It’s one of those days where ship life sucks and have to do our “In Port Manning” so I was stuck on board most of the day. But – it does have an up side, which is doing laundry, going to the gym when it isn’t busy and getting other things done for work. The other upside to spending the day in Warnemunde, Germany is that we are there until 10:30PM because most of the guests go into Berlin and don’t get back until late. When I finished work around 5:30PM, I called one of the girls in my IPM rotation to see if she was back onboard and she was! I changed my clothes and decided to go for a long walk because the weather was just incredible!
I followed the same path that I always had and walked into the town passing the “Train bar” where the crew always gathers for drink and a bratwurst and continued down the same road and into the city center. Most things were closed because it was around 7PM. I turned around and followed along the river to see if I could find the beach that everyone always talks about. There was a beautiful breeze, the sun was starting to set and lots of couples took advantage of the opportunity for a stroll hand in hand. Honestly, made me a bit sad and lonely – so I put my headphones in and decided to listen to my iPod. My favorite playlist has a bunch of songs that make me reflect and think, so I selected that one.
When I listen to music like that, I think of it like a soundtrack to life. Some of the songs that would come on would make me think of different events or functions that made me happy. I would take big deep breaths of fresh air and just smile thinking of life and all that I’m blessed with. Also, I’ve been reflecting on what’s to come in the very near future. I’ve been getting lots of questions about my Facebook status updates and what’s going on with the plane ticket purchases etc.….so here it is!
All of my things are sitting in a storage unit in Mobile, Alabama. I NEED a long vacation – just some time to decompress, enjoy life, relax and grab hold of what’s next in life. Not sure whether or not that is ships anymore –but I think I’ll keep doing it for awhile longer. I love my job, I love the people I work with and the places I see – but I’m getting tired and starting to crave a sense of normalcy and routine that I don’t get here. Don’t get me wrong – I love the fast pace and constant change that I encounter and I have a strong suspicion that I will get quite bored on land – but I am up for a new challenge. Anyways – back to the topic at hand….my trip. Since I need/want a long vacation, I needed a place to do it where it was financially feasible for me to do so. Alabama/Florida will not allow me to take a long vacation by the time I rent an apartment (which would be hard to do for only 3 months) as well as a car – but I can do it in the Philippines with money to spare!
On October 10th, I will fly to Mobile from Quebec city when I disembark the Eurodam. I’ll stay there with a friend of mine until October 16th, when I’ll fly to Orlando before leaving for Manila. I’ll stay in Orlando from the 16th until the 20th when I fly to Manila. Currently, I have no return ticket because even the Marine fares are quite high for the time I’m looking at. Once I’ve received my next contract (to begin in January, hopefully) I’ll book the return ticket based on that date. Some people are asking if I’m going for anybody specific or who I will stay with….the answer is nobody. I’m doing this for me. If you read my post a few days ago (Share.Your.Passion), one of the lines says “Travel Often; getting lost will help you find yourself.” I hope this is my “Eat.Pray.Love” in a sense – a chance for me to get my mind straightened out and move forward.
Am I 100% confident in this decision? Pretty damn close. I’ll never stop being the “what if” girl regardless of how hard I try. I’m really excited about this, but scared all at the same time. So excited that I am going to have a place of my own and experience a culture and life completely out of my comfort zone but scared because the only time I’ve ever been there, Sherwin (my ex-boyfriend) took care of it all. Lucky for me, I have lots of friends that are within an arms reach and I know they will do whatever they can for me to make sure that I’m ok (and hopefully cook lots of Filipino food for me!). I’ve prayed about it and really feel that I’m headed the right direction in all of this – I feel God’s map is pointing me “this way”.
That’s the update on all of it right now – the flights are purchased and the condo is almost there. I’m debating among a few different locations and areas to stay in, but I will definitely post more when I decide on which one. Please keep me in your prayers…I can always use an extra voice :)
I think this was Grandma’s way of saying hello in Germany the other day!
A few pictures around Warnemunde since it was our last time (these are on my little point and shoot…the shutter is dead on my SLR…so bummed!)
No comments:
Post a Comment