On April 1, Garrett and I are saying goodbye to our San Francisco apartment and hello to our Sausalito sailboat as our full-time living situation. Call us crazy, call us insane, call us whatever you want. You're probably right. Check back in a few months, and I'll let you know for sure.
For now, though, while I (think) we still have all of our marbles, let me answer some of the questions we've been getting the most:
Why are you moving onto your sailboat?
The short answer? To save money. It shouldn't come as a surprise that living in San Francisco is really, really expensive: "according to the Council for Community and Economic Research, the total cost of living in San Francisco is 62.6% higher than the U.S. average—and housing is nearly three times more expensive than in other U.S. cities."
Garrett and I are fortunate to have steady, well-paying jobs, but our cost of living is just too high for us to be able to save anything meaningful. Moving onto our boat—and out of San Francisco—will drastically reduce our spending and allow us to save for the next step in our lives.
How will you survive in such a small space?
Honestly, the apartment we've been living in for the past 3 years is so small - 385 square feet, to be exact. The space available to us on our 35' sailboat will be less than what we have now, but not significantly. Garrett and I have always done well living in close quarters, and I'm hoping that this won't be any different.
What are you going to do with all of your stuff?
Easy! (I hope.) Sell it, donate it, trash it, or store it. Garrett and I have never really invested in furniture; most of it came from family or friends. There are a few things worth selling, but the rest will be donated or left for city pick-up.
The things that I can't bear to part with but just aren't practical for sailboat living (my KitchenAid, for example) will be packed up and stored at my sister's house until we move back on land.
I think the biggest thing we'll have to solve for is our clothing. Our plan right now is to rent a small storage unit near the boat and treat it as our closet. We'll go to the unit a few times a week (it's walking distance from the boat) and grab changes of clothes for work, while storing foldable things like undergarments and active wear in cubbies on board.
Do you have a bathroom? where will you shower?
Yes, we have a bathroom on board (or, in sailor speak, a "head"). It's complete with a toilet, sink, storage, and a shower attachment that we never use. The marina has really nice shower facilities, so we'll use those for the most part.
is there a kitchen on board?
Yep! We have a great oven and stove top, sink, and...ice box. We don't have a wired fridge right now, which is a project I'd like to tackle in the next few months. Figuring out how to store food will be a new challenge, but luckily there's a great market right outside of the marina that will easily let us pick up food daily, if we need to.
We also have an outside grill that we love to cook on, and I'm looking forward to more al fresco dining!
Are you sad to leave San Francisco?
I'm not sure yet. I mean, yes, there are definitely things that I am going to miss. Like living 3 blocks away from my big sister. I'll definitely cry a little when I think more about that. And I'll miss the view from the top of our hill—we overlook the sparkling lights of the Bay Bridge, one of my favorite sights in the whole wide world. I'll miss being able to walk out of our apartment and turn whichever way I want in search of whatever type of adventure appeals to me that day. Okay, I'll miss a lot.
But. I've been craving change for some time now. And to be completely honest, I'm not a city person. I love the accessibility and the beauty and the culture that San Francisco has to offer, but I also get overwhelmed by the crowds, the noise, and the filth. I'm looking forward to getting to know the sleepy town of Sausalito, and am hoping that I'll be able to breathe a little better once we're living there.
As I'm writing this, I feel like I need to point something out: we're only moving 8 miles outside of San Francisco. A fifteen-minute drive. And because all of our friends and a good amount of our family live in the city, we'll be there all the time. I also volunteer in the Mission District every Tuesday, so I'll be driving in at least once weekly. So I'm probably being dramatic over here, saying "we're leaving San Francisco."
But still. It'll be different.
Okay, that's all that I have for you now. If you have any other questions, ask in the comments section and I'll get back to you! And for real-time updates, follow @thisldu_ Instagram. Wish us luck!