As many struggle to ascend the housing ladder, one creative person has uniquely tackled the issue by buying an entire cruise ship.
With living costs escalating, many are exploring unusual strategies to cut down expenses.
For some, residing on a cruise ship has become an attractively economical choice compared to conventional land housing.
Indeed, one man who lives on a cruise ship for 300 days each year asserts that it's cheaper than maintaining a rented apartment.
Chris Willson took the idea even further by opting to actually own a cruise ship.
He came across an ad on Craigslist for a decommissioned ship located in the California Delta and decided to visit it.
Upon arrival, Willson saw that the 2,496-ton vessel was in disrepair and contemplated the enormity of the needed renovations.
However, the more he saw of the ship, the more convinced he became. He was especially taken by the ship's five sub-surface levels, which he found to have 'the most spectacular layouts of just about any ship I've seen.'
Fueled by curiosity about its past, Willson researched the ship and learned it was constructed in 1955 at the Blohm and Voss shipyard in Hamburg, Germany.
Auto DraftNamed the Wappen von Hamburg, this ship was the first major passenger liner built in Germany post-World War II.
After giving it much thought, Willson decided to proceed with the purchase. In 2008, he managed to negotiate a favorable deal with the owner and acquired the 293-foot cruise ship.
The vessel featured three decks, 85 cabins with en-suite bathrooms, a dining room and salon, and an outdoor swimming pool, all purchased for $1.2 million.
Once he bought the ship, Willson moved it to the river city of Rio Vista in California, where he began renting out space and embarked on an extensive renovation of the former Wappen von Hamburg, now called Aurora.
In an interview with CNN Travel, Willson shared:
Auto Draft"I figured it was going to be a long project. The scale of it was massive. It's almost the same as redoing 15 houses all by yourself."
Willson and his partner Jin Li dedicated themselves to the renovation by moving onto the Aurora and turning it into their home.
By 2022, Willson estimated his investment in refurbishing the ship had reached around $1 million.
He jokingly told Insider, "Once you finish one end of the ship, it's time to start over at the other end," underlining the continuous effort required in such a massive renovation project.
"Even a brand new ship requires maintenance right off the bat," he added, acknowledging the continuous effort needed to maintain such a massive vessel.
