TRANSATLANTIC CROSSING (7 days, 4/21-28/12)

∙ OUR TRANSATLANTIC CROSSING: EUROPE TO AMERICA
          ∙ We left our final port of Madeira, Portugal at app. 5 p.m. on Friday, April 20, 2012
          ∙ We arrive back in Ft. Lauderdale - where our journey began 112 days earlier - at 7 a.m. on Saturday, April 28, 2012
          ∙ From Portugal to Ft. Lauderdale, we will cross 3,886 miles of ocean in 7.5 days

RMS TITANIC DEPARTING SOUTHHAMPTON ON APRIL 10, 1912

∙ ABOUT TRANSATLANTIC CROSSINGS
          ∙ Before the 19th century, transatlantic crossings (passages between Europe and the Americas) took place on sailing ships -- a time-consuming and often perilous journey
          ∙ Crossings became faster and safer with the advent of steamships (propelled by steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels)
          ∙ Grand ocean liners (like ours) began making regularly-scheduled crossings, and it soon became a symbol of national and company status to build the largest, fastest and most luxurious ocean liner for transatlantic crossings
          ∙ The US, UK, France, Germany and Italy have built the most famous oceanliners
          ∙ The most famous transatlantic liners are RMS Lusitania, RMS Mauretania, RMS Olympic, RMS Titanic, SS Rex, SS United States, RMS Queen Mary, SS Normandie, SS Andrea Doria, SS France, RMS Queen Elizabeth 2, and RMS Queen Mary 2

∙ THOUGHTS AS WE APPROACH HOME
          ∙ One fear, as we near the end of this “once in a lifetime” experience, is that we have reached the pinnacle of life's "experience".  Where do we go from here? Back to work? Ugh.
          ∙ We must now endure the inevitable emotional deflation as our 4-month cruise ends
          ∙ We must now pack - and unpack again, sift through mounds of mail and "reclaim" our ordinary lives
           ∙ Beyond that, and more importantly, we will have to find a place to unpack (a place to live), since I've sold both of my homes and sailed away with reckless abandon
          ∙ We'll have to swiftly and intensely engage in business promotion to get clients again, since we largely shut down our law practices to go on this cruise
         ∙ This means contacting professional colleagues, lawyer referral services, the local Bar, updating my web site and yellow page advertising, ordering new letterhead, etc.
          ∙ So was it "worth it"?  I'm 49 and will plan my 50th birthday party in October, having "lived" more in my half century on this planet than most people do in an entire lifetime.  So, arduous as the trip has been at times, the answer is "yes"!

MY FINAL IMAGE . . . THE PLACES THAT HAVE BECOME A PART OF US . . .!!

           ∙ Here's a "little something" they didn't have on the Titanic - it shows you exactly where the ship is at any given moment: