Hawaii
Years ago I secured an Alaska Air mileage credit card with the goal of accumulating enough miles to be able to visit Hawaii and see the Oregon Duck men’s basketball team play in the famous Maui Jim Maui Invitational Tournament that’s held each year during Thanksgiving week.
I had been to Maui once decades past. At the beginning of that ill-fated, two-week vacation, I rented a 4-wheel drive vehicle and started on a loop drive around Maui that included the famous Road to Hana. After a few hours negotiating the rough Hana “highway” I started to feel poorly. Unfortunately, I was past the small village of Hana and about halfway around the island so returning the way I had come was simply not an option. By the time I finally reached the condo I was fully miserable. My Hawaiian holiday was effectively terminated by a severe case of the flu. I ended up confined to my bed for nearly a week followed by three days outdoors but I was only able to lay on the beach in an attempt to regain my strength. All too soon I was on an airplane headed back to the mainland. I promised myself I’d someday visit Maui again. And promise to not be sick while there.
Sadly the Ducks haven’t been invited back for the last few years so I’ve kept postponing my return trip to Maui.
And, of course, my Alaska Air miles remained unused.
Europe 2022
A trip to Europe in 2022 started out as an idea to visit Denmark and my longtime friend, Frank Petersen. I’ve known Frank for 40 years or so. We met in Portland in 1983 as novice mountain climbers who were enrolled in the Mazama Basic Climbing School. We bonded over learning about climbing mountains and the occasional rock face. A Dane, Frank was successfully working in the States under a Green Card but, after a few years of the two of us experiencing a number of mountain and rock climbing adventures, circumstances pulled him back to Denmark.
The years passed and the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the advent of convenient-to-use, cost-free video calling which made staying in touch with Frank amazingly easy. What started out as once-in-awhile video chats turned into almost weekly calls. A common thread during our calls was the idea of me visiting Denmark and spending some time with Frank.
So, in 2021, as it appeared that the pandemic might eventually abate, I began to casually check out the possibility of flying to Europe during 2022. I discovered that the 2022 Tour de France actually started in Copenhagen and had its first three stages in Denmark before heading to France. And the United Kingdom was celebrating the 150th occasion of The Open at St. Andrews, “The Royal and Ancient” Old Course (Americans refer to this major golf tournament as “the British Open” which really irritates the Brits).
I’d been a TV armchair fan of the Tour de France starting in 1986 when American riders began to do well. I really became a fan during the famous “Blue Train” years of the American U.S. Postal Service Pro Cycling Team. Now, to actually be able to see some of the Tour in person was an exciting idea. Plus I’d get to visit Frank in Denmark.
Years ago when I was a young US Army Photo Officer stationed in Germany, I had the incredible opportunity to actually play the Old Course at St. Andrews, where the game was first played 600 years ago. This was back when I actually knew how to play golf so it was great fun playing such a renowned and historic links course. I was even invited to High Tea after my round by a party of wonderful Scottish ladies who were curious about this young American. Getting a tee time today requires lots of pre-planning and way more money than what I paid in 1970.
All fired up, I started researching the trip, booked an Airbnb in Copenhagen, won and paid for limited and not inexpensive lottery tickets to attend The Open, and generally planned out a fantastic Denmark and Scotland 2022 trip.
Unfortunately, the pandemic continued to cause chaos around the world and other challenges closer to home appeared and I found it necessary to cancel my plans including letting my lottery tickets to The Open go unused.
RVing the West
I’ve long wanted to downsize as much as possible and take off on an RV tour of the eleven Western States and revisit a few of the Canadian Provinces while at it. I’m talking about living in a motorhome full-time. For as long as I could manage it. No “home base” for me. Nope, I yearned for the unhampered, free-as-a-bird, going-it-alone, call of the wild adventure. The road beckoned to me.
But this was another of my pre-COVID-19 plans that kept getting postponed by the pandemic and those continuing challenges at home helping my 100-year-old mother navigate life in a retirement community.
Near the end of 2022, my Alaska Air miles continued to be unused and Frank continued to remind me to remember to visit him in Denmark.
Europe 2023?
It’s now late 2022 and Hope Springs Eternal. Regular video chats continue with Frank and the pandemic actually appears to be receding. I again start to contemplate a trip to Europe. I began by seeing how I might use my Alaska Air miles but soon discover that I don’t have enough miles to get to Europe. And back. But I do find that I can fly Alaska Air to Miami at nearly no cost using most of my miles.
While looking for flights to Europe from Miami I stumbled across the possibility of getting to Europe via a transatlantic cruise ship. This is where the cruise industry repositions some of their ships from Caribbean duty to the Mediterranean for cruise season there. While I’ve flown many times to Europe on those long and boring Atlantic or over-the-pole flights, I’ve never, ever been on a cruise so I began to explore the idea.
Now, taking a cruise is way, way down on my “bucket list” and even then I really have no interest in a Disney cruise that’s full of kids, nor a Carnival “party boat” full of hard-drinking 30-somethings. But the cruise I stumbled upon was an adult-only, all-inclusive (except for those all-important adult beverages), 16-day voyage across the Atlantic from Miami to Barcelona, Spain on Virgin Voyages Valiant Lady. And, amazingly enough, by taking advantage of the early booking discount, I could end up paying about what it would cost me to fly to Europe from Miami. Plus, I’ll get to eat for free for 16 days!
So, in early November 2022, I put down a small, refundable deposit for the April 22 to May 7, 2023 “Miami to Med” Virgin Voyages cruise and started researching to see how I might be able to use a ship landing in Barcelona as a way to get to Denmark.
If I can’t make it work, I’ll cancel and tell Frank to meet me in Hawaii instead.