As 2023 comes to an end it is time to sum up our travel adventures.

This was a year of many changes: I retired from a great place filled with fantastic people back in February specifically to be able to travel and explore more. Enjoying that travel and discovering that I like the planning part as much as the travel part (well…almost) led to the creation of A Simple Life Travel LLC as my own Travel Agency in September and it has been an adventure of its own.

Our travels started off with a Family Caribbean Cruise on the Norwegian Escape in February for a 7 day Eastern Caribbean Cruise. It was a fantastic trip with both of our children, their spouse’s, and all four of our Grand children. This is something I am hoping we can turn into an annual or every other year tradition. There was plenty to explore and everyone had a great time.

In May we were on the Norwegian Getaway with some great friends for another fantastic 7 day Caribbean cruise out of Port Canaveral. There were no new ports on this one, but the ship was very nice and the it was a relaxing and wonderful time with friends.

We were then off to a couple of days in Charleston SC to enjoy great food and sights on our way to a week in the Florida Keys towards the end of June. I got to enjoy various Tiki Bars (a favorite) and plenty of seafood. My wonderful wife was able to check off a bucket list item of cycling from the Buoy at mile marker 0 all of the way to mile marker 106 in Key Largo. There are beautiful views everywhere you look in the Keys and it is on our list for 2024 as well.

Then it was off to Barcelona Spain at the beginning of July for several days of exploring and admiring the incredible sites prior to boarding the Norwegian Epic for a 10 day Mediterranean Cruise. This was a great cruise that allowed me to return to some of the wonderful places that I had been to many years ago during Navy Mediterranean cruises. There is so much to see and do and it is all packed into such a short time that the cruise is a constant go go go. My wonderful wife tripped and fell in our first port of Cannes, thankfully it was nothing serious but she did get a very black eye from her adventure and I got to spend the rest of the cruise with people giving me the side eye every time they seen her……

The trip was incredible with us being able to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Florence, Michaelangelo’s David statue, the Vatican, Sistine Chapel, Colosseum, Pompeii, Naples, Sorento, Amalfi Cost, Ibiza and so much more. There were memorable things to see at every stop but I believe we both enjoyed the two wine tasting excursions the most, one of them was on the slopes of Mount Etna. We enjoyed the Mediterranean cruise so much that it is back on the list for 2024, but I think the next one will be Barcelona or Rome to Trieste Italy.

In September we decided to jump into the deep end of the pool and start a Travel Agency. There were plenty of positives, such as needing to travel and try new things to be able to recommend them, access to lots of industry news and training, and most importantly, I enjoy helping people find and plan their perfect trip. Lots of time was spent ensuring all of the necessary business tools were in place, then it was off to Ohio for additional training to keep from being overwhelmed. Once back home, it was time to attend all of the trainings available from Travel Suppliers to learn how to properly access and use their booking engines and tools to plan, and book travel for clients. I have completed all of the training for Norwegian Cruise line, Princess Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, Disney Cruise Line, Virgin Voyages, MSC Cruise Line, Celebrity Cruise line, Carnival Cruise Line, Universal Studios Resort Florida and Walt Disney World. Now it is time to make sure I stay up to date on all of them and start going on some of the cruise lines I have not personally been aboard yet.

We finished our year of travel adventures with an 11 day Eastern/Southern Caribbean Cruise on the Norwegian Pearl out of Miami.  We had been on the Pearl for an Alaska Cruise back in 2016. She was refurbished in 2017 and we had a fantastic time. The Pearl is a midsize ship and smaller than the bigger ships we are normally on, so there is less people and it is easier to get around on than some of the larger ships. The other side of that equation is that a smaller ship has less venues than her big sisters. No separate comedy club, a few less specialty restaurants, not quite as much entertainment. The food however, was as great as ever.

2023 comes to an end and the adventures of 2024 await. It is safe to say that I am driving my beautiful wife absolutely crazy planning our travels for next year. Many more things to check off the bucket list and now that I am a Travel Advisor, I need to try out as much as I can to provide better and more informed services😊.

Travel often and travel well my friends…….