It is most people’s dream to live in a beach house where, every morning, you can wake up to the sound of the crashing waves on the seashore. And the sunsets, oh my goodness, don’t forget the beautiful sunsets! However, like anything else in life, living in a beach house can have its advantages and disadvantages. It is essential to consider them all before you decide to live there. So, what is it like living in a beach house?
Living in a beach house can feel like a permanent vacation, but it can also have drawbacks. It is blissful in the beginning until you experience sand flies, sea salt residue, sand on the floor and in the bed, and noisy tourists vacating by the sea when you long for a peaceful holiday.
For most of us, the beach is merely a fun day out in the sun or a summer holiday destination, but for the permanent residents, the experience of it is somewhat different. This article will discuss the good and the bad aspects of living in a beach house that only people who have experienced it will understand.
What Is It Like Living In A Beach House?
It can feel almost too good to be true that you get to take walks on the beach whenever you want or have a view that many tourists pay a lot of money to experience on their vacation.
To find out what living at the beach feels like, we need to look at the pros and cons of living in a beach house. I don’t want to discourage you from ever living there, but you must know what you are in for before you decide to invest in beachfront property.
The Pros Of Living In A Beach House
You Are Living In A Beach House!
Living by the beach means that it is no longer just a holiday by the beach; it is your new lifestyle. You can take long walks on the beach any time you want, and you don’t need to rush packing up after a day in the sun and driving home before dark.
You can create an atmosphere inside that is as wonderful as the one outside and permanently feel like you are living in a fancy guesthouse by the sea. There are so many beautiful beach-themed interior decorating ideas on the internet so that you can turn your home into a fun, ever-changing project.
You Can Make Your Troubles Disappear Simply By Staring At The Ocean
Something magical happens when you sit quietly on the beach with your toes in the sand and stare far out over the water. A sense of lightness befalls you, and it seems to be easier to think and breathe.
It is known that sunshine exposure makes you happy, and the fresh sea air helps to clear your mind, allowing you to be calm and more in control of your thoughts.
You Seem A Bit Smugger Than Others
Living in a place where people travel far distances to spend their holiday naturally gives you a feeling of fortune. It’s almost like you are unique and luckier than anyone else on the beach, knowing you can stay forever, and eventually, they have to leave.
Such a feeling can be difficult to suppress, and even though you try, your face and body language may express the smugness you feel.
You Can Never Say You Have Nothing To Do
When you live in a beach house, boredom becomes a thing of the past as there are so many great activities you can do at the beach.
Things like swimming in the ocean, sunbathing, picking up shells, sitting on the sand and reading a book, eating an ice cream cone, going for long walks, and having picnics on the beach are but a few things that you can do when you feel like doing something.
Food Tastes Better When You Eat It Sitting Down On The Sand
For some reason, sitting on the beach and eating a hot dog, or any food for that matter tastes better than it would if you were eating it anywhere else.
Is it the sea salt in the air that makes it taste better? Is it the fact that you are eating and looking at the sea at the same time? Or could it be that any experience on the beach is just better, period!?
About 80% Of Your Wardrobe Consists Of Comfortable Beachwear.
Everyone loves to wear a beautiful dress or a fancy suit every once in a while, but everyone can agree that being comfortable is the best feeling in the world! When you live in a beach house, there is no need to have an abundance of dressy clothes.
A fancy outfit or three will suffice, but other than that, you will find that your wardrobe is growing in sundresses, bathing suits, and comfortable footwear that you can kick off easily to walk barefoot on the sand.
It Highly Upsets You When People Litter On The Beach
Not only do you become more protective over Mother Nature’s beaches, but you also don’t want to have your beautiful sea view disturbed by plastic bags flying around everywhere.
If you think about it, the beach is your back or front yard, and you wouldn’t litter in your yard, would you? So yes, when you live in a house by the beach, it upsets you immensely when you witness someone throwing down their trash, and you become good at letting them hear it!
The Beautiful Views
There is nothing more breathtaking than watching the sunset disappear over the horizon of the vast blue ocean. When you live in a beach house, there are little to no buildings, obstructions, or visual interferences to steal your attention away from the magnificent beauty of an ocean sunset.
The Cons Of Living In A Beach House
Sand Flies!
Beach house living comes with little pests called sand flies. These little rascals are even worse than mosquitoes because you can’t see them easily. They don’t only swarm you on the beach, but soon enough, they will find their way into your beach house too.
They bite you while you sleep, eat, or do any activity; you don’t know they’re there. Once bitten, a red rash will appear on your skin that is rather painful, irritating, and unsightly and can lead to a parasitic disease called Leishmaniasis.
Expensive Insurance Policies
Beach houses are vulnerable to hurricanes, beach erosion, rising sea levels, and other tumultuous weather conditions, depending on where you live, of course.
As a result, beachfront property owners’ insurance policies are much higher than insurance policies for similar properties in the same area not situated on the beachfront.
Tourist Season Can Become Very Annoying!
Oh, how marvelous it is to live in a place that other people only get to visit on vacation! That is until thousands of tourists arrive for a holiday and disrupt your peace and quiet; all summer long! It becomes even more annoying when there are cars parked everywhere, even in front of your driveway.
Unfortunately, people spending time on the beach is inevitable. The only way around this would be to rent out your beach house and travel until the busiest time is over.
Sea Salt Air Damage
When you live in a beach house, you have probably noticed the destructive nature of salt air. When the salty sea air mixes with humidity and dust in your home and forms a kind of sludge. Even CDs, in their cases, get dirty and need to be cleaned.
Your car and home exterior and interior maintenance can become exhausting because, trust me when I say, you have to wipe off everything every day to prevent surface damage.
Your computers, bookshelves, tables, countertops, TVs, kitchen appliances, your kid’s jungle gym, and anything else that has an exposed surface will need to be wiped off every morning to get rid of that sticky, grimy look and feel.
Sometimes (Not Always), The Crashing Of The Waves Can Be A Bit Too Noisy
Please don’t get me wrong; there are not many things that are as relaxing as listening to the gentle crashing of the waves on the seashore.
But it is also great to listen to loud music and turn down the volume when you need some quiet time.
Unfortunately, the ocean does not have a volume setting, and there is no escaping from it unless you have a soundproof house. This can be incredibly overbearing when you are desperate for quiet after a long, busy day.
Sand, Sand, And More Sand!
If you live in a beach house, at some time or another, you will have to make peace with the fact that sand will become a big part of your life.
It is impossible to keep your floors 100% sand-free no matter how many times a day you sweep or vacuum. The tiny grains will make their way into places you would never have imagined. It’s almost as if they have a life of their own.
You Can’t Have A Regular Garden
Your balconies are windy, salty, and arid, and the only plants that last in pots are succulents or hardy Mediterranean herbs. You can forget about hanging baskets filled with beautiful flowers because the sun, wind, and salt dispatch them pretty quickly.
The Guilt
When you are new to beach house living, you spend most of your time swimming in the waves or taking long walks on the beach in the morning and the evening. Well, believe it or not, eventually the novelty wears off, and you find yourself going to the beach pretty much as frequently as you used to before you moved to the beach.
There is a pang of strange guilt that starts to manifest in your heart, almost like feeling you are taking the beach for granted when others can only dream of living in a beach house. This is very normal as so many people have claimed that they, too, have experienced those feelings of guilt.
Luckily the guilt wears off too, and you realize that it is unrealistic to go to the beach every day! You also learn that while it is lovely to take a walk on the beach in the moonlight, it isn’t as lovely to have to get rid of all the sand before you get into bed each night.
Relatives You Haven’t Seen In Years Suddenly Want To “Visit” For The Weekend
Spending time with family by the beach is a precious experience where so many memories are made. However, if your beach house has become the family vacation destination, things can get a bit tense.
Yes, it is excellent that you can entertain your family and friends with a lovely weekend away from city life, but that doesn’t mean you want to feel like you run a B&B! Of course, if you like having people around you all the time, then this con belongs on your pros list.
But if you moved into a beach house purely to get away from the hustle and bustle of life, then having everyone “just popping in” will eventually become a bit too much to handle.
Everything Rusts!
When you live in a beach house, everything rusts! Everything from cast iron pots, doorknobs, bikes, locks, jewelry to cars, and, believe it or not, stainless steel!
Conclusion
There you have it! Living by the beach has its ups and downs, but even so, there is nothing better than being able to look out of your kitchen window at breaching whales and playful dolphins. Living in a beach house gives you a certain freedom that no other location can offer.
The best thing you can do is work with nature and not against it, and soon enough, the cons of living by the beach become more and more trivial.
References
- https://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifestyle/18-things-only-people-who-live-the-beach-understand.html
- https://beachlifebliss.com/explore/move-to-the-beach-and-never-look-back/
- https://www.unseenbeaches.com/beach-lifestyle/
