Alternative Lifestyle?

My new boss has been bombarding me with questions about the barge and living on a boat.  I didn't know if he was doing it as part of 'getting to know me' or out of general interest.  He then mentioned that he had a fascination and admiration for people who chose to live an alternative lifestyle.  I have never thought of the way that we live and what we are trying to achieve as 'an alternative lifestyle'.
Working for the MoD, my job is very much part of the system, my qualifications etc put in me a 'middle class' bracket (although certainly not a label I would use!!!), we own a house (albeit mortgaged), two cars and three boats!!!  Yet it is also true that we have chosen to drop out of the rampant consumerism of today's society (also by necessity if we are ever going to get the barge finished!) and try to live a simpler life, to do something that will give us a chance to enjoy our retirement and also to give us the 'home' and 'lifestyle' of our dreams.
Living on the water certainly makes you more in tune with nature. For a start we live by the tides. In the beginning we frequently got caught out by a high tide and couldn't get on or off the boat, one soon learns! But seriously I have felt a lot more at peace since living here. The depression that I suffered from for years has now lifted and life is great.
There is always plenty of wildlife around. Laying in my bunk at night I am never quite sure whether it's birds or rats running up and down the decks, but hey as long as they don't join me in bed I'm okay with both!
Anybody who has anything to do with boats will tell you how boat people will almost always go out of their way to help you and are generally very friendly and sociable. Our little community is no different, everyone is lovely and we all get along just dandy.

I honestly don't think that I would like to go back to living on land. I enjoy our alternative lifestyle, be it ever so humble it's now life afloat for us.

High tide in Tollesbury