Potatoes are bland, and other things I learned this week.

It's been a week. It's been one hell of the start to a year.

This trip has exceeded all expectations, in all of the best ways. It's not been perfect, actually far from it, but it's been perfect for me at this moment.

Looking back, Week 1 was a bit rough, still plenty of fun, but Week 2 made up for everything Week 1 lacked and multipled it by 1000x. Week one was about adventure. Week 2 was about connections.

Craig and Will are some of the most genuine people I have ever met. It was an instant connection and they've become what I hope and expect will be friends for life. They have an absolutely beautiful and respectful romance, something a newly single guy can only look towards with hope and dreams. They've taught me a lot about communication, trust, friendship and love. Thanks boys.

So many people in my life have those stories. Parents, Aunt/Uncles, Grandparents, and now Craig and Will. Reflecting back on my own prior relationships, they've also been what I needed in that time and place. I guess you could say I am learning a lot of lessons in my 30s and 40s, just as it should be.

So enough of the sappy, what is Cole going to discover about himself today BS...

183,521 gross tons

1130 feet long

18 decks high

12 largest cruise ship in the world

The Carnival Celebration is also one of a handful of ships powered by liquefied natural gas. Liquefied natural gas (LNG), which burns cleaner, is a non-electric marine fuel that reduces the emission of sulfur by 99-100%, carbon dioxide by 25%,  and nitrogen oxide by 90%. Additionally, greenhouse emissions are reduced by 30%, eliminating particulate matter coming from the ship’s exhaust.

2 weeks onboard may seek excessive, but it really was the only way to experience most of what the ship had to offer without needing a vacation from my vacation.  To state the ship is massive is an understatement.

My initial opinion of the ship on day 1 was bigger isn’t always better.  By the end of my 2 week voyage, I felt pretty comfortable and enjoyed all of the vast offerings that only a ship this size can comfortably offer. I don't prefer a super-sized ship like this, but I can understand the appeal. What’s crazy is the largest ships on the world sail under the Royal Caribbean flag, and are almost 1/3 larger than this vessel.

I found myself in a bit more of a routine this week.  Tuty and Anna in the Coffee Shop. Hot tub on the Serenity Deck, 820 Biscanne Bar for espresso martinis. Part of that came from comfort with the ship itself, part of that comfortable with myself sailing solo, and a huge part of that was Will and Craig, their friends Jason and Patrick, and Jess and her mom - friends that Craig/Will/Jason/Patrick had met on another ship a year ago that also happened to be on the same sailing.

Lynda, a Toronto native, is full of one-liners, such as "potatoes are bland", "American money is shitty" (bills are the same size, same color, stick together and smell terrible). The lines became a theme for the week, and thus the perfect and the only appropriate title for this segments final post.

I know that this trek across the world is going to be unlike anything else I have ever attempted.  Exciting, excessive and expensive... but hopefully it's about connections and friendships that are formed across cultures and borders. This segment has given me so much hope for that.

If I asked you if you wanted to go "muddin" what would you say? 🤷🏻‍♂️

Signing off for the night. Back in Miami tomorrow, home to Colorado and my kitties on Monday. 🐈‍⬛ 🐈‍⬛

-Cole