171: Houseboat Rental Vacation Tips

Have you ever considered renting a houseboat? This fun type of vacation rental is a great way to socially distance! Find out what it is like to stay on an "RV on the water" and get houseboat rental vacation tips from Jessica Averett, from Bring the Kids, on this week's episode. ON THE PODCAST 00:30 - Talking with Kim and Tamara 05:25 - What’s happening with school 07:24 - Talking with Jessica 09:05 - Where to take a houseboat vacation 10:38 - What to expect 16:10 - What to look for in renting a houseboat 19:00 - Tips for planning your trip 21:50 - Price 23:45 - What is the water like 26:50 - What to pack 28:44 - Jessica’s Favorite Travel Gear ABOUT JESSICA AVERETT Jessica Averett is an adventure loving mom to 5 kids. She and her family have a serious case of wanderlust and are constantly exploring to find the best travel experiences for families. You can follow her writing and adventures at Bring The Kids. Follow Jessica on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. TIPS FOR RENTING A HOUSEBOAT It is really popular to have a houseboat vacation on large lakes. Most people will rent a houseboat through the local marina. Staying on a houseboat is like staying on a big RV on the water The houseboat moves at about 6 miles per hour on the water because they are so big, so don’t plan on traveling far if you have a short vacation time. A typical time on a boat is usually four days to a week. You can then spend your time stopping at a few places or just dropping anchor wherever. Surprisingly you do not need a boating license to rent a houseboat. Most places will just require you to be 21 years or older. It is fun to rent other boats or water toys to take along. This is so you can get to shore faster or just ride around off the houseboat. This could be anything in between floaties and kayaks or jet skies and a small craft. Since towing will make your houseboat go even slower, if renting a motor boat, it makes sense to have someone else drive it ahead of the houseboat when going to a different location. For smaller water toys like kayaks and floaties, the roof of the boat is flat so you can just tie them off up there for when you are moving around. If you are going with younger kids, you might really want to look into getting a houseboat that has a slide off of the roof. You will also need to think about how many people you want to sleep. A typical houseboat sleeps up to 8 or 12. Given that number if you are going with a larger group some of you can actually camp on shore in tents, while some stay on the boat for the night. One big tip for going on a houseboat vacation is to go with another family. This will make your trip more fun to hang out with friends. Plus if they have kids around the same age they can hang out together and have others to have fun with. This will also make it easier on the adults having a few more people to drive the boat. The price of renting a houseboat mostly varies on the kind and size of the boat that you are renting. For a three or four day trip you will probably be looking at around $2,000. Keep in mind that you can still get some choppy water on a lake depending on the size and the weather. Make sure you pack plenty of sunscreen and aloe because someone will end up with sunburn since you are spending all of your time on the water. You should also think about bringing a line or rope with clothespins, so that you will have an easier time drying all of your swim suits and towels. FAVORITE TRAVEL GEAR Jessica loves her pair of Columbia pants along with a pair of Chaco sandals. MENTIONED ON THE PODCAST House Boating Rentals SunBum FOLLOW US AND SPREAD THE WORD! If you liked this show, please be sure to subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play and leave us a review! Have a question or comment? Send us an email at podcast@vacationmavens.com. You can also follow our travels on Stuffed Suitcase and We3Travel, or follow the Vacation Mavens on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter. Thanks for listening!