Blue Cruise
Trip Start
Jun 05, 2010
1
10
11
Trip End
Jun 19, 2010
Mediterranean - off the Aegean Coast, Antalya Province, Turkey
Friday, June 18, 2010
We jumped in the first car over to the pier with another young married couple from Georgia, Morgan and Jared, who told us how they became quite fed up with the daily grind so they quit their jobs, sold everything they had and booked a one way ticket to Europe. 5 minutes later we arrived at the check in station, confident that no matter who else was on our boat, we would thoroughly enjoy the company of our fellow Americans.
A short while later we finally boarded the ship and began to mingle with the people we were sure to get very familiar with over the next few days. It was quite the hodgepodge group: the previously mentioned American couple and us rounded out the group which would become the Americans, a newly wed Canadian couple, a Mexican family with 2 young kids, 2 middle aged gentlemen traveling together from England, a single mom and 21 yr old son, a reigning kickboxing champion, all 4 from Australia, a Brittish fellow and his Californian girlfriend, and a crew of 3 young Turkish men to drive the boat and cook our meals. Tara is convinced that without Jared and Morgan, the boat trip would have been a drag; though I always have to add that we would have been just fine. Nonetheless there were many competitive games of hearts, meals, and memories shared over the next few days with our fellow Americans, as well as a small amount of national pride. I’m certainly never thinking I’m better than anyone else because of my nationality, but I also realized I can be quick to defend the great place I call home should some foreigners feel the need to dog it, but I thought overall the group was civil. We all enjoyed and even spent time highlighting some of our differences in speech, custom and views.
Some highlights from the Boat:
The weather during the day on the boat was high 90s and into the 100s, so even though the nights would cool off, everyone slept on the boat deck and our tiny rooms became simply storage facilities, bathrooms and changing rooms. Anything done in the room during the day would heat you up very quickly and require a dip in the cold Mediterranean shortly thereafter. The two small windows in our room were far from adequate at battling the heat which was only aggravated from our close proximity to the boat engine, oven and dishwasher.
In the middle of the first two nights sleeping on the boat deck, I woke up to a very strong and very, very hot wind. As one Brit put it, "it felt like someone had opened an oven right next to me." Strangely, the captain of the boat even said he had never experienced it, even though he traverses this route weekly. He suggested that maybe there was a distant fire, and some others thought perhaps a certain wind pattern brought the air from a Middle Eastern dessert. Despite my research, I still have no explanation. During the second night I discovered that I was better off to keep my thick blanket on top of me as it would shield my body from the heat, which had to be the first time I’ve ever used a blanket as a heat guard. So this started us off with 2 nights of sporadic sleep, and it never really got better due to some loud partiers on neighboring boats and early morning wasps that would brush up against any of my exposed skin. Despite the fact that the end of the boat ride marked the end of our trip, the sleep deprivation created a silver lining to returning home as the need for sleep can overpower just about any other desire I’ve experienced.
I really enjoyed spending time with Stephen, the Brit with the Californian girlfriend. He had traveled all over and had a very positive, refreshing perspective of cultures and people. He and Britte, his girlfriend, were both teaching English in Istanbul. About half way through our trip, while at dinner, I asked him something simple like “pass the rolls.” He was overwhelmed with delight because I reminded him so much of Owen Wilson, which I would learn was a favorite actor of his. So the next couple days, he would feed me quotes and I would do my best to think of how to say it in Owen’s likeness, to which Stephen and several others would giggle with satisfaction. Usually I would have been embarrassed to do impressions, but I got such a warm response every time that I was happy to continue attempting them.
One night we went to a small nightclub that was completely secluded on an island in the Mediterranean. I would guess, without having actually walked its entirety, that this nightclub was the only structure on the entire island and therefore only accessible by boat. A little fishing boat would load up passengers from all these blue cruises and shuttle us all in to the club. Jared and I agreed to go with the girls despite some reluctance, but had a great time. At one point in the night, we had to get up and dance in order to prove to our boat mates that we were, as they put it AmeriCANs and not AmeriCANT’s. As ridiculous as it seemed, I couldn’t help but prove ourselves as willing and able to shake a leg.
I think I could live on a boat for a period of time. I never get sick of the sights on the water. Everyday I would ask if we could sail, as our boat was capable, but the captain said the conditions were never quite right even though he also preferred sailing. I really enjoy how boats, especially sailboats, force our dependence on nature. We have to subject ourselves to and respect the elements that we otherwise can shut outside our doors.
Comments
Loved your journey. Thanks. Travel really does broaden our view or our world.