Welcome Back to Breakfast with Lisa & Josh!

Being on a cruise ship, on the surface, feels like the closest you can get to being able to buy your way into utopia.

A beautiful, almost perfect utopia... that you can’t really leave…

It's a place where you can get unlimited food, for free, any time day or night. A place where the biggest decision that you'll make all day is whether to order the steak or get the salmon. All the things in the utopia are built specifically, almost mathematically, to maximize your happiness. Everything has been meticulously thought of, designed, optimized to be as safe, easy to use, and wonderful as possible. At times, the comforts make us feel downright uncomfortable.

Most importantly, every single person you meet that is responsible for making the cruise happen - the people cooking and bringing you the unlimited food, the bartenders serving you the unlimited drinks, the lifeguards, the officers, the cruise director, the security guards, the internet support staff, the customer service, the housekeeping staff, the pub trivia emcee— they're all smiling and happy to see you, all the time. No matter how absolutely bonkers your request is (and we've heard some genuinely bonkers requests being made while on this cruise), no matter if it's the middle of the night. Everyone is always kind and smiling. Always.

We're on day 11 of our first ever cruise-a 16 day cruise from Alaska to Hawaii, and needless to say, we've been loving it and learning a lot along the way. It’s a completely different life that we didn’t know existed. There are 6 hot tubs. Incredibly delicious food in unlimited quantities. Breathtaking views. Quaint ports. Endless activities to choose from. Wonderful people with interesting lives to talk to. Wifi that works, sometimes.

And, every day, we get a little bit closer to home.

We hacked our way onto this cruise, getting a hilariously large discount - 93% off - and we intended to use it as a home base and way to edit the series that we're releasing right now. (The one where we head from Paris to the Northern Most City in the World, Longyearbyen. Check it out if you haven't yet. We're almost at the exciting finale. :))

As far as we can tell, we're the only passengers on the ship who are doing any work. Everyone else comes on a cruise like this to disconnect from their lives, to relax, to vacation as hard as they can. Which makes a lot of sense. We want to do some of that, but our primary goal here is to give ourselves enough time to breathe and catch up on work.

We’ve learned a lot about cruise life, but I think the lasting impressions are certainly the crew. They are just the most incredible people. Some of the hardest working, most genuinely friendly people we've ever met. They work the longest hours, for months on end, and are still chipper and upbeat. We've learned in talking with some of the crew here that most on this cruise ship work on the same schedule--8 months on the ship, nonstop, and then 2 months of unpaid vacation. After that, most will sign another contract and start that process all over again. 8 months away. 2 months off. 8 months away. 2 months off.

This means that they only get to see their friends and families (most have kids at home that they support while away) just once a year. One friend we made while here started his 8 month contract just 5 days before his son was born. He gets to meet him for the first time in a couple of weeks. :) The crew is provided with access to the most basic internet - only messaging platforms - Facebook, Whatsapp, iMessage, etc. Invariably, whenever we get to a port, we flock to where many of the crew who have the day off go to—the nearest spot with wifi so they can video chat their families back at home. None of them are allowed to use their phones while they work. So, for 8 months straight, they are essentially fully disconnected. Working 10-12 hour shifts, 6 days a week, sharing rooms with fellow crew members, all to be able to send enough money home to support their families.

Now, that's not to say that working on a cruise ship doesn't have some very interesting perks. The ship we're on is going from Alaska to Hawaii, then on to the Tahitian Islands, then on to Australia. From there, who knows? Europe? Many of the crew members told us they love this life—they get to see the world. Many here will change boats after a long haul like the one we're on to be able to sail to new areas of the world that they're interested in. And at the end of their contract, they’re back home for two months for full-on family/kids/relaxation/vacation time, as they describe it.

From what we're told, the opportunities and pay working on a cruise ship is generally better than most jobs that are available back at home. However, that additional pay also comes with the significant sacrifice of being away from home for so long.

We've gotten to know quite a few of the crew members during our time on the ship—many from home countries we’ve had the chance to visit in the last year. One thing is for sure - it's them—the tirelessly optimistic, always smiling, always willing to help crew - that make this boat, and this experience, into the utopia that it is.

So, if you're ever on a cruise, I beg you, spend as much time as you can getting to know the people that work on the ship. Otherwise, you'd be missing out truly on one of the best parts of the whole thing.

It's not the hot tubs, or the food, or the views.

It's the chance to meet, and connect with these incredible people.

They deserve all the kindness. Creating a utopia isn't easy.

Today

After 6 straight days of rough seas, we just made it to Maui! So close :)

The (Near) Future

Japan!!!!

Videos This Week

Beautiful, cold, sauna-filled Oslo.

The slow way is (usually) the best way.

Lisa is so dangerous with these things.

See you next Sunday…ish :)

- josh (and lisa)

Oh, and if you want to learn how we afford to take all these trips after quitting our jobs last year, you’ll likely be interested in our Skillshare course on Travel Hacking and Frequent Flier Miles. It’s been really taking off lately, but we still have a few uses of this link left for those of you who want to see the class for free. It comes with a free month of Skillshare, which is more than enough to watch our class and any of the other great courses on there!

Check it out here: https://skl.sh/lisaandjosh02221

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