End of the Cruise

Here's a toast from Punta Arenas, Chile. Aural Patagona beer is something to export. At the end of a cruise, I always am torn. Wanting to stay and explore further and wanting to go home. Most of my laundry is done so I won't have tons when I get home. It's been glorious. What stands out? Being on the Falklands, walking on the beach with penguins, cruising Antarctica, unbelievable ice flows and mountains (I never really pictured mountains, just ice), walking all over Punta Arenas in search of a rosary for a friend, laying in the sun today so I'd have a little tan, reading on the 5th deck (I've read three books and run out of any more on my Kindle), loving Joe's company, eating ice cream with abandon, and just "being." There are 44 different nationalities of passengers - 42 different nationalities of cruise personnel. And, a large contingent of transvestites. Who knew, no pun intended? I think working on a cruise ship would have been fun just out of college. Save your money, work hard, visit the world. There are many young Japanese passengers, who have been traveling the world for 1-2 years, each by her/himself. Most are in their late 20s and have been staying in hostels, using rail passes, hitchhiking. The food on the ship is nirvana for them. They were sad to be returning to "on-the-road" food - meaning meager and not much. Ahh, the joys of wanderlust.