13w

Thirteen weeks: April 11 to July 11 and I step onto the gangplank of the m/s Maasdam for my yearly cruise from Boston to points north (and, ultimately, south again to Boston).

I find this weekly countdown helps a lot to keep me focused on when the trip is coming up, as well as eliminating the wait of (x) months to go. Weeks seem more manageable than months to me.

So we are down to 13w. Tomorrow it will be 12w, 6d. No, I don’t keep looking at the calendar; that would make things drag. But ticking off the Saturdays – yeah; I get a big kick out of that. One down, a few more to go.

Two weeks from Monday is the final payment for the “up” trip, and a week later, for the “down” trip. My bank account won’t know what hit it. Actually, I think it happens to occur in two Visa billing periods, so it won’t be so bad. It’s like getting hit over the head with a 2x4, but instead of twice in a row, it’s a month apart.

I don’t know if the cruise line has changed any of the ports since last year, but it makes no difference to me; the ship is the destination. You’d be surprised at how many people have that attitude. Many are on the cruise for the ports, but quite a few are there just to be on the ship.

It’s getting time to pack; just 13 weeks to sailing time.