ocean crossing like the Atlantic or Pacific as long as we have Aloy, but I know it’s something we both want to do eventually. Trev is itching to get back to Europe and we’d both love to see Thailand, New Zealand, and Japan.

As far as writing: Dot Slash Magic, my next book, comes out in August from Angry Robot Books. It’s an urban fantasy about a digital nomad/coder in her mid-twenties who goes back to school at a community college in San Diego, discovers magic, and accidentally invents AI powered by sorcery. It’s a fast-paced comedic romp with some serious messaging about tech, fascism, and the impact of AI on art and marginalized communities.

I’ll be releasing special edition deluxe hardcovers of the Thalassic Series on Kickstarter early next year, and my agent is currently pitching my latest manuscript, Mother & Slaughter, to Big Five publishing houses. Lots of exciting stuff in the works!

Quick-Fire Fun

What’s one thing you always bring aboard from shore leave?

We usually fly back to the states once a year to see family, and I always try to bring back Bengal Spice tea. It’s the best.

Favorite nautical-themed book or movie?

Pirates of the Caribbean!

What’s your go-to meal when cooking on Loki?

Burritos. With homemade flour tortillas and lots of hot sauce!

What’s one thing most people get wrong about the liveaboard lifestyle?

It’s not a permanent vacation. There are real challenges, and there will be days that you question why you are even doing it at all hahaha.

How can people follow you?

https://lizshipton.com

https://instagram.com/lizshiptonauthor

https://tiktok.com/@lizshiptonauthor

https://facebook.com/lizshiptonauthor

https://youtube.com/@lizshiptonauthor

https://threads.net/@lizshiptonauthor