Travelin' Man

 I really feel little need to travel much anymore. Like Johnny Cash, I've been everywhere, man --Istanbul to Colombia. Wifey, on the other hand, always has wanderlust, so as is often the case in a long marriage -- we travel a lot, still.

But Wifey is savvy. She knows I always agree to go on trips with great friends. Joelle and Kenny are probably our best couple partners -- we've been with them to Wine Country to celebrate their 25th anniversary, several times to Maine - both their lovely lake house and coastal inn trips, a wonderful Rhone River cruise from Lyon to Avignon, and a Barbados to Miami cruise on Explora - a luxury line they discovered.

We became Explora fans right away - and last December (in fairness, this trip was MY doing) we went with Donna, Loni, Mike and Barry on a wonderful NYE cruise from San Juan to Miami -- watching the Canes beat Ohio State right before the clock struck 2026.

Donna and Barry now caught the Explora bug, and the next voyage is December -- to celebrate a milestone birthday for Wifey whose number cannot be revealed, or any reference points like her being born while Eisenhower was President being shared either. It's also our 40th anniversary in January -- so the next (our third) Explora cruise celebrates lots of stuff. We go from Barcelona to  Lisbon, with 2 days in Casablanca, where I can bore my friends with endless references to the great Bogart/Bergman lines.

We had hoped to include more of our couple friends, but, as befit successful folks in the twilights of their careers, they have other travel/grandparent/kid commitments. 

Dana and Eric, who we Danube River-ed with last Spring, on Tauk, want in on the Explora thing, too, and found a trip for September of 2027 - from Istanbul to Athens. I applauded his optimism that we'll all be grossly intact 14 months from now, and I set about trying to recruit our friends.

Mike and Loni, alas, will be celebrating THEIR 40th then, with some other Northern European cruise - taking advantage of the fact that their boy Chris is a lawyer for MSC, which owns Explora, and they get a a friends and family discount.

We really wanted Joelle and Kenny to join us, but September is a bad travel time for them, as they enjoy the beauty of Maine Fall. I don't blame them -- it IS the best time of year to be there. They suggested other trips -- October into November. But, alas, we have a close friend's daughter's wedding 10/27 -- our first ever lesbian affair, in Orlando, as well as another friend's son's wedding, also in Orlando -- that one a garden variety hetero affair. And I'm not a fan of later November trips myself -- T Day is by far my favorite holiday, and we get to spend it with the Ds and their men.

But in an unexpected development, Barry and Donna want in for September of 2027. It will be their THIRD Explora voyage -- they're like me -- when they find something they really like -- they repeat it. So yesterday, enjoying a big discount for early booking, D2's friend Dara, the travel agent who owns Dara the Explorer, booked all of us. And then...

Patricia finally prevailed upon Paul to overcome his distaste for cruising. He's been on them, and felt claustrophobic -- but understands Explora is a much smaller ship, and maybe it won't be so bad. So as of yesterday afternoon, they were looking into booking, too -- so it would be 8 Miamians flying to Istanbul (not Constantinople). We'll see if that happens -- I sure hope it does.

Either way, the good natured ball busting on the text chat has begun - about Eric having to keep Paul alive for the next 14 months, and wondering whether he can make a claim under travel insurance for any medical care rendered.

These are amazingly wonderful First World Problems to deal with -- just wish Joelle and Kenny were free -- they would love this group of wacky funsters on the Bosphorus River. Hopefully we get to travel with them soon, too.

Meanwhile, today is another first -- first medical visit under Medicare. I see my man crush, Dr. Green, the Dermatologist, who Wifey and the Ds long crushed for, and then I met him and have the biggest of all. Most of his patients are women there for cosmetic stuff, but he is a HUGE Canes fan, and we talk football. I referred Mike to him, and he does the same. Often the PA will remind him he has other patients as we dissect the upcoming season's offensive line -- he just shrugs -- and then goes about the rest of the day.

I set other appointments for AFTER my birthday on the 18th, figuring if I had any dread disease, as our old Torts Professor and Dean Claude Sowle used to say -- better to not ruin the mood for the party.

And if that comes to pass -- well -- travel insurance! In younger years, I laughed that off. Once life got more moving parts, particularly declining parents, we always took it. Hopefully that remains claim free.

For now, have to hunker down in the heat and humidity, which is ok. The Marlins are looking like a playoff team, and Norman scored us tix for Sunday - it'll be my 5th game this season, and I plan to get to double figures.

And then come late in the year -- I get to sing, off key to Wifey, Come Fly With Me...