Departure Day has Arrived

Wow. It's Tuesday, July 27th. A day that's been on my calendar for months as THE day and now it's here. My bags are packed and are right at weight. I feel good that I didn't underpack, but probably overpacked a little. FETCH has been handed off to our new dispatcher and now I'm just waiting to go to the airport now and finishing up last minute items.

This morning I've been stuffing my iPod with some new apps (thank you Apple) and the latest podcasts for me to listen to on my trip. It's amazing that I can get weather, maps and restaurants anywhere on the planet. If only I had a 32GB iPod instead of the 16GB... hint hint.

I leave Birmingham at 2pm CST and connect to my Copenhagen flight in Atlanta. The flight is just over 9.5 hours and I hope to sleep for most of it. My miles are allowing me to fly in Business on the trip over so that will be a treat. With the cruise departing on Thursday I expect the plane to be loaded down with the gays. Between the flight attendants and the passengers it should be a very festive flight.

Hope you will check back often to get the latest scoop. Leave a comment so I know someone is reading.



Eddie seems to know something is up and has decided to sleep on my suitcase... this is a first...

One Day to Go

It's Monday morning and I am beginning the process of packing. How do you pack for six weeks in Europe? I've gotten many answers from my friends. The two that I'm going with is "bring half as much stuff and twice as much money" as well as weigh your suitcase and be sure it's under 44lbs. Yikes! My shoes weigh 44lbs.

I have been fighting a really nasty viral lung infection for over a week. The doctor says it's a stubborn bug and I'm currently on bed rest and six medications. My plan is to go back later today and get a final clearance to fly out Tuesday afternoon.

As this amazing adventure begins I thought it would be interesting to list the cities in order I'll be visiting. I will be visiting these cities via cruise ship, planes and trains.

Copenhagen, Denmark
Tallinn, Estonia
St. Petersburg, Russia
Helsinki, Finland
Stockholm, Sweden
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Zurich, Switzerland
Venice, Italy
Dubrovnik, Croatia
Corfu, Greece
Istanbul, Turkey
Mykonos, Greece
Santorini, Greece
Athens, Greece
Tel Aviv, Israel
Sicili, Italy
Naples, Italy
Rome, Italy
Marseilles, France
Barcelona, Spain

Well that's the trip listed from beginning to end. My goal is to post daily with pictures. We'll see how good the internet is on the ships. Thanks for reading!

15 days and counting...

In 15 days I will leave my life in Birmingham, Alabama behind and fly to Europe to be on the technical crew for Atlantis Events three upcoming cruises. I plan to blog about my adventure. This will be as much for me in the years to come to remember this experience as an opportunity to share it with my friends and family.

David Wright from NYC will be going with me on this adventure. We have been talking and trading emails finalizing our destinations. It looks like we've got a pretty good plan laid out. Our trip will take us to twenty cities in six weeks. We will be seeing every corner of the continent from Russia to the Greece and points in between.

I finished contacting my clients at Principal today and everyone has been amazingly supportive. I truly couldn't ask for a better group of clients and friends. Still working hard to ensure things go smoothly for my colleagues who are watching my clients while I am away.

Stay tuned as my trip approaches and begins in the weeks to come...