Observations from Ovation

 Greetings once more from the Pacific Ocean; this time closer to Japan than the United States!

We have today and then 3 more days at sea before we step foot on land.

We are really not doing much but relaxing and wandering the ship.  We enjoy our time in the Solarium. Blaise isn’t much of a drinker but I am testing various drinks at the many bars.

Enjoying our Solarium time

I do have some useless observations of the miscellaneous variety. (I think that might be redundant.)  Here they are in no particular order.

Lounge Chairs

Saving lounge chairs is alive and well. I think some people must save them the night before.  We get out there pretty early to hang out in the Solarium and most chairs are already reserved.  I suppose I could be a bitch and move their towels to the side to make a point but why?  I don’t need that bad mojo out there. Royal Caribbean makes a big deal about not saving loungers but I don’t see much enforcement.  I just want people to be a bit more thoughtful to others.

The Seas and the Weather

Thus far the seas are not near as bad as I thought they would be.  The first day and a half were quite smooth, the kind where the water looks almost like glass. We do alternate. One day will be easy seas with little to no whitecaps.  The next day it is rougher with some rocking of the ship and lots of white caps.  That was yesterday. Today is fairly smooth with just a few whitecaps. We had one day when the barf bags came out but I guess I don’t have motion sickness issues.  Other than trouble walking a straight line is bad seas, I am not really bothered by it.

We’ve had some fog and rain on and off but nothing too heavy.  There have been more dry days than rainy.  It is often cloudy but 2 days ago we awoke to not a cloud in the sky.

The temperature has also been warmer than I thought.  The lowest temp has been 66 with the highest being about 75.  Absolutely beautiful!

It is often very windy.  Today has been the least windy day so far at 12 knots.  Keep in mind though that it is only 7:40 AM.  The day is young.

I have no idea if this weather is the norm for a transpacific crossing but I am so very thankful for it!

Thoughts on a Transpacific Crossing

I would do it again.  Ten days at sea is a lot!  But I find looking out at the ocean and listening to the water, relaxing, peaceful, and grounding.  How odd for someone who doesn’t know how to swim, right?

I am also glad we have a balcony.  I have enjoyed sitting out, hearing the water, reading or just sitting there being thankful.

The Time Shift

The time changes are CRAZY! Every night except one we have fallen back one hour.  The night we didn’t fall back, we skipped an entire day; we went from Sunday right into Tuesday.

It throws off your internal clock.  Blaise is getting up at 3:30/4:30 in the morning.  I am sleeping a bit later but by 6 or 6:30 I am ready to go out and about.

My guess is we will fall back an hour every night until we get to Japan.  We are traveling directly due west and the captain says there is a time change every 15 degrees.

It seems oxymoronic to travel west to get to the east.

Mealtime in the Buffet

While I am used to hand sanitizer all over ships, particularly before you go into a restaurant, I am not used to a hand-washing station before you go into the buffet area.  They have that on this ship, along with the hand-sanitizers.  I think a hand-washing station is a great idea but I am not sure how much more useful it is than the hand-sanitizer given the haphazard hand-washing I see.  Running water on your hands for 2 seconds is not helpful.  How does that kill anything growing on your hands?

The ship also has a staff member in front of each hand-washing station wearing a food “costume.”  I call it a costume but it really is just a felt apron-like thing with 3 holes, one for the head and one for each arm, designed to look like food - a strawberry, french fries, a hamburger, etc. No problems with the costumes or the staff but I would be happy to never hear “Washy washy before yummy yummy” again. At first I thought they were saying this just to the kids, but there are few kids and they say it when there is not a child in sight.

The food in the buffet is actually pretty good.  Nice variety.  Tasty.

They make great banana and blueberry muffins.  I’ve never been a fan of the banana muffin, but their’s is delicious!

Main Dining Room

We eat every night in the main dining room.

The food is pretty good.  No complaints since that one day I did not like a single main dining room choice and the ones I choose were not good.

We have a table for two that is situated right next to another table for two.  The couple next to us does not talk much to each other.  They look at their phones for most of the dinner.  That’s sad to me.

I do wonder how the cruise ship keeps all the food fresh for 10 days at sea.  They still have salads and fruits and they are still fresh all these days after leaving port. I have not seen the quality diminish with time.

That’s about it for today. I hope everyone is doing well.

Sayonara until next time.

The Voyage Overview

Hello, from further out in the Pacific than yesterday!  It appears we are a little less than halfway across.

How We Got Here

After we retired, we knew we were going to take a very long trip and this is it. We have been planning for what seems like years but in reality it has only been about a year and a half.

Some people call what we are doing “slow travel” and that is what Blaise calls it, but I say it’s just a really long trip.

We tested our ability to be gone from home for long periods of time several times:  a month in Portugal (December 2023), six weeks in Rome (December 2023/January 2024), and then earlier this year with about 2 ½ months in Greece and Albania.

This trip is a little different in that we won’t have a home to go back to.

This time we will be gone for 8 (ish) months to the Southeast Asia. We decided early on we did NOT want to fly all that way.  We did that once before when we took a cruise out of Sydney, Australia and didn’t want to suffer in coach for all those hours nor spend all that money on business class this time.  And why should we when we can spend the same money, if not less, on a cruise from North America to the area and take another cruise back to North America?

So the hunt was on.  Originally we found back to back to back cruises on Celebrity from Vancouver to Hawaii, Hawaii to Sydney Australia, and Sydney to Singapore.  We had already done the Sydney to Singapore and we all know how that went - See a koala, fall, break your nose, get kicked off a boat.  I suppose this was our chance to get that leg right but then I found the cruise we are on which ends up in Tokyo.

I told Blaise, when he told me he wanted to go to Thailand, Vietnam, etc., that I wasn’t too keen on all that heat for months and months but I would do this with the stipulation we are in Japan in the spring for cherry blossoms. So the 8-month trip was born.  Don’t get me wrong, I want to see all the things that Blaise wants to see in this part of the world, but I would do it quicker and get out of the heat.

I DO like the idea of spending a month here, two weeks there.  What I liked so much about the time we spent in all those other places the past couple of years is that we can see things at a slower pace and not feel rushed to see it all.  For example, when we were in Rome, the “rule” was visit one thing a day.  Some days it wasn’t even seeing a site, it was merely going to a park or wandering the streets to see what we run into.

We thought we were going to wait to book the return cruise after we arrived in the area, but we found a great deal on an Azamara cruise from Tokyo to Whittier Alaska leaving May 9, 2026 and booked it.  So we are staying a bit longer in in Southeast Asia than we anticipated and then ending up in Alaska.

Now we are thinking we have to spend some time in Alaska before heading back to Texas. And Alaska is in the general vicinity of Lake Louise so don’t we have to go there too?

Do we have everything booked for the whole trip?  No.  We wanted some flexibility in this trip for many reasons.  What if we don’t like a certain place?  What if we fall in love with another place and want to stay longer?  And now there is a kerfuffle between Thailand and Cambodia at their border we have to keep an eye on.

We are only booked through our first week in Bankok and will book the rest of our time in Bankok once we get there and book most places after that 2-6 weeks in advance.

The Itinerary

All of this is subject to our whims, but here is the rough draft of the itinerary:

Arrive in Tokyo                10/09/25

Osaka              10/09/25 - 10/16/25

Bankok         10/16/25 - 11/13/25

Chang Mai, Thailand    11/13/25 - 12/15/25

Da Nang, Vietnam           12/15/26 - 01/16/26

Siam Reap, Cambodia      01/16/26 - 01/30/26

Hua Hin, Thailand    01/30/26 - 03/01/26

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia    03/01/26 - 04/01/26

Japan TBD                      04/01/26 - 04/21/26

Seoul, South Korea          04/21/26 - 05/08/26

Tokyo                             05/08/26 - 05/09/26

Azamara Pursuit              05/09/26 - 05/20/26

Alaska                           05-20-26 - TBD

That’s it in a nutshell.  We’ve tossed around the idea of the Phillipines, but no plans to go there right now.

This Cruise

I DO have clarification on this cruise and the whole international dateline thing.  We have fallen back an hour every night so far on the ship only to simply skip Monday.  So we will go straight from Sunday to Tuesday.  That’s messed up! Blaise is all “we are time travelers!”  And I’m all “I’m getting screwed out of a day!”  But really no worries about that - we will get it back on the cruise from Tokyo to Alaska.

We are on the ship for many sea days and get to Muroran on day 13, stay there overnight and leave the evening of day 14.  Day 15 is Hakodate. Day 16 we are at sea one final day, arriving in Tokyo at 7:30 AM day 17, October 9. But the messed up part of this is we really won’t have a day 7 - we’re just going to skip that!

If anyone has any questions about this trip now that you know the details, fire away.

Until next time . . .

And We're Off!

[Please excuse the font changes and formatting inconsistencies - the blogger word processor is a piece of shit. I am frustrated and I quit (fixing the formatting)!]

So much to say. Where do I start. I thought my next entry would be an overview of the next 8 months. But we are on our first transpacific cruise and there are things to say. Mostly worthless things, but things nonetheless.

Before the Cruise

First, we said goodbye to our home of 28 years. It really hasn't been our home since we relinquished control of it to the estate sale company on September 8. All the furniture that did not sell during the estate sale was finally sold or donated, with the last of it (our living room suite (couch, loveseat, and chair) going on Sunday, donated to a women's shelter. Then all we had left was the bed that our family members who are buying the house are also buying from us and a few other items.

I have to admit, I teared up several times before we left on Tuesday; a few times about the house and a few times saying goodbye to people, including the kids Monday night at dinner. I know I will be back and will see them again (even the house) but still... We are closing a chapter of our lives and beginning a new one - the "old together" part, although I don't feel old and often wonder, "when did I get here?" The older I get the faster time flies.

But I digress.

The Day we Leave

Tuesday we woke up at 3:30 AM to hop on an early flight to Los Angeles to catch a boat in the afternoon. Our son was kind enough to get up on one of his days off and take us to the airport. I teared up again as we walked into the airport, leaving him at the curb.

We stopped by the CapitalOne lounge for a quick bite and coffee before we hopped on the first American Airlines flight of the day to Los Angeles. I hate early morning flights but I wanted the first flight out in case there were problems. I wanted plenty of options should there be a mechanical issue or something causing our flight to get canceled/delayed. When you are taking a cruise when the first stop is 14 days away, its not like you can catch up with the ship at the next port. You don't get on that ship in time, you are SOL.

Then the burning question is why didn't we just fly in the day before to be sure? Blaise didn't want to, although I did. So our compromise was to take the first flight out the day our cruise left Los Angeles. In the end, I am glad we flew out the day of the cruise. There simply was too much to do after the estate sale and we needed that extra day to wrap things up.

We did sit in the LAX airport a couple of hours before heading to the cruise port since our check in time was 12:30. The flight got there at 8:15 so we people-watched for a while and got to the cruise terminal about an hour early. They let us on early with no issues.

About this Cruise

As I mentioned this is our first transpacific cruise and we are headed to Tokyo. We have been on three transatlantic cruises (2 west to east and one east to west) and really enjoyed them.

This Cruise will be the longest we have been at sea without any stops. Since we are crossing the international date line, I am not sure if it is 12, 13, or 14 days. Yes, I listed 3 days because I also can't remember exactly which day of the cruise we have our first stop in Japan before we end up in Tokyo and I am too lazy to look it up. Oddly, I am OK with not being sure.

Once we make it across the pond, we have 2 stops in Japan before we reach Tokyo on day 17. (Again that international date line crossing is throwing me off, but the itinerary for the cruise says day 17 so I'm going with it.) We overnight in Muroran and then stop for a day in Hakodate.

We are on Royal Caribbean's Ovation of the Seas. We don't normally cruise Royal Caribbean but this was the best fit for our plans and since Celebrity (our preferred cruise line) status matches with Royal Caribbean, we get some nice perks on the ship (5 drinks a day-anytime, a free bag of laundry each, and a few others).

There are not many children on this ship. Now, don't get me wrong, I like children, but when we are on vacation trying to relax, it's lovelier with fewer children as not all children are well-behaved. Although, you could make an argument that not all adults on these cruises are well-behaved either.

The food has been hit or miss. The first night's meal in the main dining room was good. Night two we used our buy one, get one free (BOGO) at a specialty dining restaurant, Chops Grille. While it was a decent meal, I expected better from a venue we paid extra for. We went back to the main dining room last night and the food was lack-luster. I hope it is better tonight, otherwise I will be missing the food on Celebrity. I think we'll make due though. If that's my only complaint, I'm doing JUST FINE.

We have spent our first few days on the ship wandering around and relaxing, recouping from all the running around and work involved in selling everything and getting the house ready for its new family.

Our view from the Solarium this morning- the Pacific Ocean

I was expecting the seas to be fairly rough. Wednesday, the water was smooth as glass. Yesterday it was a little rougher with minimal white caps. Today we have little bitty waves with no white caps. I expect it will get worse but for now, I will enjoy. The first day, we saw lots of cargo ships but not a ship in sight since Wednesday.

What Time is It?

We have gained an hour every night we have been on the ship (3 nights). Right now it is 8:23 AM on the ship but 1:26 PM at home. When we hit the international date line, we will jump ahead a day. I don't know if it is a full 24 hours ahead or what. I'll find out and report back.

The time shift has really thrown us off. Blaise was up at 3:30 this morning and getting coffee. I was awake by 5:30 and trying to go back to sleep. Waking up that early on a cruise ship is just wrong!

One last thing before I call it quits for now. I am thrilled to report, I have not gotten sick nor have I fallen or broken anything.

Next time I will write more about the overall plan for this trip. I really will this time!

Echo of Change

The past week and a half has been a new experience. This past weekend was our estate sale. The goal was to sell everything that we did not choose to put in 1 of 2 5X10 storage units, one for photos, art, and other special items, and the other for Blaise’s tools.  It essentially ended up being one for all the stuff I wanted to keep and one for all the stuff Blaise wanted to keep.

We had to be out of the house the Monday before the sale for staging.  The sale was conducted Saturday and Sunday so we came back to the house the Monday after the sale.

What did we do for that week?  We stayed in 4 different places, for various reasons.  It felt like a mini trial run of the nomadic life we’ll have the next 8 months. We spent 2 nights in a lovely AirBnB in Fort Worth near Magnolia.  We used that time to enjoy our favorite Fort Worth things.  We even took a wonderful walk on the Trinity Trails; a new experience for us both.  I wondered why I didn’t go there and walk during lunch when I was working.

Then we went up to Winstar and stayed there for a couple of comp nights.  Friday we headed up to Oklahoma City for our niece’s white coat ceremony so we spent the night at a hotel in Norman.  We had booked a place in OKC but when we drove up to it, Blaise was not enthused with the location and upkeep of the property.  He took a walkthrough of the lobby area and decided we were NOT staying there.  So we headed down to Norman and stayed there at a decent place next to the hospital.  While in Norman, we did a little drive down memory lane and had a lovely brunch with our nieces before the eldest headed back to Austin.

Then we spent 2 more nights in a hotel by the raceway in North Fort Worth. Blaise actually spent 2 nights.  Saturday night, I had a lovely girls night at a friend’s house in Haslett. 

Getting back to the house Monday afternoon was a huge slap of reality. While most of the large furniture pieces were still in the house, most of our stuff was just gone. All this week since Monday, as the remaining furniture has been sold on Facebook Marketplace and removed from the house, it feels less and less like our home.

I have come to the conclusion that once there is an echo in the house, it is no longer your home. It’s fairly depressing staying here right now. I may have shed a couple of tears. We are sleeping in a bed that our family who is buying the house is keeping. I suppose we could stay at a hotel until we leave but there are things at the house we need to do before we leave.

Our living room Monday after the estate sale

One last thing before I call it quits for the night regarding the estate sale - It is very disconcerting knowing hundreds of strangers are traipsing through your home while your whole life is on display and for sale. And I think they forgot, it is still someone’s home.  Don’t go ripping the TV off the wall, damaging the wall. Not so hypothetically speaking.

Since we leave for our epic adventure next Tuesday, I suppose next time, I should talk about our trip - where we are going, what we are doing, and the logistics of it all. Until then, as I once saw someone write in autograph book when I was a child - “Love many. Hate few. But always paddle your own canoe.”

End of an Era

Written Sunday, September 7, 2025

Welcome to my new blog about our retirement travels. This is more for me than anyone else (to document and to remember years down the road - what happened and maybe how I felt about it.) If people read it, that would be welcome and wonderful. But at a minimum, when I am old an decrepit, maybe someone will read it to me and it will spark a memory in my feeble mind.

My husband, Blaise, and I are finally living the dream we’ve had almost since we started dating in 1993.

We are selling the house we built together. We put earnest money on a new home  right after we became engaged in November 1996. We were married in May 1997 and closed on the house July 31 of that same year.  We have essentially lived our entire married life in this house (where I sit writing this). We have shared so much joy in this house but we have also shared much sorrow including grieving for the loss of both our mothers, my sister, our beloved dogs, and cat, all within these walls.  This is where we built our life together and where our love for each has grown in ways I never thought possible.  We’ve hosted so many family holidays and gatherings through the years and it has been our base for Thanksgiving every year since my sister passed way in August 2016.  Thanksgiving for the past 9 years has been our family’s anchor in this house.  A way to honor the memories of our mothers and my sister, Kaylene, and to come together as each of our lives have gone different directions. We have also welcomed friends and family in our home to live during transitional periods of their lives.  It has been our haven.

To say I have had mixed emotions about selling this building (which at it’s core, is really all it is) is an a bit of an understatement. I am sad this part of our lives is coming to an end, yet excited for the new adventures awaiting us. Some days there is more excitement, while other days, sadness wins the battle.

Today is one of our last days in our home before we relinquish control to the people handling our estate sale. And I am sad today as we pack up all of the belongings we are keeping.  If it doesn’t fit in a 5X10 storage unit, it gets sold.  There is a sense of freedom that comes with letting go of all those “things” that anchor us down.  On the other hand, when I packed up all the pictures of all our loved ones a week ago, I felt a loss.  We are those people who surround themselves with framed pictures of all those we love. Pictures of the kids at various stages of childhood, as if they are forever 5 or 15. Pictures of our parents, our siblings, our nieces, and even our beloved pets.  All those who add to our joy and fill our hearts with love.  That paper that reminds us of who we are and who we love, all packed away in plastic bins, heading to a storage facility until we return and make a new home.  I never realized until all the pictures were gone, how comforting it was to look around our house and see our loved ones every day. We are blessed!  And that is not a statement I say often.

BUT! In a little more than two weeks, we get on a cruise ship and head to Southeast Asia for eight months of unknown adventure.  Blaise and I have talked about taking this step in our lives for years.  And it is finally here!  I guess since we are both now retired, this is the “getting old” together part of our lives. And I am ready for it!

If you actually read this and have specific questions, let me know. In the days to come, I will write more about the logistics and where we are going.