And Then It Was Over & This Time We Made It All the Way!

The Insignia is the baby ship docked beside one of five big monsters in Ketchikan.

Now that's what I call a real bear hug! Sitka, Alaska

View from jetboat, Exchamsiks (means green water) River Provincial Park, Prince Rupert Island, BC

Today, July 8th as we are cruising the Inside Passage towards home, is a day of reflection for me. Everyone is in the process of saying "Good-Bye" to crew members and friends we've made, attending final luncheons and cocktail parties, the last story by Dr. Sherry, voting on the best "ship" built in the ship building contest, finishing that last craft project, perhaps winning some more Big-O points in Trivia, eating just one more rich desert, and m0st important of all - trying to figure out just how we are going to get all those souvenirs we purchased back home with us. All the while I'm praying the immigration officials can find one last place to stamp my passport.

Over the past 175 days I have visited 43 countries outside of the US. Before this trip I would have said "foreign" countries, but they no longer seem foreign. I fell in love with 41 of them and left a little piece of my heart there and with its people. The other two, I hurt for them. They are so in need of help and China isn't their answer. I digress. This is not the time or place to get political. The Insignia has moved smoothly through three oceans, four seas, two straits, numerous fjords, bays, & gulfs, rounded both capes, avoided icebergs in Antarctica and Hubbard Glacier, outrun two typhoons, evaded contact with pirates (yes, there really were pirates in the eastern Atlantic off the coast of Africa), visited five continents and too many islands to count. Few days of sight-seeing were hampered by bad weather. Barf bags were in easy reach from anywhere only for about four days. (I, fortunately, was never forced to make use of them.) Though the ship's ambassador has quoted us statistics as to just how many pounds of butter, bacon, lobster, shrimp, ice cream and other delicious foods we have consumed, I will not focus on the numbers. I've taken over three thousand photographs, so you may not want to ask to see my pictures. It could take awhile, especially if I insist on telling you the story behind each and every one. We have been greeted to ports by everything from brass bands to a small child sitting in a wheelchair with a huge grin on his face waving his country's flag. An entire village awaited us in one port - all of whom had either walked or packed four or five onto a scooter for the trip. Ours was the first cruise ship to dock there since 2019. Drummers, dancers, musicians of every type have bid us welcome and farewell with a plea to come back.

I have been asked if this trip was what I had hoped it would be. I really am not sure exactly what that was other than to see as much of this big beautiful world as I could possibly fit in to 180 days with a minimum of wear and tear on my body. On the aborted 2020 attempt I realized that I much prefer God-made things to manmade things. This is still absolutely true, though there have been many awesome manmade things along the way. Since the 2020 trip only lasted for forty something days, I was not sure that I could be content away from my support groups for six months. What I have found is that I now have yet another "family". Soon I will be trading this newly found shipboard family for my Horseshoe Bay family. That prospect I face with somewhat mixed emotions.

One night at dinner this week the question was asked of us, "What was your favorite part of the trip?" Each time one person said this or that, we all said yes plus something else all around the table. Our conclusion was that there have been far too many wonderfully memorable experiences to name only one or two. The biggest surprise of all to me was the fact that I fell in love with so many places and its people. If you remember, I even "wed" one fellow in Africa, however briefly. It has been fun! It has been sad! It has been uplifting! It has been thought provoking! It has been an education! It has been awesome! It has been thrilling! It has been exhausting!! It has been far beyond my wildest expectations!

I have learned so very, very much more in these last six months about myself, the world, different cultures, people, animals, flowers, foods, ways of life, religions, history, values and beliefs than I ever dreamed possible! Am I glad I took this trip? You betcha!!!!! Will I be glad to be home? You betcha!!!!!

Today Is Someday! Be A Traveler!