Life on the Liberty . . .

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I’ve been really bad about not posting.

I apologize.

Life on the Liberty . . . My first couple weeks, I’ve struggled. I miss the Destiny. I miss my friends there, my routine there, the comfort I felt there. Work is busy, getting things with my program organized the way I prefer them. I had a one-night handover with the director I replaced, so I was running a program as I was trying to get it organized. I’d also been so spoiled on the Destiny with the itinerary of being in port every day, so going back to having days at sea and much longer work days took some time.

I’ve been doing very very little in the ports. Some days I just didn’t get off at all because I needed sleep too badly. So in addition to being too busy to update, I had little to write about anyway.

After being Destiny-sick, I started getting home-sick. I think I was just really yearning for comfort and familiarity and a sense of stability. I still want that, I think.

But now Mom & Lee have come to cruise with me for a week. It is so good to have them here and it came at a time when I really need it.

Recently, while browsing through shops in one of the ports, I was looking at cards with famous quotes on them. I’ve seen lots back home, have been given some by friends. But one jumped out at me:

“When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.” (Helen Keller)

I could’ve cried in the shop. That’s certainly been me during my time here. And I’ve known it. I’m working at that. Not letting go of the gratitude and happiness I have from my prior experiences. But I’m trying to look forward more and am trying make more of now.

Speaking of looking ahead, there is more travel in my future. The eve of my birthday, before the party, Jody & I sat out on crew deck with a bottle of wine. He asked me about what I want the year ahead to be about, where I’m at in life. Something I told him I’d realized is that more than ever, I have the desire to settle down. There are personal experiences I want to have that would involve staying somewhere. I’m reaching the end of my gypsy days. While I really want that, I still have my big dream trip that I have to take, so I have no regrets. And so, I said that I wanted the year ahead to be about making that trip happen. I am going to plan my trip to Fiji, New Zealand, Australia and South Africa and I am going to go. During my week in Fort Lauderdale, I started research and I’ve been continuing to mull over this big adventure of mine. I’ve applied for a couple of jobs/volunteer positions. I’m contacting friends to find out when they’ll be in their home countries. And I have officially booked a hop-on, hop-off bus tour of Fiji and New Zealand. It’s going to happen. So there is a lot to look forward to.

As for now, here on the ship, spring break has begun. The Liberty is swarming with teens. The next month will be ridiculously busy now. I’m sure by the end of it, I’ll have plenty of stories to tell. But I’ll wait until I’ve survived the spring break madness to compile those tales.

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Photos

The Liberty
My latest home at sea.

Me & Jess
Jess is a dancer. She also used to be on the Destiny, before I went there. But we met briefly one week when she came to cruise on the Destiny.