Sometimes you just have to say…
Over a year ago, we were invited to go on a world cruise with our dear friends the Hartman’s. “Come on, it will be fun! We will go places we’ve always wanted to go like the Cook Islands,” they said. “You can afford it,” they said. Maybe, we said. We’ll think about it. And we immediately began to weigh the pros and cons.
Aside from the obvious financial factor, our condo is “lock and leave” and our niece Lauren, second year med student, will collect the mail. Our beloved kitties have passed over the Rainbow bridge so there’s no animals to tend and no plants to water. We forgot to have children and our parents are gone, so our family responsibilities are diminished.
We have completed five joint replacements we think our bodies are in reasonably good shape despite arthritis and other manageable issues. We’re devoted to body work with Jack Donisvitch and yoga, and Jerry has been working outside on the condo grounds to keep fit, so we feel physically ready —maybe it is now or never to tackle something like this? And it will be mostly winter in Colorado while we’re gone.
Obligations on the Goodwill Colorado and Junior Achievement boards and our Condo HOA board were manageable. We promise to stay in touch via WIFI, ZOOM, and text as much as feasible. The organizations seem amenable to giving us an excused absence. Our trusted accountant says he can file an extension on our income taxes and our bank says it will pay our bills for us and authorize our credit card charges.
Packing for a six-month journey to exotic countries, many in sweltering humid climates, is a challenge for us fair-weather Colorado dwellers. We need hiking, swimming, and sightseeing clothes, some shipboard washable attire, nothing too dressy, but some culture considerations where conservative attire is required. And clothes that can protect against sun and the disease demons, mosquitos. As always, shoes are the primary issue for one of us, as well as space in general: storage in a 300 sq.ft cabin is limited!
We were very disappointed when our friends cancelled to due health issues, but we decided to go solo. What about the dangerous conditions in the world? Terrorists, Putin, China and Mother Nature all threaten. But adventure and checking off a lot of items on our bucket list outweigh the cons. Plus, it seems like a perfect way to celebrate a big anniversary!
So considering all the factors, sometimes you just gotta say, WTF?