Living in a car or on a narrowboat

[Accy cyclist]

I've been watching a few videos of folk who live in their cars, vans etc. Not only dry land transport, but folk who live on narrowboats as well, but more about the cramped living they experience in their cars. I've never lived in a car, though I've slept in many of my cars over the years, sometimes for a few days on end. Most of those car sleeping experiences happened in my teens and 20's. I definitely couldn't do it these days in my mid 60's! Though I've seen videos of folk in the USA who've lost their homes due to job loss, divorce, family breakdown etc who are in their 60's even 70's and living in cars and vans. Most are decent set ups, with clothing items, cooking utensils etc neatly stored in their vehicles. Have you ever lived in a car and would you, could you live in a car, or on a narrowboat both all year round? 🤔


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlKbFMzOEEw



View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NgILOZxtac

 

[fossyant]

Blimey, first one is a C1 ?

 

[Accy cyclist]

Blimey, first one is a C1 ?

I've slept in quite a few Minis and not the BMW Minis that are much bigger than those British Leyland ones I owned. Ok, I didn't live in them, but I had a 'selfie' 10 day holiday in North Wales in my B/L Mini in 1982.

 

[DCLane]

Cars aren't designed to sleep in, either medium or long-term, whereas most narrowboats are with cooking / washing / toilet facilities, etc. There's a big difference between them. If you'd suggested a camper van @Accy cyclist then that'd be a better comparison imo.

 

[AndyRM]

Lived in a narrow boat for just over 8 months. Not a great deal of fun to be honest, the appeal wears off very quickly.

Spent a fair amount of time in a VW Camper, which was more enjoyable.

Not a chance I'd contemplate living in a car. A tent, sure, but not a car.

 

[Accy cyclist]

Cars aren't designed to sleep in, either medium or long-term, whereas most narrowboats are with cooking / washing / toilet facilities, etc. There's a big difference between them. If you'd suggested a camper van @Accy cyclist then that'd be a better comparison imo.

Yes I know that cars and narrowboats are totally different, but I just thought I'd include boats as more will have lived in or holidayed in/on narrowboats than in cars, so this thread would then get a better response. I didn't include motor homes and camper vans as there's nothing adventurous about that as they are meant to be lived in, unlike cars.

 

[Drago]

I've "slept" in a few cars over the years, but never once got any sleep.

 

[Brandane]

I didn't include motor homes and camper vans as there's nothing adventurous about that as they are meant to be lived in

Errrrm; are narrowboats not "meant to be lived in", in a similar way to camper vans?

 

[HLaB]

The back cabin of Toyota estates in circa 1980 were great for sleeping in whilst your parents still made progress, how times have changed ;-)

 

[Accy cyclist]

Errrrm; are narrowboats not "meant to be lived in", in a similar way to camper vans?

Well, yes they are but like I said earlier, I thought I'd include narrowboats as this thread would get a better response and maybe I'd like to hear about folk's narrowboat experiences as I might hire one one day.

 

[Accy cyclist]

The back cabin of Toyota estates in circa 1980 were great for sleeping in whilst your parents still made progress, how times have changed ;-)

Austin Maxis had about 6 foot to put a sleeping bag in when that back seat was folded down. I slept in my 1972 Maxi many times in the early 80's after a night in a local hospital's club house if I'd had too many 🍺 to drive home, or I was back in work at 7am the following morning.

 

[Juan Kog]

Car or Narrow boat ?. Here’s someone who couldn’t decide.

 

[AndyRM]

Well, yes they are but like I said earlier, I thought I'd include narrowboats as this thread would get a better response and maybe I'd like to hear about folk's narrowboat experiences as I might hire one one day.

Hire one for a couple of weeks then, preferably in summer as it's a very different experience in winter which isn't for everyone.

A decent company will show you how to steer, moor and navigate.

Probably set you back around £1500/£2000 depending on the size of the boat.

 

[stephec]

I've always liked the idea of a narrow boat, but not sure if the novelty would wear off, and with the price of a decent one I'd imagine you'd struggle to get back into a house if you'd sold a house in the first place to buy a boat.

 

[AndyRM]

I've always liked the idea of a narrow boat, but not sure if the novelty would wear off, and with the price of a decent one I'd imagine you'd struggle to get back into a house if you'd sold a house in the first place to buy a boat.

You would, unless you're well enough off that you wouldn't have to sell a house to buy a boat.

A decent one will set you back over £100k which is just the start of a pretty expensive way to live.

Hiring one for a couple weeks is definitely the way to go.