According to this corner of cyberspace, we seem to still be en route to Minnesota…

That’s a very long trip (since early October)! Actually, I started writing this post in mid-December on another plane flying across the country from Minneapolis to California for a business meeting. And, no, this isn’t that long of a post either.

Anyway, back to the plot line.

We actually had a very nice time in Minnesota during our October visit. I promise that I’ll write about that in the future. For now, I’ll tell you what I’ve been up to lately.

What I’ve been up to lately…

I’ve probably been back to the Twin Cities half a dozen times since for business. It’s a busy time in life for me right now. The career is great and exciting, but it’s also somewhat all consuming. That said, I’m not complaining. I’ve had jobs that enabled me to “phone it in” before… and candidly, my interest wanes quickly. No, I’d rather be in the game and running with the ball.

In addition to my work responsibilities, both Libby and I have been focusing a lot on the forthcoming kiddo. I’ve been spending my “free time” on the nursery: painting, adding additional trim, putting furniture together, etc. I have to say, it’s actually all very exciting. D-day (as in delivery day) is quickly approaching… we’re down to 40 days. In many ways, I think this will be “the trip” of a lifetime. We couldn’t be more thrilled, especially as getting here wasn’t exactly easy in our case.

Speaking of travel…

Anyway, back to the subject of the blog at hand: travel.

As readers might recall, we’d booked a cruise aboard the new Niuew Amsterdam while on Holland America in Alaska last summer. The cost was a little high, but the itinerary was pretty good for this inaugural cruise (including San Marino and Montenegro). However, with the high expense of this cruise, I was a little unhappy. So, Libby and I also reserved a space on a Princess cruise of northern Europe (same price, longer, seemingly more countries). Then, we both actually started getting cold feet about leaving the baby. So, we kept the trips booked, but we assumed that we’d probably end up canceling our plans.

This is part of my reason for writing less.

A travel blog is pretty lame when no travel is happening.

Lately, we’ve been reconsidering our position. As I’ve said before, we’re both committed to the idea of traveling together both with and without our child. And, since we have a solid support infrastructure of family at home, there is no practical reason that makes this plan unworkable. We also confirmed with the pediatrician at our pre-natal meeting that this was a sane decision that wouldn’t cause her any short- or long-term harm. So, if the baby is healthy, we’ll take the 7-day HAL cruise out of Venice, Italy.

Why the expensive HAL cruise? First, it’s no longer nearly as expensive (the price dropped 25%). Second, it’s short (we’d be gone for little more than a week – unlike longer trips). Third, I recently learned that there’s an optional excursion from Corfu, Greece to… wait for it… Albania! That’s a total of five new countries in 7 days… at least three of which are fairly exotic/unusual or not conveniently accessible (San Marino, Montenegro, and Albania).

Some resolutions…

Finally, I’m making some New Year’s resolutions (for travel blogging):

1. Strive for at least weekly posts going forward.
2. Post my reviews of both the Eastern Med (last April!) and Alaska (last August!) by the end of January.
3. Post the pictures from the aforementioned cruises too!
4. If I get this far, worry about step #5.

Note: Internet access has been a bit of a nose bleed aboard this ship. I struggled to get connected (funny story) and then it’s been running slower than the pace of the glaciers outside (much to Al Gore’s chagrin on both account of globe warming and as “Father of the Internet”).

To that end, I cobbled together this permanent blog dedicated to chronicling and reflecting upon all of our journeys in pursuit of the “Travel Trifecta” — 7 continents, 100 countries, 50 states.

This will probably be a multi-year multi-decade project.

So, make lots of popcorn to follow this show.