Sick, again 🤧The Great October Rest & Reboot

Well, October certainly had a different plan for me than I had for it! You know how sometimes life throws you a curveball, and it turns out to be exactly what you needed? That’s my story this month. Instead of an idyllic month of sailing and diving, I was sick in bed with colds much of the month.

Cold #1

I had a cold the second week of October. I blamed the stress of planning (and then un-planning) the trip to Dublin. Also, living on a cruise ship is like living in a giant petri dish—it only takes a few people to get a cold for it to run through everyone. It was mild, lasting 3 or 4 days and I felt fine to go diving in Palau. (it was great, see previous post)

After Palau our destination was Bitung, Indonesia. We were there 2 years ago and it's where my mom would go diving with Thalassa. At that time we weren't able to dive with them, but we did spend one night. So this time we planned to stay and dive there. 

Cold #2

We packed our gear and headed off the ship, but I had sniffles. By the time we got to the resort I was feeling really bad. Dinner? Nope. Diving? Definitely not. I essentially became a professional sleeper for a full day while Jim went off and had three incredible dives with our new friends Julie and Stephanie. Twice in one month! What gives, immune system?! 

A Promise Kept

The good news is that Jim stayed healthy thru it all and the best news for me was we got to visit Mom's tree. Jim had 3 great dives with our 2 new friends Julie and Stephanie. When they got back I had Jim take a little pilgrimage with me. Despite feeling rotten, I managed to get up and walk with Jim to the resort, now called Grand Luley (formerly Santika/Thalassa). And there it was: Mom’s best-tree-in-the-world! Five years after getting her ashes, I finally got to leave some at the base of that majestic tree—a vow fulfilled. It had been hit by lightning (I’m choosing to believe that happened the moment Mom passed), but it’s still standing tall. As Jim wisely pointed out, Mom’s ashes will just help it grow back stronger and more beautiful! 🥰

Mom's Video of "Her Favorite Tree of the World" taken in 2005 At Thalasa, Santika, Manado

Forced Relaxation: The Silver Lining

When we got back to the ship I felt a little better but still not good. I stayed in bed all day again and found some movies on the TV to watch. They were actually very good - what a treat! A documentary about the music group The Zombies (Time of the Season.) Amazing how they filled venues all over the world but didn't make enough money to feed their families. They worked menial jobs when they got back home. Thru it all they kept positive attitudes and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 50 years after their hit song "Time of the Season" was #1. The next movie "The Penguin Lessons" was based on a true story of an English teacher in Argentina and a penguin. Heartwarming, inspirational, funny, enraging - all at once. I still stayed in bed the next day as well and found one more movie to watch - not quite as good but still interesting about 3 kids who are on a mission to take a cancer patient to her mountain in New Zealand - Mt. Taranaki.

 

Hard Reset

It sucked to be sick so much this month ... BUT ... when I finally 'came to' it was like I had a whole new outlook. My perspective went thru a reboot. All the mental clutter—the email juggling, the tutorial video planning, the endless to-do list—had been wiped away. I was starting with a clean slate and a sudden burst of clarity. I decided to do some serious updating to the website and the blog. I finally ditched that old RV-at-the-Tetons banner for something cruise-related—it's about time!

Banner for our personal travel blog: GeeksOnTour.Blogspot.com

I spent many guilt-free hours on our photo album site. Check it out here. I made it using Google Sites - completely free - and it is really SO easy. This is something I need to teach! Here's the one video I already made (and I watched it myself before tackling the updates!) 
An email came in just before I got sick, asking if we would be a speaker for their online event called "DIY Trip Summit." We get lots of emails asking us for collaborations and I just ignore them, but this one seemed different. I still mostly ignored it, but I didn't delete it. After my mental reboot, I decided I wanted to follow thru on this one. They want us to submit a 20 minute video on Smartphone Photography Basics ... and maybe to offer a freebie digital product as a lead for people to sign up for our e-newsletter. It could be a good source of new email subscribers for us. Or it could be nothing - but still it makes me motivated to create. I like that, and I'm going for it. Actually, it was their request for a 'headshot' that inspired me to change the banner on our blog. I decided to use one of those photos where someone posed us at the Keyhole in Boracay ...

I'm having fun!

Now we're in Sorong, Indonesia which is known as the gateway to Rajah Ampat, generally regarded as the best diving in the world ... and we're not going 😮. But, I'm getting healthy (I saw the doctor when we got back to the ship and got some drugs (prednisone) - determined to get back to 100% - we are embracing a new mindset: committed to overcoming our FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) in order to truly relax and live this life. It’s a work in progress!

I’m feeling better, lighter, and ready to go. I even woke up feeling so good this morning that I made it to the 8 AM stretch class!

Did I tell you? I’m having fun!