Ship Happens!
It's crazy to think that just 4 days ago we were closing the lock on our second storage unit (yes, we had to purchase a second storage unit, we have a lot of stuff), it was 7 degrees outside, and I was confident that we had packed every single thing we could possible need for this 4 month voyage. Funny how quickly things can change.
I'll start with where I am now: I'm currently sitting on the 5th deck, staring at the wake behind the ship, the long tail it has left behind, and nothing else. Like really nothing else. We left Ensenada Mexico last night and are heading towards Hawaii now. Were 250 miles from shore, and well, 1,945 from Hawaii, so really, there is nothing else out there. Sitting right behind me are hoards, and i mean hoards of college kids. They’re playing some sort of pop music I have never heard before, the pool is right above us, the all you can eat buffet just through the automatic sliding doors, and our cabin two decks down.
Now for the good stuff, how we got here:
I suppose this adventure really started when we stood in front of our now former apartment building, in the snow with a MOUNTAIN of luggage on a cart. We hailed a cab, that hesitantly approached us, asked if our luggage would fit, and after being waved in by the cabby, continued to pack his cab to the brim with bags. Our two duffle bags (yes, they are matching, i know, ok) fit in the trunk, our 2 camping backpacks snuggly in the front seat, and Gabby and I jammed, along with our four carry ons, precariously in the back. We made it to the airport in great time, dragged all of our luggage inside, and stared down the first of our many luggage obstacles for the next couple of days. The checked luggage counter... To be fair, I assumed our luggage would be over weight. These bags were big, like really really big, but we assumed we could pull out a heavy coat, maybe tie something onto my backpack, but assumed over weight nonetheless. As gabby and i nervously approach the gate agent, i nudge her and whispered "ham it up, maybe she wont look down at the scale". Needless to say, she looked down at the scale. What she saw, changed her in some small way. Not only were our bags both over the 50-pound weight limit, but they were each over the next threshold level of weight limit at well. "I've never seen thatbefore" she murmured in a judgy way. Weighing in at 74.8 pounds, and 71.3, our bags would have cost damn near as much as our African Safari to check. We shuffled some things around, with a little creativity, and I'd like to think a bit of charm, we got those bags back into the first morbidly obese bag category. With four bags checked, and four now hung over our bodies, we made our way to security. As some of you may know, I was a bit apprehensive about going through security. Those of you scared to death of infidels infiltrating our great nation via TSA ignorance might want to skip this part of the story. to briefly review, here is a small sample of the current contents of my bag: 22 power cords, 3 tablets, 1 laptop, 1 electronic shaver, 2 pairs of nail clippers, over $100 in 12 DIFFERENT foreign currencies, over $2,000 in USD, 500 of which were oddly in $1 bills, a four month supply of Xanex, a 4 month supply of Ambien, 6 sets of headphones, and 2 (yes 2) US Passports. My bag passed through security with nary a TSA agent batting an eye, Gabby's cheery pink carry on however was flagged, opened, emptied, searched, and tested for bomb making materials... because of three eggs of silly putty she was bringing with her. We're all doomed, I swear.
We made it through security, boarded the plane, waited over an hour for our plane to De-ice This is not supposed to be a jab at anyone out there experiencing winter, but I cant tell you how distant the thought of De-icing is right now. I'm currently sitting outside in shorts and flip-flops. We landed safely in San Diego a little behind schedule, and had a really nice dinner with my cousins, and their 1-year-old Trey who I met for the first time. After getting our last solid night sleep on dry land (pun intended) for 19 days (NINETEEN DAYS!!!), we called the bell hop to help us transport our outrageous amount of luggage downstairs, checked out, and got an early start to embarkation day. We had planned to go to Costco before we left, but i don't think either of us had expected to not only purchase a new checked luggage size suitcase at Costco, but also completely fill it to capacity with snacks, sunscreen, and every single drug one can legally purchase in the United States. So many medications in fact that as we were checking out, the cashier looked at me, stared into my soul and said "not feeling well huh? This should do the trick". This should do the trick???? If the amount of medicine we were purchasing 'should do the trick', this lady should stop scanning the 11th box of Dayquil and get the CDC on the phone. Anyone, in any other situation purchasing this many drugs in bulk is clearly either dying from Ebola, or setting themselves up nicely for a starring role in the Discovery channel show 'Dooms Day Preppers'. After leaving Costco drug/snack/goldfish suitcase in tow, we thought we were ready to board, but wanted to stop by CVS to purchase "just a couple last minute things". Needless to say, just a couple last minute things, turned out to be the strangest concoctions of things ever purchased at a CVS in San Diego. Finally, we were ready to head to the MV Explorer, our home for the next 4 months.
Ship happens...
As we pulled up to the dock where the ship was berthed, my heart was literally jumping out of my chest. I was in an incredible mood, i thought nothing could stain this moment as we were about to embark, nothing except the next 41 words uttered to me. They were as follows: Leave your car here, take your luggage down this way, then turn left, then around the next corner, then up three levels, back down one level, through security and onto the ship, then someone will help you with your bags... If your still reading, I assume you read the section above. If not, ill summarize for you here. We have WAY to much luggage to "Leave your car here, take your luggage down this way, then turn left, then around the next corner, then up three levels, back down one level, through security and onto the ship, then someone will help you with your bags...". We were doomed, but with a little help from some fellow staff members, and some Judgy looks from one particular light packer, we got onto the ship. We'll see how judgy Light Packer is when she runs out of socks and underwear in a week. F%$# you Judgy Light Packer.
The feeling of finally being on board was truly indescribable, though obviously, I’m going to try and describe it to you here, cause, well, indescribable things don't really translate to Blog.
The only way I can describe the feeling was this: Imagine you are clinically obsessed with a celebrity, lets say Jenn with two 'n's from the real world road rules challenge (I know, like soooooooooooo famous). Jenn with two 'n's from the real world road rules challenge is all you've thought about for nearly a year, Jenn is almost all your willing to talk to others about, and most importantly you have watched every YouTube video filmed by even the grittiest flip phone cameras of Jenn with two 'n's from the real world road rules challenge, you feel like she’s part of your life,a friend, and that in some sick way, like you already know her, and now, standing in front of you is Jenn with two 'n's from the real world road rules challenge, just waiting for you to board her. Ok, that last part went a little too far. I truly felt like i knew this ship, i knew the hallways and lounges. I had seen it so many times on my 13 in macbook, but now, to see it in living color truly was unreal.
Ship Happened, here we go.
Just a little bit of housekeeping: Internet on the ship is pretty much non existent, so, I will post when i can, and likely add pictures when we are in port and have real, 21st century Wifi
It's crazy to think that just 4 days ago we were closing the lock on our second storage unit (yes, we had to purchase a second storage unit, we have a lot of stuff), it was 7 degrees outside, and I was confident that we had packed every single thing we could possible need for this 4 month voyage. Funny how quickly things can change.
I'll start with where I am now: I'm currently sitting on the 5th deck, staring at the wake behind the ship, the long tail it has left behind, and nothing else. Like really nothing else. We left Ensenada Mexico last night and are heading towards Hawaii now. Were 250 miles from shore, and well, 1,945 from Hawaii, so really, there is nothing else out there. Sitting right behind me are hoards, and i mean hoards of college kids. They’re playing some sort of pop music I have never heard before, the pool is right above us, the all you can eat buffet just through the automatic sliding doors, and our cabin two decks down.
Now for the good stuff, how we got here:
I suppose this adventure really started when we stood in front of our now former apartment building, in the snow with a MOUNTAIN of luggage on a cart. We hailed a cab, that hesitantly approached us, asked if our luggage would fit, and after being waved in by the cabby, continued to pack his cab to the brim with bags. Our two duffle bags (yes, they are matching, i know, ok) fit in the trunk, our 2 camping backpacks snuggly in the front seat, and Gabby and I jammed, along with our four carry ons, precariously in the back. We made it to the airport in great time, dragged all of our luggage inside, and stared down the first of our many luggage obstacles for the next couple of days. The checked luggage counter... To be fair, I assumed our luggage would be over weight. These bags were big, like really really big, but we assumed we could pull out a heavy coat, maybe tie something onto my backpack, but assumed over weight nonetheless. As gabby and i nervously approach the gate agent, i nudge her and whispered "ham it up, maybe she wont look down at the scale". Needless to say, she looked down at the scale. What she saw, changed her in some small way. Not only were our bags both over the 50-pound weight limit, but they were each over the next threshold level of weight limit at well. "I've never seen thatbefore" she murmured in a judgy way. Weighing in at 74.8 pounds, and 71.3, our bags would have cost damn near as much as our African Safari to check. We shuffled some things around, with a little creativity, and I'd like to think a bit of charm, we got those bags back into the first morbidly obese bag category. With four bags checked, and four now hung over our bodies, we made our way to security. As some of you may know, I was a bit apprehensive about going through security. Those of you scared to death of infidels infiltrating our great nation via TSA ignorance might want to skip this part of the story. to briefly review, here is a small sample of the current contents of my bag: 22 power cords, 3 tablets, 1 laptop, 1 electronic shaver, 2 pairs of nail clippers, over $100 in 12 DIFFERENT foreign currencies, over $2,000 in USD, 500 of which were oddly in $1 bills, a four month supply of Xanex, a 4 month supply of Ambien, 6 sets of headphones, and 2 (yes 2) US Passports. My bag passed through security with nary a TSA agent batting an eye, Gabby's cheery pink carry on however was flagged, opened, emptied, searched, and tested for bomb making materials... because of three eggs of silly putty she was bringing with her. We're all doomed, I swear.
We made it through security, boarded the plane, waited over an hour for our plane to De-ice This is not supposed to be a jab at anyone out there experiencing winter, but I cant tell you how distant the thought of De-icing is right now. I'm currently sitting outside in shorts and flip-flops. We landed safely in San Diego a little behind schedule, and had a really nice dinner with my cousins, and their 1-year-old Trey who I met for the first time. After getting our last solid night sleep on dry land (pun intended) for 19 days (NINETEEN DAYS!!!), we called the bell hop to help us transport our outrageous amount of luggage downstairs, checked out, and got an early start to embarkation day. We had planned to go to Costco before we left, but i don't think either of us had expected to not only purchase a new checked luggage size suitcase at Costco, but also completely fill it to capacity with snacks, sunscreen, and every single drug one can legally purchase in the United States. So many medications in fact that as we were checking out, the cashier looked at me, stared into my soul and said "not feeling well huh? This should do the trick". This should do the trick???? If the amount of medicine we were purchasing 'should do the trick', this lady should stop scanning the 11th box of Dayquil and get the CDC on the phone. Anyone, in any other situation purchasing this many drugs in bulk is clearly either dying from Ebola, or setting themselves up nicely for a starring role in the Discovery channel show 'Dooms Day Preppers'. After leaving Costco drug/snack/goldfish suitcase in tow, we thought we were ready to board, but wanted to stop by CVS to purchase "just a couple last minute things". Needless to say, just a couple last minute things, turned out to be the strangest concoctions of things ever purchased at a CVS in San Diego. Finally, we were ready to head to the MV Explorer, our home for the next 4 months.
Ship happens...
As we pulled up to the dock where the ship was berthed, my heart was literally jumping out of my chest. I was in an incredible mood, i thought nothing could stain this moment as we were about to embark, nothing except the next 41 words uttered to me. They were as follows: Leave your car here, take your luggage down this way, then turn left, then around the next corner, then up three levels, back down one level, through security and onto the ship, then someone will help you with your bags... If your still reading, I assume you read the section above. If not, ill summarize for you here. We have WAY to much luggage to "Leave your car here, take your luggage down this way, then turn left, then around the next corner, then up three levels, back down one level, through security and onto the ship, then someone will help you with your bags...". We were doomed, but with a little help from some fellow staff members, and some Judgy looks from one particular light packer, we got onto the ship. We'll see how judgy Light Packer is when she runs out of socks and underwear in a week. F%$# you Judgy Light Packer.
The feeling of finally being on board was truly indescribable, though obviously, I’m going to try and describe it to you here, cause, well, indescribable things don't really translate to Blog.
The only way I can describe the feeling was this: Imagine you are clinically obsessed with a celebrity, lets say Jenn with two 'n's from the real world road rules challenge (I know, like soooooooooooo famous). Jenn with two 'n's from the real world road rules challenge is all you've thought about for nearly a year, Jenn is almost all your willing to talk to others about, and most importantly you have watched every YouTube video filmed by even the grittiest flip phone cameras of Jenn with two 'n's from the real world road rules challenge, you feel like she’s part of your life,a friend, and that in some sick way, like you already know her, and now, standing in front of you is Jenn with two 'n's from the real world road rules challenge, just waiting for you to board her. Ok, that last part went a little too far. I truly felt like i knew this ship, i knew the hallways and lounges. I had seen it so many times on my 13 in macbook, but now, to see it in living color truly was unreal.
Ship Happened, here we go.
Just a little bit of housekeeping: Internet on the ship is pretty much non existent, so, I will post when i can, and likely add pictures when we are in port and have real, 21st century Wifi
woot woot! I've been anxiously awaiting this. I feel like I'm there with you! also, I really hope you don't have to use all that dayquil!
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