Taking vacation has maybe been one of the hardest decisions in my illustration life - it's hard to grand yourself a break if you freelance. You are always nervous about missing a job or letting yourself be away from the computer for a while.
But after reaching a point of high tension over the last months - feeling kinda trapped in New York, with all its noise, smell and heat during the summer - I decided to finally take the "big step" and go on my first real vacation ever by myself. And to take this thing even a step further I decided to do something I had never done before: Do a cruise to chilly New England and Canada.
I left the cruise terminal of New York on a rainy afternoon on the 1rst of October. I stepped into my very own room, with my very own shower and toilet and 24 hour room service included. Food would be complementary throughout the whole trip - so no worrying about cooking, like usual. The stops would be Newport (RI, population ca. 24.500), Boston (Massachusetts), population 617.500), Bar Harbor (Maine, population ca. 5000), Saint John (New Brunswick in Canada, population ca. 7000) and Halifax (Nova Scotia in Canada). We couldn't disembark at Saint John due to strong winds and high waves. I want to take the opportunity and thank Jesse Kleitman for being my tour guide in Boston - I really appreciate it.
(Foto below: day at sea - beautiful weather. The waves and the sea around us really fill your heart with serenity)
(Foto below: We cruise into the Boston cruise terminal, pass by gigantic container ships - and in the background: The skyline of Boston)
I enjoyed this trip thoroughly. I was pampered every day, my bed was always made, my food was good, the staff was incredibly nice and everything when I wanted quiet time I got it. I was traveling with 90 % elderly couples from all over the US and met people from California, North Carolina, Florida, Texas, Minnesota, New Jersey and many other states. Most of them already had grand children, so clearly the whole New England cruise thingy is not a thing for young solo travelers.
(Foto below: When we left the cruise terminal in Boston we passed by the Boston airport - we were incredibly close - the planes almost touched the ship when the started and landed....crazy!)
I enjoyed the different cities a lot and had my Lovacraftian fantasies in rainy Bar Harbor - when Lovecraft described the foggy, triste landscape of New England in some of his stories, with the small fisher cottages, the waves brushing against the shore and the dark fish creatures inhabiting them, I had a little cartoon break out in my sketch book where I relieved myself from all my "innocent, stupid tourist meets fish people" fantasies. Though, most inhabitants of the towns I visited were disappointingly nice and not fish-looking at all (YOU LIED TO ME, LOVECRAFT!).
I will let images speak about the rest of the journey - too much text have I written already. All I can say to sum this up is that vacation is great. I want to do this "vacation" thing more often from now on - if I can afford it. I recommend it to every freelance who hasn't dared to leave home base for a while. Even the surprisingly strong rocking of the cruise ship was soothing sometimes. ALSO! I will upload more pictures at my facebook page! So look out there!
(Foto below: The Boston aquarium as a great, gigantic water tank in the middle with a shark!)
(Foto below: Halifax, Peggy's Cova - a famous tourist attraction with only 47 residents. Halifax has seen much disaster: 1917, a lot of the Titanic victims were washed ashore. And when Th Swiss flight 111 crashed in 1998, the same thing happened again. There a re also countless shipwrecks from many centuries around the shore of Halifax)
Drawing below: People in the cruise Casino.
Drawing below: Waking up to the daily sea monster.
Drawing below: A day at sea with string winds and bad weather.
Drawing below: The only time somebody hit on me I was terrible at making excuses.
Drawing below: Day at sea. Waiting for Halifax.
Drawing below: 15$$$$ for a lobster roll??!?!?!!
But after reaching a point of high tension over the last months - feeling kinda trapped in New York, with all its noise, smell and heat during the summer - I decided to finally take the "big step" and go on my first real vacation ever by myself. And to take this thing even a step further I decided to do something I had never done before: Do a cruise to chilly New England and Canada.
I left the cruise terminal of New York on a rainy afternoon on the 1rst of October. I stepped into my very own room, with my very own shower and toilet and 24 hour room service included. Food would be complementary throughout the whole trip - so no worrying about cooking, like usual. The stops would be Newport (RI, population ca. 24.500), Boston (Massachusetts), population 617.500), Bar Harbor (Maine, population ca. 5000), Saint John (New Brunswick in Canada, population ca. 7000) and Halifax (Nova Scotia in Canada). We couldn't disembark at Saint John due to strong winds and high waves. I want to take the opportunity and thank Jesse Kleitman for being my tour guide in Boston - I really appreciate it.
(Foto below: day at sea - beautiful weather. The waves and the sea around us really fill your heart with serenity)
(Foto below: We cruise into the Boston cruise terminal, pass by gigantic container ships - and in the background: The skyline of Boston)
I enjoyed this trip thoroughly. I was pampered every day, my bed was always made, my food was good, the staff was incredibly nice and everything when I wanted quiet time I got it. I was traveling with 90 % elderly couples from all over the US and met people from California, North Carolina, Florida, Texas, Minnesota, New Jersey and many other states. Most of them already had grand children, so clearly the whole New England cruise thingy is not a thing for young solo travelers.
(Foto below: When we left the cruise terminal in Boston we passed by the Boston airport - we were incredibly close - the planes almost touched the ship when the started and landed....crazy!)
I enjoyed the different cities a lot and had my Lovacraftian fantasies in rainy Bar Harbor - when Lovecraft described the foggy, triste landscape of New England in some of his stories, with the small fisher cottages, the waves brushing against the shore and the dark fish creatures inhabiting them, I had a little cartoon break out in my sketch book where I relieved myself from all my "innocent, stupid tourist meets fish people" fantasies. Though, most inhabitants of the towns I visited were disappointingly nice and not fish-looking at all (YOU LIED TO ME, LOVECRAFT!).
I will let images speak about the rest of the journey - too much text have I written already. All I can say to sum this up is that vacation is great. I want to do this "vacation" thing more often from now on - if I can afford it. I recommend it to every freelance who hasn't dared to leave home base for a while. Even the surprisingly strong rocking of the cruise ship was soothing sometimes. ALSO! I will upload more pictures at my facebook page! So look out there!
(Foto below: The Boston aquarium as a great, gigantic water tank in the middle with a shark!)
(Foto below: Halifax, Peggy's Cova - a famous tourist attraction with only 47 residents. Halifax has seen much disaster: 1917, a lot of the Titanic victims were washed ashore. And when Th Swiss flight 111 crashed in 1998, the same thing happened again. There a re also countless shipwrecks from many centuries around the shore of Halifax)
Drawing below: People in the cruise Casino.
Drawing below: Waking up to the daily sea monster.
Drawing below: A day at sea with string winds and bad weather.
Drawing below: The only time somebody hit on me I was terrible at making excuses.
Drawing below: Day at sea. Waiting for Halifax.
Drawing below: 15$$$$ for a lobster roll??!?!?!!
4 comments:
The only other way to enjoy these luxuries is to get yourself a husband. haha :)
Felix, LOL!
Thanks for the advice, easy for you to say hahahaha!
Nette Reise, aber Neu-England ohne Innsmouth geht ja mal gar nicht ...
Vielen Dank für den wunderbaren Blog über Ihre Reise!
Post a Comment