I have seen this drawing of Amalfi Coast out of the corner of my eye all month. It is the Travel the World calendar by Rifle Paper Co. that sits on my desk at work. Every time I glimpse at it I feel happy and excited. I think the drawing is fun and I assume it captures the spirit of the Amalfi Coast. At least it’s what I think it will be like. Warm sun, sea air, boats, charming villages built in to cliffs and lemons…lots of lemons.

On our very last port stop on the cruise (April 27), we are in Naples. From Naples we have booked a tour of the Amalfi Coast with Mondo Guide. Mondo Guide has been great to work with so far. Our ship stops in Naples twice and we have another tour booked with them to tour Pompeii and Naples (with pizza lunch of course) earlier in the month. I’m really excited to visit the Amalfi Coast see the breathtaking views of the cliff side drive and quaint seaside towns first hand. Of course I’ve watched lots of videos to prepare.

With only a few days left in February, I will flip over to the next month soon. March is Kyoto – I’ve already looked – and it’s also a nice drawing with cherry blossoms. Oops, maybe I shouldn't have looked, that might be bad luck. Or maybe it means next spring I will go to Kyoto. I would love to see the cherry blossoms in Japan!

I will miss the drawing of the Amalfi Coast after Monday but I am looking forward to seeing (and smelling) it in real life soon.

I'm so excited about my craft room. I have wanted an organized, functional space for many years and after painting, sorting and a few trips to Ikea... I finally have one.

What does this have to do with my upcoming cruise you ask? Well, not much. Except that I love to journal while traveling. I also collect things along the way - memorabilia type things - with the intent to put them all together when I get home. That usually doesn't happen. The main reason is because when I create, I make a mess. With my new craft room, I can make a mess and then shut the door until the project is complete.

I have started journals for past trips. Most aren't complete. I actually completed my China journal from 2014 - it's very chunky. Here are some photos.

For the Europe cruise in 2012 I made a couple of great journals from sewing paper together. It was an online course called Remains of the Day by Mary Ann Moss. They were great fun to make.  I started to fill them up, but I still have work to do!

So, that's my craft room and I'm excited to start creating.

In case you didn't notice I have two Harry Potter Funko figurines in my craft room. Every craft room needs a little wizardry!

I have a brand new, never stamped in, 10 year passport ready for the trip. Of course I hate the photo, but in 10 years I suspect I will think I looked good. It's not about the photo it's about where my new passport and I will travel.

The first trip on our agenda is exploring Italy, a 19 day Mediterranean cruise and a few days in Amsterdam. I can't resist Amsterdam in the spring.

We are sailing on the shiny new ms Koningsdam. As in really new - like we are the first official cruise on it. I'm so excited! We booked this cruise about 14 months ago so it hasn't really seemed real. With 49 sleeps until we leave, it's getting real! I posted some links to videos on this page. 

There is also a series of videos called Countdown to Koningsdam: episode 1, episode 2, episode 3, episode 4 (we want a suite after watching episode 4), episode 5

Here is a glimpse at our itinerary:
Mom, Dad, James, Lyn and I fly to Rome and join a four day, three night tour of Tuscany & the Cinque Terre - eat good food and drink good wine. Back to Rome for two nights to meet up with our fellow cruisers -  family & friends, 14 of us in total. More food, wine and gelato. Head to the shiny new ship and tour around the eastern Mediterranean with stops in Naples, Dubrovnik, Corfu, Rome, Athens, Olympia, Istanbul (I hope!), Ephesus, Rhodes, Crete, and back to Naples.
After 19 days on the ship we disembark. Mom, dad, James, Lyn, Penny and I catch a flight to Amsterdam and arrive on King's Day - the biggest and orangest celebration in the Netherlands. We have three nights in Amsterdam and we plan on spending a day at Keukenhof - the spring gardens outside of the city. TULIPS! And I want to rent a bike.

Sounds fun 'eh?!