“Your too young to retire “,,,I hear that a lot …but its nonsense …  I loved every day I worked, well, almost everyday….but there is so much i want to see and so little time to see it. I wish i could have retired at 30 ! Life is full of transitions and Ive never been one to fear change,,if anything i fear being stationary!

When I was a little kid my Grandpa Syvertsen lived with us. When he was a  young man he came to the states at the turn of the century from Norway . He was an 11-year-old kid travelling alone to live with his older brother who had come 5 years earlier. He stayed with his brother for a few years but it didn’t work out ..families…and he ended up spending a few years in the merchant marine and travelling before he settled near San francisco with his sister Margaret

When i was growing up he used to get his scrapbooks out and walk through them telling me about all his journeys and the places he thought i should see in my life.  As a direct result of his stories I’ve managed to get to Easter Island, Machu Picchu , Angkor Wat and quite a few places that became my bucket list   One place he didn’t get to was New Zealand and he never made it thru the Panama Canal. So, I thought I’d  kick off this blog with that very  journey that starts September 13th.  I will board the Bernhard S a container ship as a passenger for 28 days as it makes it way from Philadelphia to Auckland New Zealand via the Panama Canal. Then once I’m there I’ll spend a few weeks exploring the South Island.   Hope you’ll tag along for the journey

My Grandfather shortly before we lost him, with my parents and finally a childhood pictures taken in Norway with his sister Margaret .  The Bernhard S..my home for 28 days

So when I told my husband i wanted to take a 27 day freighter voyage  from Philadelphia to Auckland he asked if i was “crazy”. Having endured the 7 day Queen Mary crossing in May I think John had enough. I think he was ready to jump overboard after day 5. He felt there was a lot of sea and not much else. I on the other hand loved all that sea and spent most of the day walking the deck and curled up in the lounge drinking tea and reading.  I found it very relaxing and for the first time in 35 years I felt i had really disconnected from email and Facebook and texts. The idea of doing that for 27 days sounded like heaven!  Then, since i was in NZ I might as well enjoy it for a few weeks.

I think that idea of disconnecting is something I really look forward to. My work had been stressful and demanding and fantastic but i never really left it behind. I started working full time in 1982 and never ever truly disconnected. It always seemed to be hovering about.  I took a few long trips in those years but either work or the knowledge that I needed to find work when i got back was always in my mind.

John likes to tell people how he would wake up at 3 am and the bedroom would be bathed in blue light as I lay in bed answering e mails or reading texts from other crazy employees who were sending them at 3 am!.

Now I have no emails that need answering urgently or texts that must be responded to immediately and i”m looking forward to just enjoy the journey. …and not having to wear a tux at dinner….although we did look pretty good in those tuxedos on the Queen Mary.