Text started late April 2023, then revised and completed June 11th, 2023.

There is a very good reason for embarking on a (for example) 102 night voyage in the middle of January, if one lives in Northern Europe….to escape!  One is assured of a gradual retreat from grey skies, cold icy winds, being stuck in the snow, Beast from the East, Pest from the West etc.etc. Once safely on board, the journey ahead seems like an eternity.  The first such odyssey is obviously an adventure, and apart from the Covid  year of 2021, I have left the country for more palatable climes.  Some of  those whom I meet have more or less the same idea and plan accordingly.

The final segment of the cruise I was on at the beginning of this year was from Cape Town, where the autumn colours were beginning to  become evident, to a disappointingly cold and windy spring in Southampton.  And only now, as I amend this blog, not quite in the middle of June, has the weather really warmed up, with air currents from somewhere other than the north!

If I was asked what my first choice of transport would be from country to country or continent to continent, the answer would undoubtedly be ocean liner or cruise ship.  Trains do come a close second, although I doubt I could survive living in Amtrak overnight accommodation for more than three nights, whereas three nights on a ship is almost hardly worth the effort!  I certainly would not want even one night on a bus, although during the day, I could happily spend up to around eight or nine hours, subject to adequate comfort stops.  I don’t ever want to travel overnight on a plane in other than a seat that can become flat/bed-like.  If in the U.S.A., any return to the U.K. would now be on a scheduled sailing, where for a still reasonable cost, one has seven nights to stretch one’s legs and take in as much fresh air as one wishes, providing the decks are not closed off due to inclement weather. 

As remarked on in numerous previous blogs, 2023 marked the Centenary of the very First World Cruise by a single passenger ship, Cunard’s Laconia, which had been chartered by the American Express Company, whom I would find out later on, had also chartered the Graf Zeppelin, also for a trip around the world in 1929.  It was, for this reason alone, that I “splurged” on just one more World Voyage in its entirety.  I wrote an almost daily blog covering from the time of embarkation (11th January) through to last Sunday, April 23rd.  This blogsite traces back to around Day 5. My original blogsite ran out of capacity, and I had to start afresh.  

It is now June 11th, around seven weeks since I stepped from the Nation’s Flagship Queen Mary 2, having almost taken root on board fourteen weeks (and a few days) previously in January.  Although there was much “deja-vue” throughout, this was still an opportunity to get to know just a little better, places visited for the first time in 2018 and 2019, as well as a handful of places never previously visited.  Abu Dhabi, and Salalah, come to mind immediately.  And I would get to see much more of Cape Town and its surrounds and Walvis Bay, this time venturing to the spectacular homes of thousands of flamingos.

I started writing this blog at roughly the time this voyage had come to an end but was continually distracted, and I chose not to publish it.  The previous blog was a suitable piece to bring my World Cruise blogs to a close.  However, looking through my recent “stats,” it appears that each day, my blogsite is still visited each day.  I am surprised!  Therefore, much belated blog, is more in retrospect than if written recently.

My challenge to walk 1 million steps in support of Christian Aid Week 2023 was accomplished somewhere between Durban and Port Elizabeth.  In the end, I had covered in the region of 1,160,000 steps, around 410 miles in 102 days.   Sponsors and funds raised so far have deemed my “efforts” worthwhile.  I had good intentions to carry on with the walking until the end of May.  Continuous lousy weather conspired to (I hope only temporarily) scupper that original plan.  Also, for whatever reason, I was drained of much energy, and thus, the commitment I had (in my mind) set myself.  Perhaps I am merely a fair weather walker.  Today is 11th June and around 27°C outside, according to the temperature indicated in my car while running.  I have some enthusiasm now for resuming the walking, and I intend to make the most of the coming summer!

Don’t hold me to it, but my challenge next year will be to have achieved 4 million steps from all challenges from 2021.   I won’t be travelling quite so far in 2024, but, nevertheless, much of my walking will be in foreign lands.

Many thanks for reading, David, The Royal Oak, Hurdlow, having just enjoyed a magnificent Sunday Lunch!  15.41 hrs.