Above: Houseboats docked along a London canal
Tensions have been rising between the managers of Britain’s canals, others who use them, and the nomadic narrowboaters, revered by some as bohemian travelers and disdained by others as maritime squatters.”
“Britain’s Canalboat Nomads Fear New Rules Will Sink Their Way of Life,” Steve Hendrix, The Washington Post, August 29. 2025
I had seen canalboats before, yet London was the first place I became fascinated with the lifestyle of those who operated them. Clueless as to how the system worked.
Now I know, there are boats with permanent berths, and then there are “travelers,” wanderers required to shove off after two weeks in one spot. Many of these are not short-term vacationers but long-term residents who rove about the canals tying up their houses fortnightly.
Continue reading “Postcard from Europe: Home’s where the boat floats”
Postcards from Barton Springs 