An employee of Meta has added a new dimension to the concept of “working from home”. The employee has reportedly rented one of the cabins on a cruise ship that is set to be launched into the sea in 2025, so that they can continue to “work from home” while traveling around the world.
According to CNBC, Austin Wells, a 28-year-old employee of Meta’s virtual reality arm Reality Labs, has announced that he will be one of the guests on the aforementioned cruise ship. It is stated that Wells paid $300,000 for this accommodation (unfortunately, it is no longer possible to buy a room on the ship with the amount Wells paid, as he is one of the first customers!)
The price of a 22-square-meter apartment is $1 million!
While there was previously a high demand for luxury passenger ships, investors who saw a drop in this demand have turned to new areas. The company Storylines aims to offer its guests a luxurious life on the sea by selling the rooms on the ship. Alister Punton, one of the founders and CEO of the company, says he has never been on a passenger ship before founding the company. Punton and co-founder Shannon Lee decided to use the big passenger ships differently after seeing that most of them were scrapped.
However, they did not give up and started building a massive “residential ship”. The ship, which has 500 rooms and can accommodate around 1,000 guests at the same time, offers its guests the opportunity to live permanently on the sea, of course, for a certain fee. The 22-square-meter “studio” apartments were put up for sale this year with a price tag of $1 million.
The world will travel with me in my life”
Wells, who lives in San Diego, says the thought of being able to see the world and continue his work routine has blown his mind: “The most exciting thing for me is that I don’t have to disrupt my daily routine to see the world.”
Wells continues: “When you go somewhere, you pack your bag, buy a plane ticket, and leave behind the model where you stay in a room, and switch to the model where my room, gym, doctor and dentist, and the market where I shop travel the world with me. A standard working employee probably has the chance to work and live on a floating apartment complex for the first time.”
Working hours are not 9-5
After the ship sets sail in 2025, Wells says he will continue to work on Pacific Standard Time. As a result, he will be a little distant from people and will have to work at times like late nights and early morning.
“But this will give me the chance to see a city we visit in the afternoon and start work at 6 or 7 in the evening,” Wells says.
Visit 6 continents in 1000 days
The journey offers guests the opportunity to visit six continents in a 1,000-day trip and spend between three and five days in each port. Although the full tour program has not been announced, the 90-day sample travel plan provided on the site starts in Italy, Rome, and ends in Turkey, Çanakkale, Tekirdağ and Istanbul after passing through Slovenia, Albania, Croatia, and Greece.
So how much will it cost?
In addition to the million-dollar price tag, guests are also required to pay monthly “living expenses”. The fee for those staying in apartments like Wells’ apartment starts at around $2,100 per month. As the apartments get bigger, the monthly fees also increase. However, the company also offers the opportunity to rent apartments for those who are not using their apartments. According to the calculator on the company’s website, an apartment like Wells’ apartment can be rented for around $4,500 per month.
The owners will also live on the ship
The headquarters of Storylines, the owner of the ship, will also be located on the ship. Punton plans to move to the ship with his wife and two children and live there. The education of their children, aged two and five, will be provided in the school on the ship. The ‘world school’ program on the ship brings together online education and small group education and also includes workshops with experts from the countries the ship docks in and educational tours.
CEO Punton says, “You can live all day by the pool without moving your finger, just drinking cocktails, but it will get boring soon.” That’s why working opportunities are also offered to ship residents. Punton, who says that a 30-year-old nurse, one of the buyers of an apartment on the ship, will work part-time in the ship’s health team, also plans to offer jobs to those who will buy apartments in various fields such as acupuncture and physiotherapist on the ship.
Meta announced last year that it planned to reduce its offices and expand remote work after large losses were announced.