NEED TO KNOW
After graduating from college in 2021, Sara Bartlett took her vintage clothing and artwork brand mobile — purchasing a school bus with her waitressing tips and transforming it into a fully functional boutique
In 2023, she traded her wheels for sails, moving onto a sailboat full-time with her now-fiancé
Her following on social media has grown, as Bartlett now has over 80,000 followers on Instagram and over 50,000 on TikTok
When Sara Bartlett graduated from college in 2021, she knew she wouldn’t be opting for a traditional 9-to-5.
Instead, the Florida native, who had initially started selling her original art and vintage clothing during her junior year of college, took her saved-up waitressing tips and bought a $5,000 school bus, transforming it completely into a solar-powered, mobile vintage boutique and art shop.
“I totally gutted it out, I installed lighting, I installed solar panels, used all recycled wood and just built it into this little mobile vintage boutique slash art shop,” Bartlett tells PEOPLE exclusively. “Everything in there was second-hand or repurposed in some way.”
For nearly four years, Bartlett ran her business out of the bus, traveling across Florida to different outdoor markets and even living on it, using the flexibility that the vehicle afforded her to connect with clients across the state.
Sara Bartlett
In 2023, Bartlett and her now fiancé, Joey — a yacht officer who she jokes “gets land sick” — officially traded one unconventional living arrangement for another, and moved into a sailboat full time. They now split their time between sailing excursions through the Caribbean and returning to their base city in Fort Pierce, Fla., where Bartlett’s art studio is.
Nearly half of Barlett’s artwork for her business, Stress Less Ocean Club, is created at sea, much of it inspired by the places that she and her fiancé are able to visit as a result of the freedom and accessibility that comes with boat life.
“These places, you can’t even access them by helicopter,” Bartlett says. “You can only access them by boat. And it’s just the craziest feeling when you’re three weeks out and haven’t seen a single person. There’s just these deserted islands and crystal clear water and the dolphins are jumping and playing on your bow wake. It’s magical. I don’t know who wouldn’t fall in love with it.”
A focus on nature and eco-friendly practices has always informed Bartlett’s creative process. Her business endeavors typically center on repurposing, whether it’s selling vintage clothing, using thrifted materials for her sewing projects or working with “found items” like surfboards or life rings.
Living on a boat, she says, has increased her awareness of her consumption even more. “My mission has always been environmentally friendly,” she explains. “You really see that first hand when the comforts of daily life are taken away from you, when the water doesn’t just come out of your faucet endlessly.”
Sara Bartlett
For Barlett and her fiancé, the benefits of boat life outweigh the negatives — even if it means making a few sacrifices here and there.
For example, the pair got rid of their toaster after realizing that it drew too much energy from the boat’s solar power. And, when off-grid, Bartlett’s espresso machine also goes unused. Even their bathing habits have had to change, what with the only 200 gallons of water on the boat to last them a month.
“I miss having a bathtub,” Bartlett laughs. “A big bathroom to get ready in is so nice. I would love to have a garden. Those are things that I’m just going to have to wait on.”
Bartlett’s social media presence has also grown as she shares glimpses of her unconventional life and DIY art projects with her audience under the handle “Saltie Sara.” On Instagram, her account boasts over 80,000 followers, and her TikTok account has nearly one million likes.
Sara Bartlett/Instagram
One viral TikTok video — posted to her sister Kate Bartlett’s account — showed Sara transforming thrifted silk ties into a custom dress for Kate, who has also amassed a significant social media following for fashion content.
In other clips, Sara gives a glimpse into her upcoming wedding, including an on-brand series where she reveals five thrifted wedding dresses she’s considering flipping for her own nuptials.
While she credits Kate’s social successes with inspiring her to post, Sara says she’s approached social media in a much more casual way.
“But I would be lying if I didn’t give her credit for part of the reason why I post — just because I’m like, ‘I’ve seen the success she’s had.’ I’m like, ‘If I can post and I can get 10,000 followers to buy my art, it’s free marketing,’ so I would be doing myself a disservice if I didn’t.”
“I strive to just be real and honest,” she explains. “I haven’t been super, ‘I need to post at this time and do this and this and make everything super aesthetic.’ I’ve just been being me, and that’s been really fun to have people support me in that.”
Looking ahead, Bartlett and her fiancé hope to sail full-time. With his rotational work schedule — two months on, two months off — they already spend long stretches of time at sea.
“We’ll probably be on the boat for the next five years,” Bartlett says optimistically of her nomadic lifestyle. “After that, I don’t know.”
Read the original article on People
