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Topics: News, World News, Travel
Kit Roberts
If renting or mortgage payments are getting you down then why not just up-sticks and go on a 15-year-long cruise?
It might sound far-fetched, and it's certainly more than the more common trips which last a couple of weeks, but one cruise line is offering just that.
Some cruise lines do offer trips that last a few months, which is already a long time, but now Villa Vie Residences’ ship Odyssey has taken it to a whole other level.
The voyage has been called 'The First Perpetual World Cruise', and has an itinerary that will be updated every three and a half years.
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Mikael 'Mike' Petterson is the founder of the cruise line, and explained that the mammoth 15-year trip was not created as a vacation so much as a way of 'rethinking how we live'.
“What if you never had to go home because you were already there? Odyssey turns the entire world into your neighborhood,” he told PEOPLE.
He explained: “Our residents wake up to a new backyard every day, but more importantly, they wake up with a sense of freedom and community that’s hard to find anywhere else. "Odyssey gives people the chance to explore the world without ever leaving home.”
But just how does this perpetual cruise actually work?
Well, it's not like a regular cruise where you would have a stateroom like a hotel - after all if you're going to be in a cabin for 15 years than you'll probably want to make yourself at home.
So instead of the more usual holiday packages that a cruise line might offer, the Odyssey has a variety of 'ownership options' for residents.
The website says that residents can 'decorate the way you wish, invite guests, rent or even resell at a later date.'
If you wanted you could rent out your cruise ship cabin to someone else, if you fancied a break from life at sea, and you can sell on your cabin if you change your mind.
The staterooms are serviced by 'free weekly cleaning and laundry services', and residents can eat a 'daily changing menu cycle of 14 days' at the restaurants and bars on board.
So how much does it cost?
Well, perhaps unsurprisingly living on a cruise ship for 15 years doesn't come cheap.
The cheapest option is the 'Inside Villa', which will set you back $129,999 - though that one comes without any windows.
Options range all the way up to the 'Villa Suite', priced at $439,999 - more than the average price of a house in the US, $360,591.
Residents also have to pay a monthly charge of between $2,000 and $10,000 for the different types of accommodation on offer.
Amenities on board include a library, fitness center, spa, pool, lounge, pickleball court, as well as business center which comes with offices and a high-speed internet connection.
And there are plenty of people interested, with Petterson telling an interview with Forbes that more than 600 people have already signed up.