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Upcoming Adventures
We travel 4-6 months out of the year. which means we are constantly either planning a trip or are on a trip. In 2020, we took the entire year off and waited for the world to get back to normal. We ventured out in 2021 and were really impressed with the measures the cruise industry had taken to protect crew and guests. We spent a month on board the Holland America Nieuw Amsterdam going from Seattle, up to Alaska, then down the coast of California and Mexico, through the Panama Canal into the Caribbean and Bahamas and on to Florida. That experience gave us such faith in the industry standards that we decided that we'd plan cruise travel for 2022.
Most of our travels this year will be by cruise because we had a great trip in the midst of the Delta variant surge and we felt very safe. The cruise industry, but Holland America Line in particular have protocols that kept us safe and allowed us to get back out into the world. We will take 4 separate cruises, all with Holland America. Look for us on the Rotterdam in April, the Volendam in June, the Nieuw Statendam in July and the Noordam in October, November and December.We went back to our bucket list, and decided to hit some old favorites (the Baltic and the UK), as well as some new places (Iceland, Greenland and the Arctic Circle) We're going to cruise from Florida to Amsterdam, spend a month living in and exploring the Netherlands, 35 daysaround the coast of the UK, traveling up the fjords of Norway to Spitsbergen and Svalbard, and then exploring Iceland. We'll head back to Rotterdam and then catch a ship three days later in Copenhagen where we'll revist some of our Balken favorites (Estonia, Sweden, Germany,, Finland, and St. Petersburg before heading back up to Iceland and Greenland and on to Eastern Canada. Watch as we prepare for this adventure and then travel along as we make our way across the pond and back.
Trans Atlantic
We're sailing Holland America Line's newest ship, the Rotterdam which is a Pinnacle class ship from Fort Lauderdale to Amsterdam. We have scheduled stops in Horta, Ponta Delgado, Zeebrugge and Cherbourg.
W'll cover everything from covid protocols, shipboard life - we are unique hobbyists on board, and of course we'll show you the best of each port. We're looking foward to lots of nature and history on this segment of the trip.
Netherlands
We'll be renting a house in Zwolle, a fortified city laid out like a star that is about an hour east of Amsterdam. We have a REALLY unique lodging in the heart of the old town. We're looking forward to making ourselves at home, meeting new friends, and living like a local.
Bike riding through tulip fileds, sand dunes and forests, visiting cheese markets, spending time on the canals, exploring Dutch villages, drinking Dutch beer, and wandering through history - that's what you'll find in these videos.
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United Kingdom
We'll be sailing the Holland America Volendam and hitting Portland, Guernsey in the Channel Islands, Falmouth (Cornwall), and Liverpool in England, Ilfracombe in Wales, Dublin in Ireland and, Isle of Skye, Kirkwall, Invergordon and Edinburgh in Scotland.
Jonathan is going to get his history fix, along with a bit of the Beatles, and I'll find my niche wandering the countryside, nestling into pubs, and enjoying the quiet but rugged coastline around the UK.
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Iceland
We will be traviling to Iceland twice, once on the Holland America Volendam, and again on the Nieuw Statendam. We have stops in Akureyri, Isafjordur, Grundarfjordur and Reykjavik. Cruising is a terrific way to see Iceland because we'll get to see the sights on the south, west and north of the island, don't have to find expensive lodging or food and can spend our time capturing views, exploring the wild beauty and finding Iceland's less touristed gems.
W'll be in Akureyri, Isafjordur and Reykjavik twice so we should have lots to show and tell from here!
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Greenland and the Arctic Circle
On both the Holland America Nieuw Statendam, and the Volendam, we'll be going into the Arctic Circle. With ports in Qaqortoq and Nanortalik, we'll get to explore Greenland and we'll also be in Ny-Alesund, Svalbard and Longyearbyen, Spitsbergen.
This is the land of ice and polar bears, midnight sun and wildlife sanctuary. This is as close to Santa as we'll can get.
Baltic
The Holland America Nieuw Statendam will return us tothe Baltic capitals. We'll begin in Copenhagen (Denmark), visit our favorite city of Tallinn (Estonia), meet up with Nicole an artist and good friend in St. Petersburg (Russia), take in Helsinki (Finland), spend time in Stockholm (Sweden), get to see our former exchange student Yvi and her daughter in Warnemunde (Germany), and explore Kiel (Germany).
These nordic and Baltic cities are full of opportunities to shop, hike, learn, and delve into viking history. But maybe the best part is that we have people we love in these ports and can't wait to see them.
After traversing westward across the Atlantic Ocean, we'll touch base in St. John's and Halifax before finally landing in Boston. Summer on the Atlantic coast and in New England means there will be fresh berries, seafood, salt air, and invigorating air.
Begining in San Diego, we'll spend nearly a month venturing across the Pacific ocean stopping in Oahu, Maui and Hawaii, crossing the international dateline to go to Christmas Island (Kiribati), Bora Bora and Moorea (Society Islands), Papeete (Tahiti), Rarotonga (Cook Islands, and Vava'u and Nuku'alofa (Tonga).
Prinsine waters, native cultures, soft sunsets and romantic adventures await us on this journey across the ocean.
Prinsine waters, native cultures, soft sunsets and romantic adventures await us on this journey across the ocean.
The Noordam will make its first stop in Australia on Norfolk Island, then take us to Brisbane, and Sydney where it will begin it's circumnavigagion of the continent which will include ports in Airlie Beach, Townsville, Cairns, and Darwin, on the west side. We'll swing out to Dili (Timor-Leste) and Komodo (Indonesia) before heading around to Broome, Exmouth, Geraldton, Perth and Albany on the east side. We'll end the circle with stops in Port Lincoln, Adelaide, Kangaroo Island, and Melbourne with a swing over to Burnie and Hobart (Tasmania) before ending in Sydney.
