This hasn’t been the best year for most of us. I’m pretty sure about that.

A few days ago was the second anniversary of our cruise through North Eastern Canada to Greenland, Iceland, Norway and the Shetland Islands.

It was a great trip. We flew to Iceland first and spent a few days there to see as much as we could as the cruise was not spending too much time there.

We then flew back to Norway to join the cruise to Iceland.

Hurricane Dorian was brewing south of us and we had to leave Norway, immediately. We lost the leisurely day in the port that we had hoped for. The ship left port as soon as everyone was signed in on board.

It was a race to stay ahead of the storm and see as much as we could.

As always, travel doesn’t always work out as planned, but we made the most of it and had a great time. We met some new people and saw many wonderful things.

While we were in Iceland before the cruise, the Ambassador from India arrived with his retinue and our hotel security was “beefed up” just a bit. I’m sure you can imagine what that was like.

We have traveled for years and always expect something out of the ordinary to come along. We are seldom disappointed. Once while in England, we were swept up into a motor cade with Margaret Thatcher and her crew while touring in our bus.

This is the fun part of traveling for me. The unexpected, strange or odd events that we are placed in keep us on our toes. We invariably learn something or see something interesting and memorable. I can’t tell you all of the things that have happened to us. Mostly good and often fun things that made the trip better.

The ship rocked and rolled for a few days near the end of our voyage, but it was great adventure and I made a new friend from Africa who works on cruise ships. He is a fine young man and will do well in the future. We are still in touch and keeping up on each other’s travels.

I still talk to my “Tuk Tuk” driver from our second trip to India a few times a year. Things are tough in India right now and in many other places.

Please remember those who are suffering both physically and financially in these difficult and dangerous times.

Things must get better at some point. It seems they cant get mush worse, travel wise.

I hope that my travel stories and stories about my life here make the time pass more pleasantly for all who come here and read them.

Thanks, R.C. Hand.