Nottingham reacts to couple who "quit the rat race to live off-grid" in a boat

A couple who quit the "rat race" to live off-grid and travel full time in their boat hit the headlines earlier this week.

Amy Cross, from Nottingham, and her partner, Wes Arthur, 30, a designer, were sick of their 40 hour hour working weeks in Sheffield.

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".

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.

A plethora of positive online comments came when Nottingham World posted the story to our Facebook page, with many Nottingham residents saying how they wish they had the courage and determination to make similar life choices.

Since it went up on our social channels, the story has received hundreds of comments and thousands of reactions.

Colin Booth wrote: "Good luck to you. Ignore all the negative opinionated nonsense on here.

"Do what makes you happy and sod what anyone else thinks. That’s real freedom."

Craig Quarton spotted one particular benefit to this way of life, writing: "Big advantage they have is if you don’t like your neighbours or the area just move on. All the best to them."

Lindsey Jayne Alexander has experience of living on a boat, and said: "I've lived on a boat for the last 9 years wouldn't change it for the world its the best thing ever."

Dennis Norton added: "I’ve always wanted to do that but never had the money good luck to you both."

Tony Fox wholeheartedly agreed, saying: "Spot on would love to do it."

Similar to Mel Gibson's patriotic scene in hit film Braveheart, Carlita Burgess simply had a one word response, saying: "Freedom."

There is, of course, always a few people who like to stick the boot in to anyone who does something a little different.

But in the whole, the people of Nottingham seem to be right behind the couple, as are we here at Nottingham World.

We hope you have a blast!

You can follow Amy and Wes' narrowboat adventures on their dedicated Youtube channel here and follow them on Facebook here.