narrowboat or caravan?

[endeva]

I have also thought about living in a touring caravan, thing is we have no children to leave our house to so why not try and enjoy our latter years either on campsites or the canal system?, selling our house and making around £40,000 profit from it instead of giving it to some local authority for care in our old age, above all I do not want the Government to get a single penny from our estate when we eventually die!

 

any thoughts?

[gaggle]

if your health is good sell up and hit the road/water.

enjoy whatever wealth that is available before it is to late,it will be taken away from you.

the goverment or council have ways of taking your assets as soon as you need care and the care you get will be exactly the same whether it is your money or theirs that is paying the bills.

a friend has said to me "its later than we think"and i am only 51 but he is right.

spend your money,enjoy it.

dont even worry about the end because they have never left one on top.enjoy every penny.

[nbtafelberg]

Narrowboat Narrowboat Narrowboat Narrowboat Narrowboat Narrowboat Narrowboat Narrowboat Narrowboat Narrowboat

 

Narrowboats are great

[Yamanx]

I'll bet that even if you went onto a caravan forum they'd suggest you cruise the canal system on a narrowboat

[Pirate]

I have also thought about living in a touring caravan, thing is we have no children to leave our house to so why not try and enjoy our latter years either on campsites or the canal system?, selling our house and making around £40,000 profit from it instead of giving it to some local authority for care in our old age, above all I do not want the Government to get a single penny from our estate when we eventually die!

 

any thoughts?

 

 

Do you know how to spell Pirate

[Bones]

Before I bought my narrowboat (the current one) and was deciding on whether to stick with boats or try something else, I decided I might try and convert a bus. I had already decided that a caravan didn't have as much of a soul as a boat, and didn't feel so spacious. I chose a boat in the end because of the community, the wildlife and the soothing nature of the water. In addition I didn't like the idea of having to rely on other peoples land for parking the bus. In addition, on a boat it is possible to be a bit more anonymous if required. I chose a narrowboat becase they are great fun, there is always something to fiddle with, invent or create and they are easy to heat. Storage for water is simple, and storing gas bottles easy. I haven't looked back. seeing the world through the waterways is amazing - especially as you can get to those bits a car can't get to.

[Pirate]

Before I bought my narrowboat (the current one) and was deciding on whether to stick with boats or try something else, I decided I might try and convert a bus. I had already decided that a caravan didn't have as much of a soul as a boat, and didn't feel so spacious. I chose a boat in the end because of the community, the wildlife and the soothing nature of the water. In addition I didn't like the idea of having to rely on other peoples land for parking the bus. In addition, on a boat it is possible to be a bit more anonymous if required. I chose a narrowboat becase they are great fun, there is always something to fiddle with, invent or create and they are easy to heat. Storage for water is simple, and storing gas bottles easy. I haven't looked back. seeing the world through the waterways is amazing - especially as you can get to those bits a car can't get to.

 

 

And when you do, just listen to the silence....Heaven.

 

Funny I was going to get a bus shipped across from the USA once, I got a few links here and posted one or two here somewhere. They are too big for the roads, and you wouldnt get the same piece and quiet, and the camping fees may be huge if you could find a place to take it. Naaa you and me, we did right to give em a miss.

[John Orentas]

Strange thing, I was on the point of buying a coach before I got hooked on boats. I used to be involved in motor racing (Long circuit karting), my friend had a coach which had been converted 2/3 for accomodation and 1/3 as a workshop. It was a fantastic tool and I loved to drive it whenever I got the chance.

 

Then we took a holiday on a Simolda boat, and that was it.

[DHutch]

I'll bet that even if you went onto a caravan forum they'd suggest you cruise the canal system on a narrowboat

Oh, they do!

 

I guess it at also depents on what you want to do while you at it.

- You can do 60 down the motorway and jump on a ferry to Roscoff in a 70ft'er!

 

 

Daniel

[Moley]

Someone described the waterways to me as being “the quickest way to slow down.”

 

The trouble with a caravan (and I'm speaking from experience, having towed tens of thousands of miles and worn out 3) is that you can never really relax. When you've fought the holiday traffic (with blood pressure steadily rising) and finally got to where you want to be and unhitched the damned thing, you've still got bikes and stuff to unload and awnings to pitch and water to fetch and the kids are being a pain and the wife's being no help and by the time you can finally sit down with a beer your nerves are frazzled and a couple of days later you've got to do it all again in the reverse order.

 

Nah, never again!

 

When I've got our boat back in service, within 10 minutes of leaving home we'll be onboard and chilling.

 

You can still find traffic jams on the cut (had to wait an hour and a half for a lock on the Middlewich branch), but that's just an excuse for a walk and a chat and a couple more beers. Can't do that on the M5 trying to get through Bristol (and my blood pressure's going up just thinking about that Avon bridge!)

[peasant]

Whatever you decide to do it's better to do something and regret it than regret never having done it at all

Or so the wife says!

[Carrie]

Reading these responses, I wonder if a uniting characteristic we may share is restlessness?

[Maffi]

Reading these responses, I wonder if a uniting characteristic we may share is restlessness?

 

Nah! I can't wait to come home, get away from all the travelling, culture change,and downright ignorance of all them foreigners. Just to settle down on my boat and relax.

[Carrie]

You say that Maffi - and you will at least be back in the country, it's true - but you aim to be travelling around, don't you?

 

I always thought I'd end up in some remote place, living off the land, but the thought of being tied to one piece of land feels constricting at the moment. What do other people think has motivated them to a mobile lifestyle (caravan or boat)?

[Bones]

Whatever you decide to do it's better to do something and regret it than regret never having done it at all

Or so the wife says!

 

very true!

 

You say that Maffi - and you will at least be back in the country, it's true - but you aim to be travelling around, don't you?

 

I always thought I'd end up in some remote place, living off the land, but the thought of being tied to one piece of land feels constricting at the moment. What do other people think has motivated them to a mobile lifestyle (caravan or boat)?

 

Thats the thing though.. on the boat it is settled, it just so happens that the countryside moves. Nothing better than putting in a day of hard cruising and having a cup of tea and not having to unpack.

 

However - me and the beloved have a deal... I cook and he finishes the paper skeleton (which is dribving me potty) - but I can hear him in the kitchen...........................AGH

[AndyM]

I have also thought about living in a touring caravan, thing is we have no children to leave our house to so why not try and enjoy our latter years either on campsites or the canal system?, selling our house and making around £40,000 profit from it instead of giving it to some local authority for care in our old age, above all I do not want the Government to get a single penny from our estate when we eventually die!

 

any thoughts?

 

That is absolutely perfect and has been our plan for a while now - retire on the narrowboat but spend the coldest three months of winter touring the warmer parts of Southern Europe in our caravan. New car etc. financed by the house sale and leave absolutely nothing for the government to take when I'm old and decrepid!!

 

I'm afraid my kids have got thirty years warning to sort their pension out for their retirement - a whole lot more warning than I got! My intention is to relax and experience as much as possible when I retire, relax and potter on the narrowboat and slowly tour in the caravan then get wheeled off to the old folks home with as little as possible to my name. If I can manage that I shall be extremely pleased with myself!!

[endeva]

That is absolutely perfect and has been our plan for a while now - retire on the narrowboat but spend the coldest three months of winter touring the warmer parts of Southern Europe in our caravan. New car etc. financed by the house sale and leave absolutely nothing for the government to take when I'm old and decrepid!!

 

I'm afraid my kids have got thirty years warning to sort their pension out for their retirement - a whole lot more warning than I got! My intention is to relax and experience as much as possible when I retire, relax and potter on the narrowboat and slowly tour in the caravan then get wheeled off to the old folks home with as little as possible to my name. If I can manage that I shall be extremely pleased with myself!!

 

we both have the same thoughts then

 

the thing is, you have to have the bottle to actually do something, I suppose it's only natural to be cautious and think "what if it all goes wrong"

[Bones]

we both have the same thoughts then

 

the thing is, you have to have the bottle to actually do something, I suppose it's only natural to be cautious and think "what if it all goes wrong"

 

 

if it goes wrong? Kids are there to bail you out!

[endeva]

if it goes wrong? Kids are there to bail you out!

 

LOL not if you dont have any

[AndyM]

LOL not if you dont have any

 

 

Well, it's only 21:45!!!!!!!

[endeva]

Well, it's only 21:45!!!!!!!

 

there's no answer to that one

[Bones]

LOL not if you dont have any

 

in which case - if it all goes wrong, declare madness and life off the state!!!

[endeva]

in which case - if it all goes wrong, declare madness and life off the state!!!

 

I dont think I would have that much trouble declaring madness really, after all if we ever do sell up to live on a boat, wont most "Normal" People see that as madness?

[Maffi]

Yeah but what do 'normal' people know?

[Keeping Up]

Can't do that on the M5 trying to get through Bristol (and my blood pressure's going up just thinking about that Avon bridge!)

What, this one?