You need to study the old thread "Cruising on $500/mo" or otherwise known as the minimalist cruising thread. There is a lot of good information there.
- - Living on the
boat is not a major problem, even a 22 footer for a
single male although it will definitely crimp your style when it comes to shacking up.
- - There are many vibrant and small
live aboard communities of young and old folks in the
Florida Keys and South
Florida. However, it is becoming difficult to find an area close to the "action" that has not been pressured out of existence by local condo/home owners. You just have to be creative in locating them.
- - Living anywhere, land or
water, requires some source of
income for keeping up your boat so that it is not classified as a derelict and then the officials start making your life miserable.
- - I would not recommend sailing out of the
USA waters as your life would become even more complicated and expensive. Other countries love folks who bring and spend
money and don't like folks who are hiding and not contributing to the "economy" of the country. Not to mention a hundred other complications involved in staying alive outside your home country.
- - So Yes, get the boat and gunkhole around Florida, maybe all the way around and up the
west coast to the Gulf States. From Florida to
Texas there are more places and opportunities to find yourself and build the life you want - than you can possibly stop at. And then there is the
east coast of the
USA where your costs are really only gasoline for the
outboard to push the boat and
food for you.
- - Buried in these "waterway" shore communities are some real and honest folks who have not yet been ruined by "big city" lifestyles. Real old fashioned home town places where you can visit/live and get "rebalanced" again.