A family of 4 has been self-isolating on their sailboat in France for 2 months - here's what a week in their lives looks like

Once a week, the family scrubs the entire boat clean, but every day the children are responsible for washing the dishes — something they have to do often these days since they always eat at home.

"There's more of a mess because we are spending more time inside and so there's more clutter," Will said.

For the past few weeks of lockdown, the Sueiro family was forced to stay inside 24/7 because of the cold weather. On this day, however, the weather got a bit warmer so the children took their books outside to read.

"The kids love to take time alone to read and curl up in a blanket," their mother, Jessica, said.

The family also spends time in the cockpit, which is outside but enclosed so that they could enjoy time outside of the hull while remaining somewhat warm.

The family loves making raclette, a dish that includes melting cheeses and scraping them onto potatoes, meats, and bread slices.

"It's really fun," Jessica said. "Before COVID, when we were entertaining, we'd often have raclette with friends, so we tried to keep the traditions alive even though it was just the four of us."

Jessica added that prepping for meals like this one can get difficult in the small galley kitchen. She explained that the kids sat at the table to chop the vegetables, while she and Will had to "squeeze into the kitchen" to boil the potatoes and lay out the meats.

The sailboat has a washer but not a dryer, which means the family has to wait for the right weather.

"We have to time it perfectly, particularly this time of year," Jessica said. "Almost every day, we are looking and saying, 'Is it a good day to do a load of laundry?'"

On this day, they decided the weather was right, but they had to unplug their electric heater — it can't run while the washer runs because it would overload the system. While the clothing is in the washer, the family had to huddle in bed for warmth.

"We make a decision when we wake up," Jessica said. "Do we need clean underwear or do we want more heat?"

When the clothes were done washing, Avalon and Largo hung them out to dry.

At the beginning of the lockdown in France, the family was only allowed to go about half a mile from their home, so they stayed inside most of the time. Now that this regulation has eased a bit, the family loves to get out and exercise. On this day, Will ran 6 miles in and out of the marina docks.

Jessica added that they all love to run, but during the lockdown, they also found comfort in meditating as a family.

"We are working, schooling, and living in one small space together, so we need to keep our sanity," Jessica said. "We get outside, get our vitamin D, exercise, and also have time to ourselves. COVID made us more conscious of our health for sure."

Jessica and Will said they don't like showering in their wet bathroom because it's too small and their entire space gets soaked. Instead, they choose to use the marina showers where there is guaranteed hot water. Since the marina is mostly empty, they typically have the showers to themselves, which is important for social distancing.

Unfortunately, that's not always the case.

"Usually Will and I only see one or two people in the shower," Jessica said. "But it happened that we both came out of showers super pissed off because there are six shower stalls, and we always get in the shower stall at the end. Both of us had someone come in the shower stall right next to us. They were husband and wife, so he got the man and I got the wife!"

Since it's cold in France right now, Will often wears his clothes under his robe to head to the showers, but on this day, it was somewhat warm enough for Will to wear just his robe.

"Will doesn't want to be cold," Jessica said. "I will take every ounce of my clothing off, put my robe on, and then freeze all the way there. We both treat it completely different."

On this morning, Avalon and Will were switching out the navigation lights on the exterior of the boat. Jessica explained they have a long list of boat repairs that they must tackle before they leave the marina for good.

"Our biggest challenge is working full time, raising our kids, having a little bit time for ourselves as well as learning to sail and maintaining the boat," Jessica said. "Right now, it feels a bit overwhelming. Usually, when we take one thing off the list, there are two more things we need to add."

Usually, the children play outside in the cockpit, at the kitchen table, or in each other's rooms. Will said whenever the kids need a break from each other or from the rest of the family, they take some alone time in their rooms.

"They can spread out as much as they want in there and not get in anyone's way," Will said. "Largo really likes to spread out with his Legos."

As for storing the toys, Largo has a couple of bins from Ikea that he keeps on his shelf so that it's out of the way.

When it's time to buy groceries, Will and Jessica have to bike 20 to 30 minutes into town. They load the bikes' baskets, backpacks, and tote bags with groceries. It's not an easy trip back to the boat, and Jessica said it often makes them "cranky."

"It's hilarious because all our baskets are full and our backpacks are full," Will said.

Jessica added, "Our tires are flat."

When they got home this week, the whole family had to work together to find a place for a month's worth of food. They filled the storage beneath the floor with canned and packaged foods. They put the condiments that didn't fit in this space in Avalon's room since it's close to the kitchen.

But the challenges don't end there. When they do dishes, sometimes water spills into the storage space under the floorboards. One time Largo spilled an entire tea kettle, so they had to take everything out and dry it all off.

"We're like a herd of buffalo in here," Jessica joked.

While dyeing her hair, Jessica accidentally knocked over the container of pink dye, and it spilled all over the floor, seeping into the cracks. They're still trying to get it out.

Although Jessica, Will, and the children have shared small spaces for years during their time traveling the world, some tasks still take extra effort.

"My head is almost touching the ceiling," Jessica said. "I got some dye on the ceiling, and I didn't get it off in time, so I still have some in the ceiling. It's complicated [dying my hair] it in the boat because there's not a lot of space and the lighting isn't great. When I have to rinse it off, the sink is really small, so I'm paranoid about getting pink everywhere."

She explained that if there wasn't a pandemic, she would have done it in the communal showers at the marina, but she wanted to spend as little time there as possible.

The couple runs a business called World Towing which teaches people how to downsize and live on the road full-time. They also host group trips around the world, but all of that changed in 2020 when the pandemic put an indefinite halt on travel.

"Everything we had planned was canceled," Will said. "Essentially, our business is on pause."

But they still update their blog and YouTube channel regularly. Here, Will was editing a video and Jessica was writing postcards to their patrons who donated money to them throughout the year.

Usually, the family would host a large friend gathering on New Year's Eve, but this year, they had to keep it small because of the lockdown. Jessica said she still wanted to "make it really fun for our kids and for our family."

They decided to eat oysters and drink champagne — a New Year's Eve tradition in France — out in the cockpit. They also decided to reflect on the positive moments of a tumultuous year.

"We talked enough about the things that didn't go well in 2020," Jessica said. "We were on the cusp of 2021 and didn't want to rehash that. We wanted to put that behind us."

They talked about how they all accomplished their personal health goals and that everyone in their extended family remained healthy throughout the pandemic.

After those celebrations, they went back inside the boat and cooked homemade pizzas until midnight.

"The last couple of years, we've been trying to be more intentional about how we approach New Years," Will said. "We don't do resolutions, but we know there are things we want to accomplish."

They asked their children to write down three goals for 2021: one personal, one health-related, and one school-related. The family then came together at the table (which they turned into a sofa bed for the activity), ate cookies, and shared their goals with one another.

Jessica and Will both said it's their goal for 2021 to learn more about their boat and to eventually leave the marina to see the world.

After sharing their goals, they posted them somewhere visible so they can be reminded of them throughout the year.

Jessica said the family loves to play board games, and the hobby became even more beneficial during their months in lockdown.

"We've been playing a ton," Jessica said. "We played even more over the holidays. We played a game almost every single day, and the kids love it."

Jessica decided to finish her busy week by taking some time to get a headstart on her 2021 goal: learning how to sail. Since the family doesn't know much about sailing, they're all taking online courses and reading books to learn about their new lifestyle so that they can embark on their next adventures.

"I want to be able to sail," Jessica said. "Last year, we were just treading water. We've been inside so much and working a lot because there's not much else to do, but we've been trying to keep our spirits high as possible, but now we can actually see a light at the end of the tunnel."

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