Going...slowly...over the ocean!

Although Daisy is a model airplane passenger, I think that we would both agree that we've had seven transatlantic flights too many. As Chris and I considered our timeline for moving to Atlanta, a couple of alternatives to flying crossed our minds:

1) Cargo ships. These are manned by modern-day sailors and offer a handful of passengers transport. There's one that leaves from Hamburg and passes through Savannah, GA! Meals with the crew are included in the price, and the ships allow kids over age 3. Yes, they're really slow and it would be so boring for kids to be stuck on a ship with nothing to do for three weeks. But how I would love to someday sail from Long Beach to China, alone with the sea and my journal, eating with the captain, playing ping-pong with the crew...

2) Cruise ships. Peak seasons for transatlantic cruises are spring and fall, when the lines reposition from the Mediterranean to the Caribbean. However, there are a precious few scattered throughout the summer, one of which actually works for us. And we are most definitely going to take it.

Holland America's MS Rotterdam departs on July 3 from Rotterdam, Holland (even closer to us than Hamburg and just a couple of hours away by train) and arrives at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal early on July 12. There's just one port call, in Southampton, England. We will spend nine days swimming, eating, and reflecting on this new phase of life we're entering while slowly pulling ourselves away from the normalcy we've created here. We'll even adjust to the new time zone before we arrive! At various moments across the Atlantic, I will assuredly muster all my imaginative energies to recreate the feelings of the passengers of the Mayflower, the Titanic, and the countless ships filled with hopeful - mournful? - immigrants, not to mention my literary friends who have sailed it. I can't wait to experience what it feels like to suddenly see land after feeling lost in the ocean for a week and to see the Statue of Liberty just like my ancestors did, raising her lamp "beside the golden door."

It turns out that Daisy won't cost much on the cruise, so the total price is about equivalent to the total of 3 (full price) one-ways between Dusseldorf and Atlanta for those dates. Given the extraordinariness of the cruise option (when else would we even have the time for this, or want to do just a one-way passage?), we decided to spring the extra cash to get us from NYC to Atlanta. I hate to turn down a good opportunity when it presents itself...such as, if I arrive in Brooklyn and fly out of La Guardia, shouldn't I stick around for a little bit and enjoy the city? Hmmm.