After returning from our three-week Mississippi River cruise around the same time last year, it seemed to take forever to get all of my pictures edited and blog posts written.  September starts our busy fall craft show season for Bruce’s fused glass jewelry, so my blog took a back seat to our business and associated travel. It wasn’t until December when I concluded my blog posts of that trip.

In retrospect, there was a wonderful silver lining to what at first seemed unthinkable, especially since I am the opposite of a procrastinator!  (Since I had previously posted to my blog during my travels back in the early days, it seemed so strange to me to have my trip posts take so long to complete.)

That silver lining?  First, enjoying every minute of the trip without the distraction of editing pictures and writing.  It was fine during our seven-week road trip, since evenings were mostly spent unwinding and relaxing in our hotel room.  Bruce would study the map and travel info. I had researched, while I worked at the computer.  On the riverboat trips with my mom, evenings were mostly quiet on the boat after dinner, so there was plenty of opportunity to pop open my netbook in the lounge and write while others read their books or conversed with other passengers.

This time, there was too much going on that I didn’t want to miss.  The writing could wait!  Instead, I took a lot of notes during our walking tours and lectures, filling up an entire spiral notebook.  (Being able to read my scribbled notes will prove to be a challenge, I’m sure!)

Most of all, though, I discovered how much I thoroughly enjoyed reliving the trip again and again throughout my three-month photo editing and writing process.  I caught myself smiling, laughing, and remembering things that had slipped my mind, each time I edited a new batch of pictures and wrote about what we had experienced.  Every time I sat down at the computer, I felt exhilaration and happiness; I was in the zone.

Happily swimming in Lake Bled, Slovenia (Bled Castle is behind me.)

It is for those reasons, my dear readers, that I make no promises as to when my next post will appear on this site, and when my last one will be completed for our most recent trip.  I will at least cut to the chase, though, and tell you that each and every day was thoroughly enjoyable and breathtaking.  Hopefully, my pictures will do justice to the beauty of Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Montenegro; the former Yugoslavian countries we visited during our 19-day Vantage Travel land and yacht tour.

If you wish to read on without having to keep checking my site for my next post, sign up to receive e-mails notifying you when a new post has been added.  Who knows?  I may even get them all written before the December holidays arrive!