Day 30 - Sea Day - Change

-

Change is inevitable. Just as plans come together, things change. Today Captain Stig Nilsen announced another World Cruise itinerary update. To avoid severe weather, we will be skipping the Falkland Islands and heading straight to Antarctica. The Falkland's will be picked up before resuming north in the Pacific. Not all change is bad.

Change is part of life and learning to cope is a valuable life skill. Some parents avoid moving so the kids don't have to change schools. The change could be disruptive. That is definitely true, but may not be all bad. During the first six years of my primary education our family moved eight times and I attended six different schools in two different states. Obviously it was difficult, but I adjusted. The experience taught me to accept change, adjust to new situations and move forward. The experience yielded new skills utilized thought my careers in computer science and data analytics. Change is not that bad, but failure to cope is always worse.

Speaking of change my new friends from Switzerland introduced me to PolarSteps. The new app is a mashup of Google Earth, Google Maps and your favorite blogger app. While traveling the current location is plotted in a Google Earth type presentation. Posts can be created containing pictures and text about points of interest. The content can be shared with friends for their enjoyment and comments. If desired, a picture book can be ordered documenting the journey. Best of all, it is free (except for the book).

All previous blog information has been ported to PolarSteps and is available for your viewing pleasure at the address below. Thank you for following along. It has been a trip. Literally!



Location: 47FXJPP5+3P

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 64 - Los Angeles, California

-
Image
Eight o'clock we were cleared to leave the ship. Fifteen minutes later we were "just sittin' on the dock of the bay. Wastin' time". Unbelievable!  Past experiences indicated departure would take about ninety minutes. We had to leave the room on deck seven, catch an elevator to deck two, scan the sea pass card leaving the ship, navigate the terminal to customs, clear customs, turn in our passports to Royal Caribbean and locate a place to be picked up. Each step typically has waiting lines. Today no lines, we simply fast tracked everything. Friends Juan and Carlos were picking us up. No Royal Caribbean excursion for us today, Juan had something special planned. The Sunday morning air was cool but pleasant and LA traffic was non-existent. In no time we reached our destination north east of the city, Mission San Gabriel Arcangel. Founded in 1771, the complex is home to California's fourth historic mission. We spent hours enjoying the church, gardens and ...
Read more

Day 65 - Sea Day - Culture

-
Image
One of my personal goals for our Ultimate World Cruise is to experience, learn and hopefully understand some of the many cultures encountered around the world. With the Americas portion complete, now is a perfect time to reflect on lessons learned so far.  For those following closely you may have noticed a bit of confusion and slight shift in opinion. That should not be a surprise as opinions are generally based on experiences and experiences have been bountiful this trip. To better understand this shift let's examine the importance of culture and it's relationship with society. First, what is culture? Is it found exclusively in cultural centers boasting exhibits of arts, crafts and other physical products of society? Perhaps a more representative source are those including the performing arts like song, dance and theater? Is another potential means of experiencing culture found on tours featuring local foods, history and architecture? If the above is true, culture has ...
Read more

Day 58 - Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala

-
Image
Along with the two remaining ports in Mexico, Puerto Quetzal is among our last excursions in Latin America. Having never visited Guatemala, we weren't sure what to expect, but figured it would be similar to our other ports in South America. Although most seemed to have similar backgrounds and social issues, all were exciting experiences with unique cultural differences. Today's excursion was long, so we were up early, well rested, full of energy and ready to go.  Both Joan and I are chronologically enhanced and not in the best of shape. For this reason we avoid strenuous excursions like Machu Picchu, Iguazu Falls and opt for choices better matching our capabilities. This is not an easy decision, but given our situation, it is the best and definitely wise choice.  The day began with a ninety minute bus ride to Antigua Guatemala and transfer to a smaller bus. The second bus took us deeper into the city for a drop-off. About five hours later, a different bus would pick us, ...
Read more