Our study table

Our breakfast table

Living aboard a boat, or any tiny space, is a great lesson – in efficiency, frugality, respect for personal space, functionality, conservation….. And much more.

We are a wasteful society.  We live in huge houses, using lots of energy and water, making lots of garbage.  A kitchen table and a dining room table a few feet away in another room, and perhaps a desk or two.  2 or 3 and sometimes 4 bathrooms!

Living aboard this boat is perhaps much like being a poor student – stretching every dollar, using every paper towel sparingly (if you’ve splurged and bought paper towel at all),  sharing a tiny bathroom with four others.  Organizing your space so that you don’t go insane every time you need to get something.  Reusing your same glass all day, because you don’t want to dirty and then wash all those dishes, or perhaps because it is the only one you “own”.

There’s a consciousness in living in a tiny space and being concerned not to waste your supplies – of water, fuel, food, dish detergent!  It’s amazing how little water you actually need to wash your dishes.

And there is a great appreciation of the things many of us take so for granted in our everyday lives.

It is a lesson in humility, realizing our place in a huge world.

And finally, it’s a great trip back in time for the older folks – nothing like a good ole sponge bath with a facecloth and a bar of camay soap to bring back childhood memories 😃.