She sat on the stairs between Deck 11 and 12, as I climbed by. I looked at her to make sure there was nothing wrong. She looked back and appeared to be fine. “I’m just waiting for my husband,” she said. I guess my gaze must have lasted a moment too long and thus required explanation. “He went back to our cabin, and I’m just taking a break.”
I nodded and planned to continue up the staircase. There were three more flights to go. But she continued . . . “We never take the elevator once we’re on the ship.” I stopped. Turned. Spoke. “Neither do we,” I said. “It’s how we keep our weight in check.” She smiled. Like minds had found each other.
“I’ll tell you something else,” I ventured. “In the luggage department we only take what we can carry onboard ourselves. Because of this, we’ve become somewhat akin to luggage snobs.” I didn’t expect it, but there it was. “Same here,” she said.
That was about the extent of our conversation. I wished her a great cruise and she wished me the same. But as I continued to climb toward my destination, I wondered if there were others “out there” who handled cruising the way Earl and I did. If so, please email me at anne@annebrandt.com. There’s a support group in the making here.
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