We're paying $1 million to live on a cruise ship and sail around the world while we keep managing our property empire

• Amanda Williams and her boyfriend are spending $1 million to live permanently on a cruise ship.

• She told Insider about their plans to reside on the MV Narrative when it sets sail in 2025.

• The couple intend to keep managing their 25 properties while they voyage around the world.

This as-told-to article is based on a conversation with Amanda Williams, a real estate investor who has bought a 12-year lease on an apartment on Storylines' MV Narrative. Insider has verified her income and her place on the cruise ship with documentation. The following has been edited for length and clarity. 

My boyfriend and I love traveling, and one of my dreams is to buy a boat and go sailing around the world. We did a test run a few years ago with our friends' yacht in the Bahamas for a month, and fixing all the items that broke on it was more expensive than the trip itself.

We must have spent about $25,000 fixing the broken engine on the yacht, and fuel cost between about $15,000 and $20,000.

So instead, we decided to buy an apartment with a 12-year lease for $1 million on Storylines' MV Narrative, a cruise ship that will let us permanently live at sea, that launches in 2025.

I'm 39 and split my time between Raleigh, North Carolina, and Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. I'm planning to keep running my property empire with my boyfriend while we sail the world.

Picking living on a cruise ship over a yacht

It was a lot of work taking care of our friend's boat. We'd spend all day navigating, and then we'd be exhausted when we got into a port. Having all that done for you on a residential cruise ship made sense.

After seeing an ad for Storylines, I booked a call and handed over a $10,000 deposit there and then — I make decisions quickly.

What really interested me about Storylines is that crew members do all the hard work for you. Maintenance fees are $4,800 a month, but at least you don't have to worry about paying $25,000 for a broken engine.

We're staying in a one-bedroom apartment. The walls are mostly glass, so it'll feel bigger, and the balcony is big, so we've got a lot of good outdoor-living space there, too.

I think the small space will be an adjustment, but I've stayed in a tiny home I own in North Carolina, and I love it.

Yes, $1 million in Raleigh could get you four or five bedrooms, but I don't want to be stuck there, or anywhere else for that matter.

We can't make many changes to the interiors — Storylines supplies everything because it has to be fireproof.