Homeless or Living Aboard
20 October 2012 | Is There a Difference?
Posted by Hobo Live Aboard Rich
Based on some looks I have been getting, I think that living on a boat in Mexico is viewed as less crazy and more socially acceptable than living aboard here in the States. Tell people you live aboard in Mexico and they look at you with envy, but tell them you live aboard in Port San Luis, CA and I'm getting looks like I'm holding a cardboard "Homeless, will work for food" sign. Adventurer to hobo, cool to creepy, and lucky to loser. I might as well tell people I'm living in my car driving from Walmart to Walmart parking lots for a free place to stay. Or at least that is the reaction I seem to be getting from people, even from boaters and former cruisers I have been meeting and talking to at the boat shows. Having a marina boat for a status symbol is cool...living on it is crazy...so why is that?
Ok, I will admit that maybe it's the cruisers clothes I am still wearing or the fact that since I'm working from the boat I could use a shave on most days. But there is definitely something about living aboard a boat that dings your credibility as a contributing member of society. If they only knew that our monthly "rent" or "house payment" for our ocean front house was a staggering $33/mo, I can only imagine what they would think, considering many spend more per month at Starbucks! On top of that, we have no electric bill, no cable bill, no water bill, no trash bill, no special tax district assessment fees, or home owner association dues! Sheesh...maybe we are not contributing members of society after all? Our main utility expense is gas and diesel and it has definitely increased compared to our Mexico expenses, but taken as a whole we are living comfortably on what I like to call a "living under a bridge budget". All I need is a "will work for Taco" sign and my transition from cruiser to homeless will be complete.