It is Day 5 and I'm finally getting the connectivity thing worked out and was able to post a couple of overdue blog posts earlier today - yay! I thought I would share our itinerary since I've not listed it out on the blog yet. We are currently in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, a little more than 1/2 way to Oahu, our first stop. Matt's son lives on Oahu, and it will be my first chance to meet him, so I'm very excited. Unfortunately, Matt is feeling a little under the weather today; we are hopeful he'll be feeling better by the time we reach Honolulu. We will be in Honolulu Oct 19-20 (days 8 and 9 at sea), followed by a day in Maui and a day on Kauai, Hawaii. On October 28, we cross the international date line, and on October 29 (day 18), we reach the capital of American Samoa, Apia, for a day. One more day at sea and we will arrive in Savusavu, Nanua Levu, Fiji on Halloween (day 20). Matt and I are dressing up in shark costumes for the party on board that night! We sail overnight to Lautoka, Viti Levu, Fiji and spend two lovely days there (days 21 and 22) before sailing overnight again and spending a day in Suva, Viti Levu, Fiji. (day 23). We are at sea just one more day before arriving at the small island of Anelghowhat, Anaton, Vanuatu (Mystery Island) on November 5 (day 25). We sail through the Coral and Tasman seas before arriving at our final cruise destination of Sydney, Australia, on day 29, Sunday, November 9. We will stay a few days in Sydney before flying to Perth for a short visit, then Singapore, and finally, Bangkok, where we currently plan to stay for 7 weeks (including Christmas and New Year's) before heading off to wherever we decide is next. Below are photos of our upcoming destinations that I found on the internet. I'll post pic and info about each place as we get there - but these are far better photos than I could ever take! Matt's been feeling under the weather for the last couple of days. Hopefully, he'll be full of vim and vigor by the time we reach Oahu! Oahu, Hawaii - October 19-20 Maui, Hawaii - October 21 Kauai, Hawaii - October 22 American Samoa - October 29 Savusavu, Fiji - October 31 Lautoka, Fiji - November 1-2 Savu, Fiji - November 3 Anelghowhat, Vanuatu - November 5 Sydney, Australia - November 9 - 13 Perth, Australia - November 14-17 Singapore - November 18-20 Bangkok, Thailand - November 21 - January 7 Finally, one thing I learned on board for today: Thomas Kincade only made original artwork for his direct family and closest friends. Each piece has two signatures, and one of them includes a number. That number indicates the number of hidden Ns he hid for his wife, Nanette. He also hid hearts in his works for his daughters to find. Most of the works he sold were not originals, but rather limited-edition lithographs or affordable prints.

Okay - I said I would post something I learned every day. Day 1 at sea: Buying a Cruise eSIM from GigSky is not a reliable way to connect to the internet. I’ve only successfully managed to connect once and briefly. I also can’t use it as a hotspot for my laptop. Day 2: Ship Wi-Fi is $370 per device for the full cruise. I purchased it for 1 device only since it won’t allow me to make a personal hotspot from my phone. Day 3: I will be sure in the future to set up email verification options for websites I need to log into (my blog, for example) before setting sail. Once onboard, I can’t receive texts or calls if my eSIM doesn’t work (see Lesson 1), and I can’t afford to drop another $370 for the ship’s Cellular at Sea network (see Lesson 2).

Us on July 27 at Silver Falls State Park, Oregon OMG - how am I still here? My original plan was to retire in early July and be off adventuring by August. That may have been a tad ambitious... plus I was introduced to the concept of "repositioning" cruises by a friend. These are one-way cruises offered when cruise lines need to move a ship to another part of the world during a shoulder season. So much better than stuffing ourselves into a metal tube and appearing bleary-eyed 20 hours later on the other side of the world. I really dig the idea of repositioning cruises because they are reasonably cheap (we paid about the same ticket price as flying business class one-way to SE Asia), and en route we get to stop at amazing places we'd likely never visit otherwise. Not to mention space to roam about, and free meals and entertainment for nearly a month. The 27-day time commitment isn't an issue for us since neither of us is working right now, so why not?! The only drawback was postponing our departure to mid-October. Time dragged on at first, but now it's just 22 days away, and time is flying by. I'm picking Matt up from Portland in a few days (after he's sold his place and car). That's when our life together will really begin. Our relationship has been long-distance since we first met online in 2023. I can hardly wait to have him as a daily fixture to have and hold in my life. The cruise, to me, is a bit like a honeymoon trip - a celebration of our new life together. Once together, we'll fly to visit my daughter in Buffalo for a few days, and my dear friend E is letting us stay at her beautiful home in Seattle for the few remaining days until our ship leaves. It is really hard not to look around and see how blessed I am to have such amazing and generous friends, family, and "found family" in my life. I want to stay in touch with them all! Up to now, I've been terrible about taking and sending photos, posting updates on social media, and sending thank you or birthday cards. I'm committing to having the discipline to do these important things going forward (except for maybe the social media part). I don't want to lose a single one of these precious people from my life!

Three months ago, I wasn’t even thinking about quitting my job, selling my home, living out of a suitcase, and leaving the country. It’s all happened rather fast! I will provide a quick recap of how I got to the place I am now - but first things first. Who am I, anyways? My name is Ella, and I’m a 53-year-old, divorced, mother of two young adult children - the youngest just out of college. I have worked at the same healthcare research Institute since I was 20 years old. A colleague used to joke that I was “born in a cube on the 16th floor”. I really did grow up there. My wonderful work-family encouraged me through community college and the UW; threw my only bridal shower and my only wedding shower; mentored and challenged me; and supported me through a crisis involving my daughter, my father’s heart surgeries, a painful divorce, and most recently, treatments for invasive breast cancer. Unfortunately, healthcare research is dying under the new administration. We’ve had waves of layoffs as new and renewed grants barely trickle in. As a manager, it has been incredibly hard to see good people let go. I see changes coming to NIH that could easily erode the fundamentals of peer-reviewed research in the United States. But I shouldn’t get started on that rant… Let’s just say, I’ve lost faith in the system, and it is time for a change. The emotional journey to where I am now started even earlier, with a personal cancer journey. I had found a lump in my breast in 2022 and thought it was a cyst. I’d had one in my 20s and the nurse said if it’s ‘small and round and moves around’ it’s just a cyst. I remember feeling kind of embarrassed that I didn’t know that at the time. So, imagine my surprise in 2023 when I rechecked that lump - and my lump had a lump! Oh, shit! They got me right in for a mammogram and did an ultrasound of my left breast immediately afterwards. Before I left the clinic that day, I was told to prepare myself for a cancer diagnosis. They were right. I had a lumpectomy and lymph node dissection, with a second surgery to remove more lymph nodes. Some of my lymph nodes had grown ‘octopus arms’ from the cancer. Extranodal extensions they called them. Surgeries were followed by 6 months of aggressive chemotherapy, then 30+ radiation treatments. The chemo really took it out of me. It also wiped out my thyroid function, gave me some peripheral neuropathy, and made every hair on my body fall out. Seriously, even my nose hairs. I’ve never felt 100% myself again since treatments. I think it aged my brain. Or maybe it’s the anti-cancer meds, or the medically induced menopause. What I do know is I am forgetful, I can’t think of words, I am easily distracted, I can’t remember what I just walked into a room for. That sort of thing. And how have I not yet mentioned Matt? Matt and I met on a dating app that targets 50+ adults too frugal to pay for an eHarmony subscription. Matt is entirely lovable - plus smart, confident, musically and artistically talented, hilariously funny, wise and kind - and did I mention sexy? I had to tell him 3 weeks after we met in person for the first time that I had cancer. I fully expected him to bolt and even told him I’d totally get it if he did. I mean, that’s not what folks are looking for on a dating app. His response? “I think the universe put us together for a reason, so I think I’ll stick around”. He was an absolute rock through my cancer - through post-surgery infections with pus oozing out of my armpit, two bouts of CDiff while on chemo, and all my fears and tears - he was there for me. Not patting me on the head and telling me it would be OK, but just holding me and acknowledging how much it sucked. Matt and my dear friend MaryAnne were my steady, bright spots and champions throughout that entire journey and I’m forever grateful for it. You certainly get perspective when you’re faced with a potentially fatal disease. My cancer has a greater than a 50% chance of coming back within five to ten years. Sitting at work and stressing about layoffs and the future of my industry, when coupled with knowing that my cancer could come back, has been a powerful motivator for something to change in my life. So, when Matt suggested we slowly travel and deeply live abroad, my first question was “Are you serious?” He was. This is the thing I’ve dreamed about for years and never thought I would actually get to do. We chatted about the dream of it off and on all weekend. He was serious and I was, too. Fast forward to work the following Monday and a notice comes out that the manager group I belong to needs to be reduced somehow to cut costs. As soon as I saw the email, I called my finance guy and asked if I could really do this. He assured me I could as long as I keep my expenses to under $1,250 a month - or $15,000 a year. That income, especially with a partner contributing too, is totally doable in places like Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, and many Eastern European countries, not to mention Ecuador, Colombia, and other South American nations. So I gave my notice that day and was on cloud 9. I called Matt and let him know what I had done. He was surprised, true… but supportive.    I’m humbled to have him as my love and my partner. That was 2 months ago. Now it is Tuesday, July 1, and my last day of work is this Thursday. My Port Orchard property closed yesterday, my essential possessions are in a 5' x 15' storage unit (or my car), and I’m living out of a suitcase while I float between friends, family, and housesitting gigs. We leave the States on October 12 - much more about that to come!

I just returned from 11 days in southwestern AZ to visit my parents. So. Hot. There. My son flew in for the first few days to join me. Admittedly, when it's 114 degrees outside, it's a little tough to come up with things to do. Still, we managed to have a really nice visit. Mom and Dad hadn't seen Tim since he was a sophomore in high school, and he now just graduated from college. They finally got to see the muscle-bound, deep-voiced, and confident young man my little boy has grown to become. I am looking forward to spending time with other loved ones and my 'found family' before I go adventuring this Fall. I'll be gone for an unknown length of time and will be so far away! I'm still learning about all the stuff I need to know to keep in touch with them all while I am far away. I have set up a WhatsApp! account for direct contact people, plus this site and blog for folks just wanting to check in, see where I am or follow along on this adventure of a lifetime. I've learned that U.S.-based cellular carriers really do not have international plans for long-term international travelers. Travel beyond Canada and Mexico isn't covered by most, and if it is, it costs a premium and has a lot of limitations, loopholes, and fees that could really bury you if you aren't tracking your use carefully. I'm not earning any income now, just living off a monthly annuity based on the amount of my non-retirement savings (divided by the number of months until I can access retirement income). I left my expensive Verizon plan for a discount carrier that uses Verizon's network - so far, Visible has been great in terms of cell coverage and hot spot strength. I'm tempted to just keep paying for the line even when I'm overseas so I can retain my number. I've had the same one for years. I plan to buy local SIM cards in each country to get the best data prices, so my number will change every few weeks or months. I also plan to remember to send postcards to some people, simply because I know they like to get them.

Identifying, sorting through, and discarding my emotional shit was an essential prerequisite to getting to a point in life of trusting the Universe enough to get rid of the job, home, and material excess that gave me a sense of security. It has been a long journey, and I couldn't have done it without intense and honest 12-step work, loads of support and encouragement, and discovering a Spiritual Source that has reconnected me with faith in the Universe, joy, and my "soul self". A wise man once said, "All growth comes through pain." As far as material shit goes, I left my marriage with almost nothing in August 2020, and I am absolutely shocked and dismayed by the amount of stuff I managed to accumulate in just 5 years. I would not have realized how much a part of the consumer culture I really am without this cleansing. Now that my property is sold, my total worldly possessions are either in that 5'x15' storage unit or in my car. I house-sat twice and stayed with two different friends over the two weeks between when my home sold and my last official day of work. I'm finding it surprisingly easy to live out of a little pink carry-on suitcase and my travel backpack. I have my car, too - so I'm also not without my favorite pillow, some extra shoe options, a warmer jacket, and some dry goods for meals. I've spent the last several days playing house with Matt in Oregon, and it's been wonderful! I flew out of Portland (gorgeous airport redesign!) this morning and landed in Phoenix about 30 minutes ago. I have a few hours to kill until my son's flight arrives. We will drive together this evening to SW Arizona to visit my parents. My son ships off for a new career as a Marine officer shortly after our visit. I'm so lucky and grateful to have this time with my son and parents before Matt and I leave on our big trip!