I’ve been jotting down some stuff during the past week and have been looking for an opportunity to get it all posted. Some of it may interest you, some of it won’t. But at least I’m finally able to post it.
Those cobblestones in Italy pretty much did me in. I experimented with different types of shoes and it really didn’t matter – spending four to six hours a day walking on those charming cobblestoned streets and sidewalks is tough on the feet and legs. I actually managed to trip and fall in Florence, bruising my left knee and bouncing my camera off the sidewalk. Fortunately, both the knee and the camera emerged from that embarrassing, awkward mishap fully operational.
Speaking of my camera, I have been frustrated with my inability to upload many photos to my website. I had specifically upgraded my cell service with T-Mobile to include unlimited international roaming and data. The cell coverage has been fine, but using the Internet has been painful. What I hoped to do was use my phone as a hotspot, then set up a wifi connection with my laptop. In a perfect world, I’d be able to upload photos and posts like this one as easily as sitting at my home computer.
Not so fast…
Back in Sicily, I had worked on my Spain post and spent over an hour just trying to upload a few images. (It kept crapping out halfway through the uploads.) And when I had finished writing, just as I clicked on the “publish” button, the connection died completely.
I looked out the window and realized we were already about ten miles offshore. (It was thundering and raining; storming so badly I hadn’t noticed the captain had fired up the engines.)
Sending images and short messages to my blog (which automatically posts to Facebook and Google+) using my phone’s camera and email app works great, as does the Instagram app. (Thanks, Jennifer!) The downside: I can only use photos shot with my phone. Not that my Samsung Galaxy 6 doesn’t have a swell camera, but as I’m exploring the streets of Naples or Cadiz, I’m busy banging shots with my Canon DSLR. Switching out lenses. Trying to be artsy. The cell phone shots end up being afterthoughts. Like the other day in Rome, after I’d pretty much filled up my SD card with shots of the Coliseum, I shoved the big camera in my bag, pulled out my cell and snapped off a few and sent one to Instagram.
Not that there is anything wrong with doing it that way. I mean, people seem to enjoy seeing what I’m seeing and as long as I’m not trying to compose a long article and embedding a bunch of photos into it, it’s relatively easy and reliable. But I’d hoped that I’d have better Internet connectivity. The irony, of course, is the fact that T-Mobile knows exactly what it’s doing. (Or not doing.) Every time I’m yanking out my hair over how slow the Internet is, I get a snarky text from them offering me the ability to sign up now for its high speed data package!
There are several problems with that. For starters, they’re selling me a product/service that they do not have any control over. I haven’t been on the T-Mobile network since I left Manhattan. I’m using Vodafone and MoviStar and iWind or whatever network is serving the country or region I’m in at the moment. Their concept of “high speed” may not be T-Mobile’s concept of “high speed.” I could easily be paying a premium for the same crappy service I’m already paying for.
The other issue is, T-Mobile is selling a time-sensitive plan with limited data. I don’t have the specifics in front of me, but for example, I can buy a three-day high-speed data pass for $50 that’ll give me 150MB. Which is great, but for the majority of that time, I’m in the middle of a massive body of water somewhere and can’t access anything.
When I’m in port, I’m generally off the ship, exploring. Beating up my ankles and knees. By the time I get back on board, into my stateroom, kicking off my shoes and collapsing in a heap, the Captain is firing up the engines and pulling up the anchor.
I had some very good intentions about maintaining my blog. I honestly thought I’d have enough down time that I’d get more things accomplished.
Nope.
I’ve made some friends on the staff and crew who’ve gotten me in to several – and I mean more than five – VIP cocktail parties so far with the captain and the ship’s officers. There have also been luncheons, formal dinners and private parties. Not exactly sure why, but I’m being treated very kindly. And as most of you know, strutting around in a tuxedo and sipping champagne at formal cocktail parties is pretty much the antithesis of my life in the real world.
But it’s nice to be sitting with a group of my fellow passengers and having Eddie Portero, the Guest Relations Manager, walk by in his dress whites and greet me by name. Or cracking wise with John Clelford, the Social Director. Or having cocktails with the lovely and gracious Austrian fraulein, Sabina, the onboard Destination Specialist.
Sabina has been an invaluable ally, giving me what-to-see/what-to-skip insights for virtually every port since Lisbon. I never would have found that beach in Almeria without her help. And she personally made sure I was in good hands with my personal driver, Sam, in Mallorca.
Unfortunately, she jumps ship in Venice and heads back to Austria, leaving me to manage the entire last leg of the cruise without having her knowledge and experience from which to draw upon.
I will miss her a lot.
Fortunately, I’ll still have Larry and Lynn, the husband & wife Future Cruise Consultant team, looking out for me. They have basically taken me under their wing and pulled me into their onboard social circle. I’m pretty sure Lynn won’t give up until she gets me married off to someone. (She introduce me to Sabina and keeps inviting the two of us to dine with them at their table.)
As for my fellow passengers, I’ve met quite a few by sharing a table at dinner. Others I’ve met on tours. Sitting at the bar in the “Crow’s Nest.” Folding my delicates in the coin-op laundry room. Or waiting for the elevator.
For the first half of the cruise, I’ve had a 100% proven ice-breaker:
“So…how many of you are going all the way to Singapore?”
Once everyone around the table hears I’m doing the full 49-days to Singapore alone, we’re off and running. When I get around to Australia, someone either confesses to living there or having just visited. And by the time I’m pulling into the port at Ft. Lauderdale, the conversation is usually at fever pitch. Before you know it, the waiter is serving dessert and some nice lady at the table is telling me she has a lovely friend back in Calgary I need to meet.
Dinner. Done.
Awkward silences avoided. Onboard fellowship assured, if only a friendly nod while passing each other while attacking the breakfast buffet.
There’s a wrinkle in that strategy, however. Once the ship pulls out of Venice and everyone on board is heading to Singapore, I’ll need to adjust my opener a bit:
“What is everyone doing after Singapore?”
That should open the door to a few interesting discussions.
A few takeaways:
1.) When traveling alone, you’re seldom by yourself and rarely lonely.
2.) If you wait to speak only when you are spoken to, you won’t make friends with anyone and you’ll likely miss out on an opportunity to learn something fun that could be important to you down the road.
3.) If you see a couple taking turns photographing each other, offer to take a picture of them together with their camera/cellphone/tablet. You’ll likely provide them with a treasured memory of their trip. If, however, they have a selfie stick, fuck ’em.
4.) I believe the most valuable aspect of travel is people, not places or things.
5.) The exception to #4 is anyone with a selfie stick.
(A word or two about the photograph above: It was taken in Almeria, Spain at about 9:30AM on a Sunday morning. It is my favorite photo from my trip…so far. I was amused by the irony of the immense expanse of pristine beach, the small group of disciplined women doing yoga, and the frustrated look of the man with the beach chair whose favorite spot was occupied. Click here to see a bigger version of this copyrighted future award-winner.)