I don’t know whether one can have enough of a good thing. Only people with an awful lot of that good thing are in a position to give an answer. Clearly, the state of having had enough of something very pleasurable would not seem to be nearly as good a place to be in as that of wishing one could have just a little bit more of that good thing. The good thing in question was family and friends. Eating, drinking, laughing and loving being with them are all very good things of which I am unlikely to ever have had enough. 
On the other hand, when it comes to trains and boats and planes, I have had enough of the latter. Planes and body cavity searches go together like a horse and carriage, or a mule and a gross of condoms full of china white. There is a stress about an airport that is absent at a seaport where anticipation replaces anxiety. Even though the deep waters of the sea are quite as deadly to us frail humans as any aerial hazards, it seems that we feel more secure afloat than aloft.
Imagery is everywhere, if we look, but being on a ship precludes the problem of looking as it makes itself plain at every turn. The environment is manufactured from heavy steel, but upholstered to prevent us bruising and breaking. Whilst below decks all is fitted carpets, knitted car kits and Noilly Prat, only on deck is the rough beauty of the ship evident. The clarity of the light makes picture making unnervingly easy, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
Roger Stowell Photography
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Give me planes any day of the week, though I’d happily forgo the nightmare security – I hope you have/had a good trip 🙂
You’re just too moderne for me, MD! No Bonjour matelot for you is there:)
Not with the sea sickness 😉
It’s good to see you, Roger. I hope your trip held lots of all the things you wanted.
As for flying, I will take the searches and the inconveniences to fly to Europe anytime. 🙂
I guess you’re right, Andra, when it comes to long haul.I’m caught up in the romance of the idea more than the practicality:)
What a stunning collection, esp the table and wine. John would take a boat over a plane any day. I love boats, my dad was a boat builder, I grew up barefoot on a beach as you know but i was christened the witch after it became obvious that i cannot even look at a boat without heaving, My seasickness is such that i wish I was dead. So i am deeply envious of your ship.. c
That sort of seasickness is meant to be a nightmare. I, like yourself, love boats and have been around them all my life.
Such beautiful shots, Roger. I’ll take the boat any day.
We just need slightly faster boats:)
Flying is a necessity for us but one day I would love to take a cruise to see the Northern Lights 🙂
I’d like to check out the Northern Lights as well:)
A beautiful post, Roger, and I hope your holiday is as wonderful.
It was really good fun, John. Great seeing friends and family.
Grea shots…how did you manage to find such a quiet table on the boat? I like both ways of travelling but there’s something quite special for me about reaching UK shores by boat…I get a bit misty eyed. Now I just need to knit a car kit 😉
Pearl one. stitch one….luckily the boat was very empty which made for an even better trip:)
Still working de ol magic Roget! And as always wonderfully engaging. But do I detect a slight weariness ( and why not, since, at the rate we were going, many were taking bets we were unlikely to survive the age of 30)? For my part, since most of my work in, writing, photography and the, at long last, return to my roots….painting, takes me all over the place…Choice of transport would be a fine thing,. the only means now precluded is roller skates….Keep up the good work! …But even better, make an old man happy by a chance meeting before too long.
Always
David
David Stanford
Good to hear from you David, as always.It’s a rare thing that Jenny and I actually travel anywhere – roller skates are about the only thing in our budget at the moment! You sound in excellent form. Lets hope we manage to get together again to mull over old times – I look forward to it.
Absolutely.. boats over planes because we’re able to experience the elements first hand! And the company ain’t so bad either:D
Yes, much has changed. I used to enjoy flying tremendously, especially since I tend to get sea-sick rather easily. What I really hate is that in this country one usually only has the choice between driving and flying. Just last weekend I made a quick round-trip from Florida to Virginia, via North Carolina. It seems to me the seats were even smaller than on my last trip, and I have not gained any weight!!! The whole experience has sunk pretty much to the ‘Greyhound Bus’ level. How much I miss being able to catch an ICE train or something similar and move in comfort from city to city.
On another subject, that half a chocolate pie in your sidebar is really getting to me. I have crust sitting on the kitchen counter and tomorrow I will just have to go and get the ingredients for my version of a chocolate pie – you are a terrible influence!!! 🙂
I’d forgotten about that chocolate pie – hope it’s still all right:)
We love the boat when travelling to France – the excitement on casting off from Portsmouth, counting the rusting naval warships tied up, the glass of Sancerre (promise of things to come) standing at the stern as we round the Isle of Wight, the sumptuous dinner on board, the (hopefully) good night’s sleep, before breakfast first thing and driving off on the first leg of the long journey south. It beats flying (short haul) or ‘le tunnel sous the Manche’ into the proverbial cocked hat.
It’s just a bit sad going the other way ….!
Nice precis of the Channel crossing – to France:)
While I’d probably opt for the train as my favorite way to travel, they are all just a means to an end. I’m waiting for the day that “Beam me up, Scottie” becomes a reality 🙂
Trains are good with me. I’m not sure that I’d trust myself with the “Beam me…” if I’d had a couple of drinks:)