A pair who raised their 4 youngsters on a ship have hit again at critics who say they disadvantaged their brood of a ‘regular’ childhood and ‘sufficient education.’
Keith and Renee Whitaker, from Texas, bought their profitable oil and fuel enterprise seven years in the past, and, in search of a wave of journey, they purchased a yacht for $257,000 regardless of not having any strong crusing expertise.
On the time their youngsters – Anna, Jack, Finn and Kate – have been aged 15, 14, 10, and 9 respectively, and so they went from being schooled at house to studying at sea.
Renee, 49, instructed DailyMail.com that they have been typically critiqued by outsiders for letting their youngsters down as they didn’t attend faculty and blend with different college students, however she says ‘we needed our children to be totally different, to face out.’
Keith and Renee Whitaker, from Texas, give up their jobs and set sail seven years in the past. Their youngsters – Anna, Jack, Finn and Kate – have been aged 15, 14, 10, and 9 respectively on the time
Renee says that one of the vital frequent feedback she and Keith get by way of their social media platforms is that they’ve let their youngsters down as they didn’t attend faculty
A number of the highlights from their adventures on the excessive seas embody swimming with sharks within the Maldives, and navigating squalls hundreds of miles offshore
The Whitaker youngsters went from went from being homeschooled to studying at sea
Defending their unconventional life-style, she continued: ‘We needed them to have an expanded worldview; to really feel and expertise many alternative cultures as a substitute of lecture rooms of same-aged, same-nationality friends.
‘They do one hour of lecturers a day however they’re consistently studying on the boat. They’ve developed a deep understanding and appreciation for geography, sociology, entrepreneurship, world cultures, monetary administration… issues they might by no means study in a classroom.
‘Our children have “lived” their schooling as a substitute of random details being shoved down their throats with the expectation of regurgitating it for a check.’
Up to now, the Whitakers have been to 48 nations and Renee says the youngsters have had ‘so many wonderful experiences that they will always remember.’
A number of the highlights from their adventures on the excessive seas embody swimming with sharks within the Maldives, navigating squalls hundreds of miles offshore, diving in underwater caves in Fiji, watching whales breach in Australia, and consuming on seashores with native tribes in Tanzania.
What’s extra, the Whitaker youngsters have latched onto the ability of social media and Renee says all of them have ‘very profitable’ YouTube and TikTok channels, which generate revenue.
‘I foresee them with a future in social media and advertising and marketing within the coming years,’ the proud mother-of-four says.
On the household’s YouTube channel Crusing Zatara – which has greater than 538,000 subscribers – Renee lately posted a video titled ‘do our children REGRET not getting a “NORMAL” CHILDHOOD?’ in a bid to settle the matter as soon as and for all.
Within the clip, she goes about interviewing every of her youngsters to see what they should say on the topic and in the event that they really feel they’ve missed out on a ‘regular’ childhood.
Jack, now aged 20, says there have been moments again after they began crusing that he missed being on land, however ‘each time individuals requested me, I’d simply undergo my cellphone and present them the photographs [of places we’d been] and be like “that is manner higher than going to high school.”‘
A photograph of the household taken throughout Covid in Fiji in 2020 after their eldest daughter had left to go to varsity in Texas
Together with seeing a selection of locations world wide, the Whitakers say crusing affords a extra inexpensive life-style
In the course of the pandemic, the Whitakers spent six months locked down off the coast of a distant island in New Zealand
Jack – second from left and now aged 20 – says there have been moments again after they began crusing that he missed being on land, however the adventures have been value each second
Nevertheless, he provides that he does want that he may drive extra ‘however that is the one factor.’
Equally Finn, aged 17, says he needs to get his driver’s license as a result of he thinks it will be helpful however ‘afterward in life.’
Together with not with the ability to check out his street expertise, he says he misses having a constant pal group to ‘hang around with on a regular basis’ and that is why he is leaving subsequent 12 months to have a brand new journey, with a van conversion on the playing cards.
Regardless of this stuff, {the teenager} says his time on the boat has introduced ‘extra advantages than negatives.’
Kate, aged 16, agrees along with her brother that the dearth of a social life has been difficult at instances, however the issues she has executed and seen have made up for that.
She explains to her mother: ‘It appears very boring… individuals speak about promenade, I get to sleep on seashores with 12 youngsters.
‘I might choose to try this then go to a dance. You do get to see the world and I suppose it is a good trade in my view. I am not lacking out on hardly something in any respect, apart from extra of a social life.’
Simply with the ability to see all these new locations at such a younger age the place I did not have to fret about cash… or taking day off of labor… I’ll at all times be very grateful for that
Within the video, the Whitakers’ eldest little one – 21-year-old Anna – additionally joins the dialog by FaceTiming in from her faculty dorm.
She is at the moment in her third 12 months in a Texas faculty as a psychology main.
Answering her mother’s query, she says she ‘undoubtedly missed out on lots of the normal issues that youngsters do’ by rising up on a ship.
For example, she mentioned she by no means went to promenade, attended soccer video games or received a driver’s license that ‘contributed to lots of disconnect between me and my present friends, ‘trigger they’ve all these experiences.’
However total, she says crusing world wide as a teen is one thing she would by no means take again.
She muses: ‘I received to see so many locations and so many new issues that not lots of people ever get to see of their lifetime, particularly not individuals my age.
‘So simply with the ability to see all these new locations at such a younger age the place I did not have to fret about cash… or taking day off of labor… I’ll at all times be very grateful for that.’
Whereas the Whitaker youngsters discovered it a bit difficult to navigate boat life at instances, Renee and Keith say it additionally offered them with challenges.
Renee reveals one of many hardest issues about being a mum or dad at sea shouldn’t be with the ability to see prolonged household and COVID accentuated the sensation of being distant from family members.
Finn, aged 17, says he misses having a constant pal group to ‘hang around with on a regular basis’ and ‘that is why I am leaving subsequent 12 months’
Renee says one of many hardest issues about being a mum or dad at sea shouldn’t be with the ability to see prolonged household
Within the video, the Whitakers’ eldest little one – 21-year-old Anna – additionally joins the dialog by FaceTiming in from her faculty dorm
In the course of the pandemic, the Whitakers spent six months locked down off the coast of a distant island in New Zealand.
As soon as Fiji opened as much as yachts, they ‘instantly sailed there and spent a incredible six months there WITH NO TOURISTS!’
‘It was magical!’ Renee exclaimed.
Together with seeing a selection of locations world wide, the Whitakers say crusing affords a extra inexpensive life-style.
Once they lived in Texas, Renee mentioned they ‘wasted a lot of cash’ on consuming out and pointless purchasing journeys.
Now their annual operating prices are about $40,000 to $60,000, with their greatest expense being insurance coverage and gas.
The place they will, they keep at anchor as a substitute of docking at costly marinas and a perk of being at sea is that they will fish for dinner after they please.
Together with getting quizzed about their youngsters’s growth, the Whitakers say one other frequent query they get is about their supply of revenue.
Like many modern-day sailors, the household have constructed a loyal following on YouTube and Instagram, and so they even have a wad of financial savings from promoting their enterprise and a few properties which they use as a cushion.
In line with Cruising Freedom, the Whitakers’ YouTube channel – Crusing Zatara – has a internet value of $1.9 million, ‘primarily based on the worth of their boat, investments and enterprise revenue.’
The web site additionally estimates that the crusing household makes $17,000 a month by means of their ‘participating YouTube content material’, with a number of the greatest moneymakers together with Amazon affiliate hyperlinks, branded merchandise and ‘homeschool schooling for different crusing households.’
Waiting for this 12 months’s crusing adventures, the Whitakers are at the moment in Greece the place they’ll spend the following a number of months exploring the Mediterranean.
They are going to then transfer west, crusing alongside the coast of Italy, France, and Spain earlier than crossing the Atlantic Ocean in fall to get again to the Caribbean.
Providing some recommendation to others contemplating ditching their brick-and-mortar home for a ship, Renee says ‘simply do it.’
She concludes: ‘You by no means know what tomorrow holds. Retirement is a farce. Promote what you possibly can, downsize, reduce, and hop on a ship or a van and discover the world.
‘Make reminiscences NOW as a result of if you happen to wait until the best time, it’s going to by no means come.’
