A couple who were “tired of asking for permission to go on vacation” quit their high-paying corporate jobs to move house, and are now taking their children on a $70,000, five-month cruise around the world.
Tiffany, 38, and Mark Baker, 40, left their finance roles in January 2019 and thereafter committed to “living life their way.”
They then began making a living flipping houses, and now the couple owns 35 different properties, from houses to commercial buildings, which they rent out.
They use the money they earn from their real estate projects to travel the world with their daughters: Giuletta, nine; Penelope, seven; and Delia, six.
Most recently, the family is preparing to embark on the adventure of a lifetime: an around-the-world cruise that will visit 21 countries.
Tiffany, 38, and her husband, Mark Baker, 40, left their jobs in corporate finance in 2019 and then set out to build a portfolio of rental properties to finance global travel.
From rental properties, Mark estimates the duo makes approximately $20,000 per month.
Mark recently explained: ‘We’ve probably refurbished 50 houses in the last five years.
‘Reverting those houses has allowed us to start renting properties. We have about 35 properties and they generate $20,000 a month.’
For their latest trip funded by rental income, the parents plan to take the gang on a cruise around the world, stopping at 50 ports in 21 countries, including Australia, Africa, Spain and Singapore.
The couple will homeschool their children while working remotely from the boat.
The trip will begin in December, when the family is scheduled to fly from their home in Terre Haute, Indiana, to Prague, Czech Republic.
There they will visit the famous Prague Christmas markets and then fly to Marseille, France, from where the cruise will depart.
Tiffany and Mark paid $70,000 for two rooms on the cruise.
That cost covers onboard activities, food and drinks.
While the family travels, the couple keeps their children up to date with their education through homeschooling.
They are now preparing to take a five-month cruise around the world and their daughters are “super excited” about the endeavor.
With that, they have also given themselves an expense allowance of $10,000.
“We work with 12-month goals…we think, ‘One of these days we’ll take our kids on a cruise,'” Mark said of their travel goals as a family.
‘This world cruise was one of our goals.
‘Tiffany planted the seed while we were coming back from our vacation in New Orleans, Louisiana, and said, “Why don’t we take the cruise now?”
“We looked into it and it worked.”
Of the decision to leave her full-time jobs in 2019, Tiffany said, “The reason we did it was because we didn’t have a work-life balance.”
“It didn’t sit well with us that we had to ask permission to have a day off.
“When we left our jobs it was more to design our lives and live them unapologetically.”
“With our daughters in school, we realized that schools now dictated when we could go on vacation… We realized the same thing as when we left our jobs,” Tiffany continued about her daughters’ school schedules.
His three daughters were born in different countries: Italy, the United States and Japan.
Of the brief period they will have in Europe before the cruise departs, Tiffany said: “We love Europe, we lived there for four years – there’s something special about it.”
He continued about the cruise itinerary: “We’ve visited Bali and Indonesia before and had a special trip there, so we’re excited to get back there and visit our friends.”
Mark added: “We’ve never been to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – it’s going to be a great place.”
“Australia has always been on our list and the ships’ itinerary travels around the continent there.”
Tiffany and Mark said their daughters were “super excited” about the cruise, but admitted that homeschooling them could be a challenge.
‘The children are very excited. “They were all born in different countries: Italy, the United States and Japan,” Tiffany shared.
‘Our nine-year-old daughter has her fifth passport. In my case, I’m looking forward to seeing if it works, seeing if I can homeschool our daughters from anywhere on the planet.’
Mark added: ‘It’s about taking the opportunity to see if we can do it and make it work.
“The worst case scenario is that this doesn’t work: a normal school will be waiting for them.”