We pay $1,200 a month to live on a yacht in the Florida Keys

Her first husband died when she was 26 years old. My mother passed away at the age of 51. My father-in-law passed away at the age of 71. From these feelings of loss, I learned that putting off important things until “someday” is a risk I want to avoid.

A few years after I became a widow, I married Steve, who had always dreamed of living on a yacht. So when I said, “Maybe someday I could live on a yacht,” I came to my senses and started researching my options.

At the time, I was working in an office from 9 to 5 as a therapist, and writing was my side hustle. In 2013, an article I wrote went viral and landed me a book deal with a major publisher. I kept my day job until about a year and a half later, when sales started to pick up and my books were on bestseller lists.

In July 2015, I quit my job as a psychotherapist at a community mental health center to pursue writing full time. This means you can now work flexibly from anywhere. When I started working on my second book, Steve and I started looking for boat slips.

We searched online and made an offer sight unseen for a yacht club in the Florida Keys. We bought it for $106,500 using the money we had saved from the book advance. As far as I remember, we spent another $10,000 building a tiki hut on a small piece of land attached.

I recall we purchased a 53′ Pearson sailboat directly from its last owner for approximately $80,000. This was a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom boat with a cozy galley kitchen and needed some cosmetic work, so we bought it for a good price.

We packed up our clothes, laptop, dog and cat and moved from the house we still owned in Maine to a yacht in the Florida Keys in December 2015.

We kept the house thinking that sailing was a short-term adventure and that we would return when it stopped being fun. Since it’s in the countryside, I don’t rent it out, and I pay property taxes and insurance premiums. Ten years later, we still live on the boat full time and only spend one week a year in Maine.

Here are some of the things I’ve learned from my life on a boat. That’s why I never looked back, despite the costs, trade-offs, and the option to always return to land.

Purchasing a slip and boat required a large investment that required years of savings, but now monthly expenses are relatively low.

Here’s a breakdown of the average monthly boat bill:

Internet: $202 Cell phone: $222 Electricity bill: $91 Hull cleaning: Approximately $150 Property tax: $109 Boat insurance: $167 Yacht club membership fee: $238

Total: $1,179

Yacht club membership fees include water, cable television, storage tank waste pumping service, trash pickup, and more. Coin-operated laundry machines and showers are also available (for those who prefer to use land-based facilities).

We employ professional divers to clean the hull monthly to prevent algae and barnacle buildup. I usually pay that cost in cash, but it’s worth every penny.

We have made several improvements to the yacht over the years. New ceilings, updated bathrooms, new air conditioning, and more. Activities such as deck painting and bottom painting are part of routine maintenance. We do most of the work in-house, so costs are kept to a minimum.

As a therapist, I was well aware that environment plays a huge role in mental health. But I still underestimated how much happier I would be if I traded my windowless office for one with an ocean view. I still work all day, but now I have a flexible schedule and have more opportunities to spend time outdoors.

Research consistently shows that simply being near water and spending time in nature lowers cortisol levels. Before moving to boating, I had been prescribing natural resets to therapy clients for years. I myself didn’t realize how much I needed a prescription.

From manatees and dolphins to ocean water and palm trees, being surrounded by nature makes you feel more alive. I also exercise more. It’s easy to go for an evening run if you know you’ll see a beautiful sunset, or go for a walk if you can spot herons or land crabs along the way.

Using the environment to build mental strength is something I have since written extensively about in The Mental Strength Playbook. However, when I first moved here, I was still doing my own research.

Living a simpler life also means less decision-making fatigue.

Yachts have little space and mostly built-in furniture, so we’ve eliminated entire categories of decisions: what to buy, where to put it, how to maintain it.

It takes up less space than at home, so you have less time to clean and more time to do the things you love.

Moving meant increasing physical distance from friends and family, but it also meant an opportunity to spend time with them in a different way.

My father and sister just visited here for 10 days. When we lived nearby, we would often get together just to catch up. But last month I made new memories with them. We watched the sunset, watched dolphins, and swam at the nearby beach every night.

There’s a lot to be said for predictable, consistent routines, but novelty is one of the most underrated drivers of happiness.

When you live on a boat, you never stop learning. You can also see marine life you never knew existed, such as parrotfish and hawksbill turtles. I am also learning new skills, such as how to install an air conditioner water pump. And you can even try something you’ve never done before, like going snorkeling on a coral reef.

I don’t think living and working on a yacht is always easy. When the air conditioner breaks down in the middle of the night or a storm rolls around and you can’t sleep, the romance fades a bit. But that moment is an exception.

Just yesterday, as I was drinking my morning coffee, a mother and calf manatee swam past me. I’ve lived here for 11 years and have seen this hundreds of times, but I still reached for my phone to take a photo as if I was seeing it for the first time.

That’s the nature of this lifestyle. Every day feels like an exciting adventure. I’m glad I didn’t have to wait for “someday” to take action.

Amy Morin is a psychotherapist, clinical social worker, and host of the podcast Mentally Stronger. She is the author of several books, including “13 Things Mentally Strong People Don’t Do.” Her TEDx talk, “The Secret to Being Mentally Strong,” is one of the most viewed talks of all time. Follow her on Instagram and LinkedIn.

Do you want to get ahead at work? Next, you need to learn how to make effective small talk. In CNBC’s new online course, “How to Talk to People at Work,” expert instructors share practical strategies for using everyday conversations to increase visibility, build meaningful relationships, and accelerate career growth. Sign up now! Use coupon code EARLYBIRD for 20% off. Offer valid from April 20, 2026 to May 4, 2026. Terms and conditions apply.