Crossed the Arctic Circle a couple of hours ago. Southward bound. Another lazy day—should I be doing something? Writing, thinking, planning, making lists, reading, puttering, planking? Not really. Days on ships are time out from real life—adventure on the Linden, sloth on the Finnmarken.

I have just spent a couple of hours on ancestry stuff—stimulating hours actually. Day after tomorrow I take the train from Trondheim over into rural reindeer-herding ski-country Sweden and meet some fourth cousins. Dinner with family and a night at the Fundasdalen ski lodge. Much more about that to come!

Last night was a wild one at sea. To me it felt like the storm of the century; to the guy at reception this morning, it was a small weather disturbance not even warranting the title squall, much less storm. It was three-quarters fun, relaxing and exhilarating at the same time. I will admit to one-quarter anxiety—both because my stomach felt rebellious and because I knew I was about to be lost at sea in a freak ship-disaster totally unpredicted by weather forecasters and shipping lines. All those souvenirs lost to the deep. As you’ve guessed, somehow we made it through to have another giant breakfast, two naps and a little possession-sorting. Managed to eliminate at least twenty-seven more ounces from my luggage overload.

Let’s see; it’s 14:00 hours right now. I’ll post this, and then make some lists of stuff I should do tomorrow in Trondheim, next week on ship again and in Bergen, the three travel weeks after that, this fall back home, in 2019, and the rest of my life. That should kill a couple of hours before I pull myself together to brush my teeth, put on my shoes and go for an afternoon snack and Norwegian IPA. I know, I’ll add some fleece to my ensemble and do a few laps around deck—isn’t that what people on board ship do? Then, I’ll stream another episode of a Swedish/French Netflix series called Midnight Sun. It’s excellent and keeps me in the Arctic for a few more hours. Haven’t turned on a TV since leaving home but did finally succumb to Netflix a couple of nights ago. Needed voices. Action. Company. Anything not involving the smarmy voice of you-know-who from a US website.

Cheers…life’s tough but somehow we travelers must keep plodding on…