A Journey of Wealth Development to a Worldwide Cruise
A long-time resident of Madison, Robert Wynn, an economic development specialist and founder of Communities Learning to Invest and Mobilize for Business (CLIMB) and other community economic development educational nonprofits, has had an unceasing interest in assisting others improve their quality of life through building wealth. Along the way, Wynn has launched investment clubs to spread educational resources to people and businesses alike.
One of the most diligent students of Wynn’s financial teachings? His wife Millie Jones. With one goal in mind – to cruise around the world for months at a time – she worked to become an avid investor. Through saving and investing for more than a decade, she was able to amass the funds for both her and Wynn to book a 155-day Azamara World Voyage.
The World Voyage offers cruisers a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to tour the world in an immersive style and experience each of the Seven Wonders of the World: the Great Wall of China, Chichen Itza, Petra, Machu Picchu, Christ the Redeemer, The Colosseum and the Taj Mahal.
“It was Millie’s goal for years to take a world cruise. It wasn’t exactly something I thought I’d ever do, but it was an incredible experience,” said Wynn. “She has picked up on the information that I’ve been teaching over the last three and a half decades to be able to save enough money to make her dream come true. And I was able to take a travel sabbatical to accompany her.”
The trip began in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida on January 5, 2024 and ended in Barcelona, Spain on June 9, 2024. The couple visited ports in 35 countries across six continents, including Mexico, Peru, Vietnam, Thailand, India, United Arab Emirates, Australia, Papua New Guinea, Romania, Greece, Montenegro and more.
Two of 190 world cruisers, Wynn and Jones traveled more than 38,000 nautical miles throughout their trip. Wynn particularly enjoyed an early stop at Easter Island to see the famous Moai statues, visiting with native inhabitants of Papua New Guinea and seeing South Africa for the first time.
“Each of these destinations was special to me. They were some of the most eye-opening stops on the trip because we were able to see drastic differences in wealth and living conditions compared to the United States,” said Wynn. “In Papua New Guinea, inhabitants wore traditional tribal attire, cooked outside and were more unfamiliar with tourism. In South Africa, it was powerful to physically see the wealth gap between the city and what you experience as a tourist compared to the impoverished areas that you pass by on your travels.”
As a wealth management coach who teaches an approach to investment that builds wealth gradually, the difference between his experience, what he saw in other countries on the trip and other travelers on the world cruise was stark. According to Wynn, several cruisers flew their families in from across the world to a port to visit with them for one segment of the trip, covering all the travel costs of the flights and the extended cruise.
“The people we traveled with were unbelievable, prolific travelers. Many were retired and had been on an average of 30 cruises, with several having been on up to 100 cruises,” said Wynn. “This is a whole different level of disposable income, even beyond what I had been exposed to in my work teaching wealth management. I met people who have more money than they can count and they spend it without worry.”
Though it took careful saving and investing for Jones to make this dream trip a reality, the couple recognizes that many people can’t travel due to country restrictions or lack of affordability and resources. However, Jones and Wynn are still proponents of travel.
“I’ve come to realize that traveling is literally an expression of freedom and an important part of the human experience,” said Wynn. “It opens our eyes wider to the world around us and allows us to learn about and appreciate different places, people and cultures.”
