La Vagabonde Mum

La Vagabonde Mum

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Travelling couple hand feed sharks from the back of their boat
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Published: 01:57 BST, 27 April 2022 | Updated: 08:06 BST, 27 April 2022
An Australian mother who spends her days travelling around the world on a yacht has shared the heartbreaking skin condition she has been dealing with while on board.
Riley Whitelum, 37, and Elayna Carausu, 28, have developed a combined following of more than 764,000 users on Instagram while documenting their life sailing around the world aboard a luxury yacht with their two young children.
On Tuesday Elayna posted a video titled 'Why I've been distant lately', explaining that suffering with melasma in patches on her skin has left her feeling self-conscious and introverted.
On Tuesday Elayna posted a video titled 'Why I've been distant lately', explaining that suffering with melasma in patches on her skin has left her feeling self-conscious and introverted
'Only now do I feel confident enough on camera for you to see me and this issue which has been really getting me down over the years,' she said.
'I realise this is so small but to me this has weighed heavy on my mind.'
Elayna first started noticing melasma, which can be caused by sun exposure and hormone changes, in 2018 while she was pregnant with her first son Lenny, only for it to get worse with her second pregnancy.
'I love freckles but not these freckles in patches,' she said.
Elayna in 2014: She thought back to her skin pre-pregnancy and how clear it was
Elayna in 2022: She now gets Fraxel done every six months to get rid of the melasma temporarily
Fraxel became the most effective procedure she could use for six months at a time despite being 'very painful'.
It's a type of laser that resurfaces the skin completely, almost 'melting' off the top layer to reveal smooth, freckle-free epidermis.
'When it gets bad I'm withdrawn and distant from the camera,' she said.
Elayna has had three Fraxel treatments so far and said she will continue to book them in every six months to give her the confidence to be on camera.
In April the travelling couple came under fire after they posted a video of them feeding a shark from their boat just centimetres away from their toddler.
Elayna posted a short video of the couple with their two-year-old Lenny standing on the edge of the boat as Riley fed a thrashing shark that was so close it was bumping against the yacht.
Riley Whitelum, 37, and Elayna Carausu, 28, have come under fire after they posted a video of them feeding a shark just centimetres away from their two-year old Lenny
Many in the comments were quick to condemn the adventurous couple's 'irresponsible' actions they say put the toddler at risk.
One viewer wrote: 'I don't think these videos are worth the risk you're putting your family in. I'm afraid one day this is going to backfire for you. The "clicks" aren't worth it.'
'Not cool. Your child looks scared. You won't get my support on content like this, I'm unfollowing,' said a second.
'It's scary to see a child so close to that,' commented a third.
Elayna posted a short video of the couple with their two-year-old, Lenny, standing on the edge of the boat as Riley fed a thrashing shark that was so close it was bumping against the yacht
Others were concerned handfeeding sharks could lead to an attack.
'Great! Now sharks will be coming up to boats expecting to be fed. Some poor kid will be in the water and get chomped,' one woman responded.
'This is terrible and super irresponsible, you are training sharks to associate human interaction with getting fed!' another agreed.
'Isn't this kind of training sharks to attack things that fall off the back of boats? Could this make them more aggressive around swimmers?' said a third.
The couple have a developed huge following online for documenting their life sailing around the world aboard a luxury yacht with their two young children
There were some viewers who took to defending the couple and praising Lenny for his bravery when so close to the predator.
One fan noted that the courageous toddler 'didn't even flinch' at the sight of the shark.
'Little Lenny is going to be fearless in life, good job,' said another.
'As insanely experiences and knowledgeable parents who have dedicated their whole existence to the ocean, I feel they are entitled to teach their children about every element of the ecosystem they are very much apart of,' a commenter wrote.
This isn't the first time Elayna and Riley have copped criticism for letting Lenny get up close and personal with sharks.
In February they raised eyebrows after sharing a YouTube clip of the two-year-old snorkelling at Jaws beach in Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas, surrounded by Caribbean reef sharks and nurse sharks.
Previously, they raised eyebrows after sharing a clip of Lenny snorkelling at Jaws beach in Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas, surrounded by Caribbean reef sharks and nurse sharks
'A lot of people would think diving with a two-year-old in the water with sharks is crazy but we trusted Andre [their instructor] and he's an expert,' Elayna said.
Lenny was told to lightly step into the water rather than jump because the splashing would alert the surrounding sharks to his presence.
'Wow that was a big one! So many sharks,' the excited toddler, wearing a pair of blue goggles and boardshorts, said.
Plenty of the couple's fans were excited to witness Lenny's big day in the ocean.
'I'm so proud of Lenny! Swimming with the sharks! He's so brave,' one woman wrote.
'I think you'll have a lot of viewers questioning their fears after this one... me included. Cautious, calm bravery is how I would describe it,' said another.
A third added: 'Fair warning, some Karen is definitely going to get into your personal parenting business and call child welfare for letting Lenny swim with sharks. It's bound to happen.'
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Published by Associated Newspapers Ltd
Part of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday & Metro Media Group

Riley Whitelum and Elayna Carausu have spent the past four years sailing to wherever their hearts desire.
Back in 2014, they were just two Australians traveling Europe. The story goes: boy meets girl, boy invites girl sailing, girl quits job, boy and girl sail the world together on "La Vagabonde."
The couple packed up their lives and moved on board Whitelum's monohull -- a 2007 Beneteau Cyclades -- which he was single-handedly sailing around Greece when he met Carausu. From there, they began living an alternative lifestyle on board a yacht -- all while documenting it on YouTube.
In fact, they've gained such a following (3.8 million views per month) that they've become sailing's most popular vloggers . They not only have " Patrons " who fund all their travel and expenses, but luxury French shipyard company Outremer kitted them out with a discounted 48ft Catamaran just last year.
It's a big step up from where they first began -- navigating a boat with barely any experience.
Riley Whitelum and Elayna Carausu have been sailing together since 2014.
'Help, Google! My boat is sinking!'
"I probably had 10 hours sailing on a friend's boat about 10 years before I bought my boat," 34-year-old Whitelum tells CNN while anchored at Nassau in the Bahamas.
"I hoisted a mainsail twice -- that's the little catchphrase I use," he laughs.
Since then, the couple have sailed more than 65,000 nautical miles. They've sailed anti-clockwise around the world from Europe to New Zealand, crossed both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and everything else in between.
Whitelum had barely any experience when he began sailing single-handedly.
Whitelum, who's your typical down-to-earth, happy-go-lucky Aussie, says a lot of what they learned about sailing was through experience, though that hasn't been without a little Googling.
"He woke up to a lot of water in the boat," says Carausu, "and the first thing he did was Google 'help, my boat is sinking!' and he found the answer believe it or not!"
Captain and first mate, boyfriend and girlfriend
The adventurous couple can't help but finish each others sentences when they talk, which may not be surprising given how much time they spend with each other in such a confined space.
With the 48ft catamaran being their home, and often the only place they can walk around when they're in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, the couple are navigating both a working, and personal relationship.
"I would say the first six months were really difficult between Riley and I," Carausu says, while Whitelum laughs: "Oh, I was gonna say easy!"
"He was the captain," Carausu continues, "and he didn't like telling me what to do but sometimes it's a safety issue and you have to tell people 'Elayna you can't do that because ...'
"I don't like being told what to do," she adds.
"We're both pretty stubborn so there was a little bit of a clash but we managed to figure out a way to overcome that and that was just realizing that most of the issues that happen onboard are just boat related. It's nothing to do with Riley and I.
"As soon as we step on land and we don't have the responsibility of the boat anymore, we're sweet -- we have a really good time together, but when the weather's bad or something like that, yeah, things can get a bit stressful. So it was just realizing that."
Before joining Whitelum onboard La Vagabonde, Carausu was living on the Greek island of Ios playing music at restaurants and bars. It's here that she met Whitelum out one night, who asked her to come sailing.
Carausu met Whitelum while she was living on the island of Ios in the Greek Islands.
"That first sail to this day was one of the best sails we've ever had -- just conveniently enough!" Carausu says.
"There were no waves, it was perfect wind, the boat was heeled over so I could dip my feet in the water and I thought that that was what sailing was like," she laughs.
A month after meeting Whitelum, Carausu quit her job and joined him to sail around the rest of the Greek Islands before she flew back to Australia.
"He asked me if I'd come back from Australia to live on the boat and keep sailing with him," she says, "and that was a big commitment but it was one of those things where I would just hate myself had I said no.
"I had to go home and sell my van which I was living in at the time in Australia, and I had a whole bunch of stuff, like scuba diving gear, and I just sold all of that to take the chance with Riley. I had a good feeling about it."
Photos: Sailing's most popular vloggers Sailing La Vagabonde
For the past four years, Riley Whitelum and Elayna Carausu have been sailing the world and documenting their travels on their YouTube channel, Sailing La Vagabonde. The pair met on the Greek island of Ios while Whitelum was sailing a monohull single-handedly and Carausu was playing live music.
Photos: Sailing's most popular vloggers Sailing La Vagabonde
A month after meeting Whitelum, and accompanying him on a couple of day sails, Carausu quit her job and joined him to sail around the rest of the Greek Islands before she flew back to Australia. She then returned to join Whitelum on the boat full time.
Photos: Sailing's most popular vloggers Sailing La Vagabonde
The couple try and live as sustainably as possible onboard, from catching and cooking their own fish, to limiting the plastic they use and raising awareness of the harm it does oceans and wildlife.
Photos: Sailing's most popular vloggers Sailing La Vagabonde
When they first started sailing together, they were on a 2007 Beneteau Cyclades.
Photos: Sailing's most popular vloggers Sailing La Vagabonde
Last year, however, Whitelum and Carausu struck a deal with Outremer and the shipyard supplied the couple with the $740,000 (€640,000) catamaran for a discounted price, which they are now paying off, all thanks to their social media following.
Photos: Sailing's most popular vloggers Sailing La Vagabonde
"Riley and Elayna were willing to travel around the world and live onboard, this is exactly the purpose of our owners, and they had the same philosophy we promote," explained Outremer's sales and marketing manager Matthieu Rougevin-Baville.
Photos: Sailing's most popular vloggers Sailing La Vagabonde
The couple are now expecting their first child, and they say the new catamaran made such a difference in their lives that it was one of the contributing factors in them deciding to have a baby.
Photos: Sailing's most popular vloggers Sailing La Vagabonde
Some fans of the couple's YouTube channel choose to go the extra mile to support the couple and pay between $3 and $200 per video episode via Patreon -- a membership platform for creators to monetize the work they do. By becoming a Patron, fans can get access to episodes a week before they're released to the public,merch, a chance to randomly be selected to join them onboard and various other announcements.
Photos: Sailing's most popular vloggers Sailing La Vagabonde
"We find a lot of our patrons are people who are wanting to do the same thing as us, or maybe they can't," said Carausu. "There are a few patrons who are bound to a wheelchair and it's like people want to live vicariously through our eyes and they feel the need to support that and they want to see us keep going and growing and getting better at what we're doing."
Photos: Sailing's most popular vloggers Sailing La Vagabonde
Onboard La Vagabonde, the couple have established role. Whitelum takes care of boat maintenance and everything logistical -- like checking the weather and planning ahead of sails -- while Carausu takes care of the cooking, cleaning and editing videos for their YouTube channel.
Photos: Sailing's most popular vloggers Sailing La Vagabonde
The couple have sailed more than 65,000 nautical miles, sailing anti-clockwise around the world from Europe to New Zealand and crossing both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
Onboard La Vagabonde, the couple have established roles. Whitelum takes care of boat maintenance and everything logistical -- like checking the weather and planning ahead of sails, while Carausu takes care of the cooking, cleaning and editing videos for their YouTube page: Sailing La Vagabonde.
"Elayna has to work so hard with the editing so I try to take care of as much as everything else that I can," says Whitelum.
The couple also try and live as sustainably as possible, from catching and cooking their own fish, to limiting the plastic they use and raising awareness on YouTube about its harm on the oceans and wildlife.
In a bid to live sustainably, the couple catch and cook their own fish whenever they can.
Each week, the couple uploads an episode, as well as a standalone video -- such as how-to series and general life updates -- to their YouTube account which has over 480,000 subscribers and a total of 80 million views.
It was something that happened organically, says Carausu. Even before she met Whitelum she would edit together footage of her travels to show friends and family back home.
"I really want to look back at all these videos when I'm 60. I want to show my grandkids and I just wanted those memories that videos can bring, so when I want a video from the past that I've made it also brings up so many other memories that were going on," she says.
"When I hopped onboard with Riley, he had a camera that he hadn't used so I just thought it was the perfect opportunity to film this crazy adventure we'd just embarked on.
"It was mainly for friends and family because my mum seems to think, or she did, that the ocean is this perfect storm type scenario, where there's tidal waves and she used to stress about me a lot. So these videos are a great way for her to see what it was really like out there."
So what was a hobbie, became Carausu's job. So much so that viewers can pay the couple between $3 and $200 per video episode via Patreon -- a membership platform for creators to monetize the work they do.
While all of their episodes are free to watch on YouTube, fans can go the extra mile to support the couple. They also get access to episodes a week before they're released to the public, a chance to win merch or to be randomly be selected to join them onboard, as well as various other announcements.
"We're not making any money anywhere else," Whitelum says, "that's the only way we can keep doing it."
"I was very hesitant at first to sign on to that sort of thing, I was unfamiliar with it. But I really think it's the most honest way you can monetize what it is that you do with your audience.
"We're not trying to sell them awful things or organize sponsorship that we might not necessarily be interested in. Our audience gets to look at what we do and then decided based on that whether or not they'd like to contribute."
'Sailing La Vagabonde' has over 450,000 subscribers on YouTube.
Whitelum says it also keeps the couple honest: "We've got to keep making good content."
That's what the couple is most proud of, he says, creating good quality videos that anybody can enjoy.
"We're fairly proud of not making bulls*** content," he laughs. "There's a lot out there and we're doing okay."
"We find a lot of our patrons are people who are wanting to do the same thing as us, or maybe they can't," Carausu adds.
"There are a few patrons who are bound to a wheelchair and it's like people want to live vicariously through our eyes and they feel the need to support that and they want to see us keep going and growing and getting better at what we're doing."
She says the couple get a lot of messages from people who have decided to follow in their footsteps and live life to the fullest, from people selling their house to buy a van, or a boat, "or anything out of their comfort zones, because a lot of people don't realize that they can do that some times."
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