Every Minute Matters

After a few days at sea, I was looking forward to going ashore and exploring new places. I considered whether I am a tourist or a world traveller; that thought having been put in my head by the excursions team. Is it the same thing, if not, how would I define both of them? For me, I think it is just that I am a visitor to another place that I look forward to exploring, meeting the people, enjoying the different cultures, and so much more.

First stop, Funchal, Madeira which I had been told is beautiful. I arranged to spend the day with my friends, Peter and Ruth and we had a plan of what we would like to see, but had to adapt things as the cable car is not running. The wonders of the hop on, hop off bus gave us the opportunity to get to the top and tick the box to do the famous tobbogan ride. Then we hopped back on the bus and went to Camara de Lobos, where Sir Winston Churchill went in 1950 to paint as he loved the scenery and today there is a statue of him outside a hotel. Another box ticked! the third box to tick was for my darling grandson Louis as already at the age of six, he is obsessed with football, so I went to the Cristiano Rinaldo museum; CR7 to take some photos and hopefully get him a souvenir, but had no intention of going round the museum! I wrapped things up with an ice-cream, watching the world go by, before walking back to the ship! I think that was a tourist day, for sure!

I really liked Madeira and heard about the lovely walking trips that are very popular. Perhaps of interest to add to the list, though I have work to do on my blank canvas! Afterall, the world is my oyster (or lobster) and there is a lot of life to live.

The next day was Tenerife, visiting the capital Santa Cruz. A different place and a different plan with lovely friends. Tenerife and I have history and I had reconciled that in my mind, or so I thought! Anyway, it was dealt with and I had a lovely time, spending quality time with my friends, mooching, browsing in the shops and soaking up the atmosphere.

Reconciling things in our mind I suppose comes into the category of taking care of ourselves, which maybe relies on having good self-awareness and taking notice of the signs. Perhaps the signs are someone actually telling us something and we then have to choose whether to take notice, or perhaps we are too scared to take action! This resonates with me and is one of many reasons why taking care of ourselves can be exhausting emotionally and mentally. Some of you reading this might know what I mean. For me, I know that means taking little steps rather than trying to do too much at once makes sense; putting that into practice is quite different though!

This relates to the trip I am doing; taking one day at a time or sometimes one hour at a time. Whilst this is a wonderful trip of a lifetime, real life is still here and I must keep myself mentally safe. I think some people see me as having everything sorted, but they don’t see what is going on inside, a bit like the swan!

Anyway, going ashore has been great fun and the fun continued spectacularly as I was very pleased to be included in my lovely friend Carol’s special birthday celebrations. A drinks party followed by a wonderful meal at a beautifully decorated table and fun in the pub afterwards and somehow we won the trivia quiz! We then deserved to just chill by the pool the following day, not least as there was the Captain’s Cocktail Party to enjoy in the evening! I will go and get ready for that now and let you know all about it in my next blog!

#letsexploretheworld #lifeissorted #everyminutecounts #takingcareofyourself #cunard #queenanneworldcruise #beingatourist #lifeinyouryears