In London, the history of living on boats dates back to the 1760s; but today, the boaters’ position within the nation state or compared to their sedentary neighbours is still uncertain or liminal. Currently, attempts to further reduce the mooring space on London's waterways have pointed to the problem again.

Although boaters use the emergent features of their choice of dwelling as a way of creatively experimenting with their mode of being in the world, and of creating what they see as a better, or even Utopian, way of living and interacting, they were labeled variously good or bad by outsiders. This unfixed view of the boaters — moving between disinterest and fascination, demonization and romanticization, respect and violence — can take its toll on the itinerant population.

Most importantly, I believe, each of these broad labels misunderstands the central and most important descriptor of the boaters, namely that they are alive people who have a vivid life and treasured family. These boats are neither a weird space nor simple vehicles, they are somebody’s home.