Wifey B: For illustrative purposes I'm going to compare living aboard on a 45' Grand Banks to living on land in a nice house or condo.
Boat advantages:
-Water. Water. Water.
-Location. Can go Anywhere. Mobility.
-Unburdened from land and all that's on it.
Land advantages:
-Amenities. All the conveniences of home. Oh you may try to copy on boat but you just can't have them all. From simple to major. Don't have trash pickup. Don't have cable tv and internet. Don't have unlimited water and sewage. Can't just step out the door and go for a walk or drive. Your friends and family can't just come over or you go visit them.
-Maintenance. Boats require more. Even the best of them.
-Doesn't depreciate in value like a boat.
-Others understand. Most don't understand living on boat. Half think it's stupid and horrible. The other half things it's total bliss and always easy and perfect.
-Accommodating of age and disability and illness. Easy to get medical attention and easy to get in and out and around. Safer.
If you're looking to compare in lists like I did above, or compare financially, or just looking at tangible benefits, it's hard to ever say living on a boat makes sense. But if using your senses, it does. It's what you see, what you hear, what you feel, what you smell. It's what makes you smile and laugh. It's almost orgasmic, the feeling it gives you. If I have to explain the joy of the water to you, then you'll never understand, because I can't. I just know it. I feel it just as much as the first time I was on the water. Just as much as the first time I went out on Lake Norman in my fiancee's boat with him. It was magical. I knew what he'd tried to describe but I'd not understood until then. I loved it. I didn't want night to come and us have to go in. Life is just different on the water. The world is different.
Maybe test with the "missing" factor. My hubby calls something like it his "theory of pain." How long can you be on the water before you miss your land home? How long can you be at home on land or otherwise on land before you miss the water. A few take sail and live on their boats and never miss having a land home again. Others can be content on land and don't miss not being on the water. Most of us here miss both after time. We're gone 6-8 weeks and we miss our extended family at home. 3-4 weeks at home and we sure miss the water though. So, we boat about 2/3 of the year. We have friends who miss either one in 30 days so boat half the time.
A warning too is don't push yourself or force yourself beyond your own personal missing time. If you do, you might develop more than missing, but a strong dislike. I've seen couples decide to be on a boat except at the holidays visit their kids and grandkids. Well, once a year wasn't enough and more and more, one or both, missed them terribly. One said they needed to visit them more often and have a condo or something near them, but the other said, we can do this, stick to the plan. Well, instead of a compromised plan, finally one had enough and said, "I'm done. I'm moving back on land." They'll never know if three trips home a year or four would have done it for them. They were too stubborn to listen to themselves and their longings. It's like getting a small cut and not treating it. After a while it gets painful, but you say you can endure the pain. When you finally get around to seeing a doctor or going to an ER, it's too late. Respond to what you feel, don't try to ignore it. Find what is right for you, not someone else's right.
Boat advantages:
-Water. Water. Water.
-Location. Can go Anywhere. Mobility.
-Unburdened from land and all that's on it.
Land advantages:
-Amenities. All the conveniences of home. Oh you may try to copy on boat but you just can't have them all. From simple to major. Don't have trash pickup. Don't have cable tv and internet. Don't have unlimited water and sewage. Can't just step out the door and go for a walk or drive. Your friends and family can't just come over or you go visit them.
-Maintenance. Boats require more. Even the best of them.
-Doesn't depreciate in value like a boat.
-Others understand. Most don't understand living on boat. Half think it's stupid and horrible. The other half things it's total bliss and always easy and perfect.
-Accommodating of age and disability and illness. Easy to get medical attention and easy to get in and out and around. Safer.
If you're looking to compare in lists like I did above, or compare financially, or just looking at tangible benefits, it's hard to ever say living on a boat makes sense. But if using your senses, it does. It's what you see, what you hear, what you feel, what you smell. It's what makes you smile and laugh. It's almost orgasmic, the feeling it gives you. If I have to explain the joy of the water to you, then you'll never understand, because I can't. I just know it. I feel it just as much as the first time I was on the water. Just as much as the first time I went out on Lake Norman in my fiancee's boat with him. It was magical. I knew what he'd tried to describe but I'd not understood until then. I loved it. I didn't want night to come and us have to go in. Life is just different on the water. The world is different.
Maybe test with the "missing" factor. My hubby calls something like it his "theory of pain." How long can you be on the water before you miss your land home? How long can you be at home on land or otherwise on land before you miss the water. A few take sail and live on their boats and never miss having a land home again. Others can be content on land and don't miss not being on the water. Most of us here miss both after time. We're gone 6-8 weeks and we miss our extended family at home. 3-4 weeks at home and we sure miss the water though. So, we boat about 2/3 of the year. We have friends who miss either one in 30 days so boat half the time.
A warning too is don't push yourself or force yourself beyond your own personal missing time. If you do, you might develop more than missing, but a strong dislike. I've seen couples decide to be on a boat except at the holidays visit their kids and grandkids. Well, once a year wasn't enough and more and more, one or both, missed them terribly. One said they needed to visit them more often and have a condo or something near them, but the other said, we can do this, stick to the plan. Well, instead of a compromised plan, finally one had enough and said, "I'm done. I'm moving back on land." They'll never know if three trips home a year or four would have done it for them. They were too stubborn to listen to themselves and their longings. It's like getting a small cut and not treating it. After a while it gets painful, but you say you can endure the pain. When you finally get around to seeing a doctor or going to an ER, it's too late. Respond to what you feel, don't try to ignore it. Find what is right for you, not someone else's right.
