January 28 - Home!

I’ve been home for a week and I finally think I’m getting over jet lag and time changes.  The trip home was basically uneventful except for the landing at JFK.  Instead of pulling up to a terminal and deplaning via a jetway, we were parked out on a tarmac and had to go down a portable ramp and board a bus.  That wouldn’t have been too bad had it not been bitterly cold.  I had a down vest and sweater in the outside pocket of one of my suitcases.  I thought I’d be able to pull them out when I briefly reclaimed my luggage to go through US Customs and would have them when I finally had to go outside in Richmond.  Too bad, that didn’t work and I froze my fanny off before I ever got to the terminal at JFK.  Oh well, I survived so it turned out okay.

I had a marvelous time and I thought I’d write some final thoughts and observations about things I discovered and learned, many of them about myself.  Some people have asked me what my favorite port was and I think I would have to say Waiheke, New Zealand probably tops my list.  In fact, of the countries I’ve visited New Zealand is at or close to the top.  It’s a beautiful place and one in which I could imagine living.

My side trip to Singapore was very interesting and in many ways it was a test for me.  I wanted to see how I liked traveling on land by myself without being in the comforting bubble of a cruise ship.  I thought Singapore was a perfect place to try venturing out on my own because it’s known for being a safe and clean place.  Well, it is those things but I found I don’t like being completely on my own.  I’ve become spoiled and I like having people taking care of me.  I think that probably my travels will be limited to places that I can get to via ship.  That’s okay because there are still places to see and places I’d like to revisit and will never tire of seeing.

Since I’ve been home I’ve also come to realize how important socialization is to me.  It has been cold and snowy here for the first several days after I returned and so I stayed very close to home.  I miss terribly having people around that I can interact with whenever I want to.  I miss being able to listen to live music or see a show in the evening.  I miss the noise that was omnipresent on the ship.  Don’t get me wrong.  Being home feels good,  but being able to look forward to future voyages is also good.  Loneliness can be an insidious foe of well-being.

For anyone who looks at various cruise forums, you may read about changes and cutbacks on just about every cruise line.  There have been some of those on Seabourn.  A few were bothersome enough that I did  convey my thoughts in writing to Seabourn.  None of them are significant enough that I would stop cruising with them.  Cruising is still about the best way to travel, especially for a solo traveler like me, that I can think of and I will continue to do so.  

So, to wrap  up this Quest for new places, I saw lots of new things, made some new friends, had a pretty wonderful time and learned some things about myself.  I’ll be back when I start my next voyage in a couple of months.  Goodnight for now.