June 28, 2025

PHILADELPHIA, PA - USA 

Normally I would call Philadelphia Home but after 9 months of living on the Ship, I am beginning to call the Ship HOME! To that point, the main reasons I flew across the country this week was to come home and get my Condo in Philly ready to sell! I needed to clear out my remaining personal effects, so that I could possibly turn the place over to a realtor to liquidate and /or sell my remaining furniture and household items, along with the condo itself. I met with a few realtors and spent a good amount of time cleaning out all my closets, cabinets and drawers. I tried to get as much as possible into the willing arms of family members and friends. I was happy for them to take any items they could put to good use! My nieces Colleen and Laura were my 2 best recipients pictured below in the elevator as we hauled out numerous loads to their uber ( for Colleen) and car ( for Laura). I even got my bestie Laureen to take a bag home with her!

The added perk of coming home was getting to catch up with family and a few of my friends - a girls' got to take a dinner break and keep exercising at pool aerobics!

 I worked really hard, so I deserved hump day off as a treat to go down to my beloved OCNJ Beach - get my hair done and get in some quick beach time with my Brother Michael and Joyce and favorite Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer, (I hope I never have to see on a rescue mission on my Ship), Conor!! A special shout out to Dina for giving me her car to let this happen and Michael for cooking me an amazing burger dinner too!

The other special treat I got was to spend time with this cutie, my newest great niece Emilia. She is sooo cute and cuddly! I got to spend my last night in town with my brother John's family celebrating Katie's 29th Birthday. Joan baked a yummy banana cake with peanut butter icing. We are so blessed !!

The Philly skyline from my Condo - never get sick of looking at it!

By Pat Patrick June 1, 2026
Somewhere in the South China Sea, i n a galaxy far, far away ... was the Odyssey and a bunch of fun loving travelers....who had an idea for a fun cocktail party!
By Pat Patrick May 30, 2026
Yesterday we joined in with many of our fellow residents to take in some of the many water spots around Coron . We signed up through Get Your Guide, others used Trip Advisor and they both contracted with Psalms Travel Services in Coron. As I've explained before, figuring out our excursions in each port, is a big time suck for me. We prefer to find local venders without having to go through the big agencies (because you usually can get better service, pricing and customization) but sometimes it is just easier to stick with the big guys, when the excursion is super popular. Psalms turned out to be an excellent operator and I laughed when I saw they had used the below images on their Facebook page today. Didn't realize my pink dry bag stood out so much!
By Pat Patrick May 30, 2026
We are currently docked at the port of CORON , in the Palawan archipelago islands, of the Philippines . While the port itself is nothing special, and the surrounding town is hardly thriving, the people here are amazingly friendly, joyful and so happy to be around! You can see from below, they have a ton of hotels and restaurants but mostly it's their water actives that attract a fair number of tourist. Known for their crystal clear water, dramatic limestone cliffs and powdery white sand beaches. June is the start of the rainy season, but so far the weather has been good.