I’d decided I was ready to go all in on living aboard but I don’t see any way at this point to do it. The boat’s document can only go to a physical street address so I talked to the local UPS Store two or three times and they said, “No problem, we have several boat people using our service.”
I went to sign up and read through the fine print on the documents they gave me to sign. It said that they were mail agents only and claiming the address as a residence or place of business constituted fraud as a federal crime. Those other boat people happily using their service are either leaving behind houses that they rent or leave empty or are more comfortable flirting with fraud punishable by jail time than I am.
I then called the motor vehicle department and said I would be traveling for a couple of years, didn’t plan to maintain an apartment while I was gone, and would rent another place when I returned. How could I maintain my residency? They were very clear, no way. Unless I have a legally binding document such as a deed, lease, or utility bill tying me to a specific physical address that is legal for occupancy, my driver’s license and car registration become void. No wiggle room. She went out of her way to say, “Staying with a friend doesn’t count.” Neither does paying thousands of dollars a year to the state in income taxes, local excise taxes on the boat, and being a registered voter.
I can sell the car; I’d planned to do that anyway. However, I can’t manage without a driver’s license. Enterprise car rental is my cruising lifeline since stores are far from the waterfront in most towns and there are always other errands to run. I also like to get away from the boat from time to time. Life without being able to legally drive is just not something I prepared to take on, even for cruising.
Fortunately, I haven’t given up my old address yet so I have some time to figure this out although I haven’t a clue yet what to do. The only option I can see at this point is to rent a very small apartment and just store my stuff in it. However, my cruising budget is slim enough that I then wouldn’t be able to afford to keep cruising so the whole question would then become moot.
Post 911 and in the third decade of the war on drugs (and just about everything else) society simply doesn’t have a place for people who aren’t willing to be pinned to the board like a bug; at least without being a lot more marginal than I’m willing to be.
It’s ironic that this all came up on the same day that I got much more positive news about continuing cruising. The report on my hip/spine joint X-ray came back and there is no sign of arthritis. That is very strange because my doctor (three doctors ago) saw it 15 years ago and all the problems have been in exactly the spot she identified. It’s good news because it means that there is nothing visibly degenerative going on as she predicted. Why the joint gets inflamed from time to time is now a mystery. The old X-ray was unfortunately lost during the three records transfers. I’ll find out more when I see the back doctor in August if I haven’t moved to a civilized country where paying taxes will let me drive a car by then.
I went to sign up and read through the fine print on the documents they gave me to sign. It said that they were mail agents only and claiming the address as a residence or place of business constituted fraud as a federal crime. Those other boat people happily using their service are either leaving behind houses that they rent or leave empty or are more comfortable flirting with fraud punishable by jail time than I am.
I then called the motor vehicle department and said I would be traveling for a couple of years, didn’t plan to maintain an apartment while I was gone, and would rent another place when I returned. How could I maintain my residency? They were very clear, no way. Unless I have a legally binding document such as a deed, lease, or utility bill tying me to a specific physical address that is legal for occupancy, my driver’s license and car registration become void. No wiggle room. She went out of her way to say, “Staying with a friend doesn’t count.” Neither does paying thousands of dollars a year to the state in income taxes, local excise taxes on the boat, and being a registered voter.
I can sell the car; I’d planned to do that anyway. However, I can’t manage without a driver’s license. Enterprise car rental is my cruising lifeline since stores are far from the waterfront in most towns and there are always other errands to run. I also like to get away from the boat from time to time. Life without being able to legally drive is just not something I prepared to take on, even for cruising.
Fortunately, I haven’t given up my old address yet so I have some time to figure this out although I haven’t a clue yet what to do. The only option I can see at this point is to rent a very small apartment and just store my stuff in it. However, my cruising budget is slim enough that I then wouldn’t be able to afford to keep cruising so the whole question would then become moot.
Post 911 and in the third decade of the war on drugs (and just about everything else) society simply doesn’t have a place for people who aren’t willing to be pinned to the board like a bug; at least without being a lot more marginal than I’m willing to be.
It’s ironic that this all came up on the same day that I got much more positive news about continuing cruising. The report on my hip/spine joint X-ray came back and there is no sign of arthritis. That is very strange because my doctor (three doctors ago) saw it 15 years ago and all the problems have been in exactly the spot she identified. It’s good news because it means that there is nothing visibly degenerative going on as she predicted. Why the joint gets inflamed from time to time is now a mystery. The old X-ray was unfortunately lost during the three records transfers. I’ll find out more when I see the back doctor in August if I haven’t moved to a civilized country where paying taxes will let me drive a car by then.