Whether you've thought of houseboating (a house boat, awesome!) on Lake Shasta, Lake Mead, or Lake Powell (or Lake Havasu, whichever lake floats your boat, really) we've got the real scoop on why you should take the plunge.

1) Hanging out with crazy friends in an enclosed place with an open lake around you? Awesome!

2) Wet bars, waterslides, barbeque grills, and condo-like amenities. And no pesky street vendors trying to swindle you left and right (no homeless people either).

3) Because you can choose exactly where you want to position your boat on the lake. How often have you stayed at a resort (or even in your own house) and thought "this would be great, if only my room was in a different area instead of next to that loud snoring people across the hall"?

4) While size doesn't necessarily matter, you will no longer have people laugh at you and refer to your boat as a "dingy" if you're packing 60 feet of boating fun.

5) What better way is there to relax after a day full of fishing, watersliding, drinking, and water skiing (not necessarily in that order) than sitting in the living room of your boat with your family or friends around you and the lake literally at your doorstep? Literally, it's right there. Like a case of bad onion breath, it lingers.

6) It's like camping without the hard ground, bad bathroom amenities, and leaky tent.

7) You can demand that your friends call you "Captain" or "Skipper." And as Captain, you can order that everyone else be referred to as Tennille.