Cruising the world...
01/07/2024
I have cousins and friends who LOVE cruises. Sign them up for domestic, International and even, river cruises. They make me feel...stuck. Trapped. So while I'm envious of my peeps on these fantastic vacations, I wonder what I'm missing. One issue is I like to see one place well, rather than a ton of places with brief stops.
Anyhow, today an ad came up for a European River cruise, and I'm not going to lie. I'm tempted by that. It seems low-key. Made more for the introvert who might get lost in a book while on our way to the next destination. While on the site, I discovered there is a "longitudinal cruise" that beings in Buenos Aires and finishes in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. That's seriously intense. To go from one pole to another essentially. Get this, it starts at $44, 950K. My first thought it how many life-altering handbags I could get for that price. (Maybe only one if I loved the Birkin, but thankfully, I do not. )
While I have no interest in this cruise, I would love to meet the people who go on it. Don't you think they'd be fascinating? Like their lives would make great novels! These people not only have the big money to vacation as they please, but they're learners. They have a need to see for themselves and I think that's so interesting. My buddy Colleen Coble is on a book tour, and she's been in Charleston and Beaufort, South Carolina. She texted me and said it didn't feel the same without me there ( because I love Charleston so much) and I thought, yeah, I should be there. That got me thinking about vacation and here we are. Daydreaming while I'm working. And yes, I did write a little in between this ADD diversion. Anyway, if Denise Hunter tours the south, she may be stuck with me. I don't know what it is about the romance of the southern United States, but I just feel connected to it. The Civil War is such a tragic era, but it fascinates me.
I have done the Mississippi Queen cruise and I did really enjoy that one. I've thought about cruising Alaska because I love nature -- but from a well-appointed balcony. I have no desire to come face-to-face with a Grizzly or even a moose, if I'm honest. Same reason I'd rather cruise the Viking Fjords. Nature. But at a distance.
For some reason, my biggest fear is being murdered in a tent. Since I haven't been in a tent since I was in my late 20's, I'm not sure where this ridiculous fear comes from, but camping and me are a big no. In fairness, when I was in high school, it was the era/setting of the "Night Stalker" and the beautiful redwoods I used to visit every month when my kids were little had people murdered in their tents. It was the era of tent murders, what can I say? Add to that all the "Datelines" I've seen and it's quite a reasonable fear.
Anyway, do you have any plans for summer travel? I wonder if I'd be happier with a new Loewe Puzzle bag. After the year I've had, I'm thinking it's bigger than a new handbag.