We are on our way to Fort Lauderdale!  I can’t believe we will be on the ship in just two days.  I have been fretting over details, packing, immunizations, and excursions for about 15 months and the trip is finally here.  We had a fabulous ten days in San Jose. We made great holiday memories, relived some old family traditions and made some new ones.  I’m so very glad we got to spend a good amount of time with my grown boys before we flew out this morning.  It is bittersweet to say goodbye to our home, our friends and our family…but boy oh boy what an adventure we are embarking on.  Mom, the girls and I were far too excited to sleep last night.  I anticipate we will all get some sleep tonight and enjoy some relaxation tomorrow during the day, it’s supposed to be in the upper 70’s, before we will attend a cocktail party and dinner hosted by the travel company we booked our cruise through.  It will be a great chance to meet a couple hundred of our fellow travelers the day before we board.  Saturday we will board the Holland America Amsterdam.  We love and welcome you along on this adventure with us via this blog. I will post as often as I can, as long as the wi-fi is cooperating.  Hugs and Love, Debra.

Our luggage has left the building. Monday morning the Fed Ex driver arrived at our home to retrieve our luggage and ship it off to Fort Lauderdale. I will have to say she looked mildly shocked when we opened the door and she saw that she was not in fact retrieving packages but 11 suitcases. I have just confirmed on FedEx’s tracking sight that all our bags have arrived in Fort Lauderdale and are awaiting our arrival. Letting the luggage go, freed up my mind to finally start thinking about Christmas and the upcoming holiday season. We opted to not decorate our home this year so it feels a little weird around here. We didn’t want to put it up only to have to take it right down, or to face Christmas decorations upon our return in May. So there is no tree trimmed or stockings hung. But the girls did make gingerbread houses, we are burning our Christmas tree scented candles, and listening to lots of Christmas music on our Alexa. We finished up our Christmas shopping today. There are a few items left on the to-do list and housekeeping things to complete around here before we bid a sweet goodbye to Cayucos on Sunday. As we were driving home today on the 46 from Paso Robles we took great pause to admire the beautiful scenery of the rolling hills, now turning green here on the California coast. The sun was starting to set and reflected beautifully off the ocean. And then it occurred to us that for the next four months we will no longer see that view, from the land looking out. We will mostly be seeing the world from the ship looking in toward the land. It was an amazing realization and just another little pitter patter to our hearts of all the things we have in store for us in the coming months. Now it’s time for rest. The day was long, and busy, but extremely productive and we are one step closer to started this amazing journey. Hugs to you all and sweet dreams.

I love logging into Holland America’s website and seeing the countdown. It seems ever so much closer for us as we are actually departing home December 22nd to head to the Bay Area for the holidays. We have Christmas shopping and wrapping yet to do. But our one and only priority for the next 2 days is to finish up packing. Monday Fed Ex will be here to take our luggage off to Fort Lauderdale to awaiting our arrival. We met a lovely couple today who are going on the World Cruise for the 8th time!! They gave us some great advice, tips and shared some wonderful stories with us. We are even more excited than ever.

Today we also went to the bank and ordered currency for some of the countries we are visiting. There are about 30 different currencies in total for every country we are visiting and Chase was able to obtain 12 of them for us. If nothing else, it will be a wonderful tool to use to further the girls education. In case you are wondering, yes, they still have school. We have spent months preparing their curriculum and they will be doing the entire semester abroad. More about that later.

Let me thank you again for coming along on our travels with us. We are hoping the internet cooperates so we can keep you all updated at the same time we journal our adventures to look back on for many years to come. Hugs!

So how does one pack for a 128 day trip? That’s a really good question and in a few weeks I will answer that for you all. Yesterday we had to call in our luggage count. An estimate of how many suitcases we will be sending to the ship. I won the honor of the highest number the associate has ever had. Hey, no judgement, I am packing for three. December 16th they (Fed Ex) comes and picks up our suitcases and we pray that they are in Florida waiting for us when we arrive January 4th. Both girls are being homeschooled now so they will be pro’s at it before we leave the county December 22nd. Every medication you may need, anything you want to make your stateroom feel like home, clothes for mainly warm climate but with a week of freezing temperature thrown in as we visit the Antarctic, formal wear for the 17 Gala nights including holiday & two birthday celebrations along the way, lots of comfortable walking shoes, special clothing for the Safaris (don’t forget the insect repellant), Charging cords….oh my the charging cords, four months of school supplies…..the list goes on and on. Last night we ordered photographs to put up on a string with clothes pins of our loved ones around our stateroom. They will be with us in our hearts as we see the world. I am looking forward to “taking” you with us. Laugh with us, as often as you can. Share along in the beauty of the world as we experience so many wonderful things. I promise to be candid and heartfelt as we embark on this journey. Much Love, Debra

Today was a half day for rest. We try hard to balance the fun stuff, the historical stuff and rest. The last thing I want is for everyone to feel like they need a vacation when they get home from their vacation. We slept in till 2:00pm local time. We enjoyed tea, english style, right here on property in the executive lounge. They did it up well, tea sandwiches, scones, and a variety of teas. A quick cab ride and we headed into town to see Harrod’s. The girls were sad mom wouldn’t buy them any of the designer clothes there. With all the designer labels, I refused to spend 120 pounds on a top. That’s about $156.00. After letting them see the beautiful architecture and walking through the sixth floor, appropriately called shoes heaven, we headed to the lower floors to do some London souvenir shopping, the book store and the market. Filled with everything from truffles and beluga caviar to a department filled with ALL things chocolate. We met a wonderful Harrod’s employee who allowed the girls to sample two types of caviar. He even had a video from the caviar factory in Belgium he had just been to and showed the girls how they harvest the eggs from the sturgeon. He was an impressive 6’10”. I love how we meet amazing people and have hidden adventures when we travel. We had dinner right on the Harrod’s property at the Italian resteraunt and then enjoyed sundaes from the ice cream shop. Complete with a couple pints of Moretti beer for me. Today, the Norte Dame church is in flames and they are worried they may lose this amazing piece of history. Also, a group of environmentalist have moved into the town determined to disturbed the traffic and public transportation in London. We will be sticking with Uber and Taxi’s for a while. They last thing I want is to get stuck in the tube due to a demonstration. So we will roll along with things and enjoy every moment we are here. Hugs and Love!!

We got up today and had our bags packed up and ready for the bellmen to take it to our new room while we are gone for the day. We Ubered to the Marble arch where we met our tour bus for the day. 11 hour day today. First stop, the town of Bath where we saw the Roman baths and the beautiful Abbey. It was not enough time to complete the entire tour before we had to get back on the bus. The love/hate part of arranged tours. Next stop Lacock, England. We got to see a few sites from the filming of Harry Potter as well as the upcoming Downtown Abby movie. We had a fabulous supper at an adorable pub accompanied by a wonderful local cider. Last stop was Stonehenge. Now I booked this ahead of time so not only did we get to see Stonehenge, we actually got to go behind the ropes and actually walk within the inner circle of the stones during sunset.It was an experience of a lifetime. It was majestic, and mythical, and historical and breathtaking all at the same time. A place I have read about all my life, but actually being there and seeing it in person…it was one of those moments of a lifetime. Our tour guide and company was amazing. We learned so much about the country all day long. I feel so blessed to be here with my girls. I am so honored my late husband worked so hard and we do these things in his honor and remembrance. Sweet dreams. Hold close the ones you love.

Non stop from San Jose to London Heathrow. I am so proud of how well the girls did on the red eye. Flying “all night” and then hitting the ground running. They were amazing. We made it through the passport control line, alway so very long, got their first stamps on their new passports and the swiftly got our suitcases. We got our hired car into the London and arrived at our apartment. That’s where the twist begun. We arrived at our apartment to find it already occupied. A very long story short and it turns out my timeshare company forgot to inform the property management company of my reservation and they rented it to someone else. Two hours later, we got the last room at the Waldorf Hilton, where we weren’t supposed to check in for a week. Megan had to sleep on the floor. I was so angry I should spit. Hoping to upgrade to a larger suite tomorrow. Diamond is officially getting the bill for all our meals, transportation and accommodations. Diamond seemed unapologetic for their error. I am committed to not let this ruin our trip. We are in this amazing city and we will make the best of our holiday. We had a fabulous meal right here in the hotel restaurant. A chicken Waldorf salad (of course) for me, an amazing grilled ham and cheese for Megan and a delicious burger for Valerie with “chips”. Tomorrow is a new day. We have an all day tour booked to the Roman baths in Bath, a tour of the town of Lacock and then to Stonehenge. Again, I have to say how amazing the girls handled all of this. I am so blessed to have such even headed, polite and patient children. I am going to spoil them a little extra this trip.

The Modern Honolulu – Diamond Resorts

Good morning from Honolulu. I am waking up on my second morning here in Honolulu today. Thursday was travel day, arriving here at around 4pm. Friday was for getting a lay of land of the property, grocery shopping and checking out the local Ala Moana Center mall. It has over 350 stores and restaurants. It was actually a little overwhelming. But souvenirs were purchased and I got to visit a couple of my favorite shops…Brighton and Disney store. I was poolside by 1:00pm where I loitered the rest of the day. I met a nice couple from Minnesota and we spent the early evening chatting away and then we had dinner together. It was pleasant company and a relaxing day. Today, I think I shall put on my comfortable walking shoes and venture along the Waikiki beach and see what there is to see. I am relaxing, resting and refreshing my soul. Hugs from me to you. Remember to live each day to the fullest.

Since the passing of my beloved Don in March of 2016 I have been running away from home as often as possible. Sometimes with friends, sometimes with family, sometime all by myself. I constantly get told by many that they live vicariously through me. I wanted to create a way for all those whom I love and who love me to be able to a part of what I have been blessed with. So here is to many adventures together. May we travel the world virtually side by side. May you be blessed by what I post here. Hugs!

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton