I wake every morning to cool summer desert air and the sound of birds chirping in the trees and nooks and crannies of statues throughout the monastery around me. Only one of the sister's surfaces, smiling and walking her black lab in the afternoons; the rest are clositered and spend most of their time indoors. Our campus is located on the monastery grounds and I've been amazed at the consistent sense of peace I feel; it comes in quiet waves, calming my nerves during the early mornings and late nights. It feels like I blindingly stumbled upon this place, but every [View Full Entry]

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I was excited for Alyssa, when she told me the news: she had been accepted to work for Santa Fe Photography Workshops. But soon some of the excitement receded, giving way to disappointment. I realized this meant our summer of hiking, running, talking, laughing and miscellaneous adventures would be cut very short. Everything would be fine though. After all, we have lived on opposite corners of the country for years. One more summer couldn't hurt our friendship. And in place of those plans I got an unexpected gift. I got to go on a "last hurrah" road-trip to get Alyssa [View Full Entry]

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On to my next Adventure… Merry Christmas! I hope everyone’s holidays are going well! I’ve gotten all sentimental this Christmas season and thought I would send out a little life update and a few thoughts from my time with Carnival. As most of you know, I have finished my contract with Carnival Cruise Lines and am back on land for a good while. I had the time of my life the last few months I was onboard-a time of intense fun and equally intense hardship. The first evening I spent back with family they told me I had changed- matured, calmed, [View Full Entry]

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"Think of the long trip home. Should we have stayed at home and thought of here? Where should we be today? Is it right to be watching strangers in a play in this strangest of theatres? What childishness is it that while there’s a breath of life In our bodies, we are determined to rush to see the sun the other way around?" - Questions of Travel, Elizabeth Bishop There’s a series of moments in traveling, periodic enlightenment, aha moments per say, and I live for them. They aren’t fancy, or always overwhelming. They’re usually quiet and unnoticed. [View Full Entry]

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Words are not as satisfactory as we should like them to be, but, like our neighbours, we have got to live with them and must make the best and not the worst of them. --Samuel Butler Since I last wrote, I’ve been to Charleston and Norfolk, Nassau and Freeport in the Bahamas and traveled up to my new home port in New York City (we’re docked about five streets up from Times Square and Central Park) to start my adventures in New Brunswick and Novia Scotia, Canada. My parents have to come cruise with me, I was almost transferred to [View Full Entry]

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Sickness... In the past weeks I have been more ill than I have felt since I was a kid. I always thought ear infections were for little kids with too much snot in their nose, but apparently adults can be victims as well. So, here are few thoughts from the past weeks when I have had time to reminisce over things. Thanks for reading... Sick Sunshine I went to sleep at midnight in hopes of shaking off the raw throat and head throbs I had been feeling all last week. eight hours of sleep is like the instant oatmeal of [View Full Entry]

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Sitting on the little ferry, bouncing over the waves from the Victory over to Grand Cayman, I’m always amazed at how many shades of blue the water turns in the sunlight. A couple guys hit on me (isn’t it too early for that?) and a sweet family from Miami asks me in broken English where the best beaches are. I smile and tell them I’m new around here and don’t know too much, but so far everything I’ve seen is gorgeous. I have an hour in a busy coffee-shop full of well-suited business men before I head off for my [View Full Entry]

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Coffee: Nectar of the Gods It's Tuesday Morning and I am sitting in Volcanoes Coffee Shop enjoying a mocha and some free wireless internet before I head off to some not-so-faraway lands (the Caribbean just doesn't feel far away compared to Asia or Europe or some other exotic place) to begin my new job as a videographer for Carnival Cruise Lines. I leave from Miami this Sunday....omigosh that's in five days! Although the Caribbean didn't seem as exciting as some of the other cruises I've heard of, my boss Teo has kept me excited with enticing stories of hiking waterfalls, state [View Full Entry]

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