Sometimes it’s hard to imagine a life beyond ships. A life beyond travel. I have not gone more than 2 months without taking a trip since early 2007.
My name is Valerie and I am a travel addict.
I often say that working on a ship is not a career, it’s a lifestyle. That’s part of what makes it so hard to walk away. What is the real world even like anymore? I don’t really remember what it’s like to drive to work. I don’t know how to cook much – it’s not a skill they require of me. I can clean, but it takes me about 45 seconds to clean my entire cabin
When I think about leaving ships someday my pulse gets quick and my breath gets short. What if I don’t know how to live a land life? It’s pretty easy to be successful on a ship – just keep showing up and doing your job. What if it’s not like that on land?
I was given a glimmer of hope a couple weeks ago. I was doing an extra project for the team that is in charge of the tours for our guests. The project wasn’t really extra, I would say that it is part of my job. But the manager of the team wanted to bribe me with something and she invited me to their team BBQ in St. Thomas.
Cruise ships have relationships with various tour operators in each port. In St. Thomas one of these tour operators is a husband and wife team – a couple that once worked on ships and now runs a business ion the island. Every few months, they have the team that sells their tours up to their house to give them a nice meal, a swim in the pool, a dip in the hot tub, and a reminder of reality.
My colleagues described the house to me before we got there and I was picturing a massive mansion overlooking the bay. A mansion, it wasn’t, but it was all you could ever need. Outdoor living spaces as large as the indoor ones. A small house with huge views.
It is possible. There will be life after ships. One day. But today, the adventure lives on.
