Dateline: Cambridge- Sept. 20

OK. It’s time to begin shopping for this trip. 

Now, I know that many of my compadres would be sailing (if you'll excuse the expression) into the chic rag shops to fill out their clothing racks, but I head straight to the Harvard Coop to pick up reading materials. Because I knocked off six full length books last trip, I figure I’ll need that many this time around as well. 

There’s nothing more delicious to me that actually buying books and not having to worry about returning them on time to the local library. Ones with fresh covers. No pencil marks. That new book smell. No temptations to click away from where I am.

I am not an e-reader. I have nothing against those who are. Many of them seem to be very nice people, as a matter of fact. Relatives, even. But I’m strictly from the stroke-the-pages-and-flip them-back-and-forth school of reading. So alas, my luggage is always a bit heavier than necessary at the start of a trip. It’s rare that I carry them all back home, so it all balances out in the end.

After prowling the aisles of the third floor in the Coop for almost an hour, I finally settled for two books to start the collection. (I had to stash them out of sight once I got home. No use reading them before the actual journey.) They are both non-fiction.

One, The Good, Good Pig, is about life with a (what else?). I checked the end to make sure the critter’s death wouldn’t be too wrenching- and it passed muster. I hardly needed to be boo-hooing over the rail as we plowed our way through the sunny seas, I thought.

The second, which I’d been eyeing for a while. Is 99 Glimpses of Princess Margaret. A bio of a sort about the wild child princess of the Windsors in the days when Elizabeth was trying to single-handedly hold the monarchy together. Now that should provide many luscious hours on the deck!

I suppose I should sort my duds too and even head over to somewhere trendy for something appropriate to wear, but, if worse comes to worse, I’ll pack a light black suit for dinners and wear the usual for the rest of the tip.

More as things progress.

Dateline: Watertown- Sept. 13

First- a quick note about my cruising history. The first and only one I took was 2 years ago when we sailed from Buenos Aires to Santiago to escape the shortest days of winter. Several countries in 14 days (do the Falklands count as a country? Does Tierra del Fuego? Pardon my geography… But I do know that Argentina, Uruguay, and Chile are bona fide states- ones that I’ve heard of and found on even old globes.) And I saw a few real life glaciers- maybe the last of the breed.

I was totally shocked to find that I loved a good cruise where one has nothing to do, other people take care of your every need (almost), and you can read as many books as you want. Sure, sure, I feel like a lotus eater, but instead of being guilty. I am totally grateful.

Fast forward to now. We’ve been dithering with the idea of re-upping with a cruise line and spending a couple of weeks this winter in the sun. I’ve become an Olympic ditherer, so D chose to grab the reins and make the decision himself.  I was delighted he did, too, because I probably would have gone back and forth until the ship had sailed and we were on the banks waving our hankies at the folks lined up on the top decks.

So now we’ve got the cruise reservations. LA to Ft. Lauderdale via the Panama Canal. Six countries in 15 days! Birding side trips! Quaint villages! A Taco and Tequila adventure! Rainforests!

We’ve got our plane tickets. We’ve got never ending travel offer emails in our folders. More as things progress.