Don’t you love it when a plan comes together? I absolutely do – being the slight OCD individual that I am I believe in planning and making sure that everything has been taken care of. So here I am planning my vacation for this year.
It has been a few years since I have taken a “big” vacation. I think the last time was January 2008 when the whole family (9 of us) went on a Disney cruise to Cozumel, Grand Cayman Island and Cast Away Key in Nassau. That was one that I planned and managed for the whole family. Since then we have only done a week in Bethany Beach or a few days in Puerto Rico – nothing exciting although each one of them was fun.
Well, I am finally taking the vacation that I have thought about for several years. This July I will be taking an Alaskan cruise. I have always wanted to go to our 50th state – to see the wild life and to appreciate a very different type of nature. Lately my philosophy has been, “if not now, then when”? We can always come up with a reason for not doing something; whether it is work, family obligations, finances. Well none of those things are an obstacle for me – so why not?
The only problem I had was that I did not want to go alone – it isn’t as if I haven’t traveled alone in my lifetime. I went to Italy, Spain and for several years to Cancun on my own; but, I wanted to share this experience with someone else. I knew that my boyfriend would be out of the question, he is extremely busy with his law practice and we haven’t been able to even get a weekend together for a couple of years. I considered my cousin, Gerry who had the opportunity many years ago to go salmon fishing in Alaska and passed it up; but, understandably he really doesn’t want to be away for too long from his wife, Eilish.
Who to take with me – what a dilemma?? Then, I thought about it – what about Ryan, my 10 year old great nephew who has a fascination with the Titanic and went on the Disney cruise with us in 2008. Before I mentioned it to him I made sure that I cleared it with his mother and my nephew – was he going to summer camp, would he be missing anything important? Well he was going to hockey camp; but, it was only one day a week and both his parents thought the Alaska trip would be good for him.
I finally told Ryan about it and he was ecstatic – I decided to take the Disney cruise to Alaska as I knew they would have programs geared to children and that I could also place him in the children’s club for a couple of hours during the day so that I could have some private time. Now, I had to answer all of his questions, when were we leaving, what was the name of the ship, could I afford the cruise (he saw how much it cost), were we going to have a cabin with a balcony, etc. Okay, cruise arrangements made and I advised him of it - I thought the questions would now stop. NOOOOO, they didn’t.
The next set of questions all had to do with the flight arrangements. He proceeded to give me a list of airlines he was fine traveling on. He reminded me that he is left handed so could I please make sure our seats were on the left hand side of the plane and he would appreciate a window. Would we fly out of Newark or JFK; and, more importantly how would we get to the airport? Were we taking a taxi; but, I need to remember that he is used to traveling in a limousine. Okay, he has gone on a few trips with me where we have taken a car service; in 2008 when we went on the cruise since it was nine of us we had a stretch limousine; and, when we came back from Puerto Rico they also sent a stretch for us. Not sure yet how we are getting to the airport.
I was looking at airfares for Seattle – I couldn’t believe that I could not find anything less than $600; not Jet Blue or any of those other low cost airlines. Time to see if any of my points could come in handy; I first looked to move some of my Diner’s Club points to Jet Blue; but they do not have an alliance. However they do have an alliance with Delta; I looked up my Delta account and I had 98,000 points – wow I didn’t know that. With another 86,000 points Ryan and I could travel first/business class roundtrip to Seattle – DONE. That was a no-brainer.
Now a hotel for Sunday night (our cruise leaves on Monday afternoon) – the travel agent had given us a few recommendations. I have am a Hilton Honors member and was able to get us into the Homewood Suites right by the Pike Street Market. I mentioned it to Ryan and he is excited about that since he has seen the various shows that highlighted the Market and the throwing of the fish. What he wants is for them to throw him a fish – NOT HAPPENING – I am not cooking the one night we are in Seattle. I have never been to Seattle so I am very excited about being there although it is a short period of time.
Since the travel agent advised me that the weather in Alaska will be anywhere between 40 to 70 degrees F; we will need several different types of clothing and to be able to layer them. Ryan now has plenty of long sleeved shirts, long underwear and a down vest. I have the same for myself.
Only thing left to do is decide what excursions we will do – both Ryan and I would like to see whales. I would like to see a glacier and to experience the wildness of Alaska. Ryan has expressed an interest in going salmon fishing – I have to admit I have never fished; but, would be willing to try it for him.
Do I seem excited – YES, I am. I am finally taking a trip that I have long wanted to do. I am going with an individual who will love the experience and I enjoy introducing children to the joys of travel, to different cultures and to expanding their knowledge.
So now, let the COUNTDOWN BEGIN.
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