While I lazed in my lounge chair looking out onto the Caribbean Sea, I thought about all the writing I promised myself I’d keep up with but just couldn’t bring myself to focus on. The weather was very hot, we were with friends, old and new and their was always so much activity going on whether on or off the ship that there wasn’t any real time of solitude to collect my thoughts. The best I could do was keep a notebook in my bag while lounging at the pool to jot down any ideas that came to mind for my books and my blog. Thankfully I did manage to get some ideas down on paper, knowing I wouldn’t be able to fully elaborate on them until I returned home and once again disciplined myself to focus.
While I gazed at the repetitive waves and the music of the sea, I thought about the past year and how many hours a day I worked on my writing and publishing and I found myself spent, basking in the hot sun in a surreal world of rest and relaxation. The weather was too beautiful to sacrifice one selfish moment to do anything other than laze and socialize rather than to surrender to the discipline of working. My mind wandered back and forth from feeling guilty about not working to just taking in the simple pleasure of my environment.
I watched the waiters in their floral, Hawaiian-like shirts humming happily as they served drinks and ice cold towels laden with ice chips to help combat the hot sun that we so willingly allowed to scorch our bodies. I couldn’t believe how many of us were sitting on this lovely Celebrity cruise ship sunbathing when most of us not so long ago, had come from minus forty degree temperatures. I was grateful for every blessed moment in my abyss of relaxation.
We travelled to eight islands: Aruba, Curacao, Saint Martin, St. Thomas, Saint Lucia, Grenada, Barbados and Antigua. We were with our good friends Gary and Lynn and my good friend Mary from New York who I had written about previously and her husband Joe. We have been on the same cruise for a few years now and many of the passengers take the same cruise every year as their winter vacation. There weren’t too many lapses without us laughing our heads off at something. It was true bliss and a wonderful escape from real life.
I tried also to catch up on some of my reading, thinking vacation would be opportune time for this, but wrong again. It is hard to read when people are around you chatting and my usual good reading time at home is at night before going to sleep and I can certainly say that the sun and the sea drained me by 1030 pm. By the time I got in bed, I was out cold after reading one or two pages. A definite cure for insomnia. Surprisingly though, I did manage to read two books at the pool while my friend Lynn would have her naps.
We were up by 630 am or 7 every day. Between the laughs, the ports and the pina coladas, the days were busy. Around 4pm a group of us congregated at the top back deck of the ship, ‘The Sunset Bar’, to socialize and make evening plans or watch the ship pull out of port.
So although my intentions were good to get some work done, after being cooped up at home for so long for the past year and our long, cold winter, the trip somehow flicked a switch in me that just wouldn’t allow my brain to function when paradise was all around me. I found the minutes tick away as there was so much to do and my inner social butterfly became hugely activated.
As time flew by I literally found it to be too hot (without complaint) to do much. Our first week seemed like I had been away for a long time and then by the second week I felt as though time was passing too fast before we had to come home. I remember thinking each morning as I took my vitamins in their little daily containers, they were diminishing with the days. I also received emails from our snow plow provider sending updates of snowstorms and one which he informed us that the city by-laws had been reached by the amount of how high he could pile the snow and not to be alarmed by the narrowing of our driveway because he had to use part of it to pile the snow. My husband and I chuckled about the crap we were missing and how timely our trip was to miss three snowstorms, but we didn’t laugh too hard because we knew full-well that we would be back living it in a short time.
DGKayewriter.com 
Perfect memories for these cold days. Great photos too, Debby.
LikeLike
Thanks Patti for stopping by, I hope you are having a grand time! xo
LikeLike
Thanks Patti, a lovely escape it was. 🙂
LikeLike
Lucky you! Glad you got away 🙂
LikeLike
I’ve never been on a cruise, Debby. Part of me whines I need a vacation while the other part yells, “More. More. More.” Hope to slip in a trip to North Carolina soon, but there’s as much snow there as here. For me, a true vacation would be a place without computers or internet connection. Party on! Except now you’re dealing with driveway squeeze and frozen everything.
LikeLike
Out on the ocean is like a slice of heaven. I think for a writer the hardest thing is to separate ourselves from work because it is never a job we can leave behind but next time I will be managing my time off a lot more effectively. Eventually we come back to real life and for many of us it was snow 🙂 So true Elaine, no computers on vacation would be ideal. 🙂
LikeLike
An awesome tale. I can imagine myself giggling at missing the snow storms too. It’s great to have wonderful friends to travel with and keep you away from work.
LikeLike
Thanks Diane. It was strange trying to relax and fighting my inner guilt for not working on my writing and it wasn’t until well into the 2nd week that I succumbed. 🙂
LikeLike
I don’t know, I don’t think you can get me on a cruise… but I can’t wait to live it up on a trip with you one day! lol We’ll wear red the entire trip. Love you in that beautiful hat and suit! When you wear as many hats as we do, it becomes work to leave the work behind!! 🙂
LikeLike
Lol Jeannie girl! Thanks for the compliments and 100% agreed we wear all the hats! I have no doubts we will be going places together!!! xo 🙂
LikeLike
Don’t worry, I’ll keep your home fires burning! I mentioned your book again today in my blog! Have fun out there on the open seas! Close your laptop and rest your brain! I realized that I was spending a lot of time on a site that was totally wasting my time! Sometimes you just need to clear you brain! Have fun!
xoxo
LikeLike
Thanks for your continual support my dear friend. Very much appreciated! And yes, even writers need a time out, so I have learned. Now I am curious to know where you have been spending your time? xo
LikeLike
Okay canadians know how to react when they are literally “under weather”, right DG .. The vacation sounds like a gorgeous one. I love the pictures and the lines you have dropped here regarding the cruise. Good to see you have had fun !!!
Hugs from your argentinian gal, Aquileana 😉
LikeLike
Lol, hello dear Aqui, nice to see you pop in for a visit! Happy to entertain you. xo 🙂
LikeLike
Getaways are a curse and a blessing with regards to getting work done, aren’t they. You have all these grandiose plans to let the environment inspire you, but not a lot gets done. I, personally, think that you’re still working things out subconsciously during this very necessary R&R, so hopefully that provides a bit of comfort with regards to the lack of productivity. 🙂 Your cruise and friends sound awesome. Glad you had fun.
LikeLike
Thanks so much for visiting and commenting. And yes, it seems that even when plans go awry it doesn’t seem to hinder the wheels of thought from continuing. I shall be better prepared next time. 🙂
LikeLike
I am a believer in giving your brain a b.r.e.a.k. No point in bashing your brains out. When you body has a vacation, why not refresh your mind. Did you not come back invigorated and eager to work?
LikeLike
Yes I did and haven’t stopped, lol. I had good intentions and then found how difficult it can become to stay in work mode while away so I know what to do better for next time. Just like I had previously written to you, if you can just find a way to stay on top of some emails every few days and enjoy the rest of the journey that will suffice. 🙂
LikeLike
I sure hope I can keep my emails down when I go away because otherwise, my inbox will explode. 🙂 Not that I plan on concentrating on anything other than my vacation.
LikeLike
I commend you girl! Please let me know how things turn out, lol. And of course I need to know all about your trip! 🙂
LikeLike
Today we picked up our visas. Woo-Hoo. I’m getting excited. It’s only about 5-1/2 weeks away.
LikeLike
Don’t forget to say bye before you go. 🙂
LikeLike
Don’t worry. I won’t. 😀
LikeLike
Love that first shot. Woo hoo! Fresh air – even healthier from the water – and sun did you a whole lot of good our beloved writing can’t quite.
Xxxx
HW
LikeLike
Thanks HW, very true and rejuvenating! 🙂
LikeLike