I know, I know. The amount of down time since my last post is significant. Like seriously significant. While I am a little sorry about that, there has been a lot going on. After joining Tiffany on Seabourn Pursuit I returned to the States and went full time into my new career as a health insurance broker specializing in guiding people on Medicare. We also sold our house and bought a condo. The condo has involved a pretty significant makeover that has pulled me away from the computer too. Of course life always has more to throw at us along the way and like many of you it just finds ways to keep us busy. Oh who am I kidding, mostly I’ve been rereading the greatest LITRPG fantasy series ever written in Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman. Check it out if you need a funny, mindless, irreverent escape.
Since my last post in September 2024 I haven’t traveled until now, April 2025. While I initially did some posts writing second hand with Tiffany relaying me info, that style is not ideal and with everything else going on I just wasn’t interested in going down that road again any time soon.
So how about we do this post a little differently and make it a quick recap to catch everyone up who isn’t around to chat with me in person? I may try to dig into some of these particular adventures in more detail in the future. For now, let’s do an brief summary to get us back to the present. Maybe that’s a bit of a cheat code, but I think it will help me refocus and give me a fresh place to start from. Let’s get to it. This is catching up, the serious down time edition.
Pacific Crossing and Antarctica
Dog’s adventures on Pursuit concluded in French Polynesia at Tahiti. The expedition ship Pursuit was truly an incredible opportunity. Dragon’s amazing experiences continued across the South Pacific with two more stops in French Polynesia, three different ports in Pitcairn, and several Chilean islands including Selkirk and Isla Robinson Crusoe. The highlight of this portion of the journey was of course having the opportunity to visit Rapa Nui (aka Easter Island), a truly awe inspiring, mysterious location that few people ever have the chance to experience.
After finishing the Pacific crossing the next stage of Dragon’s journey on Pursuit involved familiar areas we’d previously explored aboard the Oosterdam. You can read about places like the Chilean Fjords, Puerto Montt, and Punta Arenas in more detail in our posts from that journey. Dragon was able to have her mom join her in Ushuaia for an expedition to Antarctica. This trip to Antarctica was significantly different from our previous trip in that the Pursuit is capable of landing crew and guests on shore. Dragon and her mom were both able to set foot on Antarctica and see the Antarctic wildlife up close. It was truly an experience of a lifetime.
Time at Home
Dragon returned home at the end of November. Dog and Dragon were able to spend time together at the new condo, catch up with friends, and spend the holidays with family. Having lived together sharing a tiny cabin on a cruise ship it became clear that we no longer needed a giant home anymore. We are loving having downsized to a 1b/1b condo that is walking distance to Old Towne Arvada as well as the light rail station. Given the goal we had with this blog in leaving the U.S. to explore the world it may seem strange that we bought a condo to stay in Colorado. If you are wondering what the impetus for that was it is quite simply summed up as family.
Emergency Return to Australia and Asia
Unfortunately Dragon’s time in the States was all too short and she was sent back on assignment early. There was an urgent need for her skills aboard the HAL Noordam. Tiffany flew out in January to Australia where she joined the Noordam in Cairns before sailing past the Great Barrier Reef on her way back to Darwin.
The Noordam left Australia and continued northwest with various ports in multiple countries, many of which Dragon had never experienced previously. Her journey working aboard Noordam took her to Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, China, and Taiwan. The chance to finally visit Taiwan, the place of her family’s heritage, was a boon she did not expect in 2025 given she was originally scheduled to join Seabourn Ovation in the Caribbean.
Getting Back on Schedule
After helping aboard the Noordam for a whirlwind tour or SE Asia Dragon was flown back home for a brief time before joining her next assignment. The unexpected flight back to Denver allowed her the opportunity to meet our new grandbaby, which was just fantastic. After a brief stay in Denver she flew to Barbados to join the Ovation as originally planned.
At the time she joined the Ovation it only had a couple days left in the Caribbean. Dragon rejoined her good friend Dr. Martha who we had met on Oosterdam. Leaving Barbados the ship made stops in Martinique and St. Kitts and Nevis before beginning the Atlantic crossing. The crossing was a seven day journey before the ship was able to port on the island of Madeira. That stop was followed by two more ports in Portugal and one in Spain before finally returning to the Mediterranean. Tiffany was able to meet up with some friends in Lisbon for a wonderful day.
Mediterranean Reunion
After porting in the Spanish city of Cadiz the Seabourn Ovation went through the Strait of Gibraltar, bringing Dragon back to the Med. Why is that significant? The Mediterranean is quite simply one of our favorite areas to visit. The weather is brilliant, the ports are both charming and safe, and the history is unparalleled. In our quest to find a new long-term stomping grounds for our exploration years, the Med ranks extremely high.
Dragon had several stops in Spain and France before the Ovation sailed into port at Toulon. In the meantime, having spent several months building his new business, Dog spent two days of travel getting to Toulon where he was able to board the Ovation for another chance to sail with Dragon. Yes!
Obviously I’m going to need to tell you about some of these ports in more detail. For now, let’s just roll with telling you where we’ve been. Since being reunited in Toulon, France we’ve been to Corsica, Elba, Portofina, Monte Carlo, Sardinia, Cannes, and Sete. For anyone who doesn’t know, those are all places in France, Italy, and Monaco. As I write this, we are headed towards several ports in Spain before we turn around and loop back towards Italy again. This voyage has allowed us to hit many new locations with several more to come in the upcoming days.
All Caught Up
Honestly, I don’t know why I haven’t wanted to write and catch everyone up. It felt a little like back in college when I knew I needed to write a paper, but just didn’t want to start. Sometimes sitting down to start is the hardest part. At least it is for me. A lot has happened since that last post in September. This blog literally pays me nothing. In fact, it just costs me money despite sometimes feeling like a job. I started this blog to keep family and friends in the loop on our adventures.
If you aren’t following Dog and Dragon Adventures on Instagram or Facebook you really should. We typically update those platforms at every port, so you could keep up in more real time. I will try to stay on top of blogging more though. It helps me remember the details and I actually enjoy writing about the places we’ve been. Please check back once in awhile and sign up for the newsletter if you haven’t. I don’t spam anything. It is typically just a quick email telling you I wrote a new post.
Follow this link if you are interested in what cruise ship nursing is all about. I’m sure you really just want to know what life is like as the husband on board. Check out some of our earlier posts to see where we’ve been and get some travel insights.
Thanks for catching up and reading my serious downtime edition. Cheers my friends. I’ll update you again soon.
“The amount of down time since my last post is significant.” Mongo is appalled. 😁