The tours we take, the travel we do, the vacations we go on.
As I departed New Zealand on a sailboat on the seventh of May, my wife, Sheena, had already departed Canada on the third of May with the intent to bum around Europe for most of the summer. Particularly Eastern Europe this time around. If all goes well she’ll be traveling until the 23rd of July and then hopefully hops on a plane somewhere, wherever she might be, and make her way back home to Kamloops.
Through the wonders of modern technology, she has been able to write me up to a 160 characters per text almost every day. From her computer via the internet and via the Iridium satellite network to our ‘Garmin inReach Explorer +’ handheld unit somewhere in the south pacific. Messages are coming through on a tiny screen. Modern technology indeed, although Sheena thinks it is all magic.
June 9th. We find Sheena somewhere in Croatia. Dubrovnik to be precise. But I never got a text on that day on the inReach Explorer. Sheena is a busy girl and since the 27th of May she has been on a Toucan Travel tour. Tour name ‘the Balkans Encompassed’. Between then and now she has visited places like Novi Sad in Hungary, Belgrade in Serbia and Pristina in Kosovo. Mostly places nobody has ever heard of really. Unless you live in that knack of that wood of course. Also, places certainly not accessible in the time when I lived in Europe.
Macedonia, Albania, Montenegro. Just to throw a few more names out there.
On the tenth of June I texted Sheena about our predicament about heading for Hawaii and about diverting to Honolulu from our original plan on account of the erupting Volcano on the big island. She then texted me,—— I was going to mention the volcano but figured you heard about it. Start a new segment of the trip today. Sad to say goodbye to two of our group. Love Sheena—- A 158 character text, remember the 160 limit, nicely done. Her tour seems to be organized in segments with people coming and going at pick up and drop off places along the way.
I’ll skip a few communiqués here, but I texted that I wasn’t sleeping very well since we left Tahiti. Nothing to worry about, my body just had to get back into the routine of life aboard this sailing vessel. Sheena texted me, —–Stay safe and get some sleep. New group seems nice. We are in Sarajevo, Bosnia. Sad history during the war years in the ’90s. Man I wish I had more room in my —— case. Lots of nice cheaper souvenirs here. Do I need another scarf? We are doing a tunnel tour from the war years tomorrow. Time for bed now. Love Sheena.— This message was split in two as it was well over 160 characters. Garmin allows you to do that without incurring penalties. I believe Dan pays something like a hundred bucks a month for this texting service, so yeah, no penalties.
And yes, of course, such a shame about not having more room in her case. I literally have been dying for some more souvenirs from….. Well you know, wherever she is.
So the story continues. On the 13th she is in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina. She writes, —-Good to hear things are going well. New group is quite fun and likes to drink.—- The 14th and 15th are spent on Hvar Island in Croatia. She’s staying in Croatia for a bit longer and visits Split, Plitvice and Zagreb. No less people, no less, places to go, people to see. From the 19th to the 22nd she resides in Slovenia. And all of a sudden on the 23rd Sheena is back in Hungary, took a train there. On the 24th she flew out to Stockholm. That’s in Sweden. Everybody knows that.
She is only in Sweden for a few days waiting for her flight to Tallin, capital of Estonia. She’ll be there for the rest of June and most of July.
But here is her day in Stockholm. She writes this in the morning. —–Feels weird being on my own. Slept in this morning having a leisurely cup of coffee. Motivating myself to get going—— Again a split message,—–So much to see here. Might do a hop on hop off (city bus tour). Last night did not go out and watched an HBO show. It was nice after such a busy month. Love Sheena.—–
Next morning I received the following, —–Okay got out yesterday and got back 10 hours later. Bought a Stockholm pass and did a bus tour, walking tour and 2-hour boat tour. Busy day. Love S.—– A busy day indeed. Sheena does not tire easily and there are few people I know who can take in as many sights in a day as she can. Bring on the castles, bring on the cathedrals, there is never enough.
This all leads up, of course, to the comparison between her and my travels. We actually don’t really do compare all that much, but other people tend to do so. Originally I would have liked to have started the next paragraph with, ‘In contrast’, the name I’d given to this post, but on reflection I think I’m going with ‘In sharp contrast’. Major decision on my part.
In sharp contrast to Sheena’s travels, people she met, places she went to and encompassing the same time period…….. Remember June 9th, when Sheena was on her second beer in a bar in Dubrovnik, Croatia…… Well, that day we sailed out of Papeete, Tahiti, bound for Hawaii. By evening we were smack in the middle of a 6-mile diameter circle. Water and sky, all that was there, horizon all around us. Today, 18 days later, Sheena is in Sweden, we are now north of the equator, still in that circle, still only water and sky, still only horizon all around us. Never saw a boat, never saw another person, still in heaven.
There really is no question of who is on the better of a trip. It’s pointless. Yes, I would have liked Sheena to be here with me on this journey, but anything smaller than a cruise ship, Sheena ain’t going on. Being on a tour in Europe, perhaps not my cup of tea. For now I’m happy with the occasional 160 character text. Life is good for both of us.
