Having finally become a Puffin-of-leisure in June 2024, I decided that it was time to start making use of my new-found freedom and begin travelling again, something I had previously enjoyed but which was rudely interrupted by the nasty “sniffles” outbreak four years previously.
For the first few months, the odd week in the UK sufficed – Cotswolds, Derbyshire, Dorset, Somerset, Yorkshire & Leicestershire were all lovely, but didn’t entirely scratch the itch, so when Christmas came along it was time to plan something more adventurous.
The options were:
- Go cruising (Behave at the back! I’m referring to the sort you do on a boat)
- Embark on some sort of long trans-continental expedition
- Do a fly-drive, which has been my preference for many years
After lots of deliberation, the decision was made – do all three in the same trip.
I would leave these shores by boat, travel across or around a continent by train and/or car, making many stops and sightseeing excursions along the way, then fly back to Blighty some weeks later. Or possibly same thing but the other way around.
Having never cruised before there was a bit of a learning curve, aided by some more experienced boatists here and elsewhere. There were different cruise lines, ships, cabin types, drinks packages, wi-fi packages and a multitude of other things to choose from, each with various supplements and discounts.
I definitely wasn’t looking for something with water slides, roller coasters and all-night discos. Neither did I particularly want to have to wander around in a top-hat & tails, which was my (misguided) impression of the “classier” cruise lines. Something serene, relaxed and intellectually stimulating was more my cup of tea. The sort of thing likely to appeal to older folks – further research was needed and many YouTube videos on the subject were watched.
As for destination, the options were either Northern Europe and up to the top of Scandinavia, or North America. Both were very appealing and are firmly on the “to-do” list, but I decided to start with North America, with which I was already quite familiar and where they speak English (sort-of), so there wouldn’t be as many new things to deal with.
One option would be to sail through the Panama Canal to the west coast of the USA and travel either south-to-north or west-to-east. While quite an attractive proposition, it would have been a very long first voyage for someone who’d never sailed further than Harwich to Rotterdam and with unknown sea-legs. It would also necessitate transiting some parts of the US where law & order is currently… sub-optimal.
The other option would be to sail to the east coast and travel west, either across the south of the country (much of which would be new to me, having never visited the southern states) or across the north, vaguely following the 49th parallel on one side or the other. This seemed the better option for now.
First things first, my passport was a) the pink Euro-style and b) only a few months from expiry, so that had to be renewed. Once I’d found somewhere with a passport photo machine that actually worked, the process was remarkably fast and efficient – quite the opposite of what I had expected when dealing with HMG agencies.
Likewise, my driving licence was of the old multi-folded green & pink paper variety which was falling apart and invariably resulted in looks of “WTF is that?” when handed to any car rental agent under the age of 40. Getting that replaced with a new plastic one was similarly efficient and could all be done online with the DVLA using the same digital photo that was on my shiny new passport.
Not quite this old.
Next things to do: pick the dates, a departure port, an arrival port, a boat, a route and a final destination from which to fly back…..
© Snotsicle 2025
