Leaving home loaded up to the eyeballs always sets off a minor anxiety attack, believing that something important has been left behind… passports; check… yellow fever certificate; check… art materials; check…<\/p>\n
This time around, the packing and preparation has chugged along like a military campaign – surely nothing could be overlooked… I even have a checklist that I referred to several times a day, diligently ticking things off to make sure that everything has been accounted for….<\/p>\n
Despite the thoroughness, there was still that lingering doubt that something may have been overlooked. We’d barely joined the A1, heading South, when \u00a0I remembered that I’d forgotten an all-important lightweight jacket that I always take with me on cruises… ah well, thought I… if that’s all that I’ve forgotten, then I think I can probably live with that.<\/p>\n
We were on the M62, passing Leeds, when Tracey realised with horror that she’d forgotten to pack the binoculars.<\/p>\n
I recall a similar exclamation roughly 9 months ago when we flew into Ecuador to join the Voyager. Only a mad dash into the heart of downtown Guiyaquil, to replace forgotten binoculars, could right the wrong. I must say, I don’t think I’ve heard Tracey swear quite as much as she did today in the car, upon realising that she’d repeated the error.<\/p>\n
A trip to Currys in Gloucester has averted disaster, but at a cost; we now have a small collection of very good binoculars that seem to spend most of their time in the cupboard at home. On a positive note; the new one’s are by far the best she’d owned so far…<\/p>\n
On a not so positive note;\u00a0we arrived at our overnight lodgings to hear some shocking news. All Leisure Holidays, who operate the cruise ships Minerva and Voyager (which we’ve just been to Sri Lanka and Malaysia on), has ‘stopped trading with immediate effect’. I’m truly gobsmacked and rather speechless; I was due to be working on the Minerva twice this year, to Iceland and the Mediterranean… that isn’t going to happen now…<\/p>\n
Full details of the story (or as much as is currently known) can be found here:\u00a0http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/business-38507230<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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