Traveling With Judi . . . .

I finally had my “Aha Moment“ today and hope it’s not too stream of consciousness to share!! 🤪😂  On the one hand, I have thoroughly enjoyed all of the days at sea and feel like there is such a magical and peaceful quality of being on the water for uninterrupted days! On the other hand, I’ve been feeling a little out of sorts since we arrived in Tenerife (feeling like the magical spell was broken by land)!! So most of my cruise has felt as magical as I expected, but going into port has felt like work!! 🥵🥴  Yesterday I did a bus tour to the surrounding areas of Cadiz and it was lovely, but I mostly just felt hot and tired by the time I got back to the ship.  Our tour guide on the bus was very interesting and filled us in on the history of this area - colonized by many cultures for the last 3000 years since it was a crucial port into the Mediterranean!! First it was the Phoenicians and Carthaginians, then the Romans, then the Visigoths(I think? 🤔),the Moors, and then th...

Well, it’s been exactly 10 years to the day since I did my first international trip/housesits (first in the UK for a couple weeks, then France for three months, then the dreaded non-entry into the UK on my return for France!!!), and now I am finally fulfilling a dream that started percolating on that trip!  I remember thinking about how miserable I was from jet lag and not long after, I came across these amazing transatlantic cruises! I thought to myself “wouldn’t that be wonderful to just adjust to the time change one hour per day instead of all at once?!“ And now, after 10 years of imagining myself with a balcony cabin, sipping coffee and eating croissants, I am finally here! ☕️🥐☕️ I think I filled all of you in on the cruise that I booked coming back from Spain at the end of October, but I also decided to book a cruise heading TO Barcelona that left yesterday! I had originally looked for something in October and didn’t find anything because usually transatlantic cruises come fr...

So a little over a year ago, I booked the Transatlantic Cruise that was the beginning step in planning my “Big Adventure” starting in Italy then exploring South America! It ended up being a different kind of adventure than I expected with a challenging time of recovery and learning opportunities, but it has been enlightening for sure!! 🥴🙄 After lots of pondering this year about how my “I’m always safe when I travel”perspective has been challenged due to the accident last year (and lots of nervous thoughts of “hmmm… should I try this again” trauma thoughts), I decided I’m just going to jump in and give it another try (and trust that all will be well on this trip)!!  Even with all that’s happened in my travels (detained/denied entry into the UK, etc.), I’ve never had a fear of traveling! Even traveling alone has never bothered me so this hesitancy I’ve felt to jump on board (so to speak) has surprised me!!  I seriously considered 3 months in Ecuador, but I just couldn’t get it...

Sorry, this post turned out quite long so feel free to skip through and peruse the details!! A few of you have asked for more information, so I thought I’d fill in some details for those inquiring minds who want to know!! Also, I just wanted to let you know my shoulder surgery will be THIS Thursday at 7:30 am (and all prayers and good intentions for healthy outcomes are appreciated)!!  🙏💖🙏 So here we go…. Our (unexpectedly last) day of sightseeing started with an early morning, crowd-free visit to the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and it was the most perfect moment of the day!! Little did I know when we left our sweet AirBnb in Viareggio that morning, it would be the last time I would see it (expecting to return that evening)!! It was still a bit cloudy when we first got to Pisa, but we got some great pictures then settled into the cafe right across the street! It was the perfect place to people-watch as many tourists tried to get the same picture (holding up the tower)!! It’s so ...

Yaaaay, we finally made it to Portofino yesterday!! It’s been raining off and on all week (mosquitoes galore!!! 🥴), but we decided to head to Portofino yesterday (rain or shine) to fit that trip in before heading off to our other Italian travel adventures next week!! Almost every day has been cloudy, rainy and/or thunderstorms, but yesterday turned out to be a beautiful, sunny day (even if it was a bit humid)!! ☀️  I have booked a lovely place in Rapallo (near Portofino) for the two weeks after Sheryl leaves before my cruise, and the owner of the apartment was kind enough to hold my two backpacks so I’ll only have one suitcase with wheels to navigate on the trains (and the Vaparetto in Venice)!! So we met the apartment owner’s partner at the train station where he KINDLY took my the bags (yaaaay!!), then wandered around Rapallo a bit to find a gluten free pasta place with AMAZING pesto sauce!! (According to the people I stayed with in Genoa years ago, Liguria is the ho...

It’s the perfect sunny Italian day outside with gentle breezes blowing in from the sea (drying our sheets and towels!!), my tummy is full from good coffees, yummy bread and pizza, and life is good!! Don’t be jealous though because this perfect day comes after a challenging (intense but interesting) week, with the best of plans waylaid by “Severe/EXTREME, thunderstorms, wind and rain” (to quote the Italian Meteorologists), delayed trains, and trouble with my “good knee”!! 🥴  Seems like ages ago, but it was only last Monday when we trudged into Lucca since we wanted a “gentle day trip” not far away!! With only light rain predicted, we figured it would be fine... until we got soaked!! I would love to be an outdoorsy type of person, but I’m really NOT (unless it’s sitting outside at a cafe sipping a cappuccino)!! ☕️ The rain threw me off-kilter and all I could think about was getting dry and sitting down, so when Google Maps directed us towards the huge wall that surrounds the old ...