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illustration of elderly couple going on a cruise
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After saving your entire adult life for retirement, you’re left to figure out what you do with the remaining years of your life. Do you stay put and stick to what you know? Maybe you move to a retirement village somewhere sunny. 

Or, if you’re like Australian couple Jess and Marty Ansen, you could just become nautical nomads and book back-to-back cruises for a life at sea.

@brad.w98 #fyp #educational ♬ original sound – Brad 🐐

The Ansens, who booked 51 back-to-back cruises, have now spent 450 days sailing the seas on Princess Cruises’ Coral Princess cruise ship. The couple told ABC News that they start their days with early morning ping-pong workouts and fill the rest of their time with reading, relaxing, dining and dancing, and meeting new friends. 

We have to admit, although it sounds pretty crazy to live at sea this way, we do see the obvious perks. You don’t have to get groceries or clean your house. You don’t have to pay for gas or worry about car maintenance costs. You just pay for the cruise and enjoy all of the included amenities.

The Ansens explained that for them, booking two years’ worth of cruises was cheaper than what it would cost to move to a retirement village. In 2021, the median entry price for a two-bedroom unit in a retirement village in Australia was $484,000, although prices can vary quite a bit. Not cheap. We get it. But let’s be real, the cost of 51 different cruises had to be inching close to that $400,000 mark, too. Still, if traveling is something you plan to do a lot of in your golden years, it might not be the worst plan of action.

Meet the Writer

Rachel is a Michigan-based writer who has dabbled in a variety of subject matter throughout her career. As a mom of multiple young children, she tries to maintain a sustainable lifestyle for her family. She grows vegetables in her garden, gets her meat in bulk from local farmers, and cans fruits and vegetables with friends. Her kids have plenty of hand-me-downs in their closets, but her husband jokes that before long, they might need to invest in a new driveway thanks to the frequent visits from delivery trucks dropping off online purchases (she can’t pass up a good deal, after all). You can reach her at [email protected].