The One Where We Decided To Live On A Boat

So we did a thing.

Our new boat Light & Salty

We dreamed big. Prayed a lot. Worked hard. Sacrificed often. Trusted God. Made plans. And then somehow, through the most unexpected series of circumstances we find our family living full time on a boat. 

Yep, you read that right. We live on a boat now.

What it's really like to live on a boat full time.

For those interested in how we ended up living on a boat, here’s the highlight reel of details:

  • Brent and I both grew up on the water. In college we dreamed of owning a boat. But life happened and we spent more time growing our family and careers than focusing on our dreams.
  • Almost 5 years ago, with our family complete and our roots planted firmly in Charlotte, NC we began to think about the next chapter. We had no concrete ideas, but prayed that in 5 years we could make significant changes that would include travel and boat ownership.
  • Let me state again, we literally had NO ideas, plans or steps for making this dream lifestyle a reality. But what we did have was a date. May 2020. It fell on our hearts and we couldn’t shake it. Originally, that date seemed forever away. And more recently, that date seemed to approach too quickly.
  • In the last 5 years we’ve turned our passion for travel into a business. We’ve made the switch from traditional schooling to “worldschooling.” We learned about something called America’s Great Loop. Then we bought a boat. And we made plans sell our house and build a new one. But this is where the story gets interesting…
  • The spring of 2020 looked very different than anyone could imagine due to Coronavirus. Our house sold in 1 day on the market. Brent’s job went to a mandatory remote status.
  • And before we knew it we found ourselves living on a boat in May 2020. The exact timing that was put on our heart 5 years earlier.

So as I said at the beginning, this was a big dream. And achieving it took a lot of prayer, work, and patience. The story is crazier than we ever could have imagined or planned. God worked in a million details to bring this seemingly impossible set of circumstances to a reality for us.

But here we are, living on a boat. And our plan is to travel America’s Great Loop. I’m quick to acknowledge that those are OUR plans, and we’ll just have to see where this crazy journey takes us!

If you’ve already been following Mom With A Map, you know that we love to share our travel adventures and misadventures. Naturally, when we decided to live on a boat we knew we’d document it all.

This is where it all begins. Make sure that you’ve subscribed to our website, and that you’re following us on social media so you don’t miss anything.

Thanks for following along on what promises to be a crazy journey!

It’s also very helpful to us when you share:

If you’re new here, get to know us better by checking out some of our favorite non-boating travel adventures:

The Top 11 Travel Destinations From an 11-Year Old Globetrotter

Montana Misadventures: Mistakes We Won’t Make Again

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26 Comments

  1. John on May 27, 2020 at 2:54 am

    Good luck and smooth water

  2. Megan weaver on May 27, 2020 at 3:13 am

    So excited to follow this incredible journey of this incredible family’n

    • Scott Pick on May 27, 2020 at 11:14 pm

      Great job buddy wish you lots of luck on your journey with your family be safe

  3. Courtney Howell on May 27, 2020 at 4:55 am

    So excited for you guys! I can’t wait to follow along on your journey! Love Y’all!!❤️

  4. Kelly W on May 27, 2020 at 5:53 pm

    So excited for y’all! We can’t wait to read about all of your adventures!

  5. Ruth A. Bowlin on May 27, 2020 at 10:21 pm

    A friend of mine and her husband lived on their sailboat for many years at Ocracoke Island. They sill live there and bought a condo a couple of years ago. A nice way to just pick up and go. Enjoy!

  6. Jon Courville on May 27, 2020 at 10:37 pm

    This is so cool! Keep dreaming big!

  7. Deb Ribbe on May 27, 2020 at 10:53 pm

    This makes m heart sing. So excited to flow your adventure and to see where the Lord takes you.

  8. Joyce Murphy on May 28, 2020 at 1:38 am

    Wow!!!
    I didn’t expect this when I started reading. Congratulations and I hope you all have awesome adventures. I will tune in and read your adventures of day to day life on your boat. ???

    • pwsadmin on June 1, 2020 at 2:23 pm

      Thank you! It promises to be one wild ride with our family!

  9. Derek simmons on May 28, 2020 at 2:31 am

    This is awesome. Excited for y’all

  10. Anna Moorefield on May 28, 2020 at 12:52 pm

    This is so fun! I can’t wait to read all about your adventure!

  11. Beth on May 28, 2020 at 10:40 pm

    We live in Western Michigan. Are you doing any meet and greets along your travels? God’s timing is so good! Have fun and stay safe?

    • pwsadmin on June 1, 2020 at 2:22 pm

      Hey Beth! We are definitely thinking about doing some meet and greets. We will keep you posted. God is so good, all the time!

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  14. B B on June 2, 2020 at 12:43 am

    I am so excited about this new adventure for the four of you! You will be in my prayers and I will love following you daily! Stay safe and see and do everything possible on your journey! Love and happy travels!

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  18. Frank Huschitt on September 25, 2020 at 12:52 pm

    Good morning. I just saw you pulling out of prarie harbor yacht club. (. I was the guy on the dock watching sunrise ) I am an owner here are wanted to thank you for stopping by, hope you had a nice visit, Sorry the swimming pool was already closed for the season.

    I have some nice photos of you pulling out into the sunrise id like to forward to you if you can tell me how.

    Have a safe journey, I hope someday to complete the loop. We started in Norfolk ,VA. Where we purchased our 1st boat, and traveled to our home port PHYC.

    • momwithamap on September 28, 2020 at 2:25 pm

      Good Morning Frank! We absolutely LOVED our stay at your marina- thank you so much! Matt and the other staff members took great care of us and made us feel very much at home. There are also so many kind slip owners there too! Again, thank you for the hospitality.

      I would love the pictures! Would you mind emailing them to [email protected]

      Norfolk to your marina has been some of the trickiest boating. But we’ve loved every minute of the Loop so far. We are going to wait on the Illinois Locks to open and will look forward to being in the Gulf (and warmer weather.) I hope you’ll get to complete your loop one of these days!

      Thanks again! -Sarah

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