“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