Meet the couple who have spent $150k on a 'gap year' nine-month cruise around the world.
Mike Jacobs, 56, and wife Nancy, 59, set off on their epic cruise - calling at 160 ports in 65 countries - in December 2023.
The couple decided they would live life to the fullest after their children, Tim Jacobs, 26, Emily Smoker, 28, and Katie Murphy, 30, moved out.
So far, the couple have visited the Chichen Itza Mayan Ruins, Barbados, Grenada and Rio de Janeiro.
The couple describe their ocean-going life on the cruise ship as "pleasant" - because neither of them have to cook or clean.
Mike Jacobs, 56, and wife Nancy, 59, set off on their epic cruise - calling at 160 ports in 65 countries - in December 2023.
The couple decided they would live life to the fullest after their children, Tim Jacobs, 26, Emily Smoker, 28, and Katie Murphy, 30, moved out.
So far, the couple have visited the Chichen Itza Mayan Ruins, Barbados, Grenada and Rio de Janeiro.
The couple describe their ocean-going life on the cruise ship as "pleasant" - because neither of them have to cook or clean.
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FunTranscript
00:00 So we're pulling into Rio de Janeiro.
00:04 That is Sugarloaf.
00:07 Here is Christ the Redeemer.
00:10 It's a cloudy day.
00:13 It's about 74 degrees.
00:16 Woo!
00:17 It's like starting to get steady.
00:20 I'm Mike and this is Nancy.
00:22 I'm 56.
00:24 And I'm 59.
00:25 We're married.
00:26 We're empty nesters.
00:27 In kind of the second phase of life, our children are grown and out of the house.
00:33 And we're on a nine month world cruise with Royal Caribbean.
00:37 We're going to see 164 different ports, 64 countries, over 274 days.
00:44 And we're taking the adventure of a lifetime.
00:46 Yes.
00:47 Life is short and we love to travel.
00:50 So this cruise was visiting many of the destinations that we've always wanted to see.
00:55 And we call it the sampler platter because we're getting a little taste of so many different countries.
01:02 And it's going to give us the opportunity to decide which ones we want to go back to.
01:07 I would say our favorites so far have been Curacao, Grenada, Iguazu Falls in Argentina, certainly.
01:17 And probably other parts of Argentina such as Puerto Madryn.
01:25 Yeah, have been wonderful.
01:27 I am really looking forward to the Asian countries.
01:30 I think it's going to be so...
01:32 I've never been there.
01:33 And I think it'll be so different from the life that I experienced in the United States.
01:39 So I'm really looking forward to seeing all of that and getting kind of immersed a little bit in their culture.
01:45 Right. And for me, it's probably Australia.
01:48 It's about as far away from the U.S. as you can get.
01:50 I'm an avid scuba diver.
01:52 And so I look forward to diving the Great Barrier Reef and climbing the Sydney Bridge.
01:57 So we have our health.
01:59 We love being active, hiking, doing all those things.
02:02 And we know that's not going to last forever.
02:04 And, you know, waiting and waiting until later is just really not an option.
02:11 We want to go and experience these things when we can truly and deeply enjoy them and be immersed in them.
02:18 So, yeah, that's why it's so important to us right now.
02:20 You know, we're in this perfect spot where our children have left the nest.
02:24 The grandchildren are just barely coming.
02:27 They're very young.
02:28 We have our health.
02:29 And we have our health and our families supportive.
02:32 So there is really no better time.
02:35 (upbeat music)
02:38 [BLANK_AUDIO]