For those of you who read my Facebook posts, you already know that I am in Singapore aboard the Villa Vie Odyssey. A very appropriate name, indeed.
I’m still suffering from jet lag following my 18 hour journey from Malta a couple of days ago, so not sleeping well. I was up in the wee hours and read an email with an update on the journey. In part, it reads:
“Odyssey currently needs approximately 650 metric tons of fuel. Under normal market conditions, that fuel would cost approximately $450,000. At today’s prices, the cost is nearly double… we must make immediate and creative operational decisions to preserve the voyage… The current recommendation is to remain alongside until August 7 and then set sail at a slower, more economical speed to Na Trang for our scheduled arrival on August 12.”
Uh…. wow! In other words, they are having a financial crisis and the future of the Odyssey is unknown. But it doesn’t sound good. Special thanks to my “friend” in Washington who continues to disrupt the lives of people around the planet.
When I decided to take this journey a few weeks ago, the next destination was Vung Tau in Vietnam. When I boarded two days ago, I learned we would be heading to Brunei instead. Now, we’ll be sitting in Singapore for 7 more days. Interestingly, I was just telling someone last evening that I wish I had a few more days in Singapore. It’s an amazing place to visit.
So, I have a decision to make. I can decide to bail and head back to Malta soon and bake under the blazing Mediterranean sun for the rest of the summer, or I can fly somewhere else here in Asia (where I get both the heat and the added bonus of high humidity) and continue my trip. Or I can go along for the ride and see how this “Odyssey” turns out.
For those few of you who look forward to my posts, I will be posting much more regularly. Perhaps every day for a while.
Oh, and I promise to get caught up with posts from my recent trips to Germany, Switzerland, Albania, South Africa and Poland. Stay tuned, it should be interesting reading…
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