We don’t take many vacations. It may seem like I do, living down south, but we only go away once or twice a year. I do look forward to them and try to plan out in advance intended activities. This last get away, was on an 8-day, 8-night cruise from Port Canaveral to Aruba, Bonaire and Grand Turk. The trip destinations were beautiful and even included a nice 6-mile bike tour in Bonaire along the beautiful turquois water as well as a Submarine excursion in Aruba, something my wife and I did many years ago when last there and wanted Joe to experience it now. All sounds good, but the wildcard here was my health. A few days before the cruise, I had felt very run down, so much so, that I took a covid test to be sure, and it was negative. By the 2^nd day of the cruise, I could feel the drip in my throat and stuffiness hitting. It became a cough that tuned to a cold and eventually a sinus infection. It didn’t stop us from doing what we had planned, but it created stress not just for myself, but lack of sleep for my family as I was coughing and blowing my nose in our cabin all night (I found myself closed off in the tiny cabin bathroom at night trying to keep as quiet as I could). I think the guilt had me spending more money than usual at the ports and on board to try to make up for the inconvenience of traveling with a sick person. I avoided most public areas on board and stopped hitting the buffets and open food areas (tough for this foodie). I did not bring on board extra vitamins, but my wife did pack Airbourne and Alka-Seltzer Plus, which did help at night a bit.

So now two weeks later, off the ship, after two different sets of anti-biotics and steroids, I am finally starting to get better. Two weeks of difficulty working from home and focusing while trying to catch up from being off. Lost revenue, lost time and discomfort for those around me. It just stunk. I can’t say for sure if I was getting sick before the trip, but it blew up onboard and makes us question cruising in the future, as much as we really enjoy it. So, do stay safe and try to avoid getting sick when you know your days away from a vacation. My young step kids some twenty years ago would historically get sick days before a vacation. Now it seems to be me. Go figure.