Walkabout: Chapter 2 - Let's Do This

Wow.

What a GREAT vacation.

I had an incredible 3 weeks off. I played some jazz with some old friends in Indy, drove over 2,000 miles (really, it's true!) through Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan visiting friends and family along the way, feasted on lots of great food, knocked back plenty of beers/ciders/whiskey (Vitamin J!), played 36 holes of golf, went to a birthday party, and spent some quality time with Ted. Just outstanding. Thank you SO MUCH to all those who hosted me during vacation. I crashed on couches and in guest rooms for the entire time and everyone was so willing and eager to accommodate my moochin' ass!

One thing I learned while onboard is that I enjoy Jameson's neat (no mixer or ice).

One thing I learned while on vacation is that I have a truly wonderful support network of friends and family. Thanks again, everyone. Truly. I will miss you all for the next 6 and a half months.

A HUGE shout out to the Hopper Family who were provided me with a home base over the past 3 weeks. Brent, Morgan, Liam, and Hugo (with Max on the way). Thank you so much! #awesomefamilyunit #5fingerpoint #streamofconsciousness #Michiganflop

Now, it's time to get back to the Walkabout. Near the end of my 3 week vacation, I reaffirmed that there is still plenty of processing for me to do. The Majesty of the Seas was a great opportunity for me and I'm anticipating another outstanding experience onboard my next ship: The Adventure of the Seas. We will be based in Malaga, Spain for roughly the next month after which we will cross the Atlantic and make our home port in San Juan, Puerto Rico. I'm enthusiastic about traveling to more areas of the world where I've never been and playing music for a living once again.

Adventure is a much bigger ship and is scheduled for 7 day cruises (as opposed to the 3 and 4 day cruises I did on Majesty). We will also be rotating our cruise route and I'm looking forward to the variety. To be more specific about where I'll be over then next 6 months, I'll post some maps below. You can also visit this website: cruisett.com for more detailed information. Just select "Ships" at the top of the page, then scroll down and select "Adventure of the Seas." That will take you to a page where you can see the specific itinerary of my ship regarding ports, sea days, times of embarkation/debarkation, and other ships that will be in particular ports at the same time.

It's important to know that while I'm based in Spain, my phone will not work. I will not even turn it on so as not to incur any huge roaming charges. I have access to a phone in extreme emergencies, but, the best way to keep in touch with me will be via internet communication. Email, Facebook, FaceTime (Mac video chat), and Skype will be available. I will get cell phone service in Puerto Rico and will make calls and answer text messages on Sundays starting in (roughly) November.

As for the rest of today, I'm scheduled to spend 12.5 hours in airplanes flying from Indy to Boston to Amsterdam to Malaga. I have secured an exit row for the flight across the Atlantic and am very glad of that. I try to save my collapsible skeleton for when I'm in my crew cabin onboard.

Thanks again for all the support, memories, and encouragement. Hopefully there will be some good opportunities for quality blog posts coming soon. Stay tuned!

Planned Adventure Itinerary

7 day cruises with alternating routes each week

Malaga: 10/13/12

San Juan: 11/15/12

Sign Off: April 2013

Route 1 - Home Port: Malaga