Inspiration

Inspiration

I'm not a big admirer of spontaneity. I'd consider it foreign to my way of thinking to jump in a car and head somewhere without knowing, at least somewhat, where I was heading, why I was going there, how long I would be there and what I would do when I arrived. I'm not a fan of surprises and I hate not having a plan. I don't know if this is a failing of mine or whether I'm in the majority in this view. I only know that I get the shudders when I contemplate setting forth on a task or journey with no planning beforehand.

I know people who are proponents of the alternative viewpoint. A young lady where I work is of that persuasion. She actually likes unpreparedness, going off half-cocked, heading out with no clear destination. And she seems to thrive on that mind set.

I applaud her choices and am quick to acknowledge that her way of doing things might be acceptable under some circumstances – maybe even, dare I say it, fun? But I surely would not want to do it her way very often, if at all.

Another friend once told me that I was, perhaps, the most unspontaneous person they had ever known. When I thought about it, I had to agree. I wasn't ashamed of it. I wasn't even put off by their judgment on my way of doing things. It was like saying a ball was round. Or the sea is salty. Of course it is and of course I am.

Which leads me, after meandering around a bit, to the topic of this blog.

I like to have goals in front of me. Something to look forward to – something to aspire toward. Whether those goals are as simple as a dental appointment next month or as complicated as the day I plan to retire. I like to see that goal sitting on my horizon and I like to see my path leading toward that prize. One of the goals I've always enjoyed placing in my path, planning for and then moving toward is our yearly quest for a vacation destination. My wife and I like to start throwing out possibilities to each other late in the previous year. The beach? The mountains? Canada? Dixie? The big city? Visit with distant relatives or friends? To go back to a place we're familiar with or to seek out a new place? There are generally lots of ideas floating back and forth between us during that time period. After discussing this and that we usually select a destination early in the year in which we plan to take the vacation and start drawing a bead on it. Well, at least I do. I don't think my wife is as fanatical about planning as I am. In fact I'm sure she isn't.

But this year we were a bit at loose ends. All the possibilities we were discussing were leaving me cold. No I didn't want to do this. No I was not particularly sold on that. And I definitely didn't want to do that other thing. And it was getting late. At least late to my viewpoint. Some destinations require making plans many months in advance and it was already mid-February.

What to do? What to do?

About that time several things began to coalesce around us that eventually lead to our final decision as to our vacation this year. I heard a friend from work talking about the vacation she'd taken last year. Another friend at my workplace had just returned from his winter vacation, the type of trip very similar to the first friend's. And my brother-in-law mentioned about his going on a trip very similar to the two friends at work.

The vacation they had all taken was a cruise.

And they had ALL had GREAT times.

When I floated the idea to my wife that maybe we might want to consider taking a short cruise – just to “test the water”, I could see her eyes light up. We'd talked about doing just that thing a number of years ago. We'd even talked to a travel agent who specialized in cruises. But we'd chickened out for a number of reasons then and hadn't revisited the idea since. I don't even remember our reasons for not going then.

But now?

I dove onto the Internet and began making queries. Where do cruises go? How long should we go for? Which cruise line? How much will it cost? How do we get to whatever port of departure we need to get to? How much will that cost? What do you do on a cruise? And what do you do at your destination?

And so on and so forth.

I talked to my brother-in-law about cruising, as he'd been on eleven of them and was, therefore, as much an expert as I'd need. He gave me many excellent tips. I talked to the people I worked with and asked innumerable questions concerning their trips. I talked to my wife as to what her thoughts were. I went back to the computer and began narrowing down choices. Finally, after considering a number of factors, we decided on our cruise.

We're heading out of Tampa early in July. We're sailing on the Carnival Inspiration on a four-day cruise to Cozumel, Mexico and back.

The length was about right for first-time cruisers, I thought. Enough time to get immersed in shipboard life and enough time at the destination to see and feel a bit of a foreign country. To have some fun in the sun and to enjoy ourselves in a new venture. But not too long in case we hated it. Or if we got seasick. Or a coronovirus.

We've decided to fly down a day early to ensure we don't “miss the boat”. I've already booked the motel we'll stay at that evening before.

We've applied for our passports and are patiently awaiting their arrival.

And I'm busily and happily making plans and plans and more plans. I've read dozens and dozens of reviews written by cruisers who've taken that exact cruise recently in the same boat and soaked up their thoughts on the good stuff and the bad stuff. (It's all mostly good.) I've read blogs by cruise directors. I've eyeballed Google Earth for our ship's course, what Tampa looks like and how far our motel is from the airport and the ship's departure dock. I've read many reviews of Cozumel – where to buy souvenirs and what kind, where to dine, where to enjoy a beach, where to have a drink, what to expect for weather and many other things. I've watched videos shot by vacationers on the same boat we're booked on and in the same kind of cabin we've reserved. And of their excursions at Cozumel. I even told my wife I could probably find my way around the cabin and ship blind-folded as I'd seen so many videos about it.

It ought to be fun. No. It WILL be fun! I'm very, very confident.

Why?

'Cause I've made my plans! I've checked everything out I possibly can and am relaxed that we're prepared and we'll be fine.

Cruising the Caribbean! Visiting Mexico! New friends! Fabulous food! Fun in the sun!

120 days and counting.

I CAN'T WAIT!