To fulfill her dream of living at sea, a retired female teacher from California, USA, decided to leave her community home and purchased a cabin on the cruise ship Odyssey, embarking on an anticipated 15-year global voyage. She claims that this lifestyle is actually cheaper than living in California.
Reported by the New York Post, 77-year-old Sharon Lane from Orange County in Southern California, who was formerly a high school foreign language teacher, recently moved out of her retirement community and boarded the cruise ship Odyssey on June 16th, touted as the world’s first “perpetual world tour” vessel. She believes that the cost of living on the cruise ship will be cheaper than residing in California.
While the Odyssey was docked at the port in Vancouver, Canada, Lane told Los Angeles’ NBC television station, “For me, it’s not only affordable but living here would actually cost me less money. Having everyone take care of me instead of me taking care of everyone.”
Always considering living on a cruise ship as a life goal, when her lease in the retirement community expired, she decided to move onto the ship. It took her only about 10 minutes to make this decision.
The Odyssey promotes an “affordable maritime lifestyle,” with most passengers onboard being long-term residents. This cruise ship set sail in October 2024 with plans to visit 147 countries and 425 cities within 15 years. Its design allows it to navigate oceans as well as travel through inland waterways and rivers.
The Odyssey boasts comprehensive facilities including a library, gym, swimming pool, and a theater. Since boarding, Lane has sailed to Canada and Alaska, with plans to head to Japan and Taiwan in the upcoming weeks.
Lane did not disclose how much she spent on purchasing the cabin, but the company operating the Odyssey stated that cabins similar to hers are priced at $129,999, with a monthly living fee of $3,000 covering dining, internet, medical care, as well as laundry and room services.
Living on the cruise ship, Lane no longer has to do any household chores. She told CNN’s travel channel, “If you make a list of things to do on paper and then cross off all the boring stuff, that’s how you end up with our current lifestyle.”
She expressed, “I can finally do what I’ve always wanted to do for years.”
She also mentioned, “I bought this cabin, live here, and keep going with life, with no end in sight.”
Currently, the Odyssey has over 500 residents, mostly from the USA and Canada. Lane enjoys living with like-minded individuals, making her life feel more relaxed.
In the future, Lane may choose to rent out or resell her cabin, but for now, she has no plans to prematurely end this journey. She said, “This journey has no end. In 15 years, maybe I’ll choose to return to land…or perhaps board their next ship, we’ll see when the time comes.”
However, if Lane lives on the cruise ship for an extended period like Cuban-American Mario Salcedo, she might experience difficulties adjusting her legs to land, finding it hard to walk in a straight line on stable ground.
Previously reported by Dajiyuan, Salcedo lived on a cruise ship for 25 years, and his legs could no longer adapt to land, causing symptoms of Mal de debarquement Syndrome, a rare vestibular (responsible for the body’s balance and spatial sense) disease that makes one feel like they are in motion even when they are not.