December 30, 2024

GUAYAQUIL, PUERTO LOPEZ & AQUA BLANCA, ECUADOR

Christmas Morning, I left the Ship, with 5 others, for the first time for an overnight excursion. Have to admit, I didn't like having to pack, I have gotten used to life on the Ship, where it does all the moving for us! We got picked up by our excursion coordinator at the Port of Guayaquil, Ecuador around 10 a.m. We then had a 3-hour drive through central Ecuador to get over to the coast and Puerto Lopez. Our rental - the YIN YANG FLOWER HOUSE was located a 1/2 block from the beach. As we drove through Guayaquil, we saw tons of these papier mâché figurines. They are effigies they use to decorate over the holidays and then burn on New Years Eve to say goodbye to all the things that went wrong, for them in 2024. They vary in price from $10 to $100 and take vendors several days to custom make and paint. After the burn they jump over three times to send the spirits away. Alot are political and silly, regardless colorful!! 

After we dropped our stuff at the house, and had some fruit and bread, we headed to AQUA BLANCA, about 20 minutes away. It's a commune community. There are archeological remains in a small museum, a mineral pool, mud massages available and some snack shops. I totally embraced the mud massage! It felt amazing and left my skin sooo soft. Others (Scott & Kelly) had apple & lavender oil massages and Debbie, just got the mud applied without the massage. A truly unique fun way to spend Christmas Day! I went in mineral pool after mud had dried to wash it off. They also had showers and changing rooms. Then we had a home made feast back at house by 2 local ladies - fresh fried fish, seafood rice, plantains, pork in a peanut sauce, salad and amazing avocados! We all enjoyed some drinks and chatting, getting to know each other better. Scott and I took a walk to beach too - was a gorgeous night!


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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.