Do you have a bucket list?  I do!  Some of the things I want to do are actually written down, and other things are just in my head.  I’ve marked off several things—places I wanted to visit, like Switzerland, Holland, Bora Bora, and Italy.  And a little closer to home—Kenn took me to see where my first love, Andy Griffith, grew up!  Mount Airy, North Carolina!  I also got to whale watch and was a temporary ‘one hit wonder’.  (You would have read a previous blog post to hear about the last two!)

But most of my friends know I love to cruise.  As a matter of fact, I’ve just recently completed my 45th one!  One of my bucket list items is to go on a long cruise—like twenty days or more.  The longest one I’ve done was 15 days, when Kenn and I did a full transit of the Panama Canal.  We also did two back to back cruises, each being 14 days.  After I finished this last one, which lasted a week, I started looking for long ones.  I mostly sail on Royal Caribbean and, since I get a lot of perks for being ‘loyal’, I started there. The longest one I could find that sounded interesting was 21 days.  However, the timing wasn’t good.  I would miss a dear friend’s wedding.  So I looked elsewhere.

And I found it!!!  Thirty five days.  Leaves from Fort Lauderdale.  Goes to St. Kitts.  Then, on to South America, including Chile, Uruguay, Brazil, and Argentina. And THEN…….ANTARCTICA!!!!!  I am stoked!  Actually, it just does several days of scenic cruising of Antarctica, which is fine with me.  I’ve already reserved some excursions—one, where I get to hang out with penguins and another one, where I hang out with seals and sea lions!  Another one is a dinner and show, watching professional dancers do the Tango.  I’ve also reserved several city tours.  It ends back in Buenos Aires, so I will fly back to the USA from there.

I’m guessing I will be amongst ‘like aged’ people.  I mean, how many young people can go away for 35 days?!  And if they could, would they head to Antarctica…..or Hawaii???  I also hope there are a few solo travelers like me.  But if not, it’s ok!

Packing will be a challenge.  I’m leaving in November, which will be the start of summer weather in the southern hemisphere.  But, as we get further and further away from the equator, it will be really cold.  So I will need to pack for both extremes. 

I am having a lot of fun planning!  It will certainly be one of the biggest adventures I’ve ever experienced!