Anita Latte

Wanting to talk about seasickness...

My DH is subject to motion sicknes; He is such that if he is not in the front seat of the vehicle, able to see the twists and turns in mountain roads, he suffers. Even so, I booked us in the most forward cabin on Celebrity Millennium back in late June 2018, deck 9. It was a 3-person cabin, oversized, and I thought it would be perfect for our family of 3. We sailed out of Vancouver and had protected waters for almost the entirety of the cruise, until we went into the Gulf of Alaska waters on approach to Hubbard Glacier, and from the Glacier on to Seward.

Outside the inside passage, we hit major sea motion. The ship was definitely rocking. DH was unable to be in our cabin for the remainder of that day. DS and I packed up the family while DH took refuge on a lower deck midship. This was my experimental cruise to see how we dealt with a forward cabin, and I will say that never again will I book one for a cruise that DH is on.

As I understand it, sailing from Seattle, the ship's path is around the Pacific side of Vancouver Island, outside the protected inner passage waters. You will be subject to sea conditions, similar to how we were in the Gulf of Alaska. This area and any other area where you are outside the inner passage has the potential to be problematic. The inner passage should be fine.

I would advise that you figure out your plan in the event of...if you do NOT get that other inside cabin midship. If there is no additional cost to the midship cabin, then I would definitely have that cabin in your tool box if you have someone who regularly experiences sea sickness. Especially as this could hit you right at the beginning of your sailing...would not be a fun way to start the cruise.

I can’t recommend one over the other as I haven’t taken either. My family did a shorter flight/landing in Seward and it was unforgettable.

Generally, I would consider your time in each port and what else you might like to do when deciding between the two. We sat and watched the helicopters take off in Skagway while eating breakfast on the ship.   The logistics of getting to/from the launch pads in Skagway are right by the ship. Skagway itself is pretty pedestrian friendly as it is a very small town…so ultimately the total time for that excursion would be shorter than the one in Juneau, while the ride/landing times appears to be slightly longer at 40/40 minutes. Whereas for Juneau, the talk of the bus ride to the airport reminds me that Juneau is a much larger city and the travel time to/from the airport will eat into your port time, while the ride/landing times read to be slightly shorter at 30/20-25 minutes. Usually there’s a long port time in Juneau so might not be a big deal but I tend to think of the overall experience when considering such things. Juneau requires ground transportation to see/do many activities so coordinating what you do there in addition to the helicopter is definitely something to consider in your decision.

Also, I would advise that air tours are among the most canceled excursions in Alaska due to inclement weather so definitely have a fall back plan whatever you decide.

On 12/1/2022 at 2:37 PM, thesmiths said:

Let me know your thoughts and when I should tell her?

Planning a Ski Trip in January , so have the Kids getting her some new Cold Gear , Nice Layers for Christmas but in reality, for the cruise.

 

Thank you !

No one has addressed this yet soooo, assuming you haven’t already made the big announcement, I would definitely suggest telling her well in advance of the sailing. My dad and I planned a surprise trip for my mom when I was a teenager and my mom enjoyed it but we hadn’t planned on everything she would want for such a trip.

I would recommend sharing the ship, the dates of the sailing, and an itinerary that would have your excursions described in generic detail, and these maybe not tied to a specific port. Something along the lines of…be prepared to:

Sail on a small boat excursion.

Ride a historic railway through mountainous terrain.

You get the idea.

Remember that part of the fun of any vacation is looking forward to it. And women can be particular about things like hair cuts and/or coloring, etc, and there could be appointments and things she’ll want to plan for prior to your vacation. 

Well…the month of September did not go as planned AT. ALL.

First, DH tweaked his back doing a weird reaching in the shower. He has dealt with bulging discs around L4, L5, S1 for years and this tweak sent him to the days when he was dealing with serious pain. We were doing everything we could so he could be prepared for our Glacier trip…but the thought of having to endure the plane ride alone, let alone all the activities we had planned…well…

Then there were weather advisories for the area. Unhealthy air because of the wildfires. We looked at the live cams around Glacier and you couldn’t even see the mountains because of the smoke and haze. I am considered a sensitive person so it was not feeling like a good idea to go on our trip. 😞 So we didn’t go.

Our airfare had been purchased with miles and Delta was awesome…got all our miles back as well as the $21 or so in fees. Got back some other money we had to spend minus some admin fees. The one thing that would have been a total loss was the Outdoorsy van rental. Fortunately, the owner let us reschedule…the only thing is that the owner is moving to Eugene, OR and so our rental will be out of Eugene, OR next year. So that’s what happened there.

Mom and Dad had come to see DS during his last week here. He went back to school on 9/7…so they didn’t get their time alone here to play “What would it be like to live in Florida?” They had planned to leave on 9/30 but then Ian was on his way and they decided to wait it out with us and not get caught on the road in the middle of a potential disaster zone, as early on Ian had a wide range landfall including the Florida panhandle…which is their way home along I10.

We were well positioned for Ian. The eye of the storm basically went right over us but the eye was wide and most of the storm activity was on the north side and we skirted that outer eye wall a bit. Our yard flooded in the expected areas, and then it flooded in the unsuspected areas…and now we know where all the low parts in the yard are (we got 13.24” of rain)…but thankfully, our home was high and dry. We had no real damage…just a LOT of yard debris. Today most of the puddles are gone except for the actual drainage retention swales across the front of our property…we’re on septic so we don’t have storm drains…our entire neighborhood has those drainage swales along the fronts of all the properties with most properties having a culvert at the beginning of the driveways.

And to top it all off, I managed to severely hurt myself with all the hurricane prep. I still don’t know exactly what I did to myself. I ended up in urgent care to get some medicine relief and have a CT scan to look at my neck to see if I had damage there…they said I didn’t…so I still need to figure out what exactly is messed up with my lower neck/upper back, shoulder, arm, and numb thumb. I’m sure I’ve got a nerve entrapment somewhere along the path…looks like the radial and median nerves if my own research into how I’m feeling is accurate, but I’ll get the dr’s opinion Wednesday. The hardest thing is sleep…

Anyway…

It’s wonderful to read about other trips and trip preparation! DH made me a new vegetable bed yesterday. Our growing season is kicking off into high gear here and I’m just hoping that I’ll be up to the  task soon. 

Lois. I believe the shingles vax is covered under a part D plan for Medicare but not part A or B, so you have to have a part D plan for coverage. Otherwise, it’s something that is usually covered by most employer sponsored health plans. 
 

I THINK…Shingles is something that you may end up getting if you have ever had the chicken pox earlier in life, then that virus can manifest again later in life and cause the shingles. The vaccine is one of those that is supposed to have a long effective time but immunity will fade so it’s a bit of a dilemma to sort when you get one to maximize the effective years of the vaccine’s immunity. Eligibility begins at age 50 but some MDs will recommend waiting until later to have the effective years stretch longer on your life, but then if you don’t get the vax under employer insurance coverage, it won’t be covered unless you have plan D past age 65 or whenever you are forced into Medicare. It’s an expensive vax if you have to pay OOP.

Kat...those Allpa bags are very fun. Took a look and I really like the "surprise" option to purchase. The function of the bags is somewhat similar to the Motherlode styles by eBags, which open like a clamshell for the main compartment, but don't have that side by side quality when you open them. More like two layers...the "lid" is like a layer that you can access without having to completely open the bag and then when you do the clamshell you can get at the main. Otherwise, the tuck away backpack straps and the handles and the eBags also have one long strap serve the same function of being a handy non rolling bag. I might like the Allpa bags better but for now I've got two of those Motherlodes...the regular and the junior. I bought them a while back when I decided that rolling bags can be a PITA while traveling through public transport and up and down areas with stairs and steps.

I don't do the one shoulder backpack thing...that was the "cool" way to wear a backpack back in my high school days and because of the weight of all those books etc., really messed up your back, shoulders, neck...so I commit to wearing both straps if I wear a backpack. If I can't stand the coverage on my back, I pick one of my cross body bags.

Laurie..I forgot to comment...Twizzlers?!? Our family is Red Vines all the way! DH gets really really excited if we ever come across those long rope ones that used to be sold separately? They were like, IDK, 2-3 feet long? He has perfected his selection technique and will literally squish all the Red Vine packages looking for the ones that have that perfect give to them and haven't hardened up too much already.

Much excitement here all around the launch that didn't happen yesterday. I haven't looked up to see if they are shooting for Friday or Monday for the next attempt. DH got a new job and actually works onsite at KSC. He could have gone on base to see the launch but he would have had to stay where his office is. They had the gates open from 3:30 to 6:30 am and then shut them down. He didn't want to deal with fighting the traffic and preferred to hang with DS and I. Friday's launch window is smack midday...Monday is evening so not sure what he'll do. He was able to just work from home yesterday. Traffic was a total jam but we know the neighborhoods and were able to get around quickly to grab breakfast and get home while the maps read red for hours following the scrub. I hope all the people who came to town planned to stay for the whole week. A family next to us had come down from Huntsville AL.

I can't believe that we are just over 2 weeks out from our Glacier trip. I really should amend my title for it because we aren't going to be in Glacier the entire time. We've rented a van conversion (old school Chevy cargo van style not a Sprinter) from Outdoorsy and are giving van life a try for a Week+. We arrive just after midnight so that's a bit awkward and still to be sorted but we have a reservation at a State Park on Flathead Lake for our first night. It's the last day of the season that the on site kayak rental place is open, so we've also secured two kayaks for that afternoon. The park is 5 miles from a local craft brewery so there's dinner that night and whatever else Friday night in cute downtown Kalispell has to offer. We've been there once before about 25 years ago so I'm excited to go back. At this point, my memories are more impressions and very isolated but they are all positive of the area.

Then we plan to have a relaxing lake side morning. Check out for the campsite isn't til 1 PM!! Some plans will be weather dependent but our thoughts are that we might drive the Going to the Sun Road Saturday, exceedingly leisurely, stopping whenever and often to do short hikes and see sites and hope to grab a camping spot on the East side of the park to make our drive to the trailhead for our backcountry camping shorter.

We have about a 9 mile hike into the lake side backcountry site we have for two nights. I'm slightly concerned that it will be a lot, BUT the elevation gain and loss is minimal really...it's not a strenuous hike except for the length...so we're giving ourselves all day to do it. Since we stay two nights, we plan to just enjoy the full middle day...sticking around the area where there are some little sites to see...but mainly relax and soak up being surrounded by the beauty. 

Again, we're giving ourselves all day to hike out too...with a plan to just get to a campsite on the east side again. DH enjoys fishing so I imagine him fishing in the evenings and the mornings wherever we are. We'll always be near a lake or river. I'll be playing photographer and may do some fishing also. Maybe I'll do some yoga?

You know, I found out the most interesting thing... I must admit that my body really knows how to cool off...that is, I know how to sweat. I've been doing yoga on and off all my life. Literally. I was 2 or 3 and watching Lilias on PBS with her long hair braided and her red outfit. Now here's the thing...she didn't use a yoga mat back in those days, she was just on regular carpet.  But somehow along the way, yoga mats became a thing. And that's when my yoga practice became more difficult because of my aforementioned sweaty hands/feet sliding away from me in opposite directions on the stupid yoga mat.

SO. Do you know WHY yoga mats became a thing? They were invented by a woman who had issues because she couldn't sweat. There are people like that in the world...I taught one in one of my Zumba classes. Anyway...because she didn't sweat, she couldn't get any traction on her hands and feet. You know...a little bit of water creates tension and grab...like window cling and having to lick your fingers to get a plastic produce bag open in the grocery store. So the STICKY mat, helped her have grab because she would just SLIDE along any other normal surface. But the sticky mat is made for DRY PEOPLE...not sweaty people...because I just SLIDE right along those supposedly STICKY mats! ANYWAY...

A while back I got a yoga RUG...and that's been my thing to use...but I've come to realize that somehow I've made a rule for myself that I need to have a rug or mat to do yoga. And I've also come to realize that that's the stupidest thinking... I really enjoy doing yoga...my body always feels better when I do...so I've been thinking that I might just do some yoga...some neck rolls...some simply stretching every time DH does some fishing. See if I can't renew my enthusiasm for yoga again...remembering and experiencing how good it feels to do...and not thinking of it as this thing that might be good for me but I struggle with motivation to do it because I've put it in a "work" category inside of this thing I actually like and enjoy doing category.

Wow...what a rant! LOL!! I'm just there...needing to plan how I'm going to age...recognizing that aging gracefully takes some effort but it doesn't have to be painful. It can be enjoyable.

My last main thing to plan is a guided fishing excursion on the Flathead River. Once that is set for after our backcountry camping, I can envision the rest of our trip. We have 3 full days after our hike out day and one of those will be the fishing day.

We definitely want to also see the Upper Fork Flathead River which is a National Scenic River. At this point in the season, it should be running pretty low, which makes it a great river for doing a more wading style fly fishing a la A River Runs Through It...which we can do on our own. 

It's going to be an active vacation but I'm hoping to strike a happy balance between being active and enjoying the great outdoors and relaxing. A certain level of physical excursion can help with the relaxing actually...and it can feel so good to use your body to do the things you love and be in places that feel like they are renewing spirit and soul, but we definitely don't want to feel like we need another vacation to recover from our vacation. That's the whole point of the van life experiment...there's good reviews on the bed in this van and that's the whole reason I wanted a van and not just to be camping in a tent for over a week while I celebrate my 25th wedding anniversary...kwim? That and the convenience of not having to set up a camp so we can more easily camp in several places. Or should I say park and sleep?

Melody, I think your group will have a great time on Harmony. I’m not a person that picks favorites easily because I am a context is everything kind of person…my favorites depend on…and then I prefer… So Oasis class has its place for me. I think you’re going to have so much fun.

Y'all are SO FUNNY. So DS does have one more year before graduation. I am planning for next year, trying to figure out the logistics of two ideas…the first being practical…move all his stuff back. The second is more fun…like trying to take advantage of DS already being in London and thinking about using that as a spring board to some travel. The cruise would combine the efforts of both but I’m not sure that’s what we really want to do.

There is a company out there that specializes in international student shipping which means that we could just use that business for our shipping needs.

DS’s Visa is good through October 2023 I think…so he’ll have a few months following graduation, which will be mid-July 2023. He’s contemplating a gap year before graduate school…or at least a gap semester since his end of term is so late compared to US schools…it would be such a short break between undergraduate and graduate school. It would be nice to have a bit of a break between…and he has several business projects going on. If he can defer admission by a semester, his lease may also be up more around October and we might be able to do a different kind of travel in the late summer/early fall. So many options would open up… Applications are due in the fall, at least by December but I”m not sure if he would know by December or later. 

His plans are to do the full ride of schooling through a doctoral degree so he’s in it for the long haul, which is why the gap time would be welcome. He’s looking at some very specialized graduate programs in the Northeast. He is a self taught coder and he has been combining his composition skills and computing skills. He attended a special workshop in Berlin that was all about how the creative arts are using AI. From that he’s been working on a collaboration with an artist from FInland for an audio visual art installation among other projects he has going on. Back when he was in high school, we had a long talk about work and careers…he knew and wanted to do a bunch of all kinds of work to make a living and that has started for him. So in addition to his degree program work and the art installation collaboration, he has 3 other projects going on that are all about game design in addition to a paid internship that he got for the summer. One project is for Microsoft…he is on one of several teams I think that are a part of some program that Microsoft has going on for new game development. His team had a meeting with Microsoft last week that went really well and they are supposed to have a trailer for their game done by the end of the month. Who knows what kind of doors can open through that process. And he had rushed up to GA earlier this summer to attend a gaming convention to show a different game that he and his friends have made. He is working on many things…and his thoughts in the gap year were to have the time to continue to work on some of these other projects he has going on. Sorry if I’m boasting…I’m very proud of him.

Kat…all your bags are so funny. I need to look them up! I also have many bags, but not as many backpacks, though I have several. Some of mine are more for backpacking. I did get a smaller very lightweight backpack for our Glacier trip. We’re under 3 weeks away! Yikes!

Laurie…The most important thing is to be comfortable, I think, whatever you decide. The backpacks can be a little sweaty on the back, but I think you talked about how a crossbody bag can dig into your shoulder? Water can be heavy…I do prefer the sweaty backpack to the digging in crossbody bag. I have a few crossbody bags for various types of travel but they can be painful to carry when they are seriously packed and heavy.

Laurie...agree with Margaret regarding the hiking shorts. I would want to know about the conditions for the hiking...I tend to prefer wearing pants when hiking especially if there are chances for tall undergrowth/plants that might rub on my legs and/or biting insects. Then I find that a looser pair of pants is preferable to shorts. If bugs aren't a problem then I tend to prefer a capri length legging with side pockets. Athleta made several that I've acquired over the years., some have the phone pocket only, some have a zippered pocket.

For a backpack...I bought two of these packs back in 2018 for our Alaska trip. They are still going strong and we use them ALL THE TIME because they are so handy. I believe that one of Melody's son's or some family also had purchased the same and used them all the time as well.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00TEIVUQW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

Thank you for sharing! I'm currently debating using a Cunard TA to help transport DS and all his accumulated belongings over the course of his undergraduate studies in London back to the US...a sort of fun graduation travel combined with the practicality of how to transport things like an 88-key electronic keyboard, computer monitor, guitar, and other sensitive electronic/musical equipment from the UK to the USA. I've always been curious about Cunard but haven't taken the time to really research the cruise line. 

About our bedroom wall color:

You can see the wall of closets in the first photo and the third single closet in the second. Our room has east facing windows so it gets morning light and then becomes progressively darker throughout the day. I love the deep color on the walls. It’s very cozy at night and makes for a wonderful sleeping atmosphere. We recently installed dark brown woven roll up shades on our windows. That reinforces our cozy cave at night. The over the bed lights are on dimmers with soft white bulbs. It’s been great for sleep.

In future, we have thoughts of painting all the louvered doors so that would introduce a much lighter color in the midst of the deep wall color because we’d probably pick a white color. That might really offset the walls since they would be significantly broken up by the closet doors, the furniture, and the mirrors. I think that would have a brightening effect during the day, maybe, but not do too much to

counter our good sleeping space. Right now, the lamps on my dresser (short and wide with the mirror above) have daylight bulbs installed and we usually have at least one on during the day. Reflecting in the mirror, it offers nice enough light during the day. We don’t really spend too many daylight hours in our room so that light is really just about walking through the room to access the bathroom. I’m a person that can deal with various forms of insomnia so I try to keep our bedroom dedicated to sleep and little other activity so the deep walls really work for me overall.

22 hours ago, slidergirl said:

Anita - if I listened to the "appropriate for my age" babble, I wouldn't have 90% of my clothes!!!  I'm not a matron and I refuse to dress like one. 😸  Dress in what you like and what makes you feel good and what makes you happy.   

Kat...Like I said...I'm working on not letting other voices tell me what I should or shouldn't be wearing. I still feel like I don't have much of a style. It's a work in progress. I usually think function first. I'm the person that dresses shoes first. And part of my clothing evaluation has been influenced by what size I am and how happy I am at that size...so often I've looked for cheap clothing to meet needs "temporarily". I'm dealing with that tendency too...

Lately, I'm becoming more particular about fabric. I think you and I share an absolute LOVE for merino wool. I never would have thought I would wear it as much as I do...but the few lightweight shirts I have, I reach for first all the time after laundry day. I haven't purchased too many because I've been on a losing, changing body shape trend for a while...so I'm riding it out until I more comfortably reach the next size. My hope is that as I need new clothes I will be purchasing more and more wool and other natural fibers. Someone mentioned to Mom that cashmere has the same temperature regularly qualities as wool...not sure I believe that, BUT I'm willing to give it a go. Looking through the Garnet Hill catalog, I saw a serious sale on some cashmere lounging/casual clothing...and I am contemplating.

Melody...I do have pictures! Our bedroom has 3 reach in closets, each with a pair of louvered bifold doors. I reworked the two closets that are side by side and take up one entire wall of our bedroom. There's about 2' of drywall separating the two pairs of bifold doors. There used to be a single wire shelf for hanging all along the closet and four smalls shelves separated the two closets. In the before photo below, you can see the brackets of those small shelves still but I had taken those shelves out before taking the photo.

My closet project was originally going to be the third single closet that DH was then using. He had gone to out of state to onboard and this was going to be my sort of happy new job/wardrobe present for him. That plan was derailed when I saw the evidence of the carpenter ants at the bottom of his then closet...

So I turned my sights to the other closet where there is actually a light installed in the closet...there is no light inside that third closet. I had purchased a relatively inexpensive closet kit already. https://www.homedepot.com/p/ClosetMaid-12-in-W-White-Custom-Organizer-Wood-Closet-System-7033/100597846 Using this closet kit as the basis for my idea...I purchased a second closet kit so each side would have one...and then I purchased cube like shelving for behind the drywall. I reinforced the stacked cubes with a 1x4 which also helped to anchor the closet rods in something more sturdy than the MDF of the ready-to-assemble furniture. The cubes are just the right depth that we can pull them out. I added a shelf all along the top of the closet. I reused the stackable bamboo shoe shelves we already owned on my side of the closet, and my big splurge were the two adjustable shoe shelving units for DH's shoes. The closet rods in the kit are such that each rod is actually two rods, where one fits into the other and this is how they are adjustable with a minimum size and maximum size. The minimum size was too big for my project and I had to cut the rods to make them fit. I just cut off however many inches off each of the two rods...so now the manufactured edge of the rods are gone and the "lip" where the bigger rod ends more abrupt...the hangers don't glide over it quite as easily but otherwise, no big deal to cut the rods.

My side:

The longer side accommodates most of my dresses. There's just enough room on the side of the shoe racks to hang the very few long dresses I have.

DH's side...he doesn't need long hanging space. I made sure that the height of the rods can accommodate his long length jackets and shirts.

I did remove the baseboards across the back and the right side of the closet to be able to put the shelving units as close to the wall as possible. I can cut the long baseboard to size later when DH can help me with the air compressor and the brad nailer. I haven't used those tools yet.  I've been debating some cedar planking in our closet. I might put sections of planking in various areas not all over. HD has a kit for about 15 sq ft of wall space...

These show the middle cube storage. Target was having a sale on all such items at the time. The shelves and cubes were 25% off. I bought enough cubes to fill all the cubes. And I purposefully picked the color/pattern story of the cubes going from lightest on top to darkest on bottom.

Here's my side after culling and organizing:

Dresses and skirts on the left. Upper right are my tops. Lower right are my overskirts/hoodies/pullovers/jackets. The middle cubes have hats, handbags, scarves. I have clear plastic tubs across the top shelf with sentimental things that I've kept...things like my high school tall flag uniform...

DH's side:

Upper left are shirts. Lower left are pants. Right side are jackets/suits/overshirts. His middle cubes are hats, work pants (as in yard work and home improvement), jeans, etc. The left side shoes are more work related and thus used more often. DH has gone from working a 4/10 with two days at home and two days in a very casual office (because most programs were still working from home) where he would wear Vans into the office to working a normal, but flexible, 5 days in the office in a normal business casual/very casual work environment. The right side has more athletic shoes (for instance, DH has 3 pairs of tennis shoes...one each for hard court, clay, and grass).

The unseen middle cubes have things like the few clothes that don't fit me right now that I hope will fit again, costumes, concert tees, specialty clothing (snow pants, snow bibs), shoe care, etc. The things you might need but rarely need. 

I also replaced the light bulb with a bright daylight LED bulb. It's a single bulb fixture in the middle of the closet. In the future, we might replace that with a bar type light fixture that would stretch further to the right and left than the single A19 bulb.

Meanwhile...I'm absolutely thrilled with how my project turned out. For the first time since we moved into our home two years ago we have sorted out storage space for all our wardrobe, including out of season (rarely ever IN season in Florida) winter clothing. 

All your outfits look great Laurie. I especially like your new dress with the pattern. You’ve really been branching out from your solids over the last few years!

I totally understand how you feel about planning a cruise wardrobe and how much enjoyment you get from it because it’s more “you” and less the you that adheres to work wardrobe requirements or some other construct that limits your clothing choices. The cruise has boundaries for appropriateness and maybe some limits of common decency but really it’s closer to anything goes (more limits for the MDR but you get what I’m saying I’m sure).

I find myself trying to release myself from preconceived notions of what is appropriate for “someone my age” etc and any other limitation and just think, do I like this? Do I feel good in this? Do I think I LOOK good in this? It’s odd to have this goal of expressing yourself but my recent experience with DH has solidified some of my thoughts regarding clothing.

DH got a new job. He has already started it now. This isn’t like his other new jobs over the years where he was essentially still working for the same company…this is a completely new job. Well we ended up buying him almost an entire new wardrobe. Men’s styles have changed so much in recent years…so much of his clothing looked so out of style…very loose and baggy while today’s looks are much more fitted and shorter (hem lines). When you are about to make a first impression on a bunch of people, and even though everyone may try to not judge by appearance alone, there’s no doubt that first impressions are partially formulated by appearance and the clothes you wear are a big part of that first impression. With DH’s non traditional hair style and facial hair, he wanted to fall more heavily on the business side of business casual. Also, that’s what he likes. We went shopping and I had a fun time dressing “Ken”.

For myself, I recently got a new dresser. And with DH’s new wardrobe, it seemed time to finally tackle the closets in our home. I recently gutted the single wire shelf hanging rack and designed a closet organization system with a combination of diy assembly closet items and diy shelving and reusing things we already had. So I have very recently culled my own wardrobe.

I think it takes times like these where you have an event, like moving, new furniture, new closets, vacation, wedding…whatever…something that makes you look at all your clothes and do some analysis and take the time to play with how you present yourself to the world. It’s something that I feel like I used to do a lot as a teen ager (playing with hair styles and makeup) but now it’s something I really have to purpose to do if I want to cultivate a particular look vs just get dressed and/or find something that’ll do that’s not too expensive.

I’m really looking forward to reading about Laurie and Margaret’s cruises. Our next trip is next month. We’re headed to Glacier National Park so not quite the same wardrobe planning lol.

Hopefully someone from that area will chime in but I would honestly say to check out Target and Walmart. I live in a coastal town and these two stores always have swim suits and they usually carry a good variety of styles. Depending on when “early” is, there could be tremendous selection as the stores will begin stocking swimwear for the up and coming spring break season well before March.

A little late to the party but very excited for another Jim and Iain cruise! And very excited for your itinerary. I grew up in the Bay Area and have only been back a couple times since graduating college (94) so I even enjoy glimpses of San Francisco with your TR. Joining with everyone hoping you can enjoy all 3 legs this time around.

@GeorgiaPeach51 I recently discovered author Carol Goodman. I picked up her 2021 The Stranger Behind You in the new section of my library was such a fantastic read, I was thrilled to learn she has authored so many books. She writes contemporary somewhat suspenseful fiction that seems to often incorporate past events and how those events influence the current circumstances in her story. Very engaging and often with plot twists I don’t see coming…a rare thing.

My one experience sailing with a bunch of Europeans was taking the Allure Eastbound TA way back there in 2014? The ship was by and large filled with more non Americans than Americans. Left Fort Lauderdale for Barcelona. The thing I would say about the ship in the evenings especially is that the people were stylin’. They looked urban and fashionable. They didn’t necessarily look trendy but they looked current and modern and again, the best word I could use is stylin’. 
 

Going shopping should be fun. I encourage you to find the fun in it. Also see if maybe your DD could find some ideas and do some of her own research on what she thinks would be appropriate outfits. I would encourage you to approach the idea of helping her figure out how to elevate her style and develop it and not approach it from the view that she needs to change too much to be acceptable with her grandmother and grandmother’s contemporaries. Focus on the venue, not the people. This is a wonderful opportunity for your DD to really connect with her grandmother. If you let your DD take the lead in the shopping and just help edit, then you’ll both be happier. She’ll feel more comfortable and confident and you will too because you can see the choices she’s making given the chance, so you don’t have to be as concerned when she’s outside your editing reach.

For the clothing, the advice I would offer is to understand that you are likely visiting cities that have a walking lifestyle and possibly a biking lifestyle. Fashion for the younger generation will be very practical. Weather may be unpredictable so wear something that can handle the unexpected and possibly brief inclement weather. Also big cities tend to have weird shade patterns and wind tunnels so having layers is helpful. Jeans/denim is perfectly acceptable so long as they are well fitting. That’s kind of key. Clothes should fit well and not be oversized (more fitted knit shirts rather than oversized tees) nor tend toward athleisure but still be practical enough to deal well with public transport etc. Color palettes also tend to more toned down, with more of what I would think of a neutrals like black, gray, navy, army green, tan, cream, white. Unless her style is to wear tons of color, of course that’s fine if she’s confident and comfortable and her clothes fit well. That’s the biggest difference I always notice…how whatever people are wearing, the clothes never could be described as dowdy, frumpy, camouflaging, or ill fitting.

My son goes to college in London and has friends from all over Europe. I can tell you that her Converse sneaker collection is on point. They wear fashion sneakers over there not gym shoes. Probably want them to be less worn and old looking but definitely there will plenty of young people in sneakers, especially classic old school sneakers.

OP I appreciate you sharing. We moved to Florida in the year our nest emptied...2019...and were on our way to enjoying being able to cruise easily and I want to cruise again, but I am not willing to subject myself to being so out of control of my own circumstances. I check periodically here to see how things are being handled onboard so again I say thank you for sharing. I will continue to wait for cruising and feel like it may be years before I would want to get on board again.

I'm certainly no expert but the news of all the variants of Omicron and how sneaky it is...it doesn't respond to antibodies from previous Omicron infection...it just goes round and round. Reinfection is common. No one is talking about the potential consequences to the next passengers in the cabins where those who may not report...or who don't even test because symptoms are so slight or not seemingly particular to Covid. IDK the situation with the air filtration and how often it is replaced and how well the cabins are really being cleaned and how long Covid hovers in the air... 

I'm not as concerned about having Covid. Though Covid is no joke and I have to deal with the life long consequences of my own response to having Delta. It's the control factor for me...I'll continue with my non cruise travel... 

We had the most forward side cabin on Millennium on our Alaska cruise. If your cruise ever heads out into open waters...like the Gulf of Alaska, then beware of the greater movement of the front of the ship. My DH suffers from motion sickness and he couldn't be in our cabin when we were sailing in the unprotected waters. It wasn't an issue in the inside passage.

If your cruise goes to Skagway...the sailaway there is gorgeous. I watched from the Sunset bar for the entire time. Views are spectacular and the passage is narrow so you can really appreciate both sides from the aft.

Hey Laurie...

I don't think the aurora borealis are all that elusive in general. Activity level changes based on how active sun flares are I think...but from my understanding, the phenomenon that produces the lights happens year round...it's just that you need darkness in order to actually see it. I think there is something about it being more active around the equinoxes? But I'm not entirely sure...

What I do remember is that March and either September or October are usually more active times for seeing the lights. But I think all winter is a possibility. I could just be that March and September/October are more popular times... This was a March plan because of my birthday, but I recall be somewhat thrilled to realize that it just happened to be a good time to try to see the lights.

In some circles, March is a preferred time to visit Fairbanks...and Fairbanks is a popular place for seeing the northern lights. Daylight hours in March in Fairbanks are "normal"...the sun rises and sets with a normal amount of daylight. Earlier in the year...so much darkness. Later in the year...so much light. March is when the weather generally starts to warm up a bit and so everyone really gets out to play and have fun with snow activities before it all turns to slush. We were right there at the cusp of slush...

Just as a reminder, we spent a week in Fairbanks. It was a good amount of time. I completely understand your DH not wanting to have a vacation longer than a week during working years. It can be very difficult to transition back to work if you are gone longer...not only because of having enjoyed vacation so much but also because of all the make up work and getting back up to speed after being gone for longer can be a hard crash after time off.

We were fortunate in that we had a great deal on our vehicle rental...we got a corporate rate. Also, the hotel was covered by points, so no OOP there. We didn't really spend that much more on food than a normal week of celebration. So airfare and the cost of our excursions. It really wasn't too bad at all for a week of vacation. It isn't the kind of vacation that you would tack on to an Alaska cruise because the times of year conflict...so you could definitely plan such a trip separately. IDK if there would be anything closer to you? Something that might be less travel and more north from the east coast? I didn't research other places like Canada, Greenland or Iceland. I have no idea if there would be similar tours up there but I imagine there might be. It might be worth researching because it could be much closer to you being so far up north already.

From a fellow Gen X...really enjoyed coming along on your cruise with you. Thank you so much for taking the time to post.

Wow...what fortunate timing in terms of people and potential loss of life. What a bummer though for scheduling...more cruises may be impacted.

I suppose it depends on your cold tolerance. Mendenhall water is glacier fed and it is COLD. I only touched it when we hiked down to Nugget Falls...Brrrrr.