February 20, 2025

IGUAZA FALLS, ARGENTINA - Day 1 and 2 due to late flights.

On 2/10 through 2/14 I traveled to Igauzu Falls with friends Lori, Scott and Gary. Lori wanted to celebrate her birthday with a bucket list trip and I was excited she invited me to join in. We decided to splurge and stay at the fancy Gran Melina Hotel located right in the National Park on the edge of the Argentine side of the Falls. Toucan birds greeted us as we enter the National Park from the airport. Scott and Gary joined us on the trip but they stayed in a more modestly priced airbnb in town, about 30 minutes away.

The Hotel Property is stunning! There is only one Hotel in each side of the Falls National Parks. At checkin the Hotel told us to be sure to lock our balcony door to keep the monkeys out, that they were smart and knew how to open the doors when not locked. The monkeys were waiting for us, right outside our balcony door when we got to the room! They were so playful and not shy at all! We were exhausted but couldn't wait to hit the pool!

The only part of the get away that was challenging was the flights we had to take to get there and back. Gusting strong winds delayed our outbound flight from 11am Monday to 11pm, with our connecting 2nd flight, delayed until 4 am on Tuesday, getting us into Iguaza around 6am on Tuesday, basically loosing a day and making us exhausted! On the way back to the ship, our only flight choice was leaving at 3 am giving us another sleepless night. It was brutal but worth it with this group, we shared tons of laughs!

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We napped, chilled, watched the wildlife around the pool and then had some rooftop cocktails at sunset, dinner and an early night.

KUANTAN, MALAYSIA

By Pat Patrick • October 12, 2026
Just the other day a friend asked me if I got enough down time while living this lifestyle. My answer was "you have to make it !" In the beginning, it was go, go, go, every port. We had lots of FOMO ( fear of missing out ) and we tried to cram in as much as possible at every port. Sea days, were our only down time and there were never enough. It was a tad exhausting. Now two years into this life, I can say there are some ports that just don't call me and I opt to get other things done. Kuantan, Malaysia was one of the Ports. I never got off the ship, either day we were here. I intended to this morning, but we had storms with loud thunder late into the night and then was awoken by a crew alarm around 6:45am. My energy was low, there were shuttle issues, town was an hour ride away and there is alot of air pollution, ( due to neighboring Indonesia burning organic materials, in preparation for the upcoming monsoon season ). So I bagged my plans and continued working on my never ending TO DO LIST!

Sad Passing of ODYSSEY Shipmate

By Pat Patrick • October 11, 2026
During our two years of sailing we have had several Shipmates come and go for a variety of reasons. Their health, has sadly been the reason for many departures. Cindy Harvey , would have loved to have lived out her days here on the Odyssey and even bought a second cabin and had an adjoining door added, to have a care provider, stay with her full time. However, Cindy's limited mobility, pain and confinement got to be too much - so she left us a few months ago. She went to an assisted living facility, on the coast of Oregon, to be near her family. Tragically she fell, was trying to recover, slipped into a coma and sadly passed away this week.

SANCTUARY OF TRUTH MUSEUM, CHONBURI, THAILAND

By Pat Patrick • October 8, 2026
The Sanctuary of Truth Museum is the world's largest hand carved wooden castle, located on the coast of Pattaya, Chonburi Province, Thailand . Conceived in 1981 by Thai visionary Khun Lek Viriyaphun the structure is built entirely from 4 types of wood - Teak, Mai Daeng, Mai Takien & Mai Panchaat and put together using Thai nailless wood joinery - mainly dovetails, carrying poles and tongue & groove. We started the tour in the workshop where the artisan, mainly woman, were hard at work. Since conception, the Museum has been an active construction site, thus we all wore hardhats! The artisans continue handcarving sculptures and columns, daily and will most likely continue for years to come.