Did you know there was a rush on narrowboats in the UK during the pandemic? Whether as a way to escape or to save money in the midst of financial crisis, people have been making the move to living on-the-water — including Suzi and Joe.
They used to pay high rent for an apartment in London, and commute three hours a day to their jobs. Now they both “work-from-boat,” spending far less on utilities and using their “Continuous Cruising” license, which keeps them moving every two weeks to some new beautiful spot.
While their first couple months on the water haven’t been easy, Suzi (@on_the_rhymer) says they’re loving their new home and eco-friendly lifestyle in their off-grid narrowboat. Read the rest of our Q&A with the couple after the photo tour!
I hope you are doing well! I love Tiny House Talk and hope our journey of taking an old narrowboat and making it our home can inspire others.
I am from the States and my other half is from England. We wanted to do something different when we started out in London. I had lived in Seattle and we have both visited and fell in love with the houseboats there. So when all the pieces fell together for us to buy and make our home on a boat, we jumped at the opportunity.
When I was leaving the States, people were either inspired by our choice or thought it was completely crazy. Especially, as our home was going to be the size of most peoples bedrooms. However, we have been living here for over a year now and could not be happier. Also, when I say ‘we’ this includes two adults and one very happy, but giant, golden retriever. So living small in central London, with a dog, is completely possible.
Below you’ll find the ‘before’ and ‘after’ photos as we redid the boat.
