And we're off...

I am finally free from the whirlwind three weeks that I have just survived. I shared in a touchpoint with my leadership team that I am leaving with a zero count in my inbox and no short term tasks due. It has taken a lot of work to get to this point, but as of now, I feel that all of the sacrifice I have made to get here was worth it; I have nothing to worry about during my trip.

This will mark the longest vacation that I have taken in over twenty years, so it will be interesting to see how it goes having so much time with no oblications or responsibilites. I think that I will be able to fill my time with fun and relaxion to fully recharge before returning home and diving into the home stretch of two huge initiatives at work—which are totally a future Brandon problem as of 9 AM CT today. I am hoping to spend some of my time reflecting and writing, and maybe sharing some of what I write on this blog. I make no promises on the frequency of posts for two reasons: first, the internet on the ship may not cooperate; second—and most importantly—I may be too busy enjoying my time on the ship.

In my last post I alluded to my itenerary, and since mom asked about it, I figured that I would post more details here:

• 1/28 : Travel to Tampa, FL, and have dinner with my cousin Nick (and possibly his wife Shannon).
• 1/29 : Depart Tampa on the NCL Jade which is the ship that I cruised on in November.
• 1/30 : We will spend the day in Key West, FL.
• 1/31 : Sea day... my favorite sort of day.
• 2/1 : Cozume;, MX, where I will likey just stay on the ship and enjoy it without so many people on board. It is sort of a "been there, done that sort of situation".
• 2/2 : George Town, Cayman Islands: This is the day that starts the true adventure as we start hitting ports that I have not been to before! As an aside, the longest cruise that I have been on to date is five days, so I have not been able to get this far south before. As an aside to the aside, I have a seven day cruise to Bermuda booked for May so I will have more days at sea this year than I had in the year that I took four cruises!
• 2/3 : Ocho Rios, Jamaica, a port that I am undecided on. I have been to Freeport before and was less than impressed so this one will be a game time decision if I get off the ship or not (Jill and Mo, if you are reading this, have fun and do us proud at the summit!).
• 2/4 : Another sea day—maybe a day I sleep a little late and aim to be the laziest person on the planet.
• 2/5 : This is a day that I have been really looking forward to. We will port in Cartagena, Columbia. On my last cruise, I met a couple from just outside the city and they made me promise that I would visit one day to see with my eyes how beautiful it is there.
• 2/6 : Colón, Panama. At this point, you are probably asking, "Why are you stopping in Panama before the end of the cruise if you are supposed to be transiting the canal?". I believe that we stop here a few days prior to the transit to check in for our time slot for the canal. There are a bunch of youtube videos that cover this for shipping vessels, but I didn't see anything on cruise ships. My guess is commerce take priority so we need to check in early. If I am wrong, drop a comment and let me know how wrong I am.
• 2/7 : Puerto Limon, Costa Rica. Maybe I'll see some dinos—IYKYK. In all seriousness, this is an incredibly short stop for such an intersting place (Google it).
• 2/8 : The day we have all been waiting for, the day we transit the Panama Canal. I get to experience on of the wonders of the modern world! I am a huge nerd for the extreme engineering feat that is the Panama Canal. I may or may not take and share some photos and videos... On the other hand, I may just live in the moment and take it all in and forget that my phone exists. Who knows‽ Flip a coin and see if your perdiction lines up.
• 2/9 : The saddest of days, the day that I am already dreading. Though I am excited to see Panama City and explore the Miraflores locks, I am not excited for a.) starting the return home, and b.) a huge day of travel—fortunately I got a smoking deal on first class flights which should take a bit of the sting off.
• 2/10 : And here is why the long day of travel sucks: I arrive at the MSP airport at 12:33 AM CT and head straight to work (Mo and Jill, I'll see you around 2:30 your time).

Well, I am at the airport writing this to kill time, and time is almost dead, we should start boarding soon.

Disclaimer

Again, as excited I am to share this trip with anyone who is interested in following, I am making no promise that I make a single post during the trip for reasons aforementioned. You risk the potential of returning here for updates to find none at your own peril.