The Trip of a Lifetime

My escape from the mundane and stressful aspects of my life is to browse the internet learning about interesting and exotic places. I love to travel - to experience new people, new views, and new perspectives outside my everyday existence, and my obsession only grew greater during The Lockdown. So a few years ago, I looked into world cruises as a way to see the most places with the least amount of disruptive travel. On a cruise ship, your hotel room takes you to new places so you only have to unpack and pack once, and don't worry about transportation. No "bags out at 7:30 and on the bus at 8:00". I thought this was genius! When things got to be too much, I would log on and check out ports, excursions, and things to do in cities all over the world and dream of a time when I could experience it.

And as it does, life happened; I ended my career in finance and found myself with some time on my hands. I said to myself, "If not now, when?" and clicked to make my daydream become a reality. I am boarding the Island Princess on January 5th in Fort Lauderdale to see the world.

I've been making lists and reading blogs and pouring over travel articles for two years, and somehow my departure has snuck up on me. I've had too much time to think of every possible thing I may ever need. It's quite a challenge packing for almost 4 months when you don't have Amazon Prime delivery. I think that overpacking should be a diagnosable disorder. I could certainly benefit from some professional help. 

Maybe one more suitcase...

Here's my itinerary if you want to follow along:

So I'm going to give blogging a try for all those friends and family that have asked to keep up with my travels. Check back every so often for new posts as I figure out life on a ship, make new friends, and experience lots of new things.