My pie in the sky dream is a year-long around the world cruise. You get fed, you get to see a million cool places.

That sounds good, Dana. I have heard that the cost of living on a cruise ship can work out to be equivalent to living in an apartment once you account for everything that’s included, but that has to depend a lot on where the apartment you’re comparing it to is.

I heard something on the radio about a cruise company offering pretty much that. An around-the-world cruise that takes several months starting in ... I think 2023.

That would be perfect, Dana. I love the whole being waited on and your room cleaned up daily part lots.

Yes, -t. Some retirees basically live on cruises, which makes some sense.

I think I'd like the around the world cruise idea, though my DP has a vague claustrophobia (not the right word) about being trapped on a ship. Like, he could live on a boat that HE could control, but I think an around the world cruise would give him hives. Eh, he could just fly from port to port so we could keep up. Ha! Yeah.

Laura, I love the idea of you living on a boat, in your happy place! Also, I could then say that I have a friend who lives on a boat, which, you know, always looking to up my cool factor vicariously.

I feel like msbelle would be a master purger. Or is a master purger.

Yes, I would love to bribe msbelle into helping me purge! It will be a project.

My MI-based sister and BiL plan to retire to their boat in the summer, spring, and fall, with a nearby condo that they'll rent out. The plan is to do laundry in the condo in between renters, and live in FL during the winter.

I've heard worse plans. Sis already basically lives on the boat in the summer. (She's a teacher who doesn't have to pick up a second job in the summer.) So she knows the ins and outs of the boating life.

I would only want to go on a cruise like that if I already knew they had good food and I liked the other people who went on that kind of cruise? But I don’t usually do cruises. I guess I could see someday when I’m old doing those European river cruises PBS offers with all the other retirees who want to feel posh?

those European river cruises PBS offers with all the other retirees who want to feel posh?

I think those sound like a step up from bus or train tours in that you're setting into the equivalent of your hotel room, and then take it from city to city—no packing or leaving a shoe under the bed. Of course, you're constrained by the presence of a navigable river by the city you want to visit. But, historically, I believe many cities grew up around navigable bodies of water, for ease of trade and whatnot. So your odds are good.

I'd give one a try.

I'm also interested in renting one of those canal boats if I ever get a long trip to England. They seem like a fun way to see a fair bit of the country.

That sounds like a terrific plan, Calli! Jealous of your sister and BiL now

I haven't really done a proper cruise, the closest I've been were one that was actually on a ferry and one that was on a tiny ship (boat?) that was actually great but not a typical cruise at all. Probably pretty similar to those river cruises, actually.

I have a marina right near me and it would in some ways be pretty practical for me to live on a boat, the big obstacles being (a) the cat probably wouldn't like it, (b) I have Too Much Stuff, and (c) I'd have to acquire a boat. A camper trailer or van or RV would, I think, be cheaper to buy? Not sure how marina fees compare to campground fees.