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World

How much does it cost to travel full time? Here’s what one couple pays

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Ernestas Tyminas felt “stuck” in his role as a marketing manager at a newspaper in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

So he requested two months off to backpack through Asia, he said, landing in Beijing in January 2019.

“On the first day … I meet this one,” he said, gesturing to Darina Karpitskaya, sitting by his side.

The couple, speaking to CNBC via video from Dubai, said they met via the travel app Couchsurfing, which links solo travelers together. Karpitskaya, 31, and a flight attendant at the time, had been grounded in Beijing for two days because of mechanical problems with her return flight.

Though more solo travelers agreed to meet that day, Tyminas and Karpitskaya were the only two who showed up.

After one day together, they planned to meet again in Asia one month later.

A monthlong second date

Karpitskaya returned to Asia, and the couple’s second date was a “crazy one-month adventure” to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, said Tyminas, 29.

It was in the Philippines, he said, that he decided he wasn’t going back to his old life.  

“We were … laying on the beach under the stars,” he said. “We were kind of starting to dream about this lifestyle.”

After returning to Colorado, Tyminas quit his job, sold his belongings and moved to Europe, he said.

Karpitskaya wasn’t quite there yet, saying, “At first it sounded like: Oh my God, you’re quitting your job. You’re moving from America. Maybe it’s too soon. But at the same time, when I came back from that trip I felt like I’m living a life that I’m not enjoying.”

A dog in tow

Tyminas flew from Denver to Paris with his dog — an 82-pound Borzoi, once known as the “Russian Wolfhound,” named Cosmo, who is over 6 feet tall on his hind legs.   

“They gave me three rows of seats, and the dog was just laying on the floor,” he said.

From there, the couple traveled often — to places like Italy and Iceland — but not yet full time, they said.

Ernestas Tyminas and Darina Karpitskaya have taken his dog, Cosmo, to 26 of the more than 40 countries that they have visited together, said Tyminas. Cosmo is a great networking tool, added Karpitskaya: “We meet a lot of people walking the dog.”

Source: Dream Team Travels

Then Karpitskaya got what she called her “dream job” — a position with Emirates airline. She moved to Dubai, but the couple continued to meet and travel together.

Then Covid hit, and Karpitskaya accepted four months of unpaid leave from her job.

“We said: We have four months — we can go explore whatever is open,” said Tyminas.

The trio — including Cosmo, who traveled in a huge bed in the back of their SUV — traveled first to Croatia, then slowly across much of Europe, including many former Soviet states, said Karpitskaya.

She never returned to her job, and couple have been traveling ever since, she said.

What it costs to travel the world

In the beginning, they spent between $1,000 and $2,000 a month — all from savings — by staying in cheap accommodations, cooking at home and seeking out free activities, said Tyminas.

As money started to dry up, Tyminas took several online jobs, which netted between $2,000 and $3,000 a month, which wasn’t far from his salary of $3,300 in Colorado, he said.

Tyminas said the couple stayed longer in Romania because “we saw how the people are nice … how they how much they have to offer. Sometimes you Google and you’re like: ‘There’s nothing to do here,’ and then you get there and [realize] that’s only because nobody travels here.”

Source: Dream Team Travels

But the work was cumbersome, and it “felt like I still had a job,” he said.

So the couple decided to open a marketing and graphic design company, despite the fact that “we didn’t know a lot,” said Tyminas.

They reached out to thousands of people, they said, often working late into the night. Potential customers would ask, “Can you design book covers?” “Can you promote music?” Tyminas said his response was always the same, “Of course I can.”

In reality, he was learning on the job, he said, relying on YouTube, Google and online research. But clients were very happy, he said.  

“They paid me half of what they would pay other marketing agencies and the results, they said, were better than they had before,” said Tyminas.

In the first month, the couple made $6,000, he said. Now, sometimes they earn several thousand dollars in a day working with real estate companies and music labels, he added.

“We write blogs for people — we do everything,” said Tyminas. Plus “we don’t have to report to anybody. We’re our own bosses.”

In the past six months, the couple said they spent an average of $4,000 a month. More than half goes to accommodations, which vary by location — from $3,100 per month in Dubai to $1,500 in Lisbon, Portugal, they said. They limit stays in expensive locations, like Switzerland, to no more than a week, they said.

One way to save money is booking monthlong stays on Airbnb, which cuts down average nightly rates and reduces service and cleaning fees, said Tyminas. But even when they bounced from place to place to visit Europe’s Christmas markets last year, they still ended up paying about $2,500 that month, he said.

Karpitskaya said she doesn’t want these costs to scare people because they spent far less in the beginning. At the time, they spent about 80-100% of their income, but now Tyminas said “we spend about 30% and … save the rest.”

The couple told CNBC they still travel modestly — no five-star hotels — and they still cook most meals at home. But they spend more on activities that they film for their YouTube channel Dream Team Travels — another “completely self-taught” venture, they said.

Hiccups on the road

A life of constant travel isn’t all fun and games, they said.

They encounter dirty Airbnbs and hosts who cancel reservations at the last minute. They’ve also had their camera equipment and clothing stolen twice — once in Mexico, and more recently in France — plus an attempted theft of their belongings from their car in Barcelona, while they were sitting in it.

They have also thought about settling down when they find a place they really love, such as the beaches of Portugal or the French Riviera, said Tyminas.   

“But then … we drive somewhere else and we’re like this place is also just as good,” he said.

When Russia invaded Ukraine, quickly occupying the Kherson region where Karpitskaya’s parents live, Tyminas emailed CNBC to say that they’d stopped traveling for the time being.     

Tyminas and Karpitskaya (pictured here in Abu Dhabi) stopped traveling at the outset of the Russian-Ukraine war. Karpitskaya’s family is now out of Ukraine, except her brother, who “has signed up to be in the military to defend his country,” said Tyminas.

Source: Dream Team Travels

“The first few weeks we didn’t even leave our apartment,” he said. “We spent a lot of time arranging transportation for civilians as well as many dogs from shelters to be taken out of dangerous regions for adoption in Europe.”

By the summer, they had resumed traveling, but were still helping to evacuate Karpitskaya’s family.

“Just a week ago we were able to finally get Darina’s parents out of Ukraine,” said Tyminas, adding that they are currently in his family’s home in Lithuania. “We also did a trip to Romania to pick up Darina’s sister and her five-month-old baby from the border and took her to live in Germany.”

The couple are now in Malaysia, they said, and plan to explore Southeast Asia for the next two months.   

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World

Travelers can now go to Japan but domestic tourists remain its focus

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After more than two years of closed border policies, Japan is set to welcome back international travelers this week.

Come June 10, foreign tourists traveling via packaged tours can enter Japan.

However, the government’s priority still lies in boosting domestic tourism numbers, said Tadashi Shimura, president of Japan Association of Travel Agents.

Even before the pandemic, domestic tourism contributed far more to Japan’s overall gross domestic product than foreign tourism, according to JATA.

Tourism numbers

Overall tourism contributed 28 trillion yen ($211 billion) to Japan’s economy in 2019, with nearly 80% — or 22 trillion yen — coming from domestic tourists, according to a report by the Japan Tourism Agency.

Despite a rise in Covid cases in 2021, tourism spending from those living in Japan still managed to bring in 9.2 trillion yen that year, JTA said.

Nevertheless, boosting international arrivals to Japan is still vital, especially for the heavily hit hospitality, transportation and travel sectors, said Shimura.

Japan welcomed about 32 million foreign visitors in 2019 and had been on track to achieve its goal of 40 million in 2022, said Ejaz Ahmed, a research analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit, during a webinar on June 1.

However, the pandemic caused arrival numbers to plummet rapidly, and there were only 250,000 foreign visitors in 2021, government data previously showed.

The loss of international travelers cost Japan “about 10 trillion yen over the past two years,” said Shimura, as spending from international students and long-term foreign residents brought in an average of 4.3 million yen per person per year, he said, citing a report by Nomura Research Institute.

Travel agencies in Japan are gearing up for the return of tourists with packaged tours to famous destinations across the country.

All Japan Tours has six tour packages, including the “Golden Route Japan Tour” which takes participants on an eight-day tour around Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto for $2,698.

What are the rules? 

The daily cap on the number of visitor arrivals — which includes Japanese nationals and returning foreign residents — doubled from 10,000 to 20,000 on June 1, according to the Japan National Tourism Organization.

Local reports indicate the government may increase the limit to 30,000 people in July.

Still, Shimura said, those limits are too low, as the country used to welcome “140,000 [visitors] per day.”

Countries are classified into three categories — blue, red and yellow — and travelers may be subjected to additional restrictions depending on where they are coming from, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan. 

Travelers from 98 countries and regions — including the United States, United Kingdom, Singapore and China — fall under the “blue” category and are not required to test or quarantine on arrival or be vaccinated to enter.

Travelers from any of the 99 countries in the “yellow” category are also exempted from testing and quarantining upon arrival if they have had three doses of an accepted Covid-19 vaccination. The category includes countries such as India, Vietnam and Sri Lanka.

Those coming from “red” countries, such as Fiji, Pakistan and Sierra Leone, must test on arrival and quarantine for a period of three to seven days.

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Business

Go big, spend big on bucket list trips

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‘New sense of urgency’ to hit the road

There’s a “new sense of urgency” to travel, said Stephanie Papaioannou, a vice president at the luxury travel company Abercrombie & Kent. 

“Guests feel they have lost two years, and older clients are concerned about having fewer healthy years left to travel,” she said.

A couple pose in front of Machu Picchu, a destination in Peru that tops many travelers’ bucket lists.

Marina Herrmann | Moment | Getty Images

Lee Thompson, co-founder of the adventure travel company Flash Pack, agreed.

“People are desperate to get away,” he said. “They’ve been waiting to get back out there and are not shying away from those international destinations and big, once-in-a-lifetime adventures.”

The year of the ‘GOAT’

Expedia is calling 2022 the year of the GOAT, or the “greatest of all trips.”

In a survey of 12,000 travelers in 12 countries, the company found that 65% of respondents are planning to “go big” on their next trip, according to a company representative. As a result, it named the desire for exciting and extravagant trips “the biggest travel trend” of the year.

A survey of 12,000 travelers by Expedia found that Singapore residents were the least likely to have traveled during the pandemic (59%) and the most likely to want to splurge (43%) on their next trip.

Roslan Rahman | AFP | Getty Images

Amadeus is seeing a jump in searches to “epic destinations,” according to a company report published in November. Searches to Tanzania (+36%), flights to Jordan’s Petra (+22%) and bookings to cities near Machu Picchu (nearly +50%) rose from 2020 to 2021, according to the report.

These trends are expected to grow this year, along with interest in islands in the Indian Ocean as well as Antarctica, according to the report.

The pandemic has changed the “mood of travelers,” said Decius Valmorbida, president of travel at Amadeus.

“We have people just say: “Look, what if another pandemic happens? What if I’m locked in again?'” he said. There’s “a psychological effect that now is the moment.”

Searches for stays in vacation homes abroad are now on pace with 2019 levels, according to HomeToGo’s travel trends report, released in late November.

The international destinations drawing the biggest search increases this year, compared with 2019, are Tuscany, Italy (+141%), the Bahamas (+129%), French Polynesia’s Bora Bora (+98%), the Maldives (+97%) and the south of France (+88%), according to the report.  

The top-searched international destinations for Americans for 2022 travel are Rome, Bali, London, Paris and Mexico’s Riviera Maya — which includes Playa del Carmen and Tulum — according to Expedia.

Emily Deltetto / EyeEm | EyeEm | Getty Images

Research shows that those aged 18 to 34 are driving the trend, and families are also getting in on the act, said Abercrombie & Kent’s Papaioannou.

“Families are choosing destinations they have always dreamt of, especially those centered around outdoor experiences like Nile River cruises, Machu Picchu, safaris and barge cruises in Europe,” she said.

Loosening purse strings

While financially devastating for some, the pandemic has allowed others — namely, professionals who have been able to work from home — to sock away more savings.

Some 70% of leisure travelers in major countries — such as the U.S., the U.K., Canada, Japan and Spain — plan to spend more on travel in 2022 than they have in the past five years, according to a November joint report by the World Travel & Tourism Council and travel website Trip.com.

Travelers are “more willing than ever before” to splurge on future travels, according to Expedia.

James O’Neil | The Image Bank | Getty Images

Globally, HomeToGo’s average booking expenditures increased by 54% last year, compared with 2019, according to company data. But average nightly rates haven’t gone up nearly that much — around 10% — for bookings this year compared with before the pandemic, said the company’s co-founder and CEO Patrick Andrae.

“Pent-up demand for travel led to travelers taking longer vacations, many opting to do so in a spacious vacation rental versus a hotel,” he said.

U.S. travelers are also seeking quieter, more luxurious destinations this summer — Maui over Honolulu, Nantucket over Cape Cod — despite the higher costs, according to HomeToGo’s data.

Travelers may be willing to pay more to go to certain places, rather than to make the trip itself more luxurious. Twice as many U.S. respondents indicated they were willing to spend more to see “bucket list” destinations (32%) rather than book luxury experiences (15%) or room or flight upgrades (16%), according to Expedia.

The willingness and ability to spend more are likely a good thing, since travel costs have increased in some places. The U.S. Travel Association’s December Travel Price Index, which measures travel costs in the United States, shows that prices have increased for food (+10%), hotels (+13.3%) and motor fuel (+26.6%), compared with 2019.

Airfare, however, was lower than 2019 levels (-17%), according to the index — but that may soon change, partly because of rising jet fuel costs.

Family reunions and ‘friendcations’

People are celebrating missed milestones, often with extended family, said Papaioannou. Abercrombie & Kent’s data shows a 26% increase in future bookings of five or more guests as compared with 2019, she said.

Family reunion-style vacations will be popular this year, agreed Mark Hoenig, co-founder of the digital travel company VIP Traveler.

People are expected to travel more with friends and family this year.

Hinterhaus Productions | DigitalVision | Getty Images

“People are still catching up for lost time with family,” he said. “Destinations that provide for large multi-generation families, such as those with a high inventory of large villas — including the Caribbean, Mexico and Maldives — are seeing an uptick in bookings.”

The U.K. saw an explosion of bookings by large groups once restrictions eased, according to Amadeus. Bookings to party spots, such as Las Vegas; Cancun, Mexico; and the Spanish island of Ibiza, led the company to name “friendcations” a top travel trend for 2022.

Renewed demand for travel agents

Big trips often require big plans, which is resulting in a renewed demand for travel agents, said Elizabeth Gordon, co-founder of the tour and safari operator Extraordinary Journeys.

Professional planners can help travelers navigate “Covid-19 tests, restrictions, changes in entry requirements, visas, flights, accommodation, activities and backup plans,” she said.

Even “DIY travelers,” who normally plan their own trips, are nowadays seeking professional help to make sure their upcoming travels are seamless, said VIP Traveler’s Hoenig.

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World

Where Americans want to travel abroad and where they’ve lost interest

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Gaviota Azul beach in Cancun, Mexico.

Getty Images

Just as countries have started to lift pandemic travel bans and Americans begin to at least think about booking vacations abroad, the spread of the delta and omicron variants of Covid-19 has thrown the tourism industry’s fortunes to the wind again.

That said, hope springs eternal and U.S. travelers have been busy researching the long-delayed foreign trips they’d like to take once they can. Travel site ParkSleepFly has tracked where they want to go.

Researchers at ParkSleepFly analyzed data on Google searches from April to September by Americans on 168 foreign or overseas destinations in terms of flights, vacations and hotels, totaling them to determine rankings in categories such as the most in-demand countries, most in-demand cities and regions, countries increasing in travel popularity and countries seeing a decrease in interest from Americans.

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The No. 1 overseas destination that Americans are searching is Puerto Rico — technically a U.S. territory but still a flight or cruise away for those on the mainland. ParkSleepFly tracked nearly 1.69 million searches for the island. Rounding out the top five spots were the Maldives, with 491,200 searches; Costa Rica, at 384,600; Aruba, at 379,600; and Mexico, at 361,300.

The website also ranked the cities and regions attracting the most interest; the top 10 are listed in the box below.

Top In-Demand Cities & Regions by Google Search

Travel site ParkSleepFly analyzed Google search data for flights, vacations and hotels by Americans for destinations worldwide to determine the most sought-after holiday spots as we head into 2022. Here’s a look at the top 10 urban and regional spots and the total number of searches in the past six months.

  1. Cancun, Mexico — 638,230
  2. Bali, Indonesia — 448,100
  3. Dubai, United Arab Emirates — 446,100
  4. Bora Bora, French Polynesia — 408,200
  5. Panama City, Panama — 299,210
  6. Paris — 265,400
  7. Cabo San Lucas, Mexico — 252,780
  8. San Jose, Dominican Republic — 225,690
  9. Toronto — 224,130
  10. Rio de Janeiro — 202,550

Source: ParkSleepFly

ParkSleepFly also looked at which countries are falling or rising and in popularity among U.S. travelers. Searches for China travel have plummeted 75% — perhaps not surprisingly, given media coverage of coronavirus, along with current geopolitical tensions. “Following the emergence of Covid-19, China imposed strict border policy and suspended all visas on arrival, so it’s not surprising to see a decline in popularity,” the site wrote in its blog.

In second place for less interest from Americans is Italy, with a 59% drop-off, which ParkSleepFly attributed to the country’s numerous Covid lockdowns this year. At No. 3, Hong Kong — with some of the world’s strictest pandemic border restrictions — saw a 54% fall.

On the bright side, searches increased significantly for overseas or foreign destinations such as the U.S. Virgin Islands, up 98%; the Maldives, up 72%; and Indonesia, with 61% growth. Overseas or foreign cities and regions seeing the highest growth in interest include Saint Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands, up 77%; Toronto, up 45%; and Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, up 41%.

For more on the study, and its methodology, go to ParkSleepFly’s website.

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Business

What are the best cruises in the world? Viking, Disney are big winners

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U.S. News & World Report on Tuesday published its ranking of the “best” cruise lines of 2022.

The publication evaluated 17 cruise lines through a combination of expert evaluations (30%), traveler reviews (50%) and health ratings published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Vessel Sanitation Program (20%).

Scores were then analyzed by category to determine winners, ranked highest to lowest, in six areas.

Best cruise lines for the money

The 2022 rankings for best valued cruises are:  

  1. Celebrity Cruises — “Gold Award”
  2. Holland America Line — “Silver Award”
  3. Royal Caribbean International — “Silver Award”
  4. Norwegian Cruise Line
  5. Carnival Cruise Line

Here, average daily rates accounted for 60% of scores, while expert, traveler and health ratings accounted for the other 40%. Cruise lines with average daily rates of $300 or more did not qualify for this category.

The Celebrity Edge cruise ship, the first revenue-earning cruise to depart from the U.S. after a pandemic-induced hiatus, docks during a stop in Costa Maya, Mexico on Tuesday, June 29, 2021.

Eva Marie Uzcategui | Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Celebrity Cruises was named the best cruise for the money. It’s part of the Royal Caribbean Group, which also operates Royal Caribbean International, which took home a “Silver Award” in this category.

Wi-Fi, tips and drinks — like cocktails, wine and specialty coffees — are included in most Celebrity cruise bookings, however the cheapest rates can be purchased without them. Right now, a four-day cruise from Miami to the Bahamas is around $440 per person, including taxes, for an inside state room.

Also on the list: Princess Cruises (No. 6), Costa Cruises (No. 7) and MSC Cruises (No. 8).

Best cruise lines for luxury

Smaller cruise lines — with ships that fit hundreds rather than thousands of guests — dominated U.S. News’ luxury rankings list.

  1. Viking Ocean Cruises — “Gold Award”
  2. Seabourn Cruise Line — “Silver Award”
  3. Regent Seven Seas Cruises — “Silver Award”
  4. Azamara
  5. Crystal Cruises

The Viking Sea cruise ship arrives at Bodrum Cruise Port in Mugla, Turkey on March 13, 2021.

Ali Balli | Anadolu Agency | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

Viking, a cruise line based in Basel, Switzerland, is no stranger to accolades. It topped U.S. News’ luxury list last year too — despite Chairman Torstein Hagen indicating he isn’t a fan of the word.

“I have outlawed the use of the word ‘luxury’ … I think we are elegant, we are … understated and hopefully timeless,” he said at a naming celebration for seven new river boats in March 2019, according to cruising website QuirkyCruises.com.

Also on the list: Silversea Cruises (No. 6) and Oceania Cruises (No. 7).

Best cruise lines for couples

Awards for the best cruises for those traveling in twos are:  

  1. Viking Ocean Cruises — “Gold Award”
  2. Seabourn Cruise Line — “Silver Award”
  3. Azamara — “Silver Award”
  4. Crystal Cruises
  5. Regent Seven Seas Cruises

Viking dominates this category due to its “adult-focused environment and luxurious and romantic amenities, such as fireplaces in each ship’s common area and private verandas in every stateroom,” according to a U.S. News & World Report’s press release.  

To qualify for this category, at least 62% of a cruise line’s online traveler reviews must be made by couples.

Most luxury cruise lines allow kids, though they often don’t cater to them the way the larger lines do. Viking, however, doesn’t allow children at all. 

The company previously welcomed kids aged 12 and older to cruise, but as of 2018, all guests must be 18 or older to board.

Also on the list: Celebrity Cruises (No. 6), Oceania Cruises (No. 7), Silversea Cruises (No. 8), Cunard Line (No. 9) and Holland America Line (No. 10).

Best cruise lines for families

The top-ranking cruises for families for 2022 are:

  1. Disney Cruise Line — “Gold Award”
  2. Royal Caribbean International — “Silver Award”
  3. Carnival Cruise Line — “Silver Award”
  4. Norwegian Cruise Line
  5. MSC Cruises

Disney dominates the family cruise category, as it has every year since U.S. News started ranking cruises in 2013.  

Disney cruises have translucent water slides, pirate-themed deck parties and live performances of classic Disney movies, but also adult-only pools, spas and bars for parents.

Marjie Lambert | Miami Herald | Tribune News Service | Getty Images

The company has five ships: Magic, Wonder, Dream, Fantasy and its latest, Disney Wish, which is scheduled to launch in summer 2022. The ship is also set to introduce Disney’s first “attraction at sea” — 760 feet of water slide tubes with Mickey Mouse-themed music, lighting and special effects.

Also on the list: Costa Cruises (No. 6).

Best cruise lines in the Caribbean

  1. Disney Cruise Line — “Gold Award”
  2. Celebrity Cruises — “Silver Award”
  3. Seabourn Cruise Line — “Silver Award”
  4. Royal Caribbean International
  5. Crystal Cruises

It’s a clean sweep for Disney in this category too. Disney has been named the top cruise line in the Caribbean for the past eight years, according to U.S. News & World Report.

The Disney Magic cruise ship sails past Manhattan with the Empire State Building in the background.

Gary Hershorn | Corbis News | Getty Images

Living up to its name, the Miami-based Celebrity Cruises partners with well-known names in the arts and entertainment industry. It’s newest ship, Celebrity Beyond, has Gwyneth Paltrow as its “wellbeing advisor” and a restaurant created by Michelin-starred chef Daniel Boulud, according to its website.  

Also on this list: Regent Seven Seas Cruises (No. 6), Holland America Line (No. 7), Carnival Cruise Line (No. 8), Norwegian Cruise Line (No. 9), Oceania Cruises (No. 10), Princess Cruises (No. 11) and MSC Cruises (No. 12).

Best cruise lines in the Mediterranean

  1. Viking Ocean Cruises — “Gold Award”
  2. Seabourn Cruise Line — “Silver Award”
  3. Azamara — “Silver Award”
  4. Regent Seven Seas Cruises
  5. Celebrity Cruises

With another win, Viking tops three of U.S. News’ six categories, this time for its presence in the Mediterranean. In every instance, it is followed by Seattle-based Seabourn Cruise Line, Carnival Corporation’s ultra-luxury brand.

The spa in the luxury Seabourn Sojourn cruise ship.

Peter Macdiarmid | Getty Images News | Getty Images

Seabourn has five ships, which hold between 450-600 passengers and cruise to more than 400 destinations. As part of a multi-year agreement, the cruise line has contributed more than $1.5 million to support UNESCO, which grants its guests “unique access” to more than 170 World Heritage Sites, according to its website.   

Also on the list: Oceania Cruises (No. 6), Crystal Cruises (No. 7), Costa Cruises (No. 8), MSC Cruises (No. 9), Silversea Cruises (No. 10), Holland America Line (No. 11), Norwegian Cruise Line (No. 12), Princess Cruises (No. 12), Royal Caribbean International (No. 13) and Cunard Line (No. 14).

Cruising on the comeback?  

Though mass Covid-19 outbreaks early in the pandemic exposed health concerns surrounding cruising, a new survey indicates travelers may not abandon ship travel after all.  

Before the pandemic, 2% of prior cruisers said they wouldn’t cruise again, while as of August 2021, 4% said the same, according to an ongoing survey conducted by U.S. News & Report.

The pandemic hasn’t scared off non-cruisers either. Pre-pandemic, 62% of people who had never cruised indicated they wanted to try it. Now, 61% of people say the same.

Sentiments may be softening with time too. Before the pandemic, about 10% of people that had never cruised said they “never” would. According to the survey, this number rose to 17% in June 2021, but fell to 14% by August.

Click here to read the full report from U.S. News & World Report.

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World

Drew Binsky got paid to travel the world

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It took 1,458 flights and 1,117 buses and trains for Drew Binsky to reach his goal of traveling to every country in the world.

And he did it in less than a decade.

CNBC spoke with Binsky nine hours after he touched down in his last country — Saudi Arabia — about how he financed his 10-year travel spree.

Visiting every country in the world

According to your tally, you’ve been to 197 countries. How do you define “country?”

You’re hitting me with a hard one right away. It’s very political. The U.N. has 193 recognized sovereign states. I add four to that — Kosovo, Palestine, Taiwan and Vatican. Some of these are observer states of the U.N., and they are also the four most recognized of all the unrecognized “countries.” I think I’m like the 250th person to visit every country.

Is there a name for this group?

The “every country” club. It’s a small community, and I’m friends with maybe 20 of them. There’s a lot of drama. It’s like: “You actually haven’t been to North Korea because you only went to the border of South Korea.” I don’t get involved in all that.

You’re planning to stay in Saudi Arabia for two weeks. What’s the average amount of time you spent in each country?

The average is about a week. There are about 10 countries that I spent more than three months in, and I spent more than six months in Vietnam, Philippines, Thailand, South Korea and Czech Republic.

But some of them — Luxembourg, Monaco, Liechtenstein, and there’s a couple of countries in the middle of South Africa — you can go in and do everything you want to do in 24 hours. In the future, I plan to stay a minimum of two weeks because you can really soak it in.

How do you organize your visits?

It might be shocking to hear this, but my plan is to have no plan. I really like to be spontaneous. The best moments in life happen when you step out of your comfort zone and you don’t know what’s going to happen next.

I have a unique way of traveling in that I rely on my social media followers and local friends. They pick me up, and they show me their country. Most of the time I arrive in a country I don’t know where I’m sleeping that night.

Binsky said getting visas to places such as South Sudan (here) is the hardest part of travel planning.

Courtesy of Drew Binsky

So planning isn’t too hard?

Getting visas is the single biggest challenge. I’m very fortunate to have visited 160 countries without needing a visa. But the 40 visas that I needed — Iran, Turkmenistan, North Korea, South Sudan, Venezuela, Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria — they’re hard for political reasons.

Which countries did you save for the end?

I handpicked my last six countries because I’m shooting a docuseries, and I wanted the last six to be different. So we did Ghana, Ecuador, Venezuela, Palau, Jamaica and Saudi Arabia.

Traveling during the pandemic

How did the pandemic affect your plans?

I had six countries left in March 2020, which I planned to visit in a twelve-week span. Here we are 18 months later, and I finally finished.

I’ve had about 80 Q-tips shoved up my nose over the last 18 months. But I did manage to visit 20 countries: Mexico because they were the only country open in June 2020, then Egypt, Afghanistan — pre-Taliban takeover — Iraq, Dubai, Turkey, Tanzania and Dominican Republic. It’s been a battle but one that’s been fun to fight.

Binsky works while he travels, like here in Myanmar.

Courtesy of Drew Binsky

To confirm, you visited 20 countries during the pandemic?

Yes, which is crazy — fourteen were revisits, plus my final six countries.

Did you get Covid along the way?

I did. I haven’t publicly talked about it. I picked it up in Iraq, and then in Afghanistan I realized that I couldn’t taste or smell. I tested negative in Iraq, but they barely put the Q-tip in my nose — it was like a fake test. I wasn’t super sick, but I stayed in my hotel for seven nights, which was pretty miserable. But I didn’t want to infect anyone.

Earning money on the road

What are your major sources of income?

I started out teaching English in Korea. I made $2,000 a month, and housing was free. I was 22 years old, so it was awesome at the time.

Then I got a head start on Snapchat in 2015, and I got sponsored by a bunch of brands. I got paid $5,000 to go the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro to make Snapchat stories. For a whole year I was making a living off Snapchat. I made $30,000, which is a lot when you’re a budget backpacker.

My first 300 videos, I didn’t make a penny.

Drew Binsky

Travel blogger

I was also using my travel blog to reduce travel costs by working with hostels and budget airlines. Then I started making videos in 2017. My first 300 videos, I didn’t make a penny. It was pretty slow.

While I was living in Bangkok, I made a video about this guy who makes these really good burgers. You pay whatever you want — there’s no price. That video got like 7 million views. I’ll never forget when I looked at the earnings, and it said $10,000. I was like ‘Holy crap!’ It was five hours of work.

Well, it turned out that was the most I made from any video in the next 18 months. Still, it was a sign that you can make a lot of money through ads on Facebook.

A large part of Binsky’s travel style relies on meeting locals, he said.

Courtesy of Drew Binsky

Then I started posting on YouTube, which now makes between $20,000-40,000 a month. On a really good month, it could be more. Facebook is similar.  

This sounds like a lot of money, and it is a lot of money. But now I have a team of about 23 people, so I’m paying a lot of salaries.

Do you have other sources of income?

That’s only ad revenue. I charge brands that I work with between $15,000 to $30,000 per video. Then there’s my merchandise, which is not really that profitable. It’s more for growing the community. I also sell travel hacking courses for $150 a pop. There’s a lot of different revenue streams.

Do you meticulously record your travel costs?

No, I don’t nickel and dime myself. It kind of ruins the fun. I’m still pretty frugal. I’m not going to spend money on first-class tickets unless I have points. I still eat street food, and I still sleep in modest hotels. Even if I make 10 times the amount that I make now, I don’t need to be flashy.

Is any of your travel comped?

I come out of pocket and pay for almost everything, except with tourism boards — they cover everything. Usually when I work with a hotel, I do a paid sponsorship. If a hotel offers me a really nice room for two nights, I’d rather just pay for it and not have to post about it.

The ups and downs of travel blogging

What’s one memory that you’ll never forget?

It’s probably spending 24 hours with the pygmy tribe in the Central African Republic. They are genetically the shortest human beings in the world. I had to fly into the capital of Bangui, take an eight-hour taxi ride into the middle of nowhere and walk through the forest for two hours.

We found a local guide on the way. They told me not only had they never seen a white person, but they had also never seen a non-pygmy. They had never left their tribe to go out into the city.

Binsky said he started recording his travels after receiving a video camera as a gift several years ago.

Courtesy of Drew Binsky

How about a memory you’d love to forget?

Food poisoning. Probably the worst I’ve had is in Yemen. I’ve had for poisoning about 30 times. I got really sick in Iran and India too. But I’m also eating stuff that I know is risky. At the end of the day, you just lose 10 pounds and move on.

One of Binsky’s worst bouts of food poisoning happened in Yemen, he said.

Courtesy of Drew Binsky

What’s next?

We’re making a really cool docuseries about visiting every country. I’ve got a book coming and an NFT project, which I’m really excited about. I’m building meetups in different cities around the world. But I don’t want to lose the core of going out there and meeting people and inspiring people to travel.

Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

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Business

Where does the Orient Express go? Train has new European routes

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Before the dawn of private jets and business class flights, royalty and high society members traveled through Europe onboard luxury trains.

Now anyone can do it — if they are willing and able to spend £1,700 ($2,300) for a one-night trip.

That’s the starting rate to go from Florence to Paris aboard the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express, a historic luxury train operated by the LVMH-owned Belmond travel brand. Other routes cost more — much more.

The prices, however, don’t seem to deter rail enthusiasts. Many journeys sell every seat.

“2019 was a record year for Venice Simplon-Orient-Express that saw our revenue increase by 70% compared to those in 2015,” said Gary Franklin, vice president of Belmond’s trains and cruises.

When passenger journeys restarted in June, travelers again booked some routes solid.

“We are certainly seeing a revival of rail travel post-pandemic,” Franklin told CNBC. “With more and more travelers discovering … slow travel, we anticipate that this rise in demand and interest will continue.

The historic Orient Express service

The Venice Simplon-Orient-Express comprises 11 sleeping cars, three restaurant cars, one bar car and two staff cars, making it the longest passenger train in Europe, said Franklin.

But it’s not just an ordinary train. Each of the 17 carriages was once part of Europe’s iconic Orient Express, a train service that connected Paris to Istanbul beginning in 1883. The service later expanded to cities across Europe, reaching its “heyday” between World War I and World War II, said Franklin.

The oldest carriage on the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express dates to 1926.

Courtesy of Belmond

Jet travel sidelined the famous rail line. Eventually the carriages fell into disrepair, and services ceased.

In the 1970s, American James Sherwood, Belmond’s founder, bought several dilapidated carriages at an auction. By 1982, he had located — and restored to their former grandeur — enough original carriages to form the Venice Simplon-Orient Express that still operates today.

New routes across Europe

Because of the Covid pandemic, the VSOE, as it is known, missed its entire 2020 travel season, which runs from March to November.

Following an 18-month closure, the train relaunched in June with new routes to some of Europe’s most popular cities. In addition to London, Paris and Venice, the luxury train now goes to Amsterdam, Brussels, Geneva, Rome and Florence.

The new Amsterdam route is particularly popular, said Franklin, adding that schedules to the city are close to selling out for 2022.

The name “Simplon” is from the Simplon Tunnel, a railway tunnel opened in 1906 that goes through the Alps between Switzerland and Italy. Some Belmond routes still use the tunnel today.

Courtesy of Belmond

Belmond also added three new “grand suites” during the train’s closure. The suites, now six in total, fit two passengers and have bedrooms, lounge areas and private bathrooms made of marble and hand-blown Italian glass. Prices start at £5,300 ($7,200) per person for short journeys.

The train’s suites are popular due to growing demand for privacy and special-occasion travel, Franklin said.

Why people pay the price

The history, the mystique and the opulence all explain why the Venice Simplon-Orient Express makes many travelers’ wish lists.

So is the fact, Franklin said, that the vacation starts the moment the journey begins — a concept few would associate with commercial flying, especially in today’s climate of contentious air travel.

We only have 120 people on a train, where an equivalent train may have 2,000 people.

Gary Franklin

vice president, Belmond trains and cruises

Most trips only last one night. Others are longer, such as the popular five-night journey that retraces the historic route from Paris to Istanbul. The train travels this route once a year in August, and cabins usually sell out a year in advance, said Franklin.

Prices for the annual trip make one-night bookings seem like a steal.

Twin cabins for the run to Istanbul are £35,000 ($47,650) per journey, while grand suites sell for an eye-popping £110,000 ($150,000). All six suites are booked for the August 2022 trip.

British writer Agatha Christie immortalized the Paris to Istanbul route in her book “Murder on the Orient Express,” which she wrote after Carriage 3309 – which now houses the three new grand suites – got stuck in a snow drift in 1929, said Belmond’s Franklin.

Courtesy of Belmond

Franklin acknowledged that trips on the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express aren’t cheap, but neither is restoring and maintaining the carriages.

“The food and beverage onboard the train … it isn’t cheap; accessing the railway network isn’t cheap,” he said. “Also, we only have 120 people on a train, where an equivalent train may have 2,000 people.”

Multi-course meals and beverages, but not alcohol, are included in the rates, and menus change depending on the destinations and season.

Courtesy of Belmond

He likened the trips to “a private jet on wheels” and the carriages to “art pieces.”

“As you’re going through the countryside in northern France, you wake up in your bed with breakfast in bed. You pull up the blinds, you’ve got the Swiss Alps and the Swiss lakes outside your window,” he said “You’re having lunch, as you go across the lagoon to Venice.”

For that experience, “It’s fantastic value for money,” he said.

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World

How to get home if I test positive for Covid while traveling?

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When Ken McElroy decided to go to Belize after a business trip to Miami last June, he wasn’t worried about contracting Covid-19, he said.

The real estate investment company CEO was flying privately to both places — plus, he’s vaccinated.

“I was like, there’s no way I’ll get it,” he told CNBC.

His fiancee, Danille Underwood, wasn’t as confident, said McElroy.

After 10 days in Belize, the couple took Covid tests the day before their flight back to Arizona. Though he was feeling tired and she had a cough, both were surprised when their tests came back positive.   

“Within an hour, we were out of our room,” said McElroy. “Things got pretty real at that point.”

Assisted by people in hazmat suits, the couple was quarantined in another part of the hotel, he said.

“We weren’t sure what was going to happen … if they were going to separate us or put us in a hospital,” said McElroy. “I didn’t know if I was going to need a respirator.”  

None of that happened. Within 72 hours, the couple was on a Learjet back to Arizona.

‘Then delta showed up’

Before they left, Underwood purchased memberships with Covac Global, a medical evacuation company launched by the crisis response firm HRI in the spring of 2020. It meant the couple didn’t pay a dime for their repatriation, said McElroy.  

Commercial airlines and private jets can’t fly travelers with Covid-19 home, but certified air ambulances staffed with medical teams can.

Covid was starting to be more in the rearview mirror, but then delta showed up.

Ross Thompson

CEO, Covac Global

While some companies evacuate travelers who require hospitalization, Covac Global retrieves travelers who test positive for Covid-19 and have one self-reported symptom. About 85% of evacuees are returned home, while the rest need hospital attention, said CEO Ross Thompson.

When CNBC first spoke with the company in March, it was performing about two to three medical evacuations every month. Now, that number has climbed to about 12 to 20.

“Unfortunately, business is booming,” said Thompson. “Covid was starting to be more in the rearview mirror, but then delta showed up — and it threw everybody for a loop.”

Covac Global memberships have increased 500% this year, with a 250% increase in the last month alone, he said.

So-called “breakthrough infections” caused by the highly contagious delta variant mean vaccinated people, too, can find themselves sick — or stuck — far from home. About 60% of current evacuees are vaccinated, said Thompson, because “they are the ones that feel most comfortable to travel now.”

Ken McElroy and Danille Underwood boarding a helicopter to fly to Belize City.

Courtesy of Ken McElroy

Many countries require negative tests to return home, which is detecting mild cases of Covid-19 in travelers who didn’t know they were infected.   

“We find that between 30% to 40% of members test positive toward the end of their trip,” said Thompson. “We also see it with the unvaccinated younger children of vaccinated travelers.”

Medjet, another medical evacuation company, is reporting a record-setting summer, announcing that sales of MedjetHorizon memberships — its highest tier of coverage — were at an all-time high in July. The company just posted its highest month-over-month net gains in memberships in more than a decade, it said.

Calls for assistance are above pre-pandemic levels, said Medjet CEO John Gobbels, though they aren’t all related to the pandemic.

“Some are for Covid, but the majority are still the same old things that have never gone away,” he said.  

‘Literally door to door’

After flying via helicopter to the mainland of Belize and transferring to a Learjet (“we didn’t have to go into the terminal”), McElroy and Underwood flew to Phoenix where a limo bus was waiting on the tarmac.

Service “was literally door to door,” said McElroy.

This isn’t about five-star service though, said Thompson. Certified air ambulances are required to get Covid-positive patients to either hospitals or in the case of Covac Global, their homes, he said.

Medical evacuation flights, like the one here that McElroy and Underwood used to fly home, are like a private jet and hospital emergency room in one, said Ross Thompson.

Courtesy of Ken McElroy

Otherwise, situations arise where nonmembers ask to be evacuated to the closest city in their country, so they can drive to their homes to save money, he said. Instead of driving, they may hop on a commercial flight, which Thompson said is “a big no-no.”

McElroy called his fiancee “the hero of the story,” since she had pushed for and eventually purchased their evacuation policies.

‘Astronomically expensive’

Other travelers aren’t as lucky.

CNBC spoke with a 43-year-old Singaporean man who attempted to move from India back to Singapore last April to start a new job. The journey — which can be a mere six-hour flight — turned into a six-week saga. The man requested anonymity for this report.

Singapore was limiting travelers from India, so the man and his family scheduled a two-week trip to Nepal, after which they could fly directly to Singapore. While there, the delta variant exploded in the region, and all flights from Nepal to Singapore were canceled.

Within days, the man, his wife, three kids and his 85-year-old mother all tested positive for Covid, he said. By that time, Nepal had imposed a strict lockdown — petrol stations and public transportation had closed, he said, and the family struggled to find food and medicine.

Due to lack of space, Covid-19 patients spill into the hallways of a hospital in Kathmandu, Nepal on May 11, 2021.

Prabin Ranabhat | SOPA Images | LightRocket | Getty Images

“We knew nobody,” he said. “We knew nothing of the medical system, and people are dying, left, right and center without beds and without oxygen.”

The family was evicted from their serviced apartment when management learned of their health conditions, he said. Weeks passed and the family fully recovered, but they were prevented from taking the once-weekly flight back to Delhi because they continued to test positive for Covid-19.

“The RT-PCR [test] basically looks for the DNA of the virus, it doesn’t distinguish between dead and live cells,” he said.

He looked into medical evacuations, but was told by a friend who was similarly stuck in the Philippines that such flights are “astronomically expensive.”

Eventually, the family tested negative and made it back to Delhi. In the 20 days that followed his recovery, the man told CNBC that he slept in 12 different locations. He is now in Singapore, but some of his family members remain in India.

Members vs. nonmembers

Medical evacuations are costly. Thompson said evacuations from Singapore to New York can cost upward of $300,000. Still, 70% of Covac Global’s evacuations are nonmembers who are paying out-of-pocket to be flown home from places like the Bahamas, Mexico, South Africa and Dubai.

Since memberships opened to all nationalities on July 15, the company is evacuating more people within Europe, especially from Spain to the United Kingdom.  

Comparing Covid evacuation memberships

Medjet Assist Global Rescue Covac Global
Trigger Hospitalized 150+ miles from home Hospitalized more than 100 miles from home Positive PCR test + 1 symptom
Returned Hospital of choice Hospital of choice Home or hospital
Covers other medical issues Yes Yes Optional add-on
Availability U.S., Mexico and Canada residents All nationalities All nationalities
Cruise coverage Yes Yes No
Starting rates $99 $119 $675
Source: Medjet, Global Rescue and Covac Global

So far, Thompson said, no foreign government has turned down his company’s request to evacuate a Covid-positive traveler from its territory. They are usually happy to let them leave, he said.

“They don’t want a news story of some foreigner dying of delta in their hospitals,” he said, nor do they “want to lose one of their beds to a foreigner.”

The only time trouble may arise is when a hospital has already started treatment. “That’s when governments really start to be a little weird about it,” he said.

The cruise conundrum

Memberships with companies such as Medjet and Global Rescue cover cruise passengers, but Covac Global does not.

“Cruises are doing really well with their protocols and policies,” said Thompson. “But the problem is … every time, whether it’s reported or not, there are people that are sick.”

Covac Global has evacuated Covid-positive travelers who aren’t members from cruises, though these cases aren’t making the news, he said.

Thompson said that service isn’t expensive for price-conscious cruisers.

“The cruise lines,” he said, “are just quietly paying for it out of pocket.”

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Business

Where to rent treehouses in U.S., Japan, Australia and Costa Rica

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Travelers looking for a vacation in the great outdoors are turning to a nostalgic source of comfort and solitude: treehouses.

But these aren’t the treehouses of their childhood. Like the travelers who are booking them, the treehouses have matured too.

Modern treehouses are more luxury homes than kid hangouts — with a price to match. Treehouses constructed by professionals can easily cost six figures to build.

“A fully appointed treehouse with kitchen, bathroom, heat and air conditioning … we’re building those around $200,000,” Pete Nelson, the star of Animal Planet’s TV show “Treehouse Masters,” told CNBC in 2014.

Treehouses that are built for people to live in now average around $240,000, according to HomeAdvisor, a website that connects homeowners with home services.

Since then, prices have risen along with demand, a situation further propelled by the global pandemic and a desire for offbeat, outdoor accommodations.

Grand entrances

Aside from a worn-out patch of grass in the backyard, old-school treehouses didn’t typically incorporate much of an entrance. Modern ones do, some with gated walkways, stone staircases and ramps built for wheelchairs and pets.

The Chez’ Tree Rest treehouse is near New York’s Finger Lakes’ region.

Anthony Costello | Bluenose Studios

One such treehouse is the Chez’ Tree Rest Treehouse in upstate New York, which is accessible via a 60-foot footbridge that begins at a heart-shaped gate. Another 30-foot-long cable bridge connects the treehouse to a separate relaxation deck.

Owner Tom Wallace discusses the treehouse’s construction in a video tour of the treehouse where he also provides tips for a comfortable stay.

Rates start at $285 per night.

New heights

Treehouses for children should be between six and 12-feet tall with railings that are at least 36 inches high, according to Tree Top Builders, a custom builder based in Exton, Pennsylvania. Those heights also assume a mulch or wood chips are placed below the treehouse to soften a potential fall.  

Treehouses built for big people aren’t constrained by these standards, as evidenced by the three-story Punta Jaguar jungle treehouse in Matapalo, Costa Rica.

The Punta Jaguar treehouse has three open-design elevated levels, plus a ground-level bungalow.

Courtesy of Punta Jaguar

What the house lacks in walls, it makes up in style. Sinks and water faucets are made of seashells, and a separate ground-level bungalow comes with colorful swivel windows and electric drawbridge-style dropdown decks. It has a caretaker and private path to the beach, according to the website. Guests are encouraged to be 7 years old and above.

Rates start at $255 per night.

Guests at Peru’s Inkaterra Reserva Amazonica treehouse sleep 70 feet above the rainforest floor.

Courtesy of Inkaterra Hotels

Thrill-seekers can sleep in the Amazon rainforest at Peru’s Inkaterra Reserva Amazonica ecolodge. The lodge’s sole treehouse is located more than 70 feet above the rainforest floor at the end of a series of seven suspended bridges.

Programs start from $492 for a two-night stay, plus an additional $660 to sleep in the treehouse.

Fabulous views

Childhood treehouses may have granted views of neighbors’ backyards, but nothing as spectacular as Australia’s Blue Mountains.

In a twist on childhood clubhouse rules, this treehouse in Australia’s Blue Mountains can accommodate two adults, but no kids or pets.

Jochen Spenser

A tongue-in-cheek sign on the Secret Treehouse’s door may say that no grown-ups are allowed, but in reality, it’s the kids who can’t come along. This treehouse is built on tall stilts at a high elevation and has a combination bridge and ladder entrance.

Rates start at 1,095 Australian dollars ($804) for a one-night stay.

Sophisticated decor

Sports pennants and sticker-adorned walls have been sidelined for plush interiors that resemble modern homes.

The Aerohouse at the Treeful Treehouse Sustainable Resort in Okinawa, Japan.

Courtesy of the Treeful Treehouse Sustainable Resort

This is evident at the Treeful Treehouse Sustainable Resort in Okinawa, Japan. All bookings include two treehouses: the earthy Spiral Treehouse which comes with hammocks and yoga mats, and the luxurious Aerohouse, which has the look and feel of a five-star hotel suite. Its muted, sophisticated décor comes with creature comforts such as an espresso machine and wine cellar, according to the website.

The treehouse resort has been open for less than a month. Guests can currently book two-night stays — no more, no less — and all travelers must be 10 years old and above.

The interior of Okinawa’s Aerohouse.

Courtesy of Treeful Treehouse Sustainable Resort

Rates are 100,000 Japanese yen ($905) per night for up to three people; a fourth person is an extra $225 per night. Bookings are currently 33% off the regular rates. 

Kitted out kitchens

While cooking and treehouses once rarely meshed, treehouses now come with full kitchens outfitted with Nespresso coffee machines and kitchen islands.

The contemporary kitchen in Trinity Treehouse, outside of Atlanta, has a wine rack and bar area.

Courtesy of Dickersonarts.com

The two-bedroom Trinity Treehouse near Atlanta has a kitchen that travelers may envy for their homes, let alone their yards. Three sizable windows enlarge the space, which includes an L-shaped countertop, wine rack and breakfast counter for coffee or quick meals. A decorative backsplash sits above the kitchen cabinets, which were made in the host’s woodworking shop, according to the website listing.

Trinity Treehouse is next to the hiking and bike trails of Georgia’s 2,500-acre Davidson-Arabia Mountain Nature Preserve. 

Rates start at $289 per night.

Features to stoke the imagination

Luxury treehouses needn’t be too serious — that’s what log cabins are for. What distinguishes a treehouse from an elevated house in the woods can be the latter’s dedication to whimsy and childlike fun.

To enter one tropical treehouse on Hawaii’s Big Island, guests climb a ladder to a trapdoor that opens to the second story. Bags and suitcases take a different route; they’re hoisted up via a pulley system.

Though it doesn’t allow kids, the Wanderlust Treehouse incorporates imaginative features into its design.

Levi Kelly

The Wanderlust Treehouse in Crane Hill, Alabama, doesn’t allow kids, but that didn’t stop its owner from installing a playground-style suspension bridge to connect two parts of the house. The treehouse, which has received perfect scores in all of its 85 Airbnb reviews, has outdoor side-by-side showers, a swinging bed and a fire pit.

Rates start at $350 per night.

Want to build your own modern treehouse?

Item Cost
Vacation rental treehouse From $30,000
Bathroom $4,500
Zipline $2,200
Spiral staircase $5,900
Suspended bridge $2,900
Trapdoor $500
Classic slide $1,200
Fireman’s pole $575
Source: Treehouse Experts

Gourmet food

Guest who stay at the Loire Valley Lodges have daily breakfast baskets delivered to their doors. They also have access to an onsite restaurant and room service.

Loire Valley Lodges leans heavily upon local produce and grows herbs and fruit on-site, according to its website.

Courtesy of Loire Valley Lodges

The French treehouse hotel opened in July 2020, with the interiors of each of its 18 structures designed by a different contemporary artist.

Rates start at 395 euros ($428) per night.

*Rates are accurate as of publication date.

 

 

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Business

What it’s like to live on a big boat

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Even with boat sales and charters booming, yachting remains an enigma for most people.

CNBC spoke with several yacht owners who agreed to answer all questions — with no topics off limits — about the yachting lifestyle and perhaps more importantly, how much it costs.   

The owners

Nim and Fabiola Hirschhorn are in the U.S. Virgin Islands aboard Luna, their 45-foot, 2019 Lagoon 450S catamaran. The couple operates all-inclusive crewed charters in the Caribbean.

Sophie Darsy and Ryan Ellison are in the Azores on Polar Seal, a 2007 Beneteau Oceanis 40 outfitted for ocean sailing. Several years ago, the couple learned to sail, quit their corporate jobs and now chronicle their life at sea.

How much does a decent yacht cost?

N. Hirschhorn: It depends on a few basic parameters. Is the boat secondhand or new, what year was it built, is it a monohull or catamaran, is it an ex-charter yacht or has it always been privately owned … do you want to simply coastal cruise or do you want to cross oceans?

The Hirschhorns operate charters in the Caribbean, with four-night trips for two guests starting around $12,000.

Courtesy of Sail Luna

Luna was purchased new for $650,000; however, we know plenty of people who live on boats that were purchased for $30,000-$80,000.

On average, you can purchase a seaworthy mid-range 45-foot monohull that can sail around the world for $100,000 to $150,000 and a catamaran of the same size for around $250,000 to $500,000. Of course, there are boats at both ends of the spectrum and at every price point in between.

A rough guide to entry-level boat purchases

Cost Size Year built What to know
$5,000-$20,000 20-30 feet 1960s to 1980s Will likely need maintenance that could easily cost as much as the boat
$30,000-$60,000 30-40 feet 1970s to 1980s Unlikely boat will be ready for cruising; budget at least 25% of the boat’s value for post-purchase repairs and upgrades
$70,000-$110,000 40-50 feet 1990s to 2000s An entry-level modern boat or an older larger boat; here cost is a balance of age, size and equipment
Source: Sophie Darsy

Are there other costs to know about?

Darsy: The purchase price is only a portion of the budget you need to acquire a yacht. Once we took delivery of our boat, costs came faster than we knew! 

American Ryan Ellison and Frenchwoman Sophie Darsy, who are now both Swedish nationals, bought their boat for $90,000 in 2016.

Courtesy of Ryan and Sophie Sailing

In the first three years that we owned Polar Seal, we spent at least $40,000 to equip her for cruising and ocean sailing, including:

  • A cockpit enclosure to keep the cockpit dry: $7,000 
  • New sails: $8,000 
  • A dinghy and an electric outboard [engine for the dinghy]: $5,000
  • A water maker to make freshwater from seawater: $2,000
  • Lithium batteries and parts to power appliances: $6,000
  • A new autopilot: $2,000
  • A life raft: $2,500
  • Safety and communication equipment: $3,000

If you want to buy a boat, keep at least 30% of your budget for maintenance, repairs and upgrades.

We also have annual costs for boat insurance (between $1,000 and $4,000, depending on location) and travel and health-care insurance when we are out of Europe ($1,500) as well as plane tickets to visit our families (around $2,000 per year).

How much do you need to make — or save — to live on a yacht for a few years?

N. Hirschhorn: Think about what it costs to live on land — what kind of lifestyle do you live? Do you like to eat out at fancy restaurants and buy nice things? Chances are you will do the same when living on a boat, which means that your lifestyle will often cost the same. Will you anchor — which is free — or stay in marinas? Will you be on a sabbatical living off savings or do you work along the way? Are you a family or a couple?

Nim Hirschhorn said he pays $90-$300 per night to dock his boat in marinas in the Caribbean.

Courtesy of Sail Luna

We have friends who lived aboard a 1984 47-foot monohull for two years with three kids. The boat cost $90,000 and they lived off $50,000 a year cruising the Caribbean and anchoring the entire time.

Personally, we live on about $100,000 a year. I know couples living on $1,000 a month, and families living on $3,000-$6,000 a month. It’s not unusual in our community to hear that living on a boat and traveling the world costs less than living on land.

How much does location affect costs?  

Darsy: In 2019, we spent the winter at a marina in Spain where we could benefit from an advantageous rate ($300 a month). But food was very inexpensive ($300 a month). We took advantage of our time at the dock to undertake some major boat projects and our maintenance budget went way up — $15,000 of upgrades over six months.

But we rented a car at virtually no cost thanks to a local deal, and our “fun activities” budget went almost down to zero, as we enjoyed inexpensive restaurants and bars with friends all over southern Spain.

Yacht owners have budgets too, said Sophie Darsy who along with Ryan Ellison, spend about $3,500 a month for boat maintenance, data plans, groceries, the occasional marina stay and activities such as diving, windsurfing and car rentals.

Courtesy of Ryan and Sophie Sailing

In comparison, when we made a three-week detour to Bermuda, groceries and restaurants were very expensive. But, we spent those weeks on anchor and did not have to pay for a marina. We spent nothing on maintenance or repair. We spent the remaining weeks of that month at sea, and since we spent no money during those two weeks, we made our budget.

How has the pandemic affected yachting?  

N. Hirschhorn: It is more complicated … some countries have their seaports closed for visiting yachts, and some ask for entry protocol that might include preapproval and quarantine for up to two weeks on board.

Some countries do not accept all nationalities and travelers from specific origins, which makes it difficult when we may have three to four nationalities on board. Other countries are welcoming only vaccinated travelers.

Covid test requirements mean “we can no longer island hop,” said Nim, adding that frequent rule changes and test result delays have made yachting logistically complicated.

Courtesy of Sail Luna

Darsy: The pandemic has made sailing between countries a little more difficult, but while our options were extremely limited in 2020, we have had much better luck in 2021.

Like the housing market, the boat market exploded in 2020 and 2021. It seems like everyone and their neighbor wants to buy a yacht … the prices have also increased in a way never seen before. Our boat has increased in value to the point that if we sold it today, we would not lose any of the capital we put in it.

Is having young children compatible with living full time on a yacht? 

F. Hirschhorn: There is no reason why children of all ages can’t live on a yacht. There are many families living on boats on the water and they are usually very confident, intelligent and worldly kids who thrive in this lifestyle. In the Caribbean especially, there are hundreds of “kid boats” [boats with families living on them].

Is there Wi-Fi out at sea? 

N. Hirschhorn: Yes, we have a few layers of service. We have cellular data service that can pick up a signal up to 20 nautical miles offshore. Since we usually sail between the Caribbean islands, we are usually always connected. We also have two other satellite-based systems with limited Wi-Fi, but coverage all over the globe.

Darsy: Nope! We only have Wi-Fi at port or on anchor, when we have a data plan for the country that we are currently sailing in. Out on the open sea, we have satellite internet that enables us to download weather forecasts and basic emails, but definitely not watch Netflix or listen to Spotify! 

Is seasickness common?

Darsy: A lot of sailors suffer from seasickness, and I am particularly prone to it. The trick is to prevent it. Once the nausea settles, you can’t get rid of it. 

We know many boat owners who are not wealthy at all. It’s just a different lifestyle…

Nim Hirschhorn

Captain of Sail Luna

My top tips are:

  • Take medication the night before departure and get a good night of sleep.
  • Drink a lot of water and eat a lot more than you normally would; low blood sugar accelerates seasickness.
  • Keep yourself warm; invest in sailing clothes and gear that will protect you from the elements, as being cold will send you to a nauseous hell in no time.

Is skinny-dipping allowed?  

N. Hirschhorn: No, we need to abide by local laws and customs; however, in the Mediterranean nudity is far more common.

Darsy: It isn’t rare for us to be alone on anchor, off a desert island. No one is watching, so … 

What is the most common question you’re asked?

N. Hirschhorn: Many ask us if we have a home on land. We love seeing the surprise on their faces when we explain that Luna is our home.

European countries are “easy” to travel between, but the Caribbean can have “archaic” and costly processes for yachts, said Darsy.

Courtesy of Ryan and Sophie Sailing

Darsy: All my friends have asked me if I am ever scared of encountering a storm or big seas that would capsize our boat, and honestly before we left, I was! 

But now I know we always leave port when we have a good weather window. In three years, 13,000 nautical miles and two ocean crossings, we’ve only sailed through gale-force winds once, and we did perfectly well.

What is the biggest misconception people have about the yachting lifestyle? 

N. Hirschhorn: Some people think that a yacht owner is a millionaire. We know many boat owners who are not wealthy at all. It’s just a different lifestyle that comes with many bonuses, but also many sacrifices.

Darsy: People believe that we are very rich, that we come from wealthy families or that we make a lot of money. None of this is true. We saved a lot of money, made some sacrifices, and continue to do so … and we stay on budget. 

When we were employed full-time, Ryan and I brought home comfortable salaries, and we lived the “two income, no kids” dream. We now make less than half of what we earned then and live with half our old budget … but our lives are a lot richer.

Editor’s Note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

 

 

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