On travel

Dearly Beloved and I are addicted to travel.

Yes, I DO mean "addicted". It's something that has happened to us latterly, and it becomes stronger with each passing year.

Our first cruise was to the Inside Passage inAlaska. It was a big adventure for us; things we'd never seen, never even dreamt about. Just seven days and we were hooked. Part of it was the cruise line -- Holland America. For anyone over 50, I unhesitatingly recommend them. They're not a "party" line, they're not a kids line. Our first trip was on the old Westerdam, now sadly gone. We fell in love with ther ... all brass and polished timber; stately, dignified. My late dad would have approved .. she was no "floating gin palace".

Part of it of course was the destination. Alaska. If I could live there, I would. It has the same "Fuck yeah, we can" attitude that I first experienced in WA's goldfields. We loved it all: the Passage, Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay ... everything. In fact, out next two cruises were the same destination (though with changes).  And given the chance ... we'd do it again in a heartbeat!!

But it's not just that. Let's face it ... a cruise is your accommodation, your meals (and drinks in some cases), your entertainment and your transport ... all for often less than $200 a day! How the hell can you beat that?

No, it's not perfect. They will try to wring every cent out of you they can: drinks, casino, spas, wine packages, coffee packages, art auctions, duty free stores ... the whole works. But you can, quite easily, say no.

We've learnt from experience ... ship excursions are expensive! Very often, you can walk out onto the dock and find an almost identical tour for perhaps one-quarter the price. We also love the hop-on, hop-off buses. For a reasoable daily charge, you can go around as much as you like. Our suggestion? If you have time, go around once; work out what you want to explore ... the do it again and this time get off where it interests you.

Anyway, we've tried HAL, Princess and Norwegian, as well as an Amsterdam -- Budapest river cruise with Scenic (an Australian company who do it very well with Aussies!).

Our last cruise was Norway (the fjords are just unbelievable!), to Iberia, follwed by a week in Italy and a week cruise around the Greek Isles..

Norway

Lisbon

Italy: Chiavenna

Greece

So why I love it so much?  A lot of it is the same reasons I love motorcycling: Di and I can do it together.  Everyone laughs when I say I don't know what time I have left ... but it's true! A bypass doesn't last forever! And we've discovered we love each other's company while we explore ... well, apart from bloody shoe shops!

And so we will continue to neglect the house, her car, the kids' inheritance -- and keep travelling!

Such a big bloody world .. and so little time left.

Time speeds up

I distinctly remember, as a child, my great-grandmother saying that time went faster the older you got. I even checked her big clock (in the "parlour") to see if it went faster than anyone else's. Naturally, it didn't, and I thought she'd lost the plot or was just telling stories.

But she was right, of course. Time does telescope as we grow older. As a kid, it felt as though Christmas only happened about every five years; now, I seem to be still taking down one lot of Christmas lights when the stores are putting theirs up for the next one! Yeah, yeah, I know -- grumpy old fart whinging.

But it's not that at all. It's not just the Christmases; it's entire years -- decades even.

In my mind, I'm still maybe mid-30s. You know, six-foot tall and bulletproof. But the mirror tells the truth; and the body tells the rest. For the very first time, I've asked my body to do things and it's said "nup". It's scary; like I've been betrayed by my best friend. Things hurt that never hurt before; places ache where I didn't even know I had places. Hair grows where I don't want it to grow ... and disappears from where I do want it. For the first time ever, I've gone to write a word and found I've had to stop and think about what it is ... scary stuff for an editor!

Riding the motorbike is harder, too. Why? Well, after a full day, the wrists ache, as do my legs. And I have trouble getting my leg over (Stop that snickering down the back!) the saddle; it's a tall bike.

Waking up in the middle of the night for a pee used to be a thing of wonder. Now, it's a matter of course ... two or three times. And sleep used to be head --> pillow --> sleep --> wake up in the morning. Now, it's more like head --> pillow --> sleep --> wake up --> sleep --> wake up --> sleep --> wake up --> sleep --> wake up --> God it's only 4.30 ... and when I do get up, I'm startled by two pistol shots that echo around the bedroom.

Except they're not pistols shots; they're my knees.

And here it is, the end of May. And that holiday I wrote about last time is suddenly just over the horizon. We're checked in on both ships; air booking Amsterdam to Milan made; car hire in Milan made (Ever tried getting an automatic in Italy? "You-a want-a what, sir?"), and high-speed train to Venice checked but can't be booked until July.

And we've booked a villa for a week in Chiavenna, north of Lake Como, just south of the Swiss border. I still can't believe we're really going to do it. And just to top it off, Sue and Blane (b-i-l and s-i-l) are joining us from Milan on. God, we'll probably party on until ... 8.30 or 9.00 even!

But as well as all that, for the very first time the word "retirement" has crept into my vocabulary. Now that IS scary. I haven't come to terms with it yet, even after a couple of sessions with our financial adviser. (He likes to see us ... says he needs the laugh!)

To me it's not so much a well-earned rest (as they say on the ABC) as the end of my productive life. Suddenly, I'm not not useful; not "needed" anymore. My problem, which I freely admit, is that I've allowed myself to be defined by my occupation too much ... I've forgotten that I'm a person apart from my job.

At this very moment, I absolutely loathe the idea of retirement.

I'm going to have to work on that because, sure as hell, it's getting here faster and faster.

Wow, long time, no post.

Much has happened and yet so little has changed.

Some 7 or 8 years ago, I had a triple bypass. It was a good result but I was left in no doubt that it was a remedy, not a "cure"; my time is limited. That meant I and Dearly Beloved are even more determined to do and see things ... before I "cark it".

Last year, I got a crappy mosquito-transmitted virus from Bali that knocked me down for 9 months (Chikungunya). I was cactus.. But we planned a holiday anyway for the end of the year, hoping I'd be better. Fortunately, I was.

Our holiday was two cruises, back-to-back. The first was with Princess: Mediterranean to Gibraltar, Funchal and then to Hamilton and finishing in Fort Lauderdale. At one stage it had 6 days at sea. It was SUPERB! Anyone who says "Oh what would I do?" or "I'd get bored" shouldn't be on a cruise. There is simply no better way to turn off. You just have to relax. The Pacific Princess is quite small (750+ passengers) but a stable, supremely comfortable ship; we loved it.

For Christmas we were in New York city. Forget everything you've heard about arrogant, foul-mouthed, don't-give-a-shit New Yorkers. The people ... all of them ... were unfailingly polite and helpful. Christmas lunch at the Waldorf-Astoria was so nice ... even if my credit card did go into meltdown! (US$362 -- really??)

From there it was back to Rome to catch up with our much-loved sister-in-law and brother-in-law from America, and another Med cruise on the Norwegian Jade. Yes, she's a b-i-g ship with a lot of people ... but in all honesty, you don't really notice it. We loved every second.

A couple of days in our favourite city -- Rome -- and then back to Perth and in to work the next day. Mistake! We were zombies for the next two days ...

So ... a week after getting home, we were looking at our next holiday :-D And it's on ... 21 days Scandinavia/Iberia on Holland America, a week "somewhere" (probably around Lake Como) and then a 7-day Greek cruise with, again, our favourite travelling companions ... s-i-l and b-i-l.

So, the poor old bike's been neglected, relegated to the back of the garage, That's partially because we bought a "new" car (new to us), an immaculate Kia Sportage 2.0 CRDi turbo and we'd like to keep the paint "nice".

Trying to fit everything in ... including work, which grows more and ever more onerous ... is wearing extremely thin. At this time of life, I'm working harder than I ever have done before.

That just doesn't seem right.

OK, roll on September ... and we're already looking at next year. We know St Petersburg is on the list, but have no idea where else. :-D