ANY parent knows how difficult it can be to get kids off their phones.
But father-of-two Mick Becker doesn’t have to worry about technology addiction as he raises his kids on a boat, where they travel with “very limited data” for long periods of time.
Before they had children, Mick and his partner Laura, also known as Lozi, traveled six months a year, working the rest of the time.
Both hailing from Australia, the pair often traveled around Asia – to places like Indonesia and Thailand.
But after Laura unexpectedly becomes pregnant during the trip, they decide to raise their children on a boat.
The couple even gave their daughter the middle name Oceania – “because that’s where she’s from.”
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After many years living on a catamaran, and even raising babies on the boat, Mick said the family “yearned” for society – so they decided to return to dry land and open a cafe.
But they missed the open sea and went back to living on a boat, with Mick discussing it all in a 2022 episode of Off-grid podcast.
He loves living on a boat because “you never get bored.”
“You have freedom. It’s volatile and beautiful and scary all at the same time,” she adds.
On a boat, he can also spend more time with his children.
When he lived on land, he said he was “never 100% present.”
Constantly busy, he “would have to interrupt [his children’s stories] after 15 minutes” to return to work – adding that “it gets a bit old”.
He says he was afraid that “time would pass and you would have 67 years and six months to live.”
Mick thought living on the boat once again would be a great way for the family to make more memories together.
Children’s lives are certainly unconventional.
Unable to attend school while in the ocean, they have no formal education.
“It’s not an education you’ll leave with an ABCD but the boat kids we met on our travels… it’s incomparable [to children that went to school],” he says.
“A 14-year-old girl who was on a boat and a 14-year-old girl who was in Sydney. They are just two different creatures.
“With one of them you can actually sit down and have an amazing conversation, the other one is like where are we here, we’re on the phone.”
Mike thinks that “everything” you learn on a boat is “transferable” to other aspects of life.
He says: “The whole thing is education. You’re not just wasting time.”
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On the boat, “there is never anything you have done that you cannot bring back [another job] – whatever.
“Whether it’s creating a budget or calculating how many miles [you need to travel]It pays to be good at calculations.
“To figure out how you’re going to get from one place to another, you need to do the math.
“It’s all about problem solving, decision making, seeking adventure. It’s a different world.”
What are the rules for living on a boat?
In the UK you need a long term license live on a boat.
You purchase a ‘home mooring’ or ‘continuous cruising’ license.
A residential docking location is ideal if you want to stay in one place – it’s generally more competitive and expensive than an ongoing cruise, but is necessary for people who have children at a local school.
A continuous cruising permit means you can stay anywhere along the way for up to 14 days, unless there is a time limit visitor sign or you are near a lock.
A license costs around £500 to £1,500 per year.
You can purchase or renew a boat license at Canal and River Trust website.
Mick says they need to be “energy smart” on the boat, admitting they charge their laptops and “any device with a battery” as soon as they start the engines.
No night scrolling for your kids.
“You will not play on your computer at night [because you can’t]. You tend to get more into the rhythm of the world.”
The experiences they have can be unpredictable – and exciting.
One day, when the family was anchored in a bay, they came across a local security guard who worked at a five-star hotel.
The security guard recognized the family because Mick had already offered his cousin some mackerel to eat.
He remembered how he said: “Come in, come in. Wear whatever you want. There’s a pool, there’s a tennis court.”
As a result, the family had full use of the resort for a week, taking hot showers and swimming in the pool.
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Despite the positives, Mick said they faced some challenges while living on a boat.
In one case, the family almost fell victim to pirates.
Mick explained how the boats “shot” right in front of them and chased their catamaran.
He offered the other sailors “bags” of tobacco, food and water to escape.
Mick adds that there can be very long days on the catamaran, with him not sleeping for 20 hours at a time.
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
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