The Journey Begins 
So John dropped me off at the port. It was strange to think I won’t see him for two months ! He knows I really want to have this experience but we both were a bid sad. I’m hoping he will decide to meet me in NZ ! If only there wasn’t that 22 hour flight thing !!  My cabin seems a bit empty without him.  

So I got my room. Very plush in that 1970 maritime way. Lol .. Sort of odd since the ship was built in 2010. I unpacked my clothes and shoes and of course my pillows and I’m ready ! I immediately set up my beats speaker and my iPod and my portable DVD player … I actually brought 98 DVDs in case I get bored or we hit a hurricane 😇

I took a quick tour of the bridge and top deck. Amazing views Can’t wait to be on the open seas.  

The efficiency of the loading unloading process is pretty impressive. More on that to come !

Dinner is at 5:30. I’ll keep you posted . 

I like Tom Waits a lot…he has a scratchy but authentic voice and knows how to write a mean lyric. I was listening to him this am when all of a sudden, this song came on

I remember the first time I heard this song. I was living in the UK and it struck a chord with me because it is of course not about sailing away at all but about the willingness to take the journey on 

So, its in that spirit of taking the journey that I am embarking on this trip. I really have no idea what to expect for the next 60 days other than I will be on a huge ship making a long journey to a place I have always wanted to explore. I have no idea what my fellow travelers will be like or even if there will be fellow travelers Will the crew be gruff and distant or friendly. Will I make new friends or spend 30 days at sea and 30 days on land all alone….its all about the journey I guess…though a spa would have been nice lol

I’ve now repacked my suitcase three times taking out more and more things and then putting a few things in. Packing for two months and numerous climates is nerve wracking. Thank god, I don’t ever iron anything as those of you who know me can testify to.

The one true creature comfort I did take…pillows. I am very particular about having at least three pillows. I figure they will have one on the ship so I had to take out enough shirts and clothes to get two pillows in…don’t tell John. He will be very annoyed I took one of the fluffy pillows from the bed. However, since I personally” borrowed” those pillows from the numerous Renaissance hotels I’ve stayed at it seemed completely fair. Those Renaissance pillows are amazing fluffy but firm. I can’t believe they have any left…. I will do the right thing when I finally get to Australia where I am staying at a renaissance the night before I fly home. I will leave my fluffy pillow behind .thus returning it …see I am an honest guy!!

Well tomorrow about 2 John will drop me off at the ship….ill let you know how it goes!

Shiver me timbers I’m sailing away 

Hurricanes…. Leave it to me to plan my bucket list trip during the worst storm cycle in history. So I heard from the shipping company and we are now leaving at 4 am on the 13th but I have to be on the boat by 4 pm on the 12th. Due to Irma it is unclear if we will stop in Florida at all and with Jose forming they want to get into the south Caribbean sooner rather than later. I guess you really do have to be flexible on a freighter.  

Well I think I’m almost packed..just need a quick trip to Walgreens for some Dramamine and some aspirin and then to ACME for some pot noodles and snacks. Apparently snacks are quite limited on a freighter so you need to bring your own …oh is that a jumbo bag of M&M peanuts ? 

“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.