Tag: #travelwithrita

Living With The Question Mark — Part 2

Our captain announced today that the cruise is ending when we arrive in Freemantle, Australia on March 22nd. Passengers will be asked to disembark and make arrangements to fly home at their own expense. Even though the ship will be leaving March 23rd to return to Florida, there apparently aren’t enough ports allowing cruise ships to dock to provide adequate food for 1300 passengers. So, Holland America Cruise Lines is abandoning us in Australia.

Last week I wrote about learning to live with the question mark of not having an answer to the questions of where I’m going next in my life and where are we going on this cruise. This week I have an answer to the question about the future direction of the cruise, which has only resulted in more unanswered questions.

Our captain announced today that the cruise is ending when we arrive in Freemantle, Australia on March 22nd. Passengers will be asked to disembark and make arrangements to fly home at their own expense.  Even though the ship will be leaving March 23rd to return to Florida, there apparently aren’t enough ports allowing cruise ships to dock to provide adequate food for 1300 passengers. So, Holland America Cruise Lines is abandoning us in Australia.

Continue reading “Living With The Question Mark — Part 2”

Living With The Question Mark

I brought a journal with me thinking I would write down my thoughts and insights about my future as I’m making this 128-day voyage around the world.  I drew a question mark – a big one  – ? on the first page to indicate that the next decade of my life is somewhat undefined.

In his new book  “When,” Daniel Pink defines“9-enders,” as people in the last year of a life decade who experience a desire to evaluate their life, how they feel about what they have and haven’t accomplished, and how they want to experience life in the next decade. I, like many of my clients, fall into to the category of “9-enders.”

I’ve always had a vision of what my life would be like “next, ”but never really had a plan for how that would happen. I just had faith that my vision would become my reality and the details of “how” would take care of themselves, and they did. The question mark was never about what I wanted but instead about how I would achieve it.

I’m 64 days into the cruise and that question mark is all I’ve written in my journal. However, I’m beginning to think the question mark was an accurate indicator of my future because, not only do I not know where I’m going next with my life, I don’t know where this cruise ship is going next. The Corona Virus is wreaking havoc with our itinerary.

Continue reading “Living With The Question Mark”