A 77-year-old retired teacher from California has swapped her quiet retirement life for a never-ending holiday at sea.
Sharon Lane, a former high school foreign language teacher, now lives aboard the Villa Vie Odyssey, a 600-foot residential cruise ship offering permanent homes at sea, with plans to visit 425 destinations across 147 countries during its ambitious 15-year voyage.
“I’m finally able to do what I’ve wanted to do for years,” Lane told CNN Travel. “I buy the cabin, I live in the cabin, and that’s it. And then there’s no end.”
Lane boarded the ship on June 16, fulfilling her long-held dream of living at sea.
She claimed it was not only affordable but would cost her less than staying on land while having “everyone taking care of me instead of me taking care of everybody,” she told NBC Los Angeles.
The Odyssey offers cabins on 15-year leases starting at $129,000, with monthly fees around $2,000 per person or $3,000 for solo occupancy, covering food, drinks, Wi-Fi, medical visits, 24/7 room service, and housekeeping.
While the price may sound expensive, it is cheaper than the average cost of living in London, which is £4,245 ($5.7k) per month for a single person, and far less than Southern California’s expenses, Lane explained.
“All the chores you do in life? Done!” she said. “If you put your to-do list on a piece of paper and you cross off anything that wasn’t a fun activity, then you end up with the life we have now.”
The Villa Vie Odyssey launched in October 2024 after delays caused by rudder and gearbox issues, forcing early residents to live on the docked ship in Belfast, Northern Ireland until the voyage officially began.
The eight-deck ship can hold 650 passengers and is designed to navigate both oceans and inland waterways, per The New York Post.
Cruisers can rent their cabin out to others, allowing passengers to join the voyage temporarily. However, most residents like Lane have committed to it for the long haul.
"Most of our cabins are sold to full-time or mostly full-time residents," Villa Vie Residences’ CEO Mikael Petterson shared.
He added: "I only know of a couple of residents who have investment cabins that they actively rent out. Most rentals come from owners who decide to stay off the ship for a period of time."
The retired professional, who spent her life savings to secure her cabin, described how she’s enjoying life with fellow travelers.
Her windowless cabin is mainly for sleeping, as she spends her days exploring ports, lounging on the deck, or using the ship’s amenities, which include entertainment lounges, a library, a fitness center, a spa, a pickleball court, and a pool.
Having already sailed to Vancouver and up to Alaska, Lane plans to join the Odyssey’s forthcoming transpacific voyage to Japan and Taiwan in the coming weeks.
The journey will continue to the beaches of Bora Bora, the fjords of Norway, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and beyond in a continuous three-and-a-half-year cycle.
“I don’t have to do my laundry anymore. I don’t have to go grocery shopping,” Lane gushed to the outlet. “Living on the ship is much less expensive than living in Southern California.”
While residential cruising remains a relatively new and untested concept, the former teacher says she is embracing life at sea and doesn’t plan to land anytime soon.