People love the idea of living on a boat. It’s a romantic idea, filled with dreams of heading off into the sunset. But when it comes to the reality of living minimally and without an address, even the most passionate boaters can get a bit overwhelmed.
Take heart, all you boaters yearning to live onboard. Sustainability is another good reason to live on a boat, and there are a number of reasons why a boat life is more sustainable than being a landlubber.
1. If you’re sure to pick out a low maintenance, energy-efficient boat, heating, cooling, electricity, and getting from point A to point B will take less fossil fuel than it takes to run a house. The small house we used to live in cost us about $350 to $450 a month in utilities alone, and we’re pretty frugal people. On our boat, we have fewer utility needs, and those are supplied by our floating home.
2. The mortgage you have on your boat will be smaller than the one for your house. And the cost of the things to make it livable will be smaller because you’ll need fewer things.
3. Sustainability is also about accepting that we really don’t need nearly as much as we thought we needed and learning to live without the things our commercial society has convinced us, falsely, are needs. Living on a boat has helped us push the boundaries of what we can do without.
4. Living on a boat makes us keenly aware of all the resources we use. People living on land take for granted their unlimited fresh water, power on demand, and refuse collection service. Liveaboards are keenly aware of the amount of everything we use because we have to carry it with us and refill all the supplies we use.
5. Boaters well know the endorphin high we get from being out on the water. Living in Mother Nature, as opposed to being insulated from the natural environment in buildings, reminds us to do all we can to keep our world beautiful and pristine.
6. And aside from all these smart reasons to live on a boat, there’s the fact that it feeds our souls.
by Elizabeth Kelch
Monday, December 12, 2016 - 09:36
People love the idea of living on a boat. It’s a romantic idea, filled with dreams of heading off into the sunset. But when it comes to the reality of living minimally and without an address, even the most passionate boaters can get a bit overwhelmed.
Take heart, all you boaters yearning to live onboard. Sustainability is another good reason to live on a boat, and there are a number of reasons why a boat life is more sustainable than being a landlubber.
1. If you’re sure to pick out a low maintenance, energy-efficient boat, heating, cooling, electricity, and getting from point A to point B will take less fossil fuel than it takes to run a house. The small house we used to live in cost us about $350 to $450 a month in utilities alone, and we’re pretty frugal people. On our boat, we have fewer utility needs, and those are supplied by our floating home.
2. The mortgage you have on your boat will be smaller than the one for your house. And the cost of the things to make it livable will be smaller because you’ll need fewer things.
3. Sustainability is also about accepting that we really don’t need nearly as much as we thought we needed and learning to live without the things our commercial society has convinced us, falsely, are needs. Living on a boat has helped us push the boundaries of what we can do without.
4. Living on a boat makes us keenly aware of all the resources we use. People living on land take for granted their unlimited fresh water, power on demand, and refuse collection service. Liveaboards are keenly aware of the amount of everything we use because we have to carry it with us and refill all the supplies we use.
5. Boaters well know the endorphin high we get from being out on the water. Living in Mother Nature, as opposed to being insulated from the natural environment in buildings, reminds us to do all we can to keep our world beautiful and pristine.
6. And aside from all these smart reasons to live on a boat, there’s the fact that it feeds our souls.
by Elizabeth Kelch