Not so ready...

By this time in advance of any long cruise we've taken in the past we were ready, set and fixin' to go! Not so this time. I don't know if it is my Parkinson's or if it is just the sheer overwhelming scale of being away from home for nearly 7 months, but I am not ready. I am not organized. I don't have a plan and 2 backup plans as in the past. We leave home in almost 3 weeks and set sail in almost 6 weeks, but I don't have a single suitcase out.

Usually I write these trip blogs with an eye to being of service to future travelers. I try to be detailed and full of advice. Not so with this one, and that is a warning right up front. I have a couple of reasons for this, one I am not in a position to give advice this time out. Two, the first time we went around the world, I found little information online to help me plan. That is no longer true. There are thousands of round the world trip blogs available now and a few books, so I really don't need to add anything.

So, what have I/we done to get ready? Well, quite a lot actually. So, if I were giving out tips to future travelers, number one would be to book well in advance. A year of preparation is not too much. That year and a half of waiting for departure is what has allowed us to be as prepared as we are. We are nearing finalization of our port plans. I have fewer than a dozen left. Now for people who only take short cruises that may seem appalling, but those ports are about 6 months out and that's less than 12 out of 90 or so. So, I feel like I'm close on that front. We have all our immunizations. We have all our extra passport pages and visas (only Brazil, India and China could be obtained in advance, the rest will be obtained on the ship). We have the house sitter lined up. Really then all that is left is getting through Thanksgiving, my birthday and Christmas, cleaning the house, packing up and driving to Florida. That can't be that hard, can it? ;)