I was watching some "Dream Cruises" I had on my DVR over the past few months dreaming about my next cruise or vacation. The cruises varied in locations and included the Caribbean, Europe and Asia. One particular cruise caught my attention. It included several islands including Barbados. I've never been there, but have visited St. Thomas and Grand Turk which is down in that area As I was watching, the narrator made a comment that it was the only place outside of the U.S. that George Washington had been. If I remember correctly, it was a 7 week trip to get there by sea at the time. Today, it is a 4 hour flight. It made me ponder modern day travels and all we take for granted.
Here I sit in the middle of winter and a pandemic feeling sorry for myself because I can't go on a cruise at the moment. I take for granted that I can fly almost anywhere in the world and be there the same day I that I leave. We all take it for granted that we can jump in a car and be in a totally different location and maybe different climate in a day. I read a book recently about the California Gold Rush. During that time, people would cross the country to get to California and it would take them somewhere around 6 months to make it in a wagon while carrying everything they needed to live. And here I am pouting because I can't jump on a cruise ship! And if on that cruise ship, I have way more than I can eat and endless entertainment. Unbelievable when you really think about it.
Are you craving travel at the moment? What do you have planned or where are you dreaming about? My wife and I have numerous places we would love to hit this year after we get vaccinated for Covid. We would like to fly to Miami and drive down to the Florida Keys for a few days. We wanted to take a cruise that included Key West, but have heard that they have banned ships of a certain size. We would like to attend the Albuquerque Balloon Festival in October this year or next. My wife really wants to go to the Biltmore and take a tour. If we get one or two of those in this year we will be happy.
And George, I feel bad that travel was difficult during your time, but I still can't wait for our next cruise!
I really enjoy Key West. I have been to the Albuquerque Balloon Festival, and cruising to Alaska, Mexico, and down the Rhine River in Europe were all memorable. So, you would think after having several major trips cancelled in 2020 I would be raring to go.
ReplyDeleteStrangely, I am not. Yes, I want to get back to Hawaii when it is safe to do so. My wife wants to go back to England and Ireland, so I imagine we will at some point.
But, I am at the stage of retirement when I have traveled enough to scratch that itch. I did travel a lot for my work and became really tired of it, so maybe that has something to do with my feeling.
Like you, I retired in my early 50s and did have the travel bug. Now, nearly 20 years later, I am finding that being with family and friends, with an occasional getaway to the mountains or ocean is enough.
Retirement is a journey that is constantly changing. So, who knows, maybe we will get the itch again to hop on a cruise ship.
Bob,
DeleteThanks for my first reply on this blog. I guess my travel itch is pretty big right now due to being recently retired and having this idea in my head of all the places I would see in the first few years. Covid got in the way and set me back a little. I'm sure after a few trips I will see that desire start to diminish.
We went on the Viking Rhine River Cruise and really enjoyed it. In fact, we signed up for Viking Scandinavian Cruise for last year that unfortunately got cancelled. So we've rescheduled for next year. Viking says they'll be taking tons of precautions. I sure hope so. I'm really nervous about it.
ReplyDeleteA Viking River Cruise is on our list. Several of the cruises on "Dream Cruises were up and down the Rhine. I think we would combine the river cruise with another week or so touring some of Europe while we are over there.
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