The Countdown Has Begun

 

The countdown has officially, and somewhat terrifyingly, begun. One month today, we set sail.

It has been a spectacular number of years since I last stepped foot on a cruise ship, and the familiar, glorious bubble of excitement is finally starting to inflate. Today, I took the brave step of confronting the wardrobe. The tuxedo was unearthed, tried on... and in what can only be described as a minor mid-life miracle actually fits. The cufflinks have been rescued from whatever dark dimension they usually inhabit, and the official shopping list has been initiated.

Naturally, the universe couldn't let me enjoy this moment of domestic triumph without introducing a touch of absolute tragedy.

Enter the flight element. We have never done a fly-cruise before. Previously, one simply tossed everything into the boot of the car and let the vessel handle the physics. Now, we face the grim reality of airline weight restrictions. I am entirely confident in my own ability to pack light, but I look across at Allison, who is already eyeing up luggage options with the intense focus of an engineer planning a moon landing, and I tremble. I suspect the battle of the kilograms will be fiercely contested.

Still, the prospect of escaping onto the open ocean with the wife, the youngest, and the in-laws is entirely fabulous (the eldest has wisely opted out of this particular family circus, displaying a level of sense I didn't know she e possessed).

Let the frantic weighing of socks commence.