It has been correctly said that once the water casts its spells, one can never get out of its wonders. Water sources like seas, canals, oceans, rivers, lakes have always allured man since ages past. These waterways used to be one of the only means to derive food so people learned the act of fishing over the ages and gradually also learned how to survive on the waters for months at a time.
These techniques led to the rise of marine living which nowadays, people enjoy and take it as a vocational tour. Living on the water is fun, exciting and full of surprises but living with a family on the water brings its own challenges.
These challenges vary depending on the age of your children and how well they get along when they are stuck in small places. The younger the children are the more difficult safety can be while older children will often get bored of not being able to go anywhere.
Whether living on a houseboat with a family is a good idea really depends on the temperament of the parents and children but in most cases unless it is temporary it won’t work out long term. Putting a family together in a small houseboat will often cause a lot more problems than most people think.
If you are planning to spend the rest of your life living on a houseboat and you have teenagers that are about to leave the house then it really isn’t a bad idea at all.
Living on a houseboat with a family can be good or bad just like anything but it really comes down to personalities more than anything.
If you have younger children, dealing with their safety is vital but it’s likely easier than dealing with a bunch of teens cooped up in a small place. However, teens will have a lot of extra things to do as swimming, fishing, and exploring are all great options when on a houseboat.
Reasons why living on a houseboat is worth it
Even if you have a family living on board a houseboat might be worth all the extra hassle just because of how amazing it is! Again, how much hassle you will experience depends on the age of the children as well as whether you will be taking them to work or school every day or if everything will be done on board the boat.
If you are willing to put up with all of the hassle of having a family onboard a houseboat it will be because of these reasons.
Freedom
Living on the water gives you the freedom that you have always craved. It helps you admire the beauty of the water and escape in its deep and surreal depths with fish swimming all around. It also gives you the freedom to stay away from the monotonous, busy and hectic city life and dwell in the lap of mother nature and admire greenery to the fullest.
For a long time, people have admired the water as a source of adventure. Amidst the waters, you will be able to spend your life with those who energize or excite you to live it better. Living on a houseboat gives you the full freedom to cut out the negativity from life.
Living on a houseboat offers you absolute freedom, allows you to experience a love for the water and its surroundings, gives fierce independence and more. People will also often learn to respect mother nature and start admiring her creations a bit closer.
Living on a houseboat also gives you the freedom to live in different parts of the environment. On one day, you can find yourself amidst mountains and the next day you could see large stretches of fields around you. Every day can be a unique one and you’ll able to value your life more than ever.
Simplicity
In this chaotic life where people forget the advantages of leading a simple life, here in the water you’ll be able to practice a simple life with just you and your family.
You will no longer be a part of that frantic modern life which deals with nothing but rather goes faster while trying to always be building and working on bigger and better things. With houseboat living you can avoid the allure of buying things in order to find a purpose in your life and existence.
In modern life, we often don’t actually appreciate our work; rather, we are all busy feeding our endless desires by overworking.
Whereas living in a boat helps you lead a simple life.
It limits the appeal of materialistic things which tends to draw us in to always wanting more and more. Also, a houseboat forces you to live your life in a limited amount of space. You’ll be forced to live a minimalist life where you will learn to value each and everything that’s available and accessible to you instead of constantly buying like we all tend to do.
You will be able to spend your life in the most simple of ways because living on the water demands a simple life. You will often be living with a single pair of shoes and a couple sets of loose cotton clothes. (Ok maybe not that little but you get what I’m saying).
Demands won’t be high and soon you’ll learn to value things far more in life than you used to.
Community
Since there are quite a good number of floating houses and houseboats on the waters, living on the water gives you access to the water community which is determined mainly by who you dock next to.
Also, wild parties won’t be frequent anymore and you won’t have to worry about noisy neighbors either! Don’t like your neighbors? Move your houseboat!
Moreover, you will be living in a real community where people depend on each other for help in emergencies or problems. Many people who live on houseboats quickly realize that if somebody faces a problem, everybody in the community is ready to help them out.
In a water community, every individual looks out for others and tries to help. The houseboat community helps them to become better individuals and to learn different cultures, skills and knowledge thereby creating a positive atmosphere to live in.
Close to nature
Living in a houseboat gets you closer to nature. You’ll soon be able to admire the beautiful noises made by birds or be flabbergasted seeing the awesome swoops made by the fishes. Some may say that proximity to nature makes life difficult, but if taken positively and you are a bit careful, you’ll soon learn to admire its awesome creatures.
You’ll be able to learn more about fishes, birds, and all kinds of plant life that will surround your houseboat. You may even find different species of animals loitering on the shore.
You will also often be acquainted with several species of plants growing underwater or over the shores.
Living on a houseboat where you can change your environment settings whenever you want is a different kind of vibe. People love to go on tours to see sites like these and will spend tons of money just to experience these things once a lifetime. If you are on a houseboat they will become a regular occurrence for you!
Therefore, if you are lucky enough to get the opportunity to live on a houseboat with your whole family then it’s worth a shot at trying to grab the opportunity and be prepared to discover and unfold several creations of mother nature.
Cost-effective living
It has been found that living on the water is very cost-effective. One has to pay a minimum amount of $4000 in order to rent a single bedroom apartment in some cities in the US and that is one of the reasons why the water residence concept is getting so popular.
Students who are already burdened with school debt prefer to opt for houseboat living in order to minimize their expenses and many families have realized that while small, living on a houseboat is cheap!
Therefore, if you are planning to live with your family where your budget is being destroyed by the high cost of living in an apartment or house then you can definitely opt for houseboat living where you can not only minimize your living cost but also engage yourselves in a minimalistic life.
Conclusion
Deciding whether you and your family should take up residence on a houseboat or not is a very personal decision and not one that should be made lightly. If you are serious about pursuing it then it is a good idea to rent a houseboat for a week or even month and see how you and your family do.
A short vacation might be tons of fun but after a week or two the newness will wear off and you will get to experience what life aboard a houseboat will really be like. Once you have tried it for a few weeks you can make a much better decision if houseboat living is for you and your family or if you should wait until the kids are grown to live on one.
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