Here There and Everywhere

Delinquent and Begging Forgiveness

It is five p.m. Pensacola Time, this 30th day of December, and I am starting a new series of posts, a trip we took in August to the British Isles, ending in Bergen, Norway.

While I am still the same Intlxpatr you remember from back in 2006 – yes, almost 20 years ago, I have aged. I still feel the same on the inside, but there are hints even I cannot ignore. I have slowed down. I have given up things that might damage me, like skiing and ice skating, and walking too fast on slick surfaces. Like staying up late at night to finish a book. Like eating too late at night, and cooking for large crowds.

None of this happened quickly, and most of happened unconsciously. We used to joke about becoming “elderly” and we don’t joke about that anymore, or we joke about it differently, with more respect.

We still love to travel, but we travel differently, too. Today I started to plan a trip to the Big Bend National Park in Texas, and to some petroglyph sites north of there, and when I went to plot the map, I discovered it was 1100 miles. When we got to Pensacola, 15 years ago, we might do that in two days, like making a stop in Houston or Fredricksburg, but now, we don’t travel like that. We fly places, rent cars, spend more time in one location. As I looked at the map and the distances, my heart sank. We could do it – and we would pay a price. I sighed, and started looking at other options.

When we finished trips, I might give myself a month or so to sort through the photos and to integrate what I had seen and learned, and then I would start writing and not stop until I had finished up the trip, a day or two. This is the first year I have not written up any trips, and so I will start with this one, The British Isles.

It’s been on the books for three years. We like to plan. We like to research. We weren’t as excited about this trip as others (almost anything on the Mediterranean). It turned out to be one of the best cruises yet.

And there were differences. We had planned to take it easy – we didn’t. This trip was so packed with destinations, we were on the run every day. We booked ahead for early tours at our destinations, so there wasn’t a lot of sleeping in. I had books with me, but the only reading I got done was on the airplanes, going and coming back. There were days, I am embarrased to admit, when we woke up and had to check what day it was and which city, which country we were in. There is one day that I uploaded photos, ran short of time, thought I had saved them, carefully deleted from my camera and disk, then discovered I had lost two days worth of photos. Fortunately I had also taken some on my camera, and Adventureman to the rescue – he had taken some beautiful photos.

All I’m saying is that I am confronted by some realities I never dreamed would apply to me. Uncomfortable realities relating to energy levels, bone density, conditions that only applied to The Elderly. Oh. Wait.

So we are traveling a little differently now, maybe just a little slower, definitely lighter, expecting less of ourselves and truthfully, enjoying it more. AdventureMan told me tonight he has noticed over the years I am putting in less written content and more photos. Sadly, it’s because sometimes I can’t remember! Sometimes I just get tired of writing! But I am committing to sharing this trip with you, starting now.

The map at the top is the route we followed. We gave ourselves two days in London to adjust to the time change before joining the Viking Jupiter. I may be rueful about aging, and less compultive about posting, but we really loved our time on this voyage.

December 30, 2025 - Posted by intlxpatr | Adventure, Aging, Blogging, British Isles Viking Jupiter, Geography / Maps, Random Musings, Travel