I have four cruise ship gigs booked between now and the end of the year. The first, in just over a week will look a bit like this (click any of these maps to explore them in more detail):
I’ve never been to Morocco before, so I’m quite excited. Also, I started my year-long project to video myself juggling in every country/interesting place I visit in February, meaning I didn’t get any footage when I visited Funchal in Madeira in January. This cruise will take me back there, so I hope to get to the top of the mountain on a cable car like I wanted to last time, but had severe sciatica.
In October:
I fly to Antalya in Turkey, and spend a week at the Turkish Juggling Convention! I’ve wanted to go for the last three years, but this time I had no excuses. Mainly because I had a cruise ship gig that leaves Kusadasi, Turkey, the day after the convention ends. This cruise will take me to Sarande, Albania, a city and country I’ve not visited before, Dubrovnik in Croatia and end near Rome. I’ll not stay in Italy long though, just enough time to drive to the airport.
And then, end of October into November:
Start in Kusadasi again, two stops in Israel, two stops in Egypt, Split in Croatia and on to Venice. Then the ship starts a new cruise, so it’s back to Split, then I leave the ship in Egypt. I’ve been to Israel twice before, but never spent any time in Jerusalem, so I’d like to try to make it this trip. Egypt is completely new for me, so I hope to do crass tourist activities while I’m there. Split is new too. Venice I’ve visited before, but it is one of the best cruise destinations, due to the ships being taller than anything in the city and sailing in REALLY close, getting a great view over the red-roofed skyline.
As I said, the cruise ends in Egypt, so I’m hoping to stay there for a few days afterward. Being both a travel geek and a juggling geek, I’m considering arranging a trip to the 15th Benni Hasan tomb to take decent photos of the oldest ever depiction of jugglers:
What do you think? Should I bother? Or should I spend my time more wisely?
I’ll be posting photos and stories from all these trips here on my blog when I return. Also, now I have an iPhone, I might tweet a bit more as I travel, but I’ll have to see if I get into that habit or not.
Do iiiiiiit.