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They’re not millionaires and didn’t even have to sell their house, yet Monica Brzoska, 32, and Jorell Conley, 36, manage to live on cruise ships full-time. “I used to have to prepare lessons, cook and clean. That is all a thing of the past.”
Wednesday, March 27, 2024 at 7:59 AM
Monica and Jorell made a drastic decision last year: instead of just going on the one-week Caribbean cruise, the American couple decided to just keep going on cruises for as long as possible. That’s how it happened: in August 2022, Monica’s father had to undergo a liver transplant. His deteriorating health condition made Monica and her mother think. “I was desperate to see the world. Don’t wait until retirement to follow your dreams. Do it now, my mother told me,” Monica says in The Sun newspaper.
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No sooner said than done: the two teachers, who met in 2015 and said yes in 2020, started calculating. Because they already had about a dozen cruises with the same shipping company before the pandemic, they received significant discounts. “If we chose the cheapest cabins, we could book eight months for $9,989 (9,221 euros),” Monica claims in The Sun. To still have an income, the couple also rented out their house in Memphis, Tennessee.
In one year, the two have now made 36 cruises in a row and visited dozens of countries, including Japan, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Iceland and Fiji. They often leave and board a ship in the same port. And they like their new lifestyle very much, says Monica. “All my meals are prepared by chefs and the onboard staff changes my bed linen. I haven’t stepped into a kitchen for a year and haven’t used a washing machine in all that time,” she says. “There are of course also challenges. We miss our families, but know we can fly home if there is an emergency.”
According to Monica, it has been a “liberation” to leave her old life behind. “I used to have to prepare lessons, cook and clean. That is all a thing of the past. Without the stress of everyday life, Jorell and I rarely argue. We always tell each other whether we need time alone or together.”
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