"It is easy in the world to live after the world’s opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own, but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude" -Ralph Waldo Emerson
We love the life we're living and many think it's a perpetual vacation. I'll let you in on a little secret...living on our boat isn't like being on vacation. We live on our own boat, not a cruise ship with a full staff. We still have to do maintenance on our home(s), pay bills, get prescriptions filled and make doctor appointments. Just to name a few of the normal life things that have to get done. Everything we do is done in a very small space...less than 600 square feet, which includes our outside space. We have no washer and dryer, no dishwasher, our refrigerator is dorm size with little space for frozen food, our shower is 3'x2' and we have no comfortable furniture to relax on. Are you ready to join our crew yet?
To cook we have to go up to the flybridge and turn the propane on and off (rain or shine), the AC won't keep up if we use the oven or even the stove in the galley on hot days, so a lot of cooking during the summer is done completely on the grill. Some of our favorite things can't be fixed during the summer.
Storage space is limited. We don't have a shop or garage for tools, spare parts or oil for the boat. All that shares space with food, dishes, pots and pans, towels and office supplies...four seasons of clothing for the two of us is kept in one hanging locker and eight drawers. We have to move the boat every 2-3 weeks for a pump out, we have to fill our water tanks each week and we have to carry groceries and everything else we have from our car to the boat, which is about a block away. Taking the trash out also means walking a block to the dumpster and a block back. Do I have any volunteers to join our vacation yet?
But hey we really can't complain, while we are in New York we live in a State Park. The view is wonderful and the temperature is amazing. Plus there are tons of things to do close by, so we don't have to stay in our small space all day.
Allen H. Treman State Marine Park...our summer home. (Photo by Julie Duffy)
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