How do you celebrate the holidays on a boat? How do you decorate? Bake holiday treats? Don’t you miss family? What sort of gifts do you give?
The holiday season gives rise to lots of questions for new and prospective cruisers. Some cruisers budget for a trip home to celebrate with family. Others celebrate wherever they find themselves.
To me, living on a boat means that holidays are a lot less about “stuff” and a lot more about sharing moments with the people around you. We don’t go through that hectic buying frenzy. Instead, we go to the celebration of lights at the local park, watch the lighted boat parade, spend evenings talking with friends (old and new). Gifts tend to be of time, help on a project, doing things together . . . or maybe a plate of cookies.
We had to make a trip to Ft. Lauderdale just before Thanksgiving and needed to get something at the large shopping mall near our motel. Honestly, I hadn’t been in a mall of any size in at least five years. It really threw me for a loop with the barrage of “you need this to fit in” and “you have to buy something for everyone you know” messages.
Frankly, I was glad I’d left that behind. Our holidays are more low-key, a lot less frantic and far more enjoyable now. And our family extends way beyond blood relatives to friends we’ve made from around the world. While we won’t be sharing Christmas dinner with blood relatives, we will be surrounded by “family.”
A few articles I’ve written that may help you envision celebrating the holidays aboard your boat:
And there are plenty of boat-friendly holiday recipes, too.
Wherever you are and whatever holidays you’re celebrating, have a wonderful time!
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Carolyn Shearlock has lived aboard full-time for 17 years, splitting her time between a Tayana 37 monohull and a Gemini 105 catamaran. She’s cruised over 14,000 miles, from Pacific Mexico and Central America to Florida and the Bahamas, gaining firsthand experience with the joys and challenges of life on the water.
Through The Boat Galley, Carolyn has helped thousands of people explore, prepare for, and enjoy life afloat. She shares her expertise as an instructor at Cruisers University, in leading boating publications, and through her bestselling book, The Boat Galley Cookbook. She is passionate about helping others embark on their liveaboard journey—making life on the water simpler, safer, and more enjoyable.
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