by This week, Keri Witman should sail to Brazil. This should be the first month of a three-year cruise around the world: an epic adventure for which she sold her four-bedroom house, gave away her possessions, and paid a deposit worth thousands. But there is no cruise; in fact, there isn’t even a boat.
“It’s a good job. I’m a glass-half-full kind of person,” Witman says with a wry smile, “but it’s certainly been a challenging time.” We’re chatting over Zoom, Witman calling from a co-working space in Cincinnati, Ohio—his home office no longer exists, and his few remaining belongings are in storage.
“But I’m not the only person who sold their house to go on the cruise; many of us did. I mean, why wouldn’t you if you were gone for three years? Others rented their properties, some retired early… Each one has their own story.”
The trip of a lifetime worth £146,000
In April, Witman, in his early fifties, saw an announcement that would change his life: a cruise around the world with Life At Sea, a three-year voyage that would span “all 7 continents, 140 countries, 382 ports,” he promises. the company website. “I had been fantasizing about a great trip,” Witman recalls, “and this seemed really good. The itinerary was crazy; We were going to start in Istanbul, then head to Spain, cross the Atlantic, the Bahamas, go down to South America, Antarctica and, on the other side, reach Central America, the United States and Asia. We wouldn’t have reached the west coast until next fall; “It would have taken us almost a year to get there.”
The total price of his ticket, Witman says, was $185,000 (£146,553), which he could pay in installments.
“I did some quick math and the price of the cruise matched what I was paying for my mortgage, insurance and healthcare. And it really included everything: laundry, cleaning, food and drink, everything you have to pay to live, even tips.”
For couples sharing a cabin, the trip was priced at $231,000 (£182,990) or $115,500 (£91,495) per person. And it was three years or nothing: the itinerary “cannot be divided into individual segments,” the website warns.
“I went into overdrive and called everyone I knew and trusted and asked, ‘Is this crazy?’” Witman says. “I also talked to my financial friends and they said, ‘It makes sense if it’s what you want to do.’ I paid the $3,000 (£2,377) deposit four days later and then went straight into planning mode.”
That initial deposit was followed by a first payment of $29,000 (£22,977) in August; He was assured that both would be refunded, although he is still waiting for the money to hit his account.
Life at sea: what went wrong?
The voyage was due to depart on November 1, 2023 from Istanbul, carrying around 1,000 passengers aboard the MV Lara, a 627-cabin ship that Life At Sea was going to purchase especially for sailing. But in September it was learned that the sale had not been finalized.
“At first there were no signs that anything had gone wrong,” says Witman, “but we asked ourselves: Could we really leave on November 1 if the ship was not in their possession by early October?”
The passengers – or “residents”, as they call themselves – had been using a forum on the Life At Sea app to chat with each other before the trip, but socializing quickly turned to suspicion.
“The departure date was pushed back to November 11 and then December 1. Some people were getting angry, but I thought it was still going to go ahead, but then on November 20, we found out for sure that it had been canceled “.
A day later, Vedat Ugurlu, CEO of Miray Cruises, owner of Life At Sea, issued a statement published on Cruise Industry News, citing “challenges due to investor renewal.” He promised, however, that this was not the end of the road: “As we overcome these challenges, we are actively working to create alternative plans for the future.”
The company has said it will make refunds in monthly installments, CNN reports, from mid-December to the end of February. Telegraph Travel has contacted Life At Sea and Miray International for comment but has not yet received a response.
Starting over in a one-bedroom apartment
The latest news Witman heard, she says, is that Life At Sea is still trying to find a ship, with the goal of launching it in 2024. Would she still be willing to do that? “Of course, I’ve already got everything packed and ready,” she laughs – surprisingly – pointing to her temporary office.
And she really is. Witman’s plan had been to work throughout the cruise, running her Clever Lucy marketing agency remotely from the ship’s business suite.
“It had super-fast Starlink Wi-Fi, so we could stay connected even in Antarctica,” he says, “and I thought it was the perfect balance: the opportunity to continue working while traveling, have the freedom to explore while still keeping a home …my cabin.”
Having a “hard deadline” for the cruise’s departure had prompted Witman to address issues he had been putting off for a long time. “I had a knee replacement and sold the house – I’d been thinking about doing it for a while and it’s a really hot market so I was happy.”
Other would-be residents were not so lucky: one couple told USA Today they had sold their Florida home at a loss of $40,000 (£31,688) to be able to go.
Witman’s three-story home was “full” of possessions, which she also quickly discarded: selling, donating, and even giving things away to the new owners of her old home. Before the cruise, she moved into a one-bedroom rental apartment; When we speak, she’s still there, waiting to move into a larger, though still temporary, apartment.
Is she bitter? “No, I feel light: I had a three-story house with a basement and all those rooms were full of things, everything weighed me down. Although I miss my recipe books and I just bought a new winter coat because I got rid of them all.
“The goal for this year was to change things and I have certainly achieved that. Yes, it didn’t go as planned, but the plan now is to enjoy Christmas and look for other travel opportunities next year. “Honestly, this feels like the beginning of my adventure, not the end.”
