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Life on the water isn't for everyone, but for these two it is.
By Isaac Serna-Diez — Written on May 12, 2022
Angelyn Burk and her husband Richard have been in love with the sea for as long as they can remember — as early as 1992 for Angelyn when she first set sail on a cruise ship.
The happy couple would plan annual — or sometimes bi-annual — cruise trips to sail across the globe, but it just wasn’t enough.
After crunching the numbers, Angelyn and Richard discovered that living on the sea was cheaper than living on land.
The couple now lives full-time on a cruise ship instead of paying for a mortgage.
They realized that they could live the rest of their lives on a cruise ship for as little as $43 a day, and could make their dream a reality with some preparation.
“We really enjoy cruising and being able to visit different parts of the world without hopping on an airplane,” Angelyn told 7Life, so they decided to do it permanently.
53-year-old Angelyn, who worked as an accountant, figured that they could live their dream lifestyle by relying on a combination of savings and the anticipated sale of their home in Seattle.
In early 2021, the couple decided that they would put their plan of retiring and setting sail in motion, retiring and setting sail in May that same year.
“Our original plan was to stay in different countries for a month at a time and eventually retire to cruise ships as we got older,” Angelyn said. “
We love to travel and we were searching for a way to continuously travel in our retirement that made financial sense.”
Fortunately, through loyalty memberships, and taking advantage of sales discounts, they could retire before long, and that it made more financial sense than a mortgage.
“We have been frugal all our lives to save and invest in order to achieve our goal,” she said. “We are not into materialistic things but experiences,” as is visible by the fact that they left home with one suitcase each.
“We don’t plan to permanently live on land in the future,” Angelyn said, adding that they could likely count the number of times they slept on land in the last year since setting sail on one hand.
Ever since their departure, they’ve meticulously planned out their routes, how long one cruise trip will take to finish before the next one begins, and the family members they would spend time with when those timelines didn’t match up.
They’ve visited the Adriatic Sea, seen the sights all over Europe, have been to Sydney, and claim Singapore, Italy, Canada, Iceland, and the Bahamas as some of their favorite locations that they’ve reached entirely by sea.
“I believe this is achievable for the everyday cruiser, but it does take effort,” Angelyn said. “It is leisurely travel without the complications of booking hotels, restaurants and transportation, while staying within our budget.”
According to Angelyn, there are no drawbacks to life on the sea, but you might want to think twice about doing it if you get motion sickness easily.
She also suggests trying long-term cruise trips first before committing your entire life to being on the water, but it’s entirely for those who are committed to doing it.
Isaac Serna-Diez is a writer who focuses on entertainment and news, social justice, and politics. Follow him on Twitter here.