Things I Will Miss

Being away for 4 months is really a very long time. I was reminded of just how long this amount of time can feel, while my family was away visiting family and friends in Israel recently. They were gone just over 3 WEEKS and I missed them all a lot.

So 4 MONTHS will be like an eternity.

Other things I will miss - sunrises viewed from our backyard. The doggies. And always, always, my Button and my Goose.

90 Day Countdown to World Cruise!!!

Today marks the 90-day countdown to my upcoming World Cruise, on Holland America's Amsterdam.  She's my favorite ship of the fleet, carrying up to 1,380 passengers.  On this cruise, there is a 2 to 1 ratio - 1 crew person for every 2 passengers.  Nice!

My journey around the world will begin and end in Ft. Lauderdale, and last for 111 days.

The cruise will take me to places I've been before as well as places I've never been.  At each of the ports that are repeats for me, I've planned new excursions so that, while the location is not new, the sights I see or activities I participate in, are new.

I'm flying to Florida a few days early, and am excited that I will get to spend New Year's with one of my oldest and dearest friends, James, and his family.  It's like icing on the cake!

It is quite daunting to imagine living on a ship for 4 months, away from my friends and family for such an extended period of time.  But this world cruise has been a dream of mine for a number of years, and I'm all about making my dreams come true.

Life is shorter than we think, especially as we grow older, and I'm doing my best to have an e-ticket ride here!!! (For those of you thinking "e-ticket" is some new tech phrase, think again.....it's a reference to the old Disneyland tickets from "back in the day."  An e-ticket was the most coveted one in your booklet of tickets - it's the one that got you on the Matterhorn, which was a big damn deal when I was a kid.  It was "e" for exciting!!!

I've got lots to do before the cruise begins, so I guess I better get to it!!