Meet parents who have splashed out $70,000 on a five-month cruise around the world for their entire family.
Mark Baker, 40, and his wife, Tiffany, 39, decided to pull their daughters — Giuletta, 10, Penelope, 8, and Delia, 7 — out of school and embark on the adventure of a lifetime.
The cruise ship will call at 52 ports in 21 countries – including South Africa, Madagascar and Argentina – across five different continents.
The pair are homeschooling their children and working remotely while they are onboard the ship – which set off from Marseilles, France, on Jan. 6.
They have been on the cruise for 16 days but have already travelled to Spain, Morocco, and Cape Verde. They are currently in South America visiting Brazil.
Tiffany and Mark have spent a whopping $70,000 for two bedrooms on the ship – and say the cost includes activities on board, food and drink – and they’ve also given themselves a $10,000 spending allowance.
Mark says the family are in the “honeymoon period” of the cruise and they are already looking at booking another trip in 2026.
Mark, a real estate investor and remote travel adviser, from Terre Haute, Indiana, US, said: “We are loving it so much already.
“It is four months, you don’t have to clean, do laundry, or do a food shop.
“We have a roof over our head and we are traveling to all these incredible destinations on this beautiful ship.”
“Our family is not on vacation, we have moved onto a cruise ship,” Tiffany, a real estate investor and remote travel adviser, added.
“It’s not like everyone is partying for one week — we are living on a cruise ship for four months.
“It is important, as a family unit, to have this family time for our family — this is not a once-in-a-lifetime trip.
“I hope this is the first of many.”
On Dec. 30, 2024, the family travelled to Marseilles, France, where the cruise set off from on Jan. 6, 2025.
They have been on the cruise for 11 days but have been to Spain, Morocco and Cape Verde and are on their way across the Atlantic.
Tiffany said: “Once we left Spain we realized every country until Cape Town will be new to our family.
“It is so exciting that we get to do this as a family, all together, from this point forward we are exploring together.”
Mark and Tiffany said their daughters are enjoying life on the cruise and as a family, they are focusing on “interest-based learning”.
Mark said: “They are loving it, another cost we don’t have to worry about is childcare.
“There is a kids club on the ship that allows them to connect with other kids on board.
“As we were gearing to pull our daughters out of school, we spoke to a lot of families about their approach.
“They spoke about interest-based learning, finding what our daughters enjoy and leaning into that and supporting them.
“That is what we have been doing.”
While they are on the cruise, Tiffany and Mark have a property manager looking after their property portfolio.
Tiffany says she’s sick of the words “work-life balance” and wants to focus on having a life balance.
She said: “I just want to live life, I want a balanced life – that is my main focus.
“Togetherness is our main goal on the cruise, we play games all the time, we are reading books and spending lots of quality time together.”
The family are on social media at @atimerichfamily.
List of destinations that the family are traveling to:
- France
- Spain
- Morocco
- Cape Verde
- Brazil
- Argentina
- Falkland Islands
- Chile
- Pitcairn
- French Polynesia
- Cook Islands
- New Zealand
- Australia
- Maldives
- Seychelles
- Madagascar
- South Africa
- Namibia
- Senegal
- Italy
