Shock 'n' Awe

Okay, so for the past year and a half, I've diverted my blogging strictly to Facebook with the idea of attracting more attention.  It's quite difficult to determine how much traffic one is actually getting since it's likely the response in the form of likes and comments doesn't equal how many people actually take the time to read the posts.  I've also noticed that shorter posts tend to receive more of a response than the longer, drawn-out blogs.

That's fine and all, but I do like writing longer posts, and it seems ideal to revive this blog for the third time.

I tend to not follow through on things if I announce them ahead of time, so with the hopes of not jinxing myself out of accomplishing tasks, I won't make any foolish announcements until after the fact.  This also seems to work when dealing with contracts and placements for tours and such.  I would get all hyped up about doing a full contract in South America only to get placed on another ship because a certain wife of an officer took the last available Shorex cabin.

But that was over a year ago, and things drastically changed in 2013.  Brazil went off in a loud heartbeat of uncertainty but proved to be an amazingly fun experience.  Upon returning from Brazil, I was transferred to the m/s Zuiderdam for the final five weeks of my contract, getting tastes of Panama, Costa Rica and Colombia while saying hello to old friends, Aruba and Curacao, another four times.  It would prove to be, as of now, my final contract due to my mother's failing health and my wanting to be more readily available at home to spend more time with her.  

Holding out until August, I landed another job with Destinations America to begin running tours under their Insight Vacations and Trafalgar brands.  On August 2nd, my mother's 66th birthday, I accepted DA's Tour Director position, simultaneously resigning from Holland America Line, and five days later, my mother would pass away to join my father above.  

But even with the shock 'n' awe that is associated with the death of loved ones, we knew she had been suffering for a very long time, and despite the grief and sadness, there was also a sense of relief that no more suffering was to be placed upon her.  And with the formalities of dealing with the estate, I continued pushing on to prepare for my first ever escorted tour through the beautiful fall foliage of New England.

The tour was a rousing success, I was invited back for my first complete season coming up, and in the process embarked on a seven-week trip to Australia followed by a New Years-tinged two-and-a-half week trip to Western Europe.  The first half of my Australia blog and pictures were featured on my Facebook wall, but now it's time to regain the habit of returning the blogs to their home space.

So here it is, returning from its long slumber for those who want to enjoy my longer musings and posts.  I'll keep the Twitter-styled posts to my Facebook wall.  The site can also use a bit of a sprucing up with all of these new moments in time I've captured.