In this Christmas special, I share what Christmas truly means to me, from family traditions to the reality of spending Christmas on a boat.

I also give a sneak peek into 2025, with exciting things coming up, like more live shows, writing a book, and season 6 of Canal Boat Diaries, featuring more adventures and canals to explore.

Throughout the episode, I answer listener questions about life on the boat, what it’s like to spend Christmas alone, and how the laid-back pace of boat life has changed the way I enjoy this time of year.

Robbie Cumming's Canal Boat Podcast is produced by Urban Podcasts.

In this episode, I take a break from filming Canal Boat Diaries series 6 to dip my toes into anissue that impacts millions of people and yet remains a delicate and very personal subject. Living on the water certainly offers a slower pace of life and a chance to reflect on life, but it’snot easy and can be very challenging mentally as well as physically.

Drawing from my own experience of anxiety and depression I discuss if boat life could help pre-existing mental health disorders or make them worse. But it almost goes without saying, I am not a mental health professional and contained in the podcast are my own opinions, not to be taken as medical advice!

Robbie Cumming's Canal Boat Podcast is produced and managed by Urban Podcasts.

Aside from making Canal Boat Diaries for TV, I am also on tour with my live show – Canal Boat Stories. It’s mostly just me sharing photos, videos and stories about my travels, with a bit of music and also a Q&A.

With an audience of around 200 people, I enjoy answering questions, but this time there were so many I ran out of time. So, in this special episode, I’ll be covering some of the questions I didn’tget around to including ‘would you ever leave the Naughty Lass and return to regular living’ ‘does it get lonely on a boat’ and ‘how many windlasses have you lost this year’!

Robbie Cumming's Canal Boat Podcast is produced and managed by Urban Podcasts.