Hello, Pacific!

April 3, 2018 (Aboard the Star Princess cruise ship)

I am back out on the open ocean.

It may be a gigantic cruse ship upon which I float, but float it does on the salty Pacific waters.

How do I feel?  How is it to be back out on waters that I have sailed?

It feels fantastic!

The ocean wind that whips the face, leaving its salty remnants upon my skin, has bought me home.

It seems as if I have two homes; two places where I feel comfortable and at peace.  The mountains, and the ocean.  Who would have thought it?

The Mighty Pacific is shining in all her late afternoon glory.  The swell is calm (although it is difficult to gauge from eight cruise-ship- decks up), and all looks fair and friendly.  She is welcoming me back.  I feel her power.  She knows I respect her.  She knows she humbled me years ago.  She knows.  She knows.  And, I know, too.

It is, however, a slightly different comfort than the alpine.   I love the alpine.  I do.  My soul soars when I wander the alpine.  It is a fresh and lively adoration.  It is a place I have sought out for myself.  No one else took me there.  I longed for it in my core.

The ocean was shown to me by someone else.  Another individual brought me to the ocean and introduced me to her.  I did not bring myself to the ocean.  That is one difference.

Another difference is that I have been forever humbled by the ocean.  I have yet to be humbled by the mountains.  I have yet to be in a tumultuous alpine situation that has put me at risk.  I have not had to say to the mountains “It is not my time to die”, as I have with the ocean.

The awe, respect and unequivocal admiration I hold for the power of the mountains is no different for the ocean.  Both are so very much the same, yet slightly, and pleasingly, different.  

What brings me to the ocean today?  How do I find myself on a cruise ship?  A Princess cruise ship?  My 84-year old father admitted several months ago that he was no longer up to travelling; an announcement that caused great consternation for my 80-year old mother who is still keen to pull out her passport and pack a bag.  As a good daughter would, I volunteered to be my mother’s travel companion.

As cruising (a la cruise ship, not a la blue water cruising) is the most logical form of travel for an octogenarian, research indicated that a 7-day cruise from Los Angeles to Vancouver, appropriately named the Pacific Wine Country cruise, would have us travel in the same time zone and have me back home in time to pack up and head out for a 5-month contract in the Rockies.

It is sheer coincidence that this cruise will offer a reverse order of some of the ports of call my family made while cruising southbound along the coast of North America.

We departed from Los Angeles an hour ago, with the late afternoon sun still in the sky.  Tomorrow morning will have us anchor in Santa Barbara for a day of Spanish cultural exploration.  I can't wait to be back in Santa Barbara.  My camera and I are going to have such fun.

A full 36-hours at sea will bring us into San Francisco for sunrise and another full day at port.  The second day at sea will bring us farther north to Astoria.  Then it will be time for the return into BC waters via the mighty Juan and beautiful Georgia (Juan de Fuca and Georgia Straits respectively) for a day in Nanaimo (of all places!) and a quick overnight passage into Vancouver.  A pretty nice itinerary all round.

We have acquainted ourselves somewhat with the endless array of amenities onboard.  Food galore (I think there are at least 5 dining rooms and countless other food establishments depending upon your gastronomic desires...pizza, hamburgers, 24-hour buffet, ice cream, pastries).  I haven't a clue how many bars and lounges there are!

This is a very different style of cruising than the style I know!

This is nautical enjoyment on a different level, but one that I can adapt to for the next seven days.

Bon Voyage.

52-Year Old Adventures!

Friday, April 20, 2018

I am going on an adventure.

This 50-something-divorced-mother-of-three-young-adults is going on an adventure.  I will be in the grand company of Me, Myself and I for five whole months.  As one of my kids exclaimed the other day, "Mum is finally leaving home".

As you know, the past four years (four!) brought about many changes in my life.  I left my husband of 20 years, established a new home base for my family of four, launched myself into a new industry in order to pay the bills, reconnected with just about every woman I have ever known in my life, and, not surprisingly, had a complete and utter emotional meltdown.

From deep down in the emotional trenches, I clawed my way out, dealt with tumultuous emotions, wrote a memoir manuscript, got sad, got angry, gained clarity, and finally made peace with it all.  2017 was one heck of a year.

By the end of the summer, after writing continuously for five months (and spending some amazing time in the mountains), I proudly declared what was important to me and what was important for me to have in my life.  Children, girlfriends, mountains, nature, honesty, laughter and love being the primary and uncompromising components.

The question of how best to pay the bills became yet another component upon which I refused to compromise.  For most of my adult life I worked in the Adventure Tourism industry.  Shortly after moving to Vancouver from Toronto, post university, I worked for an expedition river rafting outfit.  It was at this outfit that I met the man I eventually married.  For eight years we successfully operated our own river rafting outfit directly from our dining room office and driveway.  Then we went sailing.  Upon returning to the same town after eight years on the Pacific, the rafts were dusted off and launched back onto the river.  In 2014, after five years of business re-establishment, I left my husband.

The post-marital, two-year foray into the automotive industry made one thing abundantly clear to me:  I wanted, and needed, to be back in the adventure tourism industry.  For it is within the adventure tourism industry, specifically the river rafting industry, that my heart belongs.   It is also within the rafting industry where my values allign with how I earn my money.

A project undertaken at the end of 2017 attempted to get me back into the industry I loved so much (heck, my children were raised in the rafting industry!).  I had successfully managed my own rafting outfit for 12 years.  Surely, I had some marketable skills for another outfit; skills for which they would be willing to pay.  The rafting industry in British Columbia is pretty big.  There are many rivers within our beautiful province.  The question was where exactly would I like to work?  What part of the province held the biggest draw for me?  The answer was so utterly obvious:  The Rockies!

After sending out letters of introduction and resumes to various outfits, I secured a contract that returns me to an area of the world I hold very dear.   In less than two weeks, I will load up my highly reliable Jeep with all the personal and outdoor gear needed for a summer in The Rockies!  I am going back to the river and I am going back to the mountains that mean so much to me.  Look out Kicking Horse...here I come.

Since stepping into the world of 'being my own woman again', I have held nothing back.  I have exposed myself to the core and realized that all I really want in life is to be true to myself.  To do, to think, to feel how I want.  No compromises.  No second guesses.  Just straight forward and succinct honesty.  This is how the rest of my life is to be.

What is important to me now, as a 52-year old (!), is to break free.  Break free of my current geographical position; break free of daily motherhood demands and expectations (no offense, kids); break free of the chapter of my life that has long closed out and into a world where I have only myself to think about.

I am 52-years old and I am breaking free.

Yahoo!

The next five months are all about me.  Me, me, me, me, me.  What I want to do.  Where I want to go.  Experience what I want to experience.  And only be accountable to myself (and my employer, of course, when I'm working).

I can hardly wait.

Every so often we have to shake up our worlds, or even turn it completely upside down.  Sometimes we may shake up our worlds ourselves, sometimes it is involuntarily thrust upon us.  Either way, at some point, it will be in our own best interest to seize this amazing opportunity.  Life isn't over because I am divorced.  Heck, no.  This is my second chance.  I am going for it with eyes and mind wide open.  I can hardly wait!

My departure date is May 2nd.  I am taking 10 days to explore the open road between my home town of Squamish and my new town of Golden, BC.  I am going to stop when and where I want, take myself for walks, take lots of photographs and write about it all.

So please stay tuned for the (hopefully) hilarious summer adventures of this 52-Year Old Woman.

Happy Friday, everyone.

(this photo was taken by somebody else)