2011 was the year they boarded a luxury yacht for the first time. The following year, they worked on board yachts in the Caribbean, among other places. Now Yachting Sweden wants to give other Scandinavians the chance to travel and at the same time earn good money, live without expenses and make friends for life by working on board a yacht.

Childhood friends Helena and Lisa decided to travel together after graduation. It turned out to be a really good decision. During a visit to Malta, they met some yacht crew who - despite being against the rules - showed around them on a luxury yacht. Then the dream of the world's best workplace was awakened.

- My first sailing experience was on a 50 meter long luxury yacht, in a race with about 50 other luxury yachts in the Caribbean, says Helena, who is one of the founders of Yachting Sweden.

- It was a powerful experience! In the evenings, big parties were arranged, and you got to be like a fly on the wall when the world's richest people vacationed on board, she continues.

During the years when she worked on different yachts, she had a blog where she would write about her experiences. After some time she started receiving a lot of questions. How do I get a job on a yacht? Do I need training? How did you do? What salary do you get? Helena saw that there was great interest in the industry among young Swedes and Scandinavians.

- Helena presented the idea to me over a coffee, I thought it sounded like the world's best plan and that we should immediately get started, says Lisa, who makes up the second half of the duo behind Yachting Sweden.

After that day, they have worked with Yachting Sweden more or less every day, in addition to medical studies and jobs.

The best job in the world?

- I have worked on yachts in Greece, Montenegro, Italy, France and Spain, but have also done a Scandinavian trip with a yacht. We sailed into Oslo, Stockholm, Gotland, Fårö, Tallinn, Helsinki and all the way to St. Petersburg, she continues.

Both Helena and Lisa agree that travel is the absolute best thing about working on a yacht. As a crew on a yacht, you get the opportunity to see many exclusive places that the world's richest go to. Places you might never have had the chance to see otherwise.

They explain that another big perk is that the job pays good money - which you can save because you live without expenses on the yacht.

- And of course the friends you get on board. You will quickly become very close with those you work with and you really make friends for life, Lisa continues.

Plans fort the future

Our goal is to represent scandinavian crew in the industry.

- We want to be a touch base community for already scandinavian yachties, and help the ones wanting to break in, Lisa says.

Their long-term goal is for more Swedes and Scandinavians to work on board the world's yachts. They see that there is a lack of information and knowledge about the industry and how to get into it:

- We hope that we are the obvious alternative for those who want to work and travel, says Lisa.

- We want to show what yachting is about and guide them into an unknown industry. In addition, we want to gather all the Swedes who already work in the industry, and become a small Swedish community in an industry where there are very few of us. We believe that there is a mutual interest, Swedes are interested in the industry and the industry is very interested in getting more Swedes, she concludes.

Listen to their podcast where they share their stories from life as yachties, or read their blog here where they will share information about the industry! On their instagram you will also find a lot of information and inspiration about life as a crew member onboard a superyacht.