Eastbourne, UK-Beachy Head

Another amazing day-this time overlooking the White Chalky cliffs of  Beachy Head, United Kingdom

The Other side of the cliff- You could easily loose your footing, and the chalk erodes constantly with rainfall-

The Empire Strikes Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack- November 2013 , in the Middle East
chasing sheep and November 2014

Same Day Different Year Sailing On Board Disney Wonder in 2011
and Holland America Noordam in 2012

The View from the Crystal Serenity after 110 Days at Sea 2011 World Cruise

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Henley-On-Thames-Flow

Beauty is Unity in Variety

When I rowed on the Charles River (1980), the  state of flow was often triggered.  It's that place where action and awareness merge, and you feel a tremendous amount of self control and focus.  What is even more amazing is the total lack of emotion(s) in this spaciousness You can't create experiences like this, you undergo them. Today, in Henley-On-Thames, I jump into a light single and skull down the river-someday is the longest day of the week, but someday I'm rowing down The Thames!For sure. 

The Secret is about results, flow is about process rather than achievement. The ends  justify the means is about the outcome. Flow  is means without ends-the joy is simply doing it, but doing it optimally is, nonetheless  the consequence.

Travels Chemical Romance- DOPE-amine

20,ooo Leagues Into My Brain, the 3lb Universe  and The Travel Molecule. Our brains aren't computers-they are quantum fields of gold! Belive me 

Flow  is a lose of self but  Peak experience(s)  leave me with a sense of self.  My brain makes me travel. Even thinking about leaving a port of call for some imagiNATION generates a roller coaster ride of  flight and fantasy ---a flood of dopamine that signals to my body that something good has or is about to happen.

Dopamine is a swiss army knife that does a lot of jobs, but the thing Mr. Science notices most is that it regulates reward. When I travel to some far away place, it's a dopamine spike that's responsible for the thrill that follows.  Drugs, legal and illegal-mimic the actions of dopamine in the brain. Dopamine is a chemical which makes us feel elated; crystal meth is so addictive because it releases dopamine. More than that, The brain images of drug addicts who are about to take another hit are indistinguishable from those of  sailors who are at sea (I am making this up).

Peak Experiences  provide water/landmarks of positive experiences that  I can recall and savor throughout the rest of my life or as I have come to know it-the stopover between being and oblivion,  that blissful repose of nothingness. 

York, UK last month

Mysticism and Exaggeration  ---"Holy Cow!" hyperbole go together 

PE's  are those moments, gone in 60 seconds to  a few minutes, where I feel my  highest levels of happiness, synchronicity and  promise.  It's real magic where my consciousness becomes storyteller. The teachable moment being: PE's  insinuate  the recognition that my own powers are far greater than I  imagined them to ever be.

I have had so many of these  PE's  while sailing. It's no stretch---Nature has a way of showing up and producing wonder, awe, or ecstasy. 

The Welsh Countryside this week

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Oxford-My Ivory Tower

Oxford is known as the "city of dreaming spires", a term coined by poet Matthew Arnold.Visited here today.

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Bath, UK

Visited  Bath, today a city so beautiful and special that it has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage site. 

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Wales-Greener Pastures

Stepping back in time,, a perfect retreat in the beautiful North Wales countryside...Another lucky day in England

Holy Cow

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London River Thames

The London Water Taxi is another way to get around the city-it may not be the fastest but today it was certainly the coolest- seeing the landmarks and place names that I have only  known  from the London Underground, was a connect the dots experience giving  it more shape.

I also took a few buses- and that combined with the water taxi, added to my relational memory of  "Where am I" spatially. I get London now a lot better.

Walking from street to street untethered to my phone,  helped alleviate the  "text neck" of  looking down at Google Maps, blindly  following  them all the time.

Here is a video of  the Water taxi cruising down The Thames:

What's Up? I mean-WatsON

Oye Como Va The Underground...

With its circle logo, distinctive trains and user friendly map, few landmarks of  England  are as iconic as  The London Underground.
Below Mother Nature is Mother London herself-the electrified spaghetti of  the cities entire multi-layered infrastructure.  Until I can navigate the highs and lows,quirks and anomalies of this system , I couldn’t possibly call myself a Londoner.

I have my favorite already: The Victoria Line. It is used by 200 million passengers each year, And today I was one of them. I changed there for the Bakerloo Line and Piccadilly Lines .

Today I was at Baker Street and it seemed so much smaller- because the growth of the subway was just piecemeal and sprawling.The major tube upgrades, face lifts and new stations are simply spliced on to  the  old existing system.

This week there was a strike- there was some overcrowding, delays and cancellations on Tuesday.

I was really impressed with the quality and variety of Subway Musicians or Buskers-who have to audition for the right to freely play in The Tube Stations-I shot a quick video of this dude playing Carlos Santana's Black Magic Woman. 

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Findon, UK-Sheep Thrills

Annual September fair dating from 1261, The Findin Sheep Fair is sooooooooooo English-I Love it. Here are some photos and a video of the days events.

Rare Breeds Going For The Blue Ribbon First Place

Ram Tough- The Symbol of DetermiNATION!

Looks like my old Windows XP Desktop background-Findon Valley

Here is the Sheep Sale of 1938

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Southampton-Boat Show

How Swede It Is-The smaller the boat the bigger the Captain

Had some business in Bournemouth today, and on the way back stopped by SO'TON for the UK's Leading Outdoor Boat Show. In the background is The Queen Mary 2, Cunard's flagship. Sailed that last year and it was cool to see her docked alongside all these wonderful yachts.

Keep Calm Cause Ship Happens

I always get an amazing feeling when I walk past a ship I have "lived" and worked on. If ecstasy is doing something out of your ordinary experience, and nostalgia is the pain of remembering something beautiful-then that sums up cruising---it's an amazing lifestyle!

It's a miracle that I "Get to go" to work on ships-If a miracle is a shift in thinking-then it takes a special kind of shift to count your blessings, ride the wave and enjoy the ride.

The QM2 and the Cunard brand, is no miraculous exception.  This is not your typical cruise ship. In fact, The Mary  is the last of the great ocean liners- passage ships designed for 12 months of  brutal Atlantic sea crossings: NY to SO'TON. Her keel sits higher above  the water line, 7 decks instead of 5, which makes it cut water better and makes for a smoother sail.

Low tide April 2015

Brooklyn Cruise Terminal July 2014

I Remember these transatlantic crossings- 'the shortest bridge between Europe and America.....and when I went under the Verrazano Bridge, and saw Lady Liberty after  5 days at sea, I felt born again:
After all-The whole object of traveling is not to set foot on foreign land; it is at last to set foot on one’s own country as a foreign land.

QM2 @sea July 2014

After 6 sea days, we took a voyage, not a cruise onboard the Queen Mary2. This is the shortest bridge between New York and Europe. Airplanes, after all, are like diets - I don't like being on them.

The QM2 allows dogs onboard-cute!

The Queen Mary 2 comes to Hamburg every year.
 For her tenth jubilee she got a special celebration.

I took lots of videos, and posted them for my my friends on Facebook, but this one pretty much sums up the crowds enthusiastic response  as the flagship sails away down The Elbe River to open waters in the North Atlantic...

Sailing across The Pond to NY

Here  Are Some Of  Other  Ships I lived and Worked On

Pacific Pearl P&O Australia 

Crystal Serenity- Why Pay Less?

How inappropriate to call this planet Earth
when it is quite clearly Ocean.Celebrity Solstice- That's Greek To Me

Costa Atlantica-
 Va Veni-

Azamara Journey-Check Please

Golden Princess- Nature is More Cruise Ship Less

Princess Cruises-Alaska The GR8 Land

Royal Caribbean-Oasis of The Seas-
An Embarrassment of Coconuts

Coral Princess Panama Canal Xing The Dude Abides

Carnival Splendor- Smoke on The Water

Disney Magic- As John DeLorean said "I'm going to Disneyland."

On The Disney Wonder looking at last years ship
that I was on, The Carnival Splendor that caught fire,

MSC Poesia- The  YOUniverse

Disney Dream @ Sea Picture Perfect

Holland America- NoorDAM Ships

Navigator of the Seas AmeriCAN

Serenade of the Seas  Vitamin SEA

Pride of Aloha LOST and Found

Pride of America- Aloha Spirit

My first extended stay In  Paradise was on America Hawaii Cruises. I just wanted a different experience, and I took the first job I could get, which was a deck hand. We sailed for seven  days and each day we had a port of call

SS Independence   Aloha, Mahalo and Hanging Loose in Hawaii

1994-My First Ship -
A Rust Bucket- SS Constitution(a glorified ferry) with a lot of heart 
known  as "American Hawaii Cruises"

Shoveling Sunshine

The definition of ecstasy is that you are not doing your ordinary everyday ho-hum existence. Shoveling sunshine in Hawaii beats a day at the office

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SOMEDAY is the busiest day of the week-Get Busy!

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9 Cruises I had To Go On Before I Died

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