One day at a time

We've been staying at a very nice hotel in Sihanoukville, Cambodia for the last 4 nights after getting kicked off our ship home on Tuesday. We first booked 2 nights here, then 2 more because we weren't capable of taking the next step. We were too exhausted and depressed. We keep checking our Whatsapp groups to see what other people are doing. It's great to be able to stay connected that way.

The hotel offered quite the breakfast buffet included with our room and we would meet up with several other ship-friends who were also staying here. 

Who knew!? I kinda like soup for breakfast.

We finally had a good night's sleep and are ready to move on now. The Cambodian Ministry of Tourism took note of our plight and has arranged buses to take groups of us to the Phnom Penh airport over 3 hours away. We are very grateful for any time we get to be with our friends and continue the camaraderie we developed on the ship. That is what we will miss the most. I've become so accustomed to the easy, daily interactions of living the communal lifestyle. (See past blog post: 

• Oh fun Odyssey - where everyone knows your name)

Yesterday was spent making travel arrangements. Web searches, phone calls, double checking all the times to make sure I was doing it right. Then I remembered we needed the Thailand arrival card - on to another website to apply for that. I so hate all that work. Living on the Odyssey there were none of these logistics. We just slept in our own beds and woke up to a new destination. No tickets to buy, no packing to do. Lots of friends to share the experience. 

Life goes on. One day at a time. 

We've spent a fair amount of time on interviews. More Jim than me. Here is a short snippet:

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Day 2 after eviction

After a good night's sleep at our hotel I woke up and looked at where the clock should be. It wasn't there. Oh yeah - we're not in our cabin on the ship, I realize and I feel so sad. 

I SO LOVED living on that ship! I remember when we hung that clock on the wall, using one hook, and noticed that the clock would sway a little back and forth as the ship rocked on the sea. Jim and I laughed over that for several weeks before it just became normal. 

We got up and went down to the complimentary breakfast at our hotel to find more than a dozen other displaced shipmates also having breakfast. There was conversation and laughter. It was almost like when we were back at the buffet on the ship. God! I'm going to miss that.

This Sucks!

In re-reading my post from yesterday, I'm thinking that it is too upbeat. I wrote it mostly in response to so many messages of concern - I wanted to assure everyone that we are OK, and we are. But that doesn't mean that this is OK. After we got the message on Monday morning that we had to be off the ship on Monday afternoon, we went into work mode. What do we absolutely need to continue our lives? and how do we pack it in our available suitcases? We got that done and made it to our hotel, went to the bar and then crashed. One thing we decided we needed is our Geeks on Tour sign. We've taken our photo with it in many places all around the world but I don't think we've taken one on the ship! So here you are.

The Geeks are leaving the ship.

Goodbye

The next day we went back to the ship to look around our cabin and see what else we wanted. That's when I lost it. I haven't cried that hard since my dog died 13 years ago. We said our goodbyes to so many people. 

Saying a teary Goodbye to Christian, our wonderful room steward

Grabbing a few last things and saying goodbye to our ship, our home. Leaving Penny (the pelican) to watch over it and hope we can return someday.

see short video here.

Press Coverage

After we got back to the hotel and rested up a bit - we took a swim in the beautiful infinity pool. Then we got ready to go to the Independence Hotel to meet up with other ship-friends for dinner. As soon as we get to the front door, we see Paul and Lynne talking to a reporter. We asked them later if that was arranged and they said no, the reporter was just there, stopped them, and started asking questions. 

We went inside and found our table, enjoying catching up with our friends. 

Then came the reporters. This is just so weird. It feels like we've been in a natural disaster by the interest that is shown. People tell us that they've seen Jim on the TV. We haven't seen it - I'm wondering if you can see his pink mustache 🤣He died it for Breast Cancer awareness month. It's almost worn off now. Here is a search that shows lots of news articles and videos.

Answering your Questions

Rather than reinvent the wheel, I refer you to Randy Cassingham's blog post where he goes into great detail about all the facts. 

Our Cruise Ship Life came to an Abrupt Halt (and why we're going to Thailand)

Sihanoukville, Cambodia: we were rudely awakened from our dream life at 6am on October 27, with a message that all residents must disembark by 2pm because the ship did not have funds to continue operations. Specifically, they couldn't get fuel. Without fuel the generators stop, lights out. 

Our dream life came to an abrupt halt. We packed some clothes and all our technology -  just what we can carry in 1 large duffle, 2 small carry ons and a couple of  knapsacks. 

Talk about 'downsizing!'

Don't feel too sorry for us!

The view from our hotel bar while we wait for drinks and for several ship-friends who are also staying here.

 Staying in Thailand

We are now in a hotel here in Sihanoukville, Cambodia. We're fine. We were already planning to be off ship visiting a friend in Chiang Mai, Thailand for a couple weeks. Now it will be longer. Then we're looking at joining other ship people finding housing near Phuket - hey! I've always wanted to experience living in a foreign country 😊 And there's good diving around Phuket. We want to hang around here for a while in case the ship rises from the ashes and continues on in a few months. Hope springs eternal. 

Why Chiang Mai?

We have a friend, Christine, who was actually a student at our computer training center (Computer Savvy) in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. That was back in the late 80s. She's been living the expat life in Chiang Mai for about 10 years now and always raves about life there. When we first planned our travels on the Odyssey, we saw Thailand on the itinerary for October and told her we would come visit. As we got closer, she contacted the Payap University there and asked if they'd be interested in having us give a couple seminars at their Lifelong Learning Center. Cool! We would teach our normal 'Smartphone Photography' workshop. The other seminar they wanted was about Living on a Cruise Ship 😱 It's going to be an interesting class now!

What Next?

We don't know. But we're thinking of staying in Thailand for a few months. Some of our ship friends have already rented homes in Phuket - hey! There's good diving there. Our good friends, Kit and Randy are researching the nearby city of Krabi (see Randy's blog post "Abandon Ship") - a bit more laid back than Phuket, but still good diving. Maybe we could even find a duplex. 

Y'know - I"ve always wanted to experience living in a foreign country, not just traveling. We like Thailand. We understand it's pretty easy to get a retirement visa for a year at a time. We expect to continue traveling in some form. No plans (yet) to go back to Florida.

Ain't it funny how life works out?

Didn't we see this coming?

Well, yes, of course. We knew the company was in financial trouble, and we had many discussions about what we would do if it stopped sailing.  We haven't said anything because we didn't want to effect any ongoing negotiations. We held out hope for a turnaround till the last minute. 

When we actually walked off the ship it still felt shocking 🤷‍♀️ 

There was no way I was going to voluntarily leave the ship. Our last few months have been spectacular - have you seen my blog posts about Ha Long Bay, Ho Chih Minh City, and Bangkok?!?! Not to mention all the fun on board. That is what we will miss the most. I'm already feeling withdrawals from lack of line dancing! 

• Broadway at Sea: When in Doubt, Put on a Show
• Skyscrapers, Puddles, and Pot: Our Favorite Bangkok Walk
• Reflections on Peace Day: History, Healing, and Hope in Saigon
• Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam: One of my Favorites
• Ha Long Bay, Vietnam
• Cheers on the High Seas: Where Everyone Knows Your Name
• Adding a New Country to Our Map: Vietnam (#28 on the Odyssey!)

There's no business like show business

There's no business like show business like no business I know

Everything about it is appealing,  ...

The last few weeks on our ship have seen a lot of sea days and a lot of uncertainty about our itinerary going forward.
It's been a recipe for anxiety, but that doesn't last very long before someone steps up and says, "I know! Let's put on a show." This has happened a few times in our time living here. The difference between having a party and putting on a show is the preparation, the rehearsals. Think "community theater", or high school play. There's a lot of work that goes in to putting it on, from a few days to a few months. This time the idea was for a Broadway review, several different numbers from different Broadway hits, requiring a couple weeks of rehearsal.

Jim was tapped to handle the tech - lights, music, backdrops, microphones. He's done this several times now and has really enjoyed learning the specialized software called Q-Labs. He sets up every scene, noting the cue (Q) that starts it. Then the software handles playing the music, projecting the backdrop and it's even connected to the lighting controls in the room and can bring up or dim down the stage and or the house lights and spotlights, right on cue. Oh man does it look complicated to set up, but once it's all set up, you just push a button on each cue and the software handles the rest: bringing up the lights, starting the music, and projecting the backdrop - pretty geeky. It can even control the levels of the different microphones if you hook it up to the sound mixer, but he left that task to a different computer and operator.

Somewhere toward the end of the live performance, that computer crashed 💥 Uh Oh. The audience took it in stride, the singer (Alicia) kept on singing and when her mic came back on, she had an oh-so-powerful finale.

Alicia notices that her mic is not working, but she goes on with the show. It did come back on - what a finish!

I was tapped for a solo number called "Adelaide's Lament" from *Guys and Dolls*. I'd never seen the play or heard the song. It has a lot of words with no chorus and no real melody, it was a difficult song to do, taking a lot of practice. In the final production it came out pretty good. My singing was a bit of a joke, but since it was a comic relief number - that worked out just fine!

The finale was a combination of "There's no Business like Show Business" and "He's my Friend." Being up on stage with so many friends singing these tunes was incredibly heartwarming. I felt warm and fuzzy - wanting to hug everyone. I also felt accomplished! I can see the attraction to 'show business.' Thanks to Steven Saris for having the idea and putting it together!

Clint, John F, and John P. performing in "Summer Nights" from Grease. Look closely and you'll see a pack of cigarettes rolled up in John F's sleeve 😎

And, here are the girls from Summer Nights! Beverly, Sherine, Ruthanne, & Donna.

Tina B singing "Coming up Roses" from Gypsy

Our director, Steven, during rehearsals trying to explain his vision for the "Wash that man right out of my hair" number. 🤣

There's no business like show business
Like no business I know
Everything about it is appealing
Everything the traffic will allow
Nowhere could you get that happy feeling
When you are stealing that extra bow
There's no people like show people
They smile when they are low
Yesterday they told you, you would not go far
That night you open and there you are
Next day on your dressing room they've hung a star
Let's go on with the show

Watch the whole show, about an hour, on the video below. My solo starts at 20:52.

Walking in Bangkok

This was our second time coming to the Bangkok area on our ship. We stayed at the same hotel and had follow up appointments with the same doctors. We did one of our live YouTube shows, making good use of the excellent WiFi 😀. 

 We felt so at home. We knew the way to walk to the hospital from our hotel, it was just 5 minutes along the canal most of the way. When we felt the need to get out of our room for a while we just took a longer walk along the same canal. The speedy canal boats fascinated us just as much this time as last. 

Our friends, kit and Randy were staying at another hotel, about a mile away, and we decided to walk there and join them for dinner one night. 

The restaurant in our hotel was delightful ... especially the view overlooking the canal.

Visiting at Kit and Randy's hotel in Bangkok, walking distance from our hotel

On our third day there we decided to go back to the Roadhouse BBQ for an early dinner. We took a Grab there but decided to walk back. Google maps told us it would take about an hour and the route went thru a park - sounded like a great way to end the day! 

We were in for a treat! It wasn't just any beautiful park, it seemed to be the city's back yard. Lumphini park. Everyone was there! They were exercising. They were gathered for BKCAW (Bangkok climate action week) They were out with their families just enjoying the night air. They were petting the many cats - not sure if they were strays, or they lived there, but the cats looked healthy. It was the kind of walk that makes you want to skip along and whistle a tune. We looked up and saw the skyscrapers and flashing billboards of Bangkok. We looked down and saw a little boy riding a little bicycle and making sure to hit every puddle of water he could find - much to his father's dismay😂. We looked back and saw a crowd of synchronized movement with the exercisers. And we felt joy. We're in Bangkok. The name of a city that means exotic and fun. And we felt right at home. 🏡😊

After the park we followed Google maps walking directions and ended up on an elevated walkway above the fray. It made the walk so delightful, and got us magically to the other side of a major highway.

For the final stretch our route took us thru one of the famed partying districts - Sukhumvit 3.

 Music, laughter everywhere. Getting a contact high walking past the dispensaries and grinning when we see vendors with trays of Cialis for sale.

Finally, we get to a corner we recognize. We're almost back to our hotel in the Sukhumvit 11 area. We drop in to a market and pick up a bottle of wine. 

We're in Bangkok and we feel at home. 

I love my life!

Another Google Photos Art Deco creations 🤗