Kokomo is of course a song by the Beach Boys from 1988.  I remember riding the bus to school as a first-grader, listening to some kids in the back blast it from their boom box.  A few years ago, I decided to make it my life's goal to visit all the places mentioned in the song.  This past cruise completed the journey for me: 

Aruba - November, 2009
Jamaica - August, 2004
Bermuda - September, 2008
Bahama - May, 2006
Key Largo - May, 2006 (Key West -- close enough)
Montego - August, 2004 (in Jamaica -- close enough)

What I just learned, however, is that three other places are mentioned:  Martinique, Montserrat, and Port-au-Prince (Haiti), all of which are in the Caribbean.  While I achieved my initial goal, it looks like I still have some work cut out for me.  Some real tough work. #travel

I live about an hour from the center of the world, New York City, yet one night a few weeks ago was the first time I had ever actually driven my car into the beast.  In the past, I had driven to a train station, paid money to park, taken the hour-and-a-half train, then taken the subway to my final destination.  The problem with this is (a) it's ridiculously inconvenient, and (b) it's overly expensive.  It's inconvenient because most trains don't run on weekends around me, and I typically don't go to the entertainment and nightlife capital of the universe during the week, so I have to drive 30 miles to the nearest one that does.  Then there's the fact that this whole process takes no less than two hours to accomplish, assuming I don't have to wait for a train (which I always do).  And of course I have to keep checking my watch while I'm in the city, because the last train out is usually at some ridiculous time like 11 pm.  And then there's the price.  The number 36 is stuck in my mind, as in it's something like $18 round trip per person, which doesn't include parking or the subway, or food, or drinks, or a campsite for when you miss the last train. 

Yet one night a few weeks ago, it was about an hour drive, I sat in about 45 seconds of traffic, it cost $8 to go through a tunnel, and it took about 15 minutes to find a free parking spot on the street.  In other words, it was easy, cheap, and convenient.  Every time I've used public transportation to get to the city, I've been disappointed.  I'd like to be a proponent of a system that's affordable and convenient and environmentally friendly, but until a train can beat a car, I'll stick with the car. #travel

Having taken a fairly long vacation, I'm recording this for posterity: 

Cons:

• You have to make plans before leaving work.  Going away for a few days, things can wait till you get back.  But two weeks?  You need alternate contacts and contingency plans.
• You have to kind of clean out your refrigerator and make sure nothing could go horribly bad and make the house smell like rotten cabbage.
• If you're in charge of something like a Bible study or social group, you have to make sure it'll continue for two weeks without you.  For one week away, you can just cancel or do a social, but two weeks needs an actual plan.
• If you have pets, you have to have some serious stores of pet food and supplies.
• You have to make sure bills that might be due during that time are paid before you leave.

Pros:

• You don't commute to work, so you save money on gas.
• You don't heat your house or use the appliances, so you save money on energy.
• You don't buy normal groceries, so you probably save money on food.

That being said, I probably won't do a long vacation again.  Not that it was awful, but 10 days seems to be a happy medium. #travel

This will likely offend someone.  As much as I would hate having a bunch of loud, rude, socioeconomically different foreigners coming to my town in a giant group, clogging my streets, taking pictures of stupid landmarks, waving money in my face, and leaving their garbage and tracks all over the place, I don't think it warrants the pushy annoyingness exhibited by Caribbean natives.  When I say I don't want to buy your jewelry, and I don't want a taxi ride, and I don't want a tour, I mean it.  One guy in Barbados, after I said "no thanks" to his offer of a bike taxi tour, got in my face and angrily assured me his spiel would merely take a minute of my time.  Maybe I'm used to cold, harsh cities like New York, where you have to go out of your way to get somebody to notice you.  Or maybe I'm right in thinking that "no thanks" is the internationally agreed-upon code for "no thanks."  I realize that many of these islands' economies thrive on tourism, and that the locals wouldn't offer these products and services if they didn't work at least some of the time.  Either way, the best way to completely convince a person like me to thoroughly reject whatever offers you throw my way is to get all up in my face and be annoying.  You could offer me a million bucks and my own private island, I'll still say no. #travel

First there was a recap, now this is the review and commentary. 

Overall, the cruise was pretty awesome.  The weather was nice and sunny the whole time and the water was warm.  It rained one day, but it was one of the days we were at sea, so we just watched movies and read inside.  Cruising is a good way to see groups of islands or port cities that are relatively close together but otherwise too expensive to travel between.  And cruise ships are giant floating vessels of comfort.  I would say a cruise ship is like a floating hotel, but it's more like a floating city, with restaurants, pools, spa, gym, library, movie theater, and entertainment.  And the duty-free shop on board had free liquor tastings, which was fun. 

In terms of the destinations, Curacao was by far our favorite because of it's beautiful scenery, non-pushy people, and European feel.  Barbados was by far our least favorite because of its overly pushy taxi drivers.  More on this another time.  In general though, many of the port cities were similar, with a bunch of people trying to sell you stuff or offer you a tour, while you walk past and look at a few nice buildings before getting to the tiny, run-down shacks everyone lives in.  It's kind of crazy how poor people can be and still survive, while all us rich white folk walk around their cities and take pictures of their old churches.  It's sad in a way, but it is what it is.  Also in terms of port cities, I feel like it's unfair to judge an entire island nation and its people based solely on the experience of a port city.  It's like judging New Jersey based on Newark.  However, based on a bus tour of St. Lucia, the port city was just like every other city and town on the island, so it actually was a good representation of the whole. 

The snorkeling was excellent all around, but I think the best place was in Dominica, where we were in crystal-clear, volcanically-bubbling water filled with huge coral formations and tons of sea life.  At one point, the coral stopped and there was a 70-foot drop off into nothingness.  It was awesome.  Some people on the ship asked us something about how often we went snorkeling, as if saying, "Haven't you had enough?"  No, not really.  I could probably snorkel every day, seeing the same kinds of fish doing the same kinds of things.  It's good every time. 

The underwater pictures were taken with a Canon SD870 in a WP-DC17 underwater housing.  In other words, it was a standard point-and-shoot camera in a waterproof case, and it worked surprisingly well.  The camera has a setting for underwater pictures, and whatever color corrections it did seemed to work great.  It was sometimes hard to get close enough to the fish, and it was hard to not move around with the motion of the water, but it's like using a machine gun:  If you shoot enough bullets, you're bound to hit the target eventually. 

I have a feeling the shore excursions we did (i.e. the somewhat expensive land-based activities planned and organized by the ship) had an influence on whether or not we liked a destination.  For example, we didn't do anything in Antigua or Barbados, and our opinions of those islands are pretty negative.  But we did stuff in St. Thomas and Dominica, and we liked both those places.  In other words, it's all very subjective. 

In the irony of ironies, we actually met up with a couple on the ship whose wedding we attended a couple years ago.  It was fun to hang out with some people we knew, but then it was also good to say, "See you again in a few days."  While I like people, I also like to do what I want, which turns out matches up quite nicely with what Wendy wants.  And to add to the subjectivity of liking or disliking destinations, the couple both agreed they like Barbados the best and Curacao the least, which was exactly the opposite of what we said. 

And while it was nice to get away for a while, it felt really good to be back home with our indoor wildlife and our comfortable bed. #travel

For the past 14 days, I've been floating on a giant ship in the crystal clear waters of the Caribbean, soaking up 85° sun and stuffing my face with food.  Hey, somebody has to do it.  As such, the next several posts will be loosely related to this experience. 

First off, some quick facts: 

• Countries visited:  7
• Last time I wore socks, before yesterday:  October 31
• Pounds gained:  -4 (somehow, magically, I lost weight -- thanks for the genes, mom!)
• Books read:  3.5
• Movies watched:  11
• Days of sunburn:  1 (not bad for a pale person, eh?)
• Number of times I said, "No thanks, I don't want a taxi ride":  35,489

The Norwegian Dawn sailed out of New York City on November 1, visited a bunch of islands in the Caribbean, then sailed back into Miami on November 15.  It's called a repositioning cruise when it ends up in a different port than the one it started in.  That means we had to fly back home, but flights from Miami to Newark are plentiful and cheap.  A couple we met were taking a train home, while another, older couple were simply spending the winter in Florida.  Must be nice to be retired.  Before my recap gets out of hand, here's a run-down of where we stopped and what we did: 

Day 1-3 - At sea - Food, books, movies, pool. 
Day 4 - Samana, Dominican Republic - Took a boat ride to a tiny private island called Cayo Levantado, then laid on the beach and snorkeled. 
Day 5 - Havensight, St. Thomas - Took a cab to Red Hook, then took the ferry to Cruz Bay, St. John, where we hiked to the top of a mountain, then hiked down and swam at a gorgeous little beach. 
Day 6 - St John's, Antigua - Walked around the poor, dirty town, then went back to the ship and laid around the pool. 
Day 7 - Roseau, Dominica - Walked around the slightly less dirty, poor town, then snorkeled at Champagne. 
Day 8 - Bridgetown, Barbados - Walked around the closed-down town (it was Sunday) while being hassled by taxi drivers, finally getting a ride to Brighton Beach where we laid around and swam. 
Day 9 - Castries, St. Lucia - Took a bus tour of the west side of the island, stopping at a few small fishing villages and mountain overlooks before reaching a mildly active volcano, at which point we took a boat tour back to the cruise ship, stopping off at a little beach to snorkel and swim. 
Day 10 - At sea - Food, books, movies, pool. 
Day 11 - Willemstad, Curacao - Walked around the clean, European-esque town, then walked to a nearby hotel's beach and snorkeled. 
Day 12 - Oranjestad, Aruba - Walked around town, then took a bus to Boca Catalina Beach and snorkeled. 
Day 13-14 - At sea - Food, books, movies, pool. 
Day 15 - Miami, FL - Took a bus to the Everglades for an airboat tour and alligator park. 

Pictures: more »

I think people who work at a place that exists specifically for the purpose of catering to customers should let said customers park closer to the building than them.  For example, at my local library, the closest four or five parking spaces are always taken by the four or five women who work there.  It's not that much of an inconvenience to walk an extra few steps, but it's just the idea.  It's the same thing with my doctor.  He has a small practice and there are two parking spots about three inches from the front door.  He always takes the closest possible spot, making his (paying) customers park in the overflow lot.  For the librarians, it's not like there's any customer-driven motivation to do things differently (our taxes at work), but for the doctor, I would think about going to a different doctor simply because (a) he doesn't respect his customers/patients, and (b) he's friggin lazy. #travel

I saw a sexy Mercedes on the road the other day, and emblazoned on the side was "V12," signifying that the car had a 12-cylinder engine, sort of like a V6 but twice as unnecessary.  I thought, "Wow, that must be awesome to drive on Route 15 in Rockaway, NJ at top speeds of 40 mph in stop-and-go traffic, which is exactly what's happening right now."  I guess that argument can be used for all sports cars, Hummers, and other stupid-mobiles, because if the purpose of driving a vehicle on the road is to get from one place to another, it doesn't matter how potentially fast or inefficiently big your vehicle is.  You're gonna sit around in rush hour traffic just like the rest of us jerks driving cheap Japanese cars.  It's one thing if it's about comfort, but a V12 engine does nothing for comfort. #travel

I saw a bumper sticker for customtacos.com, and I thought, even if you could buy and sell customized tacos, why would it be done online?  That would imply shipping costs and time, which would definitely cut down on freshness, and all this in the name of custom tacos, which could be much more easily made with ingredients bought at a local supermarket. 

I went to the website and figured it out.  CustomTacos = Customized Toyota Tacomas.  Of course.  A taco is a pickup truck.  Everybody knows that. #travel

Why do they even make middle seats anymore?  Has anyone ever said, "I get the middle!"?  Does anyone actually enjoy being stuck next to not one, but two complete strangers on a plane?  The world would be a better place if there was less forced interaction with outsiders. #travel