One thing you have to get used to in long-term travel is saying goodbye to one experience so you can make room for another. (It is actually true in regular life, too, but that’s another post.)
Last week we said goodbye to our new friends on the M/S Expedition after 2 weeks cruising to Antarctica and another 5 weeks crossing the ocean up to Cornwall in England.
It is amazing how close we became in such a short time with this crew of 47 people, and I was surprised at how teary and emotional we were in the last days.
Two nights before we docked Captain Nicolai and the senior officers had a goodbye dinner with us. It was a six-hour extravaganza we won’t soon forget, and we loved hearing their stories of travel and adventure all over the world. All through the dinner I kept pinching myself because I just couldn’t believe our luck to be living this fantastic adventure with such interesting people.
After we arrived in Falmouth we had a special meeting where the crew presented us with the navigational chart from the voyage signed by all the crew members as well as the flag from the ship with all their signatures. We are still very touched that they went to this much trouble for us.
We showed the crew a video slideshow of Warren’s pictures from the journey along with the video at the end, and it was a perfect way to showcase this adventure with all the people we had grown to love.
It was hard for us to leave, and I have to admit we walked only as far as a pub on the next pier to have a pint and watch the ship one last time before moving on.
So, what is next for us?
Well, we are in England now and trying very hard to learn the language. J We’ve met a wonderful new friend named Nick who has shared with us his home, his local pub, and many of his friends.
We have a beautiful countryside to explore, new foods to try, and people to meet.
Friends we’ve made online and in our earlier travels also live here, and we are looking forward to seeing them.
In short, we can’t move on to this new experience without leaving the old one. It is a tough lesson to learn at home, where it is easier to keep a regular routine, but one that is essential as you travel about from place to place.
We’ve come to realize that leaving is sometimes sad, but it is always an opportunity to allow something new into your life.
We wish our friends on the M/S Expedition a wonderful new adventure now that they have moved on from the repositioning cruise with us, and we look forward to our new adventures as well.
Moving on doesn’t mean forgetting, though, and we’ll always have those 47 people and that gorgeous ship in our hearts. Thank you, Gap Adventures, for creating a fantastic experience for them and for us.
Do you have trouble letting go and moving on to something new? What helps you through it?
About Betsy
Goodbyes were hard in the beginning but I ran into so many people again I always just think of it as ‘see you later’
you guys are included, hoping you come back to South America soon.
What a great attitude, Ayngelina. We have adopted that for both people and places - you can never see enough of either, so you just always mentally assume you can pick things back up later. It makes it easier to go (and more possible that you will return). I’m looking forward to your series on the road trip across Canada after TBEX - what a great trip!
What a sweet gift - but how can you carry that in a backpack?!?
I understand your sadness, because WE felt that way when you left (of course that was after years as friends, ha ha) but I’m sure you made some lifelong friends there that you’ll see again.
Also, when did they start speaking another language in England??
Karen, we are leaving our gorgeous chart with our friend Sam while we tour the UK. We will probably mail it to my mom at a later date - no way we can travel with it. It really is gorgeous, and we are so touched that they did this for us.
We still miss you and talk about you almost every day.
As for the language, you have to hear it to believe it. So many little phrases and words that have a slightly different meaning. It could get embarrassing if you don’t pay attention!
What is the magic in your writing Betsy that has the ability to leave such a manly, macho dude such as me embarrassingly misty-eyed? lol!! I don’t know if it is the power of the word-pictures you paint, or if I’ve just emotionally climbed into your back-packs and am living vicariously through your travels. (Sounds pathetic!) lol!!!!
Once again it hits home how travel seems to be a sort of microcosm of life, eh?
BTW, Yumi and I will be in Europe the same time as you! Unfortunately we’ll be in Italy for a couple of weeks and not hanging out with you guys in some groovy pubs in the UK. (Sorry, bad planning on our part!) We’ll be arriving on the May 9th.
But I am still fully committed to connecting up with you two at some point along your journey!
Tranque, I hope you and Yumi have a terrific time in Italy. The very first time I left the United States was to visit Italy with a girlfriend, and we had a marvelous time.
We are excited to meet up with a few readers now that we are in Europe - Bart and Evelien in Belgium, Laura in England, Joan in Scotland, Cristina in Portugal, and many more. Nice to know you are open to meeting up before we get to Japan. Wouldn’t it be great if we could have a giant party with all of you?
We’ll have to start brainstorming as to where we can meet up - we are still dying to know more about your secret project.
Betsy, thanks so much for sharing your experiences. Noticed you are in Newbury today. Our daughter teaches high school English at St Bartholomew, the new school there, and lives in Reading. We were there in October for a visit. Enjoy it, we did. I hope you’ll find the British as welcoming as we did.
Hello, Grant. We are staying in the tiny village of Kintbury with a friend, which is 6 miles from Newbury (a hop on the train, or a nice walk along the canal). We are actually headed there again this morning to soak up some sunshine and possibly visit the sweets store again.
Your daughter lives in a lovely place with beautiful green fields, grazing sheep, and brilliant yellow plots of rapeseed. And since it is spring every duck in the canal has 5-6 ducklings swimming after it. It really is a gorgeous place!
I’m even more interested in following your journey now that you are in England (as if it was possible to be even MORE interested than I already was!)…
England holds such a special place in my heart. My love affair with England started when I was a kid, and has never abated. When I was 22 years old, I picked up and moved to London to work as a Nanny for 2 years. I knew no one. It was an amazing experience, and I truly wish that I had been blogging back then, so I could look back on my adventures now at 32.
Make sure to have a Shandy, as well as a Pimm’s this summer… two perfect summery British drinks. Cheers!
Oh, and good luck with that language barrier… it’s a bitch.
(My UK friends thought it was hilarious to try to talk in Cockney rhyming slang around me - I hadn’t a clue what they were saying!).
Enjoy!
Angie, we are in love with England! A few favorites: everyone speaks English, and I had forgotten how wonderful it was to actually understand everything (another reminder to keep practicing my Spanish so I can be fluent in at least 2 languages); the weather is perfect, actually very much like spring in Seattle, which I like very much; and everything is so close together, at least compared to South America.
We’ve met a few people who became nannies to travel, and I could kick myself for not thinking of it in my 20s. A brilliant idea! It sounds like a very important time in your life. Maybe you could write some stories about it now?
The Pimm’s was great, and I’m writing down the Shandy now to make sure we try one.
You’re no longer on a boat! I’m so happy that you had such a good experience. Good luck on getting your land legs back and learning to feed yourselves again. I’m picturing you guys wandering around England, faint with hunger, calling out “Chef Tony? Chef Tony? We’re ready for dinner now!” Kind of like animals who have been released back into the wild, but have been in captivity so long that they’ve lost their natural instincts.
As far as what helps me get through moving on to something new, I find that the best solution is just to not make any human connections at all. THAT WAY NO ONE CAN EVER HURT YOU.
Katherine, you crack me up! We are at Sam’s house now and heading up to see Chris and Hillary this weekend. It’s like the Antarctica cruise that never ends. Think we’ll see penguins in Yorkshire?
I can pretty much guarantee that you’ll see penguins in Yorkshire, and I insist that you try them; they are delicious, especially in mint or orange.
What an amazing journey you’ve had though. Although saying goodbye is always a challenge, I know you will all cherish this experience. In fact, I’m pretty sure you would all start right where you left off if you every ran into each other again.
Plus, both yourself and Warren have such infectious personalilites. It’s hard to NOT bond with the two of you!
Thanks, SpunkyGirl. We’ve decided to adopt Ayngelina’s strategy and just call it “til we meet again.” You know, like the last time we saw you in Seattle before we see you again this fall in Italy.