(170/366) Change of Plans

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June 18, 2012 – This was a perfect find, because we think that we may change some plans that have been in place for three years.

Actually, it’s not so much a change of plans as it is resurrecting the original plan. We had a plan, then we changed our plan to include someone else, and then that person bailed out and we ended up going with the secondary plan, because it was too late to go back to the original plan at that point.

So we just detoured, that’s all, and now we are thinking about getting back on the original path….

What the heck am I talking about?

When we first decided to charter a sailboat in Greece back in 2005, my Mother was horrified (that hasn’t changed any). She had been on a trip to the UK and brought a promotional booklet that she left with us. It has lived in our magazine ever since. We went to Greece, and then that booklet charmed us. We started to think about all those wonderful canals that criss-crossed the countryside and it seemed such a relaxing and scenic way to spend a few weeks.

But then a friend proclaimed how much she would like to go to Greece before her 40th year, but sadly said that everyone who had said they would go with her had jammed out on her. She seemed so disappointed, and we loved Greece, so we said we’d go again and that she could join us, if she was willing to foot one third of the cost of everything for the time that she thought she might join in. She jumped at it. So we started to plan. We found a vessel that would be comfortable for all three of us. And then, just a few months before we were scheduled to go, she totally jammed out on us. It was annoying, when you make plans and part of them involve someone else and their carrying a portion of the costs, it’s frustrating when they leave you in a lurch.

In the end we still went, of course, and we had a fabulous time, no surprise at all, how can you not have a fabulous time sailing in the Greek Islands!?!

So we have been planning for the next trip, the Greek Islands along the coast of Turkey. With all the upheaval in the past year though, we’ve started to wonder if we should put it off for a bit, see if things settle down. Part of me knows that tourist dollars are desperately needed, many of the small island communities exist on tourism, and if the tourists stay away, things are that much harder. But it’s been a bit of a mull lately.

Then I was cleaning up the magazine rack and came across that brochure again. There are those wonderful narrow boats. And we had a chance to visit someone on one last trip through England, at the end of our 2009 trip. And it got me thinking. Maybe we should revisit that original plan, the one that was sidelined for someone else, someone who didn’t live up to her part of the bargain and caused us to detour.

So now we are thinking that we might get back on the road after that detour, and instead of another sailing vacation next year, ply the canals of the UK and live aboard a narrow boat for a month or so, and visit some of those fabulous people we met online and in person last time we were there. We could have them over for dinner and drinks, go to sleep with the sheep on the banks, dock behind a pub, meander through old villages, and drink fabulous English beer. And at the end of the day we could fall into our bed, bob on the shallow waters, and not worry if a wind storm blows since we won’t have any rocks to ground on.

What do you think? Four to six weeks on the canals of the UK in a narrow boat instead of on a sailboat in the Mediterranean?

It’s sounding lovely to me.