A couple quit the "rat race" to live off-grid and travel full time in their boat - to "take control" of their lives.<br /><br />Amy Cross, 28, and her partner, Wes Arthur, 30, a designer, were sick of their 40 hour hour working weeks in Sheffield. <br /><br />Set on choosing their own hours and avoiding overtime, they decided to overhaul their lifestyle - ditching their rented £675-a-month three-bedroom home and changing their jobs to have "less responsibility and stress".<br /><br />The couple say they "weren't passionate" about getting a mortgage so instead spent £48k on a 50ft narrowboat - named Gregory's Girl - in June 2021.<br /><br />The pair now work remotely from their boat and sail around the UK - having travelled through Wales, the Midlands, and down the entire length of the River Thames.<br /><br />Since moving onto the water, Amy and Wes say they feel "free" - having sailed the length of the UK alongside their Labrador cross, Rufus, and rabbit, Rupert.<br /> <br />Amy Cross, a content creator, from Nottingham, said: "We were working full time and renting our house.<br /><br />"We were looking for what was next.<br /><br />"We did start looking down the mortgage route, but we weren't passionate about it.<br /><br />"We weren't excited about the prospect of getting a mortgage and a house."<br /><br />Wes, from Lincoln, added: "We have always been interested in travelling.<br /><br />"Our favourite holidays have been city breaks - where we can do a lot of travelling - and we were toying with the idea of getting a van and travelling around Europe."<br /><br />Amy and Wes stumbled across narrowboats and rented one out for the winter of 2020 to see if it was something they could do full-time.<br /><br />After spending a few months on a rented boat, the couple took out a personal bank loan for their boat. <br /><br />Amy said: "She was the third boat we viewed, and we have been on her ever since - we absolutely love her.<br /><br />"We had certain things we definitely knew we wanted.<br /><br />"We wanted a cruiser stern - a larger boat with outside space - as we knew we wanted the dog out with us and wanted to be comfortable.<br /><br />"We also wanted a reverse layout - a lot of narrowboats have you enter through the bedroom, but we didn't want that and wanted to walk through to the kitchen.<br /><br />"We also wanted one that was pretty good to go as it is.<br /><br />"A lot of people buy a narrowboat and spend years doing it up, but we're not very savvy when it comes to DIY."<br /><br />Amy and Wes say moving onto the boat made them re-evaluate their lives.<br /><br />Amy quit her full-time job in admin to focus on content creation, and Wes resigned from a role as a lead gaming designer and now works as a designer.<br /><br />Wes said: "A lot of it comes down to feeling like we are in control of what we want to do.<br /><br />"Not having to have a large sum going out other than our bank loan is easier to manage our own way.<br /><br />"One of the main things for me was that a few months into living on the boat, Amy quit her job.<br /><br />"I was in a high-ranking job, but after a while, I stepped down and moved to a different company where I could have less responsibility and stress.<br /><br />"It has allowed me to focus on my mental health and adventure rather than constantly trying to grind money."<br /><br />Amy said that her family was really supportive of the move but were upset they would see the couple less due to them having to move the boat around.<br /><br />She said: "On the most part, they were all really happy - there were definitely some questions about how things would work.<br /><br />"There was some scepticism, but overall, they were really excited and supportive.<br /><br />"We are moving about all the time - we're unable to see our family."<br /><br />Amy and Wes move the boat once a week, and their adventures have taken them through Wales, the Midlands, and down the entire length of the River Thames.<br /><br />Wes said: "We bought the boat near Chester.<br /><br />"We have done the whole of north Wales, headed east and went near Nottingham, and then since we have come south through Leicester.<br /><br />"We have done the whole Thames - going under Tower Bridge was a special moment."<br /><br />Wes said going off-grid has made the couple resilient in a way that they wouldn't be if they stayed in the "rat race".<br /><br />Wes said: "I am surprised with how much it has built out characters.<br /><br />"It has made us very resilient, being forced to tackle random problems head-on and being forced to improvise.<br /><br />"It really does prove to yourself that you can handle more than you think.<br /><br />"It is a massive confidence booster too - we have figured out how to make it work, and that is very rewarding.<br /><br />"It is validating that we have broken away from the rat race, we are doing our own thing and what we like."
