Business

Announcing a new business venture….well, kind of. Technically 2 of them. While I have the first few years of my ship board living covered, long term I’ll need to be creative or sell it. Also, a while back one of the monthly updates on the progress of the ship involved various ways to leverage being a global citizen. Tax strategies, business setups and even becoming a non-resident UAE citizen. A bunch of research, talking to lawyers and tax accountant led me back to the good old LLC as the best tool for my plans. I may end up with a trust as well, but the trust will own the LLC.

In formation is Divergent Universe Escapes, LLC. Initially it’s nothing more than an asset holder, however in the long run it will be what rents out the residence when I’m not on board. Once I get to the point when I’m not living on board full time I may also add a land based property. Based upon the current cost of long term cruises and their popularity, renting it out for 6 months would cover all of my yearly expenses including the time not living there. So renting it for a 3 months along with my other income sources may balance the books nicely. Plus I’ll (eventually) be able to deduct expenses and I may even be able to avoid income tax on the rental income.

What happens when depends on how much I like living the constantly moving lifestyle. The plan so far though is to live on board for 2ish years and then 9 months at sea, 3 on land. I’ve set this LLC up now though, because I’m going to be making the first payment on the residence soon.

Secondly, part of the business plan for Divergent Universe Escapes, LLC is to develope marketing materials and promote the lifestyle of living 3-6 months in my luxurious residence.

So there are two other elements to this.

a) This blog. While primary a chronicle of my journey I’ve had this idea all along. It will evolve into a travel blog once I float place to place. I figure 2 years of showing how I’m living (or hope to be) will help me rent out my place. I’ll probably have to advertise it. So you know, Subscribe and share 🙂

b) See that “Buy my photos!” link at the top? I’ve setup a photography store where you can buy the image or have it printed on canvas. https://photos.divergentuniverse.com/ (They are also auto copied to a stock photo site)

It’s pretentious of me to think any photos I’ve taken are worth much. It’s just a hobby. However, in the long run the simple act of taking photos of new places every week may either help market this or at least pay for the storage costs of the photos. It was quite easy to do, so no real loss if it fails. Why not?

In the end, who knows what works. Tossing things at the wall to see what sticks sometimes works, sometimes not, but that’s the journey.