Finding our Tribe

"If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together." ~ African Proverb

When I was a kid, our family moved around a lot. I attended three different grade schools, three different middle school and high schools. After graduation, I attended a college before finishing my degree at a university. Once I married my DH--whom I think I will start calling "the Norwegian" for the purposes of this blog because one of my sister-in-laws thought DH meant "Damn Husband!"--he and I strapped on our traveling shoes. Over the last 44 years, we've lived in nine different states, all four continental US time zones. You'd think I was an old hand at jumping into new situations and making friends right away.

You'd be wrong. 

The Norwegian and I are both introverts by nature. Don't get me wrong. We like people. A lot. But it takes us a minute to get our bearings in social situations and to "find our tribe." You know what I mean. Others who share a love of some of the same things you do, who seek answers to some of the same big questions about "life, the universe and everything" that also bedevil you. 

When you board a ship with the intention of sailing around the world, you are essentially moving into a new little village. Your stateroom is your address. Your neighbors are in the cabins next door, and over head, and under foot. There may be a ritzier neighborhood on other decks, but the whole ship is your backyard. Once the deck is swaying under everyone's feet, there's a lovely sort of equality that settles in. (At least it does on Viking ships. There are no areas restricted to only certain cabin classes or require additional fees for admittance.) A big part of an extended cruise experience is the engaging conversations, the mutual discoveries of meeting and getting to know new people, the making of new friends.

Still, like calls to like. People tend to gravitate to others who are interested in the things they like as well. Bridge players find each other. Social dancers hit every ballroom lesson offered. When we were on the Pacific Princess, we had a built-in "tribe" in Table 60, our assigned evening dining and made fast friends with that jolly group around a table for eight. We got to know the other singers on board in the passenger choir. We joined a trivia team for a daily ration of humble pie. We started seeing some of the same people on our excursions. And even before we boarded, I'd made some online friends through the CruiseCritic.com roll call for our cruise. 

Kristy & Dave in Croatia

It was on that message board that I first began to realize I really liked Kristy and her husband Dave. She's a retired kindergarten teacher and Dave's an astronomer who volunteered to lead some stargazing while we sailed. I sincerely hoped we'd find each other among the other 600 and some-odd passengers. 

We actually ran into each other on the hotel shuttle as we were heading to the pier for embarkation that first morning! 

The Norwegian, me and Kristy singing in our bathrobes at the Sydney sail-in

This was a friendship that was meant to be. As I suspected we would, Kristy and I clicked like magnets. When one evening we started finishing each other's sentences, Dave gave us a fish-eyed look and said, "You guys are starting to scare me."

But evidently we didn't scare him too badly. He and Kristy have also booked a cabin on the Viking Star for the 2022 Viking World Horizons! The Norwegian and I have a grand start on discovering our new world cruise "tribe." We already have someone to hang with while we scope out the floating village of the Star. When we were on the Pacific Princess, we ended up on so many of the same excursions as Kristy and Dave without an ounce of pre-planning because our interests seemed to line up. We spent lovely, lazy days talking and laughing together.

I can't wait to do it all again on a different ship with an even more exciting itinerary! (And I know for a fact that not having formal nights on the Viking Star is real selling point for Dave!) 

And now, one more traveling quote especially for a kindergarten teacher: 

"As soon as I saw you, I knew that a grand adventure was about to happen."--Winnie The Pooh