A Meta employee brought a new dimension to the “work from home” concept. The employee is reportedly renting one of the cabins on a cruise ship scheduled to launch in 2025 for 12 years so he can “continue working from home” while traveling the world.
According to CNBC’s report, 28-year-old Meta employee Austin Wells announced that he will be one of the guests of the cruise ship in question. It is stated that Wells, who works at Reality Labs, the virtual reality arm of Meta, paid 300 thousand dollars for this accommodation. (Sadly, it is no longer possible to purchase a room on board at the cost paid by Wells, who is stated to be one of the first customers!)
The price of the 22 square meter apartment is 1 million dollars!
While there was a great demand for luxury cruise ships in the past, now seeing a decline in this demand, investors turned to new areas. The company, called Storylines, aims to offer its guests a luxurious life o n the sea by selling the ship’s rooms. Alister Punton, co-founder and CEO of the company, says he had never been on a cruise ship before founding the company. When Punton and fellow co-founder Shannon Lee saw that large cruise ships were mostly scrapped, she decided to look at them differently. To do this, the partners, who bought two large ships and implemented their plans, were initially unsuccessful, both for environmental reasons and for the guests not being comfortable enough.
However, they did not get discouraged and started to build a huge “dwelling ship”. The ship, which was built with the capacity to host around a thousand guests with its 500 rooms, offers its guests the opportunity to live permanently at sea, for a certain fee, of course. “Studio” apartments of 22 square meters went on sale this year with a price tag of 1 million dollars.
“My life will travel the world with me”
Wells, who lives in San Diego, says she’s seduced by the thought of being able to see the world and continue her work routine. “What excites me most is that I don’t have to turn my daily routine upside down to see the world.”
Wells continues, “Whenever you want to go somewhere, I pack my bag, buy a plane ticket, leave behind the model where you booked a room, and switch to the model where my room, my gym, my doctor and dentist, my grocery store travel the world with me. An employee with a standard job is probably the first He will have the chance to both work and live in a floating apartment complex for the first time.”
Working hours are not 9-5
After the ship anchors in 2025, Wells says it will continue to operate in the West Coast time zone. As a result, he will be somewhat distant from people and will have to work in time zones such as late at night and early in the morning.
“But it will give me the chance to see a city we’ve been to in the afternoon and start my shift at 6 or 7 pm.” says Wells.
They will visit 6 continents in 1000 days
The cruise offers guests the opportunity to visit all six continents in a thousand-day voyage and spend approximately three to five days in each port. Although the exact tour program is not disclosed, the 90-day sample itinerary given on the site starts with Rome in Italy and ends with Canakkale and Istanbul in Turkey, after Slovenia, Albania, Croatia and Greece.
So how much will it cost?
In addition to the million-dollar price tag, guests are also asked to pay monthly “living expenses.” For those staying in Wells’ flats, this fee starts at around $2,100 per month. The larger the apartments, the higher the monthly fees. However, the company also offers the opportunity to rent their flats for ‘ship residents’ who do not use their flats. An apartment like Wells’ apartment could be rented for around $4,500 per month, according to the calculator on the company’s website.
Wells’ “entry-level” 22-square-foot “Discover” studio cost him about $300,000 to rent for 12 years. The 22 square meter room features a folding bed, a small kitchen area and a shower. Normally, the rents of the rooms offered on the ship range from at least 24 years to the estimated life of the ship, which is 60 years. But Wells, with the advantage of being one of the ship’s first customers, was able to charter for 12 years.
While the interest in such ships is increasing, penthouse apartments on the ‘rival’ ship are sold for 20 million euros and it is planned to have a maximum of 150-200 people on board.
Owners will also live on board
The headquarters of Storylines, which owns the ship, will also be located on the ship. Punton plans to move aboard and live here with his wife and two children. The education of children between the ages of two and five will be given in the school that will be located on the ship. The ‘world school’ program, which children on board can attend, combines online education with small-group education, and includes workshops and educational trips with experts from countries docking.
CEO Punton says, ‘You can sit by the pool all day and drink a cocktail without moving a finger, but it will get boring in a short time,’ says the ship’s occupants, as well as the opportunity to work. Punton, who said that he will take charge of the time, states that he plans to offer jobs to those who will buy a room on the ship from various fields such as acupuncturists and physiotherapists.
Meta has announced plans to downsize its offices and expand working from home, after major losses announced last year.
