Preparing for the Trip

Lynn has been excited about this trip for more than a year-- from even before we placed our reservation in November, 2007. Quite often she gets that glassy, far-away look in her eyes and I know she is thinking about something having to do with the trip: what to pack, what to read about in a guide book, what cabin will we be assigned; what excursion should we take in which port, and so forth. It is the topic we most frequently talk about-- with each other and with others. She is now counting off the days until we leave on January 19, 2009.

On Tuesday, November 11th, we celebrated the rarity of a holiday together with a special trip. We took the Metrolink train from Fullerton up to Los Angeles Union Station, where we transferred to the Metro Gold Line trolley and went north up to Pasadena. On Raymond Avenue in downtown Pasadena is a wonderful store which caters to the needs of travellers with an amazing stock of maps, guides, and travellers’ necessities. We spent hours seated in comfortable chairs reading, talking, making notes, reading more, and searching for (and purchasing) a small selection of essentials. I purchased maps for several of the port cities we will be visiting; I love to read maps as a way to discover where to go and what to do. Lynn read guide books and made notes about important things to do. I think that it was this day which started me to realising that the trip is growing near and it really is time for me to begin serious planning for it.

On Wednesday, November 12th I called the 800 number for my medical provider to begin the difficult process of ordering up one huge order of pharmacy for the trip. I take eight different pills each day, and will also need skin creams and seasickness patches, enough to last for the entire 114 days of the trip. It is difficult to obtain so much in one order, and the process to place such an order is long and complex. I should have begun earlier, but at least it is underway.

A few weeks before Christmas Lynn became concerned with our luggage. She was overjoyed to learn that one of the benefits assigned to “entire voyage” travelers such as ourselves was a luggage transfer service in which up to four large pieces each will be picked up at our home and delivered directly to the ship at the start of the voyage, and then collected from the ship at the end and returned to our home address. Insofar as the return trip includes a flight from Miami to Los Angeles, this benefit removes from us the need to hump a sizeable portion of our own luggage on that leg of the trip. This meant that we could pack more pieces than originally we had planned to carry. At the same time, she became concerned with some pieces of her luggage, which were rather worn from earlier usage. Amidst the frenzy of department stores in the week before Christmas, we undertook a campaign to purchase at discounted prices several new pieces of luggage. We discovered Delsey “Helium Fusion” pieces; they were ultra light but very strong thanks to their use of carbon fibre.

On the Saturday after Christmas, we began serious packing for the trip. Lynn, as usual the best planner, laid out a wide selection of clothing in our bedroom and began anticipating clothing needs for each port and event. I am more concerned that the pieces I take will still fit after the weight gain I have had this year.

On January 2nd:

Now it is the New Year and our trip is coming VERY CLOSE. We received our ticket package in the mail just before Christmas, and finally were given our Cabin number—the lack of this latter has bothered Lynn for quite a long while now. We are pleased to learn that we were upgraded two levels of cabin, and have been placed in an “A” cabin on the port side of the ship. We have never traveled on that side of the ship before. Also, we are not too far forward, which is better for dealing with ship motion when the seas are rough.

As I was posting my last Cal State Fullerton grades this morning, I received a phone call from someone at Holland America to remind us that Fed-Ex will pick up our luggage next Thursday, January 8th between noon and 4 o’clock, and to say that the luggage tags are in the mail to us. I guess that means that the final round of packing is about to begin. . . .

. . . and the excitement builds. . . .

On January 3rd

At about 3:00 in the morning of Saturday, January 3rd, I had a seizure while asleep in bed. Lynn says that I fell out of bed and was making noises. She called 911, who sent paramedics that came and, with some difficulty, carried me down stairs to the ambulance. They took me to the emergency room at the Kaiser Permanente Hospital on Lakeview in Anaheim, not my own hospital, where I regained consciousness at some time in the later morning of Saturday, and instantly was devastated that again, just like in Rome in 2007, I had ruined our cruise. Fortunately, the cardiologist decided that I would still be able to go. After several tests and machine reviews, I was released on Monday evening, and I have reasonable assurance from the cardiologist, Dr. Van, that I will be able to go on the trip. I am glad for that because I would not wish to ruin the plans and dreams of my long-suffering wife, who has worked so hard to bring this trip about.

On January 6th:

Today, my first full day home from the hospital, I spent with Lynn at her work. We drove in together, and after an hour or so at Edison, we drove up into Pasadena to visit Dr. Terry, who specializes in the medical needs of people traveling overseas. He was a very nice man, with a real sense of humour (rare in medical doctors, I have found), and he reassured me that my seizure should not interfere with our trip. He reviewed Lynn’s and my medical histories for what shots we had already had, and prescribed what we needed. Lynn got two shots and oral treatment for typhoid and malaria. I got four shots, including refreshers for hepatitis B and polio. I was surprised to learn that the polio vaccines Lynn and I had received as children (remember Dr. Salk and the sugar cubes?) were no longer strong enough to protect us and that we had to get a refresher—we both got the 2 year shot. As I type this now, my right shoulder is stiff and sore from the reactions to the shots we got this morning, but we are both fully protected and don’t need anything else except for the malaria pills when we land in Kenya. Modern medicine has its amazing moments, and Dr. Terry provided one of them for us today!

Our packing is coming along rather well. Lynn is proud that she has packed six formal dresses and nine pairs of shoes; me, I am just hoping that my shirts fit. More to come. . . .

On January 8th:

Last night I finished packing my major luggage: three large suitcases with all of the stuff I will need, from tuxedo down to docker pants. At 11:45 this morning the front doorbell rang and the Federal Express driver was there to pick up our luggage—all eight pieces. And so it went off: four pieces for Lynn, and three for me plus a packed box containing toiletries, maps and travel books, and other such items. I guess our trip has now officially begun!