Appropriate Planning can Lead to Scrapping Trips Too, as in Goodbye New Zealand (for now)

After rain in Lima, Peru following our Machu Picchu hike in May, rain in Ireland during our June visit, and rain in Hamburg and Berlin rounding out our June-July travel, I have no tolerance for traveling half-way around the world to explore in rain. Age provides clarity, wisdom and strong opinions.

While visiting Ireland, our host and my former work colleague suggested we "embrace the weather" as part of our adventure. Normally, I'd completely agree, and most of the time, I do. But for my 60th birthday adventure, I want a stronger likelihood of beautiful weather than the "average chance of 7 days of rain in November." It's my birthday!

Based on weather forecasts and knowing we'll be in Hawaii (half-way there) frequently, I overruled New Zealand.  Australia is very much still on the bucket list, but I don't want to hop from place to place. Too much of our travel has involved doing so, and as with rain, my tolerance is currently negligible. Instead, we're strongly considering an 11–14-day cruise through the islands of French Polynesia (think Tahiti and Bora Bora). RIght now, finding direct flights from Honolulu to Papeete is proving difficult, so fingers crossed I get my birthday wish!

The two cruise lines we've investigated thus far, have swim platforms off the back of the 300-person boat, allowing for soaking in the warm, clear waters of the tropics when anchored. That was one of my favorite activities during our August 2023 WindStar cruise.

More to come on our planning process.