Downsizing to a Narrowboat
As I reflect on our move from four-bed-two-bath bricks and mortar to a 57' x 6'8" floating steel vessel, I recall (with something of a grimace) the enormity of the operation.
Worth the effort?
In our case, given the scale of our forthcoming downsize, a drastic de-clutter was absolutely necessary. But, if we hadn’t been moving, we’d probably never have done it, at least not on this scale. Maybe though, if we’d known the profound positive effect it would have, and how worthwhile our efforts would prove to be, we might just have been motivated to do it anyway.
Looking around now, as I sit cosy and comfortable in my tiny floating home, I can't believe how much unnecessary stuff used to clutter my life and my mind. Some might feel a sense of emptiness, or even loss, at shedding so many of their possessions, but for us it's led to a feeling of freedom, a sense of calmer contentment and renewed focus on life.
"If you take objects out of a room, one by one, two things will happen. The first is obvious. You will miss some of the things you have taken away. The second is that you will notice the things that remain more than ever. Your attention will focus. You will be more likely to read the books that are left on the shelves. You will appreciate the comfort of the remaining chairs much more than before. If there's a chess board, you are more likely to play chess. When things are taken away, the stuff that remains has more value. It rises not only in visibility but also intensity. What we lose in breadth we gain in depth." The Comfort Book by Matt Haig.
Preceding events
Before the move, our land dwelling had been home for eighteen years, and it'd housed the two of us, our children, and a variety of fur babies during that time. Consequently, we'd accumulated a vast amount of household, family, and animal related gubbins. Garage, shed, loft, cupboards and drawers, pretty much all full to bursting - where on earth to start?!
Over recent years, our now-grown-up offspring had moved on, and the two of us had spread ourselves around the whole house. Not that we needed to, we’d just felt the empty space was going to waste. We were literally filling the voids. We'd transformed the now spare rooms into a laundry room, dressing room, and comfortable guest room - we even had a bathroom each… luxury! Of course, we felt very fortunate to have the option of living so comfortably and spaciously - but really, we no longer needed (or wanted) so much space nor the cost and time-consuming maintenance that came with it.
We both felt a profound desire to escape what now felt like the trappings of convention. We needed to try something new, completely different… I suppose we were in search of adventure. And so, random as it may seem, we settled on the idea of moving aboard a 57’ narrowboat and exploring the UK Inland Waterways. Well, why not?!
The big clear out
Decision made to sell up, we had some sorting, lots of sorting, to do. And, we were under no illusion our downsize was going to be easy. We realised if we were to avoid being completely and utterly overwhelmed by the task ahead, we needed to think practically, work methodically, and tackle the job one room at a time. Timing was going to be tricky. House sales, boat builds… how long’s a piece of string? We figured though we’d want to put the house on the market around October, so we set about starting our decluttering operation well ahead... in July, and we were so glad we did.
In the eight months from making our decision, to listing the house on the market and moving out, we pared down our belongings by about ninety per cent. Donations to friends and family, 63 bags to charity, 20 carloads to the tip, car boot, antique shop, and Facebook Marketplace sales. Luckily for us, the people buying our house had very little in the way of furniture and were happy to take many of our larger pieces off our hands, meaning we were able to leave them insitu. Hugely helpful!
We had a number of vehicles to consider - a car each, two motorbikes, a scooter, and a camper - we couldn't possibly keep them all (narrowboats don’t come with garages and driveways!) We knew we definitely needed to keep hold of the car, at least until we figured out what the logistics of boatlife meant in reality for us, but what about the rest? After much deliberation we decided to also keep one motorbike and our beloved camper, and these have since been stored safely with friends and family.
Of course the vast amount of clothing one accumulates over the years (most of which we didn’t even wear) also needed tackling. Walk-in dressing rooms had certainly not featured on board any of the narrowboats we'd seen. In fact, the limit of our clothes storage space was going to be one small double wardrobe and a tiny chest of 3 drawers between us!
Did we part with everything?
Although being ruthless in our declutter was absolutely essential (and we were), we couldn’t let go of some of our more sentimental belongings, so we each kept a keepsake box with stuff from the kids’ childhood and other memorabilia. We also thought it sensible (not at all like us) to have one eye on the longer-term future. So, just in case we might need them further down the line, we deposited a few pieces of furniture that were special to us, along with our substantial vinyl collection and a few other bits and pieces we were struggling to let go of, in a small rented storage unit.
We'd said from the start we aimed to give boat life at the very least 12 months, feeling we should experience all of the seasons as liveaboards before deciding whether or not it was for us. Although we felt absolutely certain about our decisions at the time, it would have been naive of us not to have also considered a scenario where we didn't take to life on the water.
The transition stage
So, house sale complete, few remaining belongings and vehicles taken care of, our lifestyle overhaul and adventure had really gotten underway. Move-out day came and went and we found ourselves in a period of transition (aka no home to call our own) just waiting for the completion of our narrowboat.
Although living in temporary accommodation for a while wasn’t ideal, I remember exactly how we both felt at that point... free, removed from the conventional hamster-wheel-life we'd been living, we felt liberated, venturing into the unknown, adding new interest and exploration to our lives. We still often talk about this stage in our journey, and look back on it with such fond memories.
During this time, we remained mindful of the belongings we still had in storage, and asked ourselves again did we really need to keep them all? And so round two, even three, of declutter and paring back continued as the weeks went by. Turns out so many of the things we once thought were essential to our very being, really weren't, and in letting them go we’d given ourselves a new lease of life.
Our sense of wanting to shed the things that served no real purpose, or that didn't bring us pleasure in some way, had become profound. Decluttering on this scale was indeed a mammoth task, but what a wonderfully worthwhile, cathartic, and liberating experience it had been.
We do still have that small storage unit, but feel more certain than ever that it will, one day, go completely.
And so…
Well eventually we moved aboard, and as we settled into our new lives afloat, making this tiny space into our home, somehow everything around us felt more meaningful, more intentional. We were no longer surrounded by things we’d gratuitously accumulated over the years. Now, our few remaining belongings either served a purpose, sparked special memories, or simply brought us joy.
Hopefully, we’ll never need to clear out and pare back on such a large scale ever again. I’d like to think though, that we’ll continue to be mindful of our possessions, consciously and intentionally keeping them to a minimum as we go. Let’s face it, with such a tiny living space now, we don’t really have a choice!
Thanks for reading.
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Until next time…
