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Random thoughts from the sea

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Everyone’s Writing a Blog

Posted on January 23, 2020 by Jo Johnston

Day 19, Grand World Voyage 2020 Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2020; At Sea I hear there are 6 million travel blogs. At least a dozen of them originate on this cruise. There must be something that urges some of us to write. I know I spend about two to three hours

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2020 Grand World Voyage
6 comments

The Next Best Thing to Carnival in Rio

Posted on January 22, 2020 by Jo Johnston

Day 17, Grand World Voyage 2020 Monday, Jan. 20, 2020; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil I’ll admit I wasn’t excited to get up early this morning to take the cable car to the top of Sugarloaf Mountain. I wasn’t sure how I felt about cable cars. Sometimes heights give me the

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2020 Grand World Voyage
5 comments

Copacabana! Ipanema! It’s Rio!

Posted on January 21, 2020 by Jo Johnston

Day 16, Grand World Voyage 2020 Sunday, Jan. 19, 2020; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Our first view of Rio de Janeiro came early on Sunday morning as the Amsterdam sailed past Sugarloaf Mountain into Guanabara Bay. The captain invited passengers to enjoy the iconic sail-in from the open bow on

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2020 Grand World Voyage
3 comments

Breathing the Air of Recife

Posted on January 17, 2020 by Jo Johnston

Day 13, Grand World Voyage 2020 Thursday, Jan. 16, 2020; Racife, Brazil What a pleasant surprise to see that our first selection in the World Cruise book club is The Air You Breath, by Frances De Pontes Peebles. I met Frances a little more than a year ago at her

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2020 Grand World Voyage
5 comments

Belém Tour Opens Doors of Closed Sites

Posted on January 15, 2020 by Jo Johnston

Day 10, Grand World Voyage 2020 Monday, Jan. 13, 2020; Belém, Brazil My research before the cruise indicated that we could explore Belém, Brazil, on our own. The ship anchors in the relatively shallow Guama River and tenders us ashore in nearby Icoaraci. From there a complementary shuttle would take

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2020 Grand World Voyage
One comment

Only Ghosts and Monkeys at Devil’s Island

Posted on January 13, 2020 by Jo Johnston

Day 8, Grand World Voyage 2020 Saturday, Jan. 11, 2020; Devil’s Island, French Guiana The monkeys are posing and preening for the tourists, and I reach in my bag for my iPhone to snap a picture. It isn’t there. I had forgotten to pack it before I came ashore today

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2020 Grand World Voyage
3 comments

Revisiting Saint Lucia, 30 Years Later

Posted on January 10, 2020 by Jo Johnston

Day 6, Grand World Voyage 2020 Thursday, Jan. 9, 2020; Castries, Saint Lucia As we sailed away from Saint Lucia this evening, I felt a twinge of guilt. I wasn’t a very energetic tourist. Rather than make an effort to see more of this beautiful island and bustling city, I

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2020 Grand World Voyage
5 comments

The Nature Island of Dominica

Posted on January 9, 2020 by Jo Johnston

Day 5, Grand World Voyage 2020 Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2020; Roseau, Dominica When I asked my sisters if either were interested in joining me for a segment of the world cruise, Elaine said “yes, all of them!” But what really piqued her interest was the Seychelles. For me it was

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2020 Grand World Voyage
8 comments

Home is Where Your Friends Are

Posted on January 6, 2020 by Jo Johnston

Day 1, Grand World Voyage 2020 Saturday, Jan. 4, 2020; Fort Lauderdale One of my favorite things about going home is seeing old friends. Today felt like that as we boarded the Amsterdam. Under the “Welcome Home” banner I ran into many of the people I know on this cruise

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2020 Grand World Voyage
10 comments

Last Minute Anxiety

Posted on January 2, 2020 by Jo Johnston

Day -2, Grand World Voyage 2020 Thursday, Jan. 2, 2020, Dallas Lately my days are divided in two categories – traveling or preparing to travel. The former is relaxing, but the latter can be stressful. And I am SO ready for the stress of preparation to end when I board

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2020 Grand World Voyage
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I’m a writer in love with the sea, sailing, travel and sketching.

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