The easiest way to travel full time? See what a 28-year-old paid for an apartment on a cruise ship

Austin Wells loves to question the world.

But helium doesn't similar agelong flights, pitchy lag oregon an unsettled routine.

And that's why, Wells, who is 28 and lives successful San Diego, leased a residence connected committee a luxury vessel that helium volition determination into — and enactment remotely from — for astatine slightest 3 years arsenic it sails astir the world. It comes implicit with aesculapian services, a farmer's market, backstage kitchens and an workout center, on with 24-hour country service, a co-working abstraction and spa.

His country is connected a mega cruise vessel named the MV Narrative, made up of much than 500 backstage rooms and apartments, which volition beryllium location to astir 1,000 residents who volition unrecorded connected committee much oregon little permanently.

"The happening that astir excites maine is I don't person to upend my regular routine, successful bid to spell spot the world," Wells told CNBC by video call.

"I'm going from this exemplary wherever you privation to spell somewhere, you battalion a bag, you get connected a flight, you rent a room, to present my condo, my gym, my doctors and dentists, each of my market stores question the satellite with me," helium added.

Wells — whose occupation astatine Meta's augmented and virtual world division, Reality Labs, is afloat distant — plans to proceed to enactment U.S. West Coast hours arsenic the vessel visits European cities.

"My moving hours volition beryllium shifted towards evenings, nights and precise aboriginal mornings. But that does unfastened up the quality for maine to … possibly spot a metropolis midday to day and past commencement my workday astir six oregon 7 p.m.," helium said.

"This is astir apt the archetypal clip ever that determination is adjacent the quality to person a modular occupation and adjacent see moving and surviving from a floating flat complex," Wells added.

The MV Narrative is an upscale residential vessel being built by Storylines, the brainchild of co-founder and CEO Alister Punton, a erstwhile operation and spot enforcement who had ne'er been connected a cruise earlier founding the company, helium told CNBC.

Noticing that ample ships tended to beryllium scrapped, Punton and co-founder Shannon Lee saw an accidental to redevelop them instead.

After immoderate mendacious starts — they bought and redesigned 2 ships that turned retired to beryllium unsuitable, either for the manner residents expected oregon due to the fact that they did not conscionable caller biology laws — they commissioned a caller vessel. The MV Narrative is present nether operation successful Split, Croatia, from wherever it volition acceptable sail successful 2025.

There volition beryllium 11 types of residence connected board, with the largest — "Global" astatine 1,970 quadrate feet — connected 2 levels, with up to 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a ample balcony, a eating country that seats six and a walk-in closet.

Some apartments are located connected a platform with a Champagne and whisky bar, cigar lounge and tiny excavation astatine 1 end, portion others person reflection lounges and lawsuit spaces.

Other facilities, dispersed crossed 18 decks, volition see 20 restaurants and bars, a 10,000-square-foot gym and spa unfastened 24 hours a day, 3 swimming pools, a school, library, slope and bureau spaces. The vessel volition besides person a theatre for performances and movies, though dissimilar accepted cruise ships, extravagant amusement won't beryllium overmuch of a focus, Punton told CNBC.

The MV Narrative volition dock astatine ports for astir 3 to 5 days, which Punton said is longer than mean for liners, allowing residents to explore. "Most radical … volition beryllium retired successful the section cities and doing time trips and overnight trips, hiring a car and going retired for 3 oregon 4 days and gathering the vessel astatine its adjacent destination," helium told CNBC by video call.

A illustration itinerary mightiness see 3 days docked successful Rome, past 3 days successful Naples, followed by stops astatine smaller places specified arsenic the seaside towns of Sapri and Marsala, and yet reaching Venice earlier sailing connected to Slovenia, Albania, Croatia, Greece and past Turkey.

The vessel volition besides spell to the Arctic Circle. In total, it volition walk 3 years oregon truthful traveling the satellite (the afloat itinerary is yet to beryllium announced).

Wells spent astir $300,000 connected a 12-year lease for an entry-level "Discover" studio, which astatine 237 quadrate feet includes a foldaway bed, pantry area, table and abstracted ablution room. (Most leases are either for 24 years oregon for the beingness of the vas — astir 60 years — but arsenic an aboriginal customer, Wells was offered a shorter option.)

Punton wanted the MV Narrative to beryllium much affordable than different residential boats. The World, for example, is simply a lavish liner wherever a penthouse flat costs astir 20 cardinal euros ($20.5 million), and determination are lone astir 150-200 radical connected committee astatine immoderate time.

While the MV Narrative's units are inactive pricey — astatine astir $1 cardinal to $8 cardinal for a life-of-vessel lease —it launched fractional ownership options successful November, with a 25% stock starting astatine astir $600,000, allowing residents to enactment connected committee for 3 months a year.

"All-inclusive surviving fees" travel connected apical of the acquisition price, starting astatine astir $2,100 a idiosyncratic per month, covering things similar nutrient and drinks from the ship's restaurants and bars, laundry, fittingness classes and aesculapian checkups.

"We're inactive competitively priced to the market," Punton said.

Residents volition besides beryllium capable to rent retired their units if they are not connected committee — careless of whether they are afloat oregon portion owners. A workplace flat similar the 1 Wells bought could make astir $4,500 a month, according to a calculator connected the Storylines website.

Wells expects to beryllium 1 of the youngest big residents connected committee — astir 30 erstwhile helium moves in. Residents volition scope from mid-life entrepreneurs to families with children, helium said.

Children tin be the ship's "world schooling" program, which blends online learning with tiny radical teaching, tract trips and workshops with experts from the countries the vessel docks at, according to Storylines' website.

Retirees and those adjacent to status are besides buying into the ship, Punton told CNBC. One aboriginal nonmigratory is an ER caregiver with astir 30 years of moving acquisition who is keen to enactment successful the MV Narrative's aesculapian squad portion time, Punton said. He besides hopes to enlistee owners from different types of professions specified arsenic acupuncturists and physiotherapists.

"I ever accidental to people, you tin travel and portion pina coladas by the excavation each time if you similar and not assistance a digit … But that gets aged beauteous quickly. So, you privation to support doing [the job] you do, right, truthful this is simply a mode for radical to beryllium capable to bash that," said Punton. "That's a cardinal quality [between] america and a cruise."

The Storylines caput bureau volition besides beryllium based connected the MV Narrative, with institution executives surviving connected board. Punton volition determination onto the vessel with his woman and 2 children, who are presently 2 and five.

"For me, I'm, you know, beauteous overmuch 7 years into this task already. And by the clip we deed the h2o volition beryllium a decade. It's a agelong information of my life. And of course, I privation to unrecorded this manner arsenic overmuch arsenic anybody else," helium told CNBC.

Wells expects to marque friends for beingness connected board. "The extremity is to really person a assemblage of residents connected this ship. And truthful you volition found caller friends, you volition mostly question the satellite with them, which is perchance a mode to make immoderate of the deepest friendships you've ever had," helium told CNBC.

Could Punton foresee idiosyncratic surviving connected the vessel for the remainder of their life? "People tin really [own] successful perpetuity … truthful it tin really beryllium talented into their estates and passed down done the generations … and their household tin proceed to unrecorded connected the adjacent vessel arsenic well."

There is simply a 2nd vas successful the offing erstwhile the residences connected committee the MV Narrative are astir each sold (around fractional person been bought truthful far), Punton said.

"We person identified a truly large marketplace here. And there's a batch of radical who privation to get progressive and beryllium a portion of this," helium said.

— CNBC's Tom Huddleston Jr. contributed to this report.