The site is nice and "clean". They have some revenue generating items like books they sell through Amazon. Site says copyright 2003-2014. I can't believe they have been living it up for 11 years (and I've been reading them off and on for almost 10). Do you remember how they made their nest egg? I think the guy was a commodities floor trader in Chicago? Must have made it big and then called it quits?
So...you have been reading them for 10 years of the 11 years they have been blogging and expect "us" to answer this question? I can't tell if this question is sarcastic or not, but if not there is "the google"
http://www.sailfarlivefree.com/2012/12/what-does-it-cost-to-go-cruising.html
So they were the most expensive on the list which still seems pretty reasonable for what they got in return.
http://www.bumfuzzle.com/Pages/Main%20Pages/Cost.php
Sooo, you just provided the answer to a question I didn't ask. Thanks for the answer, interesting refresher in their expenses.
I was asking how the bumfuzzle folks made their fortunes at a relatively young age. Unlike your response (which was interesting nonetheless), the poster after you (Cinder) actually answered my question by quoting some comments from the bumfuzzle guy. Now I can see that they probably didn't consider buying a boat and sailing the world as retiring forever, and didn't have the funding for it at the time. They just wanted a break from the mundane life.
Knowing that they didn't have millions in the bank makes a lot of sense, since 10 years ago (when I was first developing my FIRE sense), I figured you would need a lot more than most could acquire by age 29 in order to fund a permanent cruise the world lifestyle. They probably had a few hundred thousand saved up and decided to pack it in and live life while they still had it. A slightly different take on things than the traditional MMM lifestyle. Something more like a mid career break. Or semi-retirement.
And lest you think I suck at comprehension, I haven't read bumfuzzle exhaustively for probably 7 years. I stopped in from time to time, but didn't read everything they wrote, so I figured I might have missed something about their finances or nest egg. And since Arebelspy reads them frequently, I figured he might know what's up.
The first time I saw the headline I thought it would be about "slow riding in a car through a town". Then I read it and saw it meant sailing. Then I promptly forgot, because when I read it this morning and clicked I thought it would be about traveling on cruise ships.
I was looking forward to a thread about traveling on cruise ships when I clicked the thread. Something our household enjoys every few years.
Umm, ok. Still a little confused. Did you think this forum was going to be about going on cruise ships? The whole thought of spending hundreds of dollars to be herded like cattle to see "the sights" seems a little un-mustachian. (And personally gives me the heebies)
Really not trying to pick on you and I get how cruise ships (not cruising) appeal to some people, but this thread was about how "cruising" (as applied to living on a boat, traveling as you want) can be a mustachian lifestyle.
Yes, I have read the thread and understood what it was about as soon as I read the first post. The title made me think it was about cruise ship vacations, since the perception (not necessarily the reality) of cruise ship travel conflicts with the MMM groupthink.
You obviously haven't been on the cruises I have been on. We spent $1400 all inclusive for our last week-long cruise. For a family of 4. All meals, lodging, and transportation included. We visited a few beautiful tropical islands and explored on foot quite a bit. 80% of the passengers were European, and our kids made good friends with other kids from other countries. I got to practice my Spanish a bit. We had many pleasant talks with some of the crew from southeast Asia that took a liking to our kids (who are part SE Asian). We enjoyed sitting on our private balcony looking out over the ocean. We took in a number of professionally produced shows. I attended a historical lecture on old sailing vessels. The food was amazing on the ship and I took good mental notes for later use in my kitchen at home.
I really doubt I could get my wife and 2 kids to 3-4 different islands in the Caribbean, and pay for lodging and fine dining for $1400 for a whole week. Plane tickets to one destination would have exceeded that cost. Sure, you can criticize the format of a cruise vacation, but the value stands on its own. The lines to embark/disembark were way shorter than a typical trip by plane. Getting in and out of the cruise terminal was simple. Entering/exiting foreign countries took about 2 minutes (we avoided the herds by waiting 20 minutes until they all got off the ship). Our cabin was the size of a European hotel room and comfortably accommodated the whole family. Other than the mild seasickness among some in the family and the lack of immediate access to hamburgers and french fries for one of my (OMG extremely picky but I still love her) kids, zero complaints.
I totally get that this is a completely different type of trip than cruising on a small self-piloted vessel. But given how much I wanted to spend on a vacation, and the fact that it was hard to take off more than a week from work, I haven't been disappointed in the value proposition so far.
