Bad news: Long distance cruising is over for another year and it is hard to get back into land life! Good news: Our Cruise Journal is ready! It is great to look back and relive some moments, and it is also nice to share it with those wanting to live the sailing life vicariously!
The transition back to “normal” life at the end of a cruise is always difficult. Gone is the rhythm of sea and weather. In come the accumulated chores and demands of work. After many years of doing summer trips of six to eight weeks, we know the returns are painful, but it still catches us. In fact you could say it gets worse every year. Must be nearly time to not return!
Just think… You are back at work after eight weeks at sea. Your colleagues are head down, bum up. As far as they are concerned, it is time you knuckled down too! At home you have tons of laundry to clean up the salt encrusted clothes, linen and furnishings from the boat. And then there is the taming of the abandoned house and garden. It all feels… well, dreary and a bit of a let down. The only really happy member of the crew is Bengie. She has her grass, her tree, her freedom to wander in and out. She is particularly smoochy: lots of head buts, cuddles and contented purrs.
With this return, what is adding to the malaise is that our eight weeks away were strenuous and we don’t feel refreshed. We need a holiday after the holiday. We know that the transition back to land life takes a couple of weeks. I guess we should be kind to ourselves, ease back in and appreciate what we have achieved.
One way that always helps is to finalise our cruise journal. Re-reading our daily notes and sorting through our photos is a great way to remind us of the incredible experiences which punctuated our two months at sea.
So we are now ready to share our detailed Summer 2015-16 Cruise Journal. You will find it on the “Cruise Stories/On board Take It Easy” page of the website. Those interested can download a copy of the PDF. It is best viewed on screen, as the quality of the images is nowhere near as good in hard copy print.
Enjoy!
Sv-Anui 
Hi Chris,
I very much relate to this last post….
After being in Japan for nearly 3 weeks, we are going through the same ordeal of mustering up the motivation for work, as you say ‘normal’ life and all that goes with it.
Always thinking of you and your amazing adventurous spirit. Sailing is your ‘normal’.
Lisa
Oh Lisa you do get it! I was thinking your skiing trip was going on forever! Such a different environment, you can’t think of anything else but snow and fast descents! Those types of trips are the best ! 💕
Great I can’t wait to read it!
Let us know what you think😊
Just took a peek. Yowzer! That is one impressive tome, but it looks fascinating. I will have to set aside some serious time for perusal. Well done!
Hi Robin… You will get the state of mind as well as the photos! Did you keep a journal when you did your Antarctica voyage?
Transitioning never easy… can definitely sympathize! Took a look at your cruise journal – very cool idea to put together all your thoughts/memories and favorite photos!
It’s always nice to revisit… And of course it is good to share with friends and family.