Plans Changing

So the idea that grey area guy and I might not be friends anymore is a bummer, but I spent some time working through it with the BFF (while I walked in the park with the dog— a much more inspired idea than my plan to watch a movie that reminds me of the dysfunctional parts of what we went through while eating junk food), and we’ve decided that the time and energy I’m no longer spending tying myself into knots trying to make this friendship functional should free me up for more enjoyable pursuits. This is not to say that I didn’t eat junk food and watch the movie, because I totally did. And then a change in my schedule for this weekend opened up a bunch of opportunities that all sound like fun to me.

And I finally booked my flight for the Alaska cruise the BFF and I are taking soon. That freed me up to start thinking about the cruise, and there’s so much to think about. Shore excursions and the cost of onboard Internet and packing, oh my! I’ve been thinking that I need to watch the cost of my shore excursions, to keep the cruise from being too expensive, and within reason, I think there’s truth to that. But I also need to remind myself not to be penny-wise and pound-foolish. If this is the only time I get to Alaska, what will I want to be sure I did? And that might mean that I spend a little more while I’m there, but that I won’t be there, feeling like I didn’t make the most of the money I spent to get there/be there. Given that I don’t take fabulous trips like this all the time, I might also need to start thinking about doing more challenging activities now, because my ability/willingness to take on risky activities is likely to decrease as I get older. That’s not something I’ve historically struggled with— I’ve been ziplining and snorkeling and so forth, on vacations, but not putting off adventure is a thing that’s worth doing.

On the other hand, I also have a bad habit of overscheduling myself. I keep telling myself that there’ll be plenty of time to sleep and take pictures and read and write onboard. And maybe there will be. But it seems like there’s also a ton to do onboard. Maybe I’ll try to plan no more than half the amount of time we spend in any port, and leave half the time for less structured sightseeing, etc.

So if you’ve been to Alaska, or you’ve gone cruising and have tips for me, I’ll take them.