So, why are we doing this blog? I had originally planned on posting a few things on Facebook, or just sharing pictures with people when we got back. But after talking to a few friends, I found that there was an interest to follow us on this trip. Our friend, Karene, suggested that I set up a blog on WordPress. Hmmm…I had never done a blog before; I mean, this wouldn’t be too involved, would it? There was even a simple mobile version of WordPress that I could manage right from my phone that shouldn’t be too difficult. Well, anyone who knows me, knows that I seldom do things the easy way. Why bother with a simple mobile site when a regular website would give me much more flexibility and options. Karene and others suggested that I include as many details as possible, especially if they embarrassed Kevin. No problem, consider it done, Karene!  Kevin just wanted a simple site that had a few pictures with brief descriptions. He’s more of a bullet point man, whereas I’m not. So for those of you who just want to look at pictures, there will be plenty of those. For those of you who want a more detailed account of our journey, keep on reading.

So how hard can a blog be? Do I write very well? No. Do I know anything about web servers, websites or working with WordPress? Nope, nope and nope. Excellent….well, let’s go down that route I told myself. After a bit of fumbling around, I was able to come up with the site you’re looking at right now, which I hope you’ll enjoy. If you’re questioning where the name of the website came from, some of you may not know that Kevin works for Starbucks, and I’m a pharmacist, hence the coffee and pills. It narrowly beat out Kevin’s very creative suggestion of “KevinAndChristianTrip.com.” I’m mean, I know.

Kevin and I have been planning this trip for about two years now. Kevin’s employer allows its employees to take a sabbatical after they’ve worked with the company for ten years. They call this a “coffee break.” Starbucks encourages employees to take advantage of this benefit as it provides a much needed respite from day-to-day work life, allowing one to expand their horizons, recharge, and come back energized. Lovely, right? My company offers something similar; they call it the “Oh, hell-to-the-no break.” When I was begging and pleading for time off, I tried to extol the benefits of such a break, but to no avail. Apparently, these hippy-dippy progressive “coffee breaks” can stay at Starbucks, thank you very much! But I am thankful that my job is allowing me to take two months off. I asked that if I were to get pregnant, would they give me at least three months off after I had the baby? My district coordinator, Margie, reminded me that I am a man, so getting pregnant and having a baby is out of the realm of possibilities. I told her that because of HIPAA laws, I didn’t have to go into details of what my body was or was not capable of. That didn’t work.

Our original plan was to spend about three months in Europe, setting up a home base in Brussels, and then taking trips every week or two to different locations. After giving it some thought, I realized that I didn’t want to pack up every week to go somewhere new, returning, unpacking, then repacking a week later, only to repeat the process. One day I mentioned to Kevin that I liked the idea of taking a long cruise. This would allow us to have a mobile home base, and would provide more opportunity to see more locations. He liked the idea too, and later that same day, found two cruises that suited our needs.

As we were fine-tuning our trip, we had discussed our plans with a few family members. Well, my aunt and uncle, Gail and Larry, and my sister and brother-in-law, Debbie and Donald, liked our ideas too and decided to join us. Larry and Gail will be with us the entire trip, and Debbie and Donald will join us on the second leg of our journey. So how does Kevin feel about hanging out with my family for so long? Well, to be honest with you, I think they like him more than they like me; Kevin fits into my family perfectly.

 

And what are we doing with this guy? Well, Remy is staying with two of his favorite people in the world: grandma and grandpa (names that cannot be uttered in the house, lest Remy goes into a fit thinking that they’re coming over). Kevin’s parents adore Remy too, as evidenced by the fact that one of the first things out of their mouths during a phone conversation is, “How’s Remy?” He’s fine….and so are we, thank you for asking.

So our trip consists of two cruises; the first is 22 days long, and the second is 12. We’re bookending the cruises with a few days in Iceland, England, and Italy. I’ve included a map that will follow our course as we go. My first blog entry will start with our first stop: Iceland.