Asia

Here We Go Again!

If it seems like a long time since Partout has shown up in your mailbox, that’s because it has been. One year, 4 months and 10 days to be exact. After cruising around the world in 180 days last year, we kinda sorta took a travel break in 2024 and, with one notable exception (hint: see photos), confined ourselves to family trips in Florida and the Netherlands. 

Until now. Now, to prove the old saw that you can’t keep an old dog (or two dogs) down, we are rewinding our world cruise to visit places in Asia we missed then: Hong Kong (canceled due to covid), Hanoi (too far from the coast), Laos (landlocked) and the wats of Angkor (too beguiling to shortchange with a mere ship excursion). This will be Month #1.

In Month #2, we will be cruising from Sydney to Perth, Australia, skimming three-quarters of a continent our world cruise skipped plus a side trip to three Indonesian islands we didn’t see then either: Bali, Komodo, Lombok.

The notable exception to our travel hiatus was a brief (for us) visit to Egypt in January. Twelve days was long enough for Louis to take a few hundred photos but not long enough for Doris write several hundred words. To make up for the gap, we’re announcing “We’re BAAAACK” with some scenes from the mighty Nile.

But First . . .

Before we re-launch, though, we have three confessions.

Confession #1

Doris was sorely tempted to spare you (and herself) a new installment of Partout (still pronounced parr-2, like the golf score, which means “all over the place” in Louis’s mother tongue). She was overridden by protests near (Louis) and afar (you know who you are) but, if you see a bit less of Partout than in trips past, that’s why.

Confession #2

Yes, faithful followers, we did declare at the end of the world cruise, “We are not cruisers.” And now we’ll be embarking on another cruise, albeit a much shorter one. What can we say? The idea of circumnavigating a continent was as irresistible as the idea of circumnavigating the earth and goes to show that old dogs should never say never. 

Confession #3

We made a promise to you 1 year, 4 months and 10 days ago, and it’s time we made good on it.

In our final issue of Partout Around the World, we promised “a report on our adventures in re-entry” a month after our return. Let’s just say life got in the way, but our impressions from re-entry have not faded. In the great tradition of “better late than never,” here at last are three lasting take-aways from the trip.

  • There was absolutely no adjustment period to “normal” life ashore without butlers and chef-prepared meals and all the other amenities of shipboard life, and we didn’t miss those luxuries. It turns out even six indulged months at sea are not enough to reset the default mode of daily life on land.
  • Living happily as we did in 215 square feet with minimal personal belongings gave “stuff” a whole new meaning. For weeks (months?) after our return home, we were in a frenzy of throwing out the seldom-worn, not-treasured, out-dated and otherwise unessential or unloved “stuff” taking up space in our homes and lives. We haven’t missed any of it, but it took living without it to show us we wouldn’t.
  • Our favorite destination on the world cruise was … the world. Nearly a year and a half after disembarking, never a week goes by when one of us doesn’t comment that circling the globe by water was the greatest travel experience of our lives. 

But who knows? Maybe something in the next two months will compete. Stay tuned. 

Until then, happy Thanksgiving to our friends in the US. We are thankful for all of you and for the health we still enjoy to take these adventures with you.

Who Knew?!?

Long-time followers know that each volume of Partout closes with a recurring postscript (“Tips from the Partout Toolbox,” “Another Question Answered,” “Where’s Snowy?”). For this trip, each post will close with “Who Knew?!?” – a piece of totally random and useless information that caught us by surprise along the way.

NEXT STOP: Hong Kong

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ChezLouisDoris

22 thoughts on “Here We Go Again!”

  6. Here’s what I say to Doris: Don’t be ridiculous! We all love your commentary and look forward to it.

    So there.

    Who knew I’d use up my comment space for chastisement? I think this trip is more than cruise in that you are exploring places on shore. Happy many trails! Karen

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  8. Hi Doris and Louis, I’m Karen’s Port Townsend writer-friend. I so enjoyed your trip around the world and am looking forward to this next journey. I appreciate the way you summerize and keep-it-short. It arrives in my inbox along with a plethora of other things and I never skip it because I know it’s  the cherry waiting at the bottem of the Manhattan. Thanks,Gayle

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  10. Thanks for listening to the protests and agreeing to have future editions of your travel blog. I am sure I speak for other consumers of the content that we really enjoy seeing the results of your efforts, Doris and Louis.

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  12. Hello Doris and Louis:

    So happy to see a new edition of Partout, and how great you will be “on the road again” this year in a big way! We look forward to reading more about your adventures.

    Since you mentioned Indonesia, couldn’t resist sharing a photo of a Komodo dragon from our Indonesia trip (Sumatra, Java, Bali, Flores and Komodo Islands) in Sept-Oct of this year (a birding and wildlife trip, as most of ours are these days). On tap for us in 2025 are: Whitehorse for the Northern Lights, Vietnam, Borneo, Canadian east coast train trip, and Sri Lanka.

    To travel!

    Best, Debbie and Cathy

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  13. Thank you, Doris and Louis. I love your story telling, mastery of writing, and photos – always a treat to receive. Happy Thanksgiving to you both as well. Kathy and Rich

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  16. Looking forward to seeing you on the circumnavigation of Australia. Agree that we will likely never do another 6 month cruise either but it was a life changing experience that we will never regret.

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    1. Bonjour Louis et Doris

      Je suis contente d’avoir de vos nouvelles. Merci de faire partie de vos voyages à travers le monde et nous faire connaître ses beaux pays et leurs coutumes.

      Diane et Jacques de Guise

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