When sea becomes home

This paper speaks to the home/away debate in tourism research through a case study of leisure boating. Practice theory and affordance theory, participant observation and interviews with boaters touring or departing from Bohuslän, Sweden are used to illustrate how changes in material affordances and material setup co-transform practices and meanings. Through the introduction of house-like facilities, powered by the boat’s engines and employing home skills, some boats afford a family/single person a more comfortable and independent “stay at home” on the sea than in the past, while boating resembling camping is becoming an ex-practice. However, boats continue to afford mobility, for which boating skills are required. This paper thus challenges the theoretical opposition in tourism studies between home and away.