Page - 188 - in Mobile Culture Studies - The Journal, Volume 1/2015

188 Mobile Culture Studies. The Journal 1 2o15 Nataša Rogelja | The sea: place of ultimate freedom? Even though symbolic beginnings many times include romantic sea imagery, my interlocu- tors (mostly those who have spent five or more years on the boat) generally did not romanticize the sea during our interviews. As fritz (51), who spent fifteen years living on a boat with his wife explained: “for me the sea has the same meaning as it has for the fish. for me, the sea must be there. My body needs it. The smell, the air… I do not think of it anymore, or admire it anymore so much.” During the interviews, sea passages were described in a highly realistic way, many times men- tioning their fear or at least respect for the sea, but also boredom. Nataly (42), a mother of two who lives and travels with her family on a 50-foot home-built sailing boat explained: “You know it is a lot about waiting. Waiting is a special experience… I mean for your body and your mind. You are changed… but… It can be quite boring and tiring… I like it… you sit and you wait. That’s it!” The experience of always being on watch, never being able to relax, never getting enough sleep, always being in motion, never allowing yourself to stop, even during the calm, is often descri- bed the interviews as well as books. This experience is in contrast with the tourists‘ sea and sup- ports the idea of a “smooth” voyage where the self is not static but is always in the zone between multiplicities (Phelan 2007: 15), longing for irregular results. The majority of liveaboards in the Mediterranean hold European passports, have lived in urban settlements before their migration, represent different social strata and age groups, have very different sailing experience (from none to sailing instructors and contestants) and their break with sedentary life in the West occurred in a variety of ways. While most are couples, many are families and single men3. My interlocutors interact frequently in official and unofficial marinas and city peers, sharing information on good anchorages, vital resources such as water and electricity, prices, weather, the political situation in the Mediterranean, and boat regulati- ons. Information is furthermore spread online through blogs, forums and e-mails. Above all, German, french and English liveaboards maintain contacts with their fellow citizens on land, as one can easily find British (around Lefkas and corfu islands), German (Igoumenitsa area) or french (Peloponnesus area) communities along the Greek coast. This network is important for assistance and information concerning social and political conditions, market prices and health care services in the places they traverse. The liveaboards’ travel routes are on the one hand outcomes of spontaneous decision- making, but on the other hand these spontaneous routes are all taking place within pre-selected areas4. Although destinations keep changing along the travel trajectory, they largely depend on the social, political, economic and climatic conditions in the localities traversed. Regarding the Mediterranean, many claim that Greece is one of the few countries where conditions are still suitable and life is affordable for them. Apart from practical reasons (numerous unfinished marinas where boats can find berths for free, as well as the tolerance of the social environ- ment towards liveaboards as reported by my interlocutors), Greece also holds an important place within the cultural images to which my interlocutors referred - movies such as Shirley Valentine5 (1986) by Willy Rusell are examples of these images. Some liveaboards have regular