The main thing to consider before giving up your house is that even on the largest of narrowboats you are going to be living in only a fraction of the space you have available on land.  A 57’ narrowboat will have only about 24m2 in total.  A small one bedroom apartment will probably have between 50-60m2. We found from experience there are two types of person that want to live permanently on a narrowboat.  One is an optimist, the other is a realist. The optimist will try and put the contents of their three bedroom house on board.   The realist however has often had previous experience of living on a sailboat.  If you own a sailboat you become very aware of the pitching and rolling of the boat plus the fact that the lighter the boat is, the better it sails. That’s why sailors only take the bare minimum of what they need on a boat and always ensure that there is a place to stow it so that it can’t be broken with the pitching and rolling.  Many people sell their houses to fund their boats and it should always be borne in mind that whilst it is likely a house will appreciate in value a boat will depreciate.  However all things considered there is a romance and a freedom to giving up your house and cruising around the UK that cannot be found on land.  After all, we only live once.