“Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board. For some they come in with the tide. For others they sail forever on the horizon, never out of sight, never landing until the Watcher turns his eyes away in resignation, his dreams mocked to death by Time. That is the life of men.”
– Zora Neale Hurston, “Their Eyes Were Watching God”
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Lerwick, Shetland Islands, August 2019
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And if you fancy a laugh (or cry), here is alternative version of those words. Big thanks to Margaret for sending me a link to some opening lines rewritten for the pandemic by Eli Grober in the New Yorker last week.
“Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board. But cruise ships are totally out of the question now. We’;re never going on one of those again.”
It’s time for a weekly quotation-inspired image.
If the quote inspires a pictorial or wordy post from you, do feel free to link in or to pop your URL in the comments.
Copyright Debbie Smyth, 7 April 2021
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Travel with Intent 
I know lots of people are interested in taking cruises, but the only cruise I’m interested in is one up the Alaskan coast. It’s like going to Las Vegas. I’m happy other people want to go, but I’m not interested. 🙂
janet
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Yes, an Alaska cruise is on my list too.
I’ve been to Las Vegas a few times – a handy entrance for Arizona and Utah, and a ranch that I’ve ridden at few times.
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Never have and never wanted to. Been on short cruises but really disliked that I was stuck on a boat and wanted to get off but no way. A gondola ride or a ferry is my limit 🙂
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Not my idea of fun either – the time to explore places is when the cruise ship visitors have departed! That is particularly true of places like Venice
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Yes. We found a cruise ship somewhere else, can’t remember where and it was pleasant when the ship went 😀
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I have never been on a huge cruise ship and never wanted to be on one. Now that is just reinforced. I often feel glad that I travelled back in the day when you could just walk in to the Uffizi after lunch and not even have to line up. When the waters of Venice were open and only filled with gondolas or small boats and not mega cruise liners. Westminster Abbey could be visited just like any other church. That is all because I am older and have been travelling with my parents or on my own my entire life. When I was four we arrived at Heathrow and it was basically a Quonset hut! I could go on but I’ll spare you!🤣
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Wonderful images and a perfect quote, too; very emotive – hopefully they will set off again soon. I think many are looking forward to setting off on those huge floating hotels again!
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Yes, many are waiting. And there will be bargains given their vulnerability to infection outbreaks
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I’m absolutely with you, Elke – I’m just off to look at your post. And Debbie, so glad those quotes inspired you – thanks for the mention!
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I was thinking I might invent some of my own misquotes but I’m being kept busy by an attention-seeking youngster
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As yet unnamed?
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I like the first quote. I totally agree with the second one for various reasons, ecological being foremost in my mind (to be fair, though, cruise ship travel has never appealed to me in the first place).
Your photo shows how incongruous those huge ships are next to the normal ones, next to the landscape.
Here is my take on the quote, actually both quotes: https://picturesimperfectblog.wordpress.com/2021/04/07/cruising-the-edge/
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They have never been my thing either. I did a school cruise when I was 15 which was a great start to my travels, and I have since sworn I won’t do another until I can no longer walk! It’s just not really travel – just a tick-it-off-the-list.
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