Woman takes 274-day cruise to enjoy life after double masectomy

She’s sailing away from her troubles.

After enduring a double mastectomy, not to mention the loss of both parents to cancer in their 60s, Angela Linderman found herself thinking a lot about longevity — and how nothing is guaranteed.

And so, the 38 year-old did something many people push back into their golden years — she took a cruise. A 274-day cruise to be exact.

“There is no way I’m waiting to do s–t till I retire,” the freelance marketing consultant told her followers in a now-viral TikTok video. “Because that’s not promised to any of us.”

Linderman, from the Pacific Northwest, flew to Miami earlier this month and hopped aboard Royal Caribbean’s Serenade of the Seas. She won’t be back on dry land for good until late 2024.

The bold step came after a wave of harsh life lessons a few years back, beginning when her father was diagnosed with prostate cancer, followed by her mother’s breast cancer diagnosis. Both died at the age of 65.

Then in 2021, the same year that her mother passed away, Linderman learned that she inherited the BRCA2 gene mutation, which increases her risk of developing breast, ovarian and skin cancer.

To reduce her chances of also being diagnosed with cancer, Linderman underwent a double mastectomy, removing all breast tissue and her nipples. Then she had implants done. She also needs to have her ovaries removed.

Grappling with her parents’ passing at the age most Americans retire, not to mention her own increased risk of also being diagnosed with cancer, Linderman told The Post that she decided not to wait another minute to see the world, like she’d always dreamed.

“I’m going to do the things that I can do now and not put them off,” Linderman told The Post.

She explained that with BRCA and losing both of her parents at 65, she knows “retirement is not a guarantee.”

To make her dream come true, Linderman dipped into a pool of life insurance money she received after her parents died, booking an Ultimate World Cruise itinerary on Serenade, which will allow her to visit more than 60 countries in less than a year.

“My family’s genetics aren’t lining me up to let me have a terribly long life so doing all the things I can now is kind of the motto,” Linderman said earlier on a TikTok video.

The freelance marketer will be continuing to work her social media job remotely, as she has done since 2019, but decided to cut back to part-time to enjoy as much free time as possible as she travels around the world.

“It’s not a nine month vacation,” Linderman told The Post. “This is nine months of my life.”

And she’s doing more than sharing her journey via social media — a brother and his children will be traveling with her.

The months-long cruise set off from Miami on December 10 and is scheduled to sail around the world and visit all seven continents, although passengers will content themselves with a view of Antartica, rather than a land tour. A whopping 11 Wonders of the World can be experienced — Linderman plans on seeing several, including Macchu Pichu and Petra.

While passengers were allowed to book for shorter portions of the trip, over 600 are committed for the full nine months.

Serenade, built in 2003 and last refurbished in 2012, lacks the extreme bells and whistles of Royal Caribbean’s newest ships, but features luxuries like a rock climbing wall and a pool with a retractable glass ceiling to allow enjoyment in all weather.

While cruisers can continue to join the ship for shorter segments as it voyages around the globe — at a cost of about $1,500 per person for two weeks, depending on length and destination — those looking to sail the full nine months faced a hefty price tag starting at $88,000 and going up to $1.2 million per person.

TikTok has been flooded with videos of people sharing their adventures during the first few days of the trip — Linderman included.

Her following has grown from under 100 to over 153,000 in the first two weeks of the trip as she’s shared insights into her daily life and answered curious viewers’ questions — earning millions of views.

But she said that while the social media attention is crazy, she’s just trying to balance how to make the most of her time, enjoy it and remember it.