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All at sea! BizCation time …


 There has been so much written about the fallout from the global pandemic becoming a time to rethink work – life balance. A time to think whether the drudgery of the daily routine was really worth it! One hour commutes? Unhealthy meals and rushed coffee breaks. Meetings, Bl**dy Meetings! Once the taste of working from the confines of our homes was how we saw our working future took hold, perhaps there was a different path to go down; one that catered more to real productivity gains.

For Margo and me, 2009 was the turning point. Together we made the decision that I was not going to return to corporate life. Instead I was going to do something for myself. Having participated in four startups only to see the time spent working with the corporations that acquired each startup proving less than challenging perhaps even boring, why not launch our own start up.

Yes, wherever I could set up shop was where I was going to work and as we head into our fourteenth year, Margo and I have practiced our trade in lots of different environments and loved every moment.

If as yet you haven’t recognized where we set up office this month then perhaps the view above provides a clue. We were shipboard yet again and this time we were under the watchful eye of the captain whose bridge was directly above us. Several voyages previously we had made the decision to always secure a veranda cabin and one with plenty of space to set up a working desk. We have done one voyage where we occupied an internal cabin – less light, more sleep, or so the theory went – but it wasn’t for us.

In the times of the global pandemic this decision proved important as one of us did catch COVID and was quarantined in a matching veranda cabin but at least we could walk outside the cabin for a change in scenery. Nothing like that happened this time, but a tip for the uninitiated. Modern cruise ships have bow thrusters oftentimes multiple bow thrusters. Make sure you don’t get a cabin that is forward and directly above these very noisy apparatus especially when docking is taking place before 6:00am

But our working life continued throughout the trip and was again further evidence that having a small marketing consulting company meant we could work from anywhere.

It had only been a couple of weeks earlier that Margo and I had made the round trip from Windsor, Colorado, to Mississauga, Ontario. Having made the decision to take a traditional leaf-peeping cruise through Eastern Canada and New England, it meant that the trips took place almost back to back. We didn’t drive back to Canada where this time our destination was Montreal, but we did take the weekend to explore Montreal.

By chance and with limited local knowledge we stumbled across a delightful restaurant for the lunch before departure. The Fiorella serving up classical southern Italian fare clearly was a place we would return to next time we visit Montreal. Not pretentious in any way but just cozy with great food. As for the filet we both ordered, couldn’t be better. Boarding any vessel is always fraught with concerns over where our next meal would come from so we always like to try something before the time comes to leave land and this just represented a continuation of that practice. Montreal is a bustling European city that we visited once before and it has its moments but it was just the beginning of our cruise so we can’t say we left reluctantly.

Vancouver and Toronto hold more charm for us both, but then again, to sail the Gulf of St Lawrence had always been on my bucket list. Having a day to recover from air travel is a must in these times of orchestrated airline pandemonium. 

As night descended we weighed anchor for an evening sail from the port of New Montreal to the port of Old Montreal just a couple of miles downstream. Seemed everyone wanted to board passengers dockside at this time of year as it is perhaps amongst the busiest of all times in the port. The massive grain silos in the background have been unused for decades and we have walked up to them previously. The good news here is that they will not be demolished but repurposed to house a future mall and arts place with offices and residential properties and we have to assume a hotel. Its location calls for that and it probably will work out.

As we pulled away from shore, work did begin for us. You may have read previously about how we talk of BizCations and that some escapes were simply Bleisure trips, but this is now a fact of life for us. As anyone owning and operating a small business knows only too well, there are no vacation times. No shutting the business for the summer. Or the winter. Or even birthdays. For more than a decade we have elected to work while we explore new places and so it’s not entirely a period where we can enjoy downtime for any period of time.

But as with our opening remarks, while we aren’t truly part of the gig economy, we don’t miss turning up for meetings or scrambling to find time for a slow-paced luncheon break.  

One of the truly magnificent sights in Montreal has to be the Notre-Dame Basilica of Montreal of old Montreal. We spent some time looking at the structure which was perhaps equal to only two or three other cathedrals we have previously visited. Lyon comes to mind as does London’s St Paul. And, of course, Rome! Having a brief time to pause and to catch our breath was actually heaven sent, so as to speak, and we certainly didn’t begrudge taking the brief shore excursion just to see this magnificent structure.

The reference to shore excursions is a moot point for Margo and me. We usually don’t participate in shore excursions. Apart from the time that staying onboard gives us for higher performing internet access, for the past decade the vessel itself has become our destination. Having worked in IT for as long as we both have, we have visited most places so we graciously let others fill the seats on the ever present coaches lined up to take you goodness knows where.

This is not to say you shouldn’t take a tour of any port that you pull into but rather, take advantage of an empty ship. And if you chose the right cruise line, the meals onboard oftentimes exceed that which you can find ashore.

The one exception to this general rule of ours was Quebec City. Perhaps we could argue that it was the main reason why we found ourselves on this cruise. It was a city that I had never visited and was curious as to why so many travelers are captivated by the people, the architecture and the views over the St Lawrence. Nothing was more indicative as to why this city always rated highly on tourist surveys than the magnificent Fairmont Le Chateau Frontenac, depicted above.

Making an entrance and chatting briefly to the concierge, we penciled in some return time that hopefully will happen next year. Margo is already fantasizing about pulling up the driveway in our Jaguar F Type ragtop. It may happen. Then again, being a Fairmont establishment, we may have to tap our small bank of points having spent time in other Fairmont establishments. Whereas the weather up until that point had been less than enticing, walking around the ramparts of this former citadel was under a bright blue sky that was only one of the few times we saw the sun.

Think Hurricane Fiona and yes, we could feel it having an impact on us even this far north of the Caribbean. Unfortunately it also meant a change to our itinerary as we were not be able to visit Prince Edward Island. 

On the other hand, Margo was able to put on some moves in front of a couple of floral butterfly exhibits outside the hotel. Our time in Quebec City was the real start of our working week so we dutifully pulled out our laptops on our return to the ship.

I had blog posts to publish and a number of commitments to our clients to complete. We would be also pulling together a number of story lines for our bimonthly digital publication, NonStop Insider. All the time, we were in conversation with a new prospective client with proposals passing back and forth between us.

Butterflies and blue skies! Wasn’t there a song written along similar lines? And bent over a keyboard as the voyage continued! Then again, if this was in some way the sacrifice we made to see new sites so be it!

Given how this was billed as a leaf peeping cruise, looking out from the cliff top we caught sight of our ship as we saw our first evidence that fall had started. The summer had been a wet summer so the colors were slow to appear but already, the reds and gold that make this area of the world famous were appearing. Changes though weren’t limited to just the foliage or to the itinerary. For Margo and me, the real changes were happening on board.


 We had booked passage between Montreal and Ft Lauderdale, Florida, on the Viking Star. We had previously sailed on a Viking River cruise and this was the first experience for us on Viking Ocean cruises. Our initial reaction was that the ship had been built by Ikea. Not in a bad way mind you, but the extensive use of Scandinavian color schemes that were mostly many shades of blue against creamy wood surrounds. The muted color scheme proved relaxing. In time, we changed our minds. This just wasn’t a pleasant break of routine; this was something very special.

Cruise lines compete in many different ways. The Viking Star catered to only 900 guests. But familiarity with the staff developed quickly where they knew our tastes in food and beverage and there wasn’t a time when we were left wanting more. 

From the shore of Saguenay, Quebec, the ship looked larger than it did aboard. Then again, nothing by comparison to one of the Princess cruise ships we have often sailed on. However, we couldn’t ignore a reference to Saguenay as it is towards the end of the southernmost fjord in the northern hemisphere and it was alive with sea life. Seals and whales and yes, birdlife everywhere you turned. It was a time for the northern right whales and that meant our cruising speed back out the fjord was restricted.

Yes, a casual cruise along a deep fjord. Much like we have seen in New Zealand and hopefully, at some point, we will see in Norway. But for now, it was just a time enjoy the sunshine before it was stolen away.

What followed were a couple of sea days and I just have to say that we barely contained ourselves. When we arrived in Saint John, New Brunswick, we encountered the dockside waterfront container village made up from twenty and forty foot containers. In a small way, it reminded me of why I have spent time in Canada. It was following a period where I worked for the commercial container business of P&O, a now defunct company called Overseas Containers Limited (OCL). While working for the Australian operation, I made the poor decision to accept a job at the head office in London. A poor decision? While in transit they changed the salary model – I was no longer to be paid my Australian salary but a London salary that left me with only a third of my income versus what I had left behind in Australia.

I couldn’t survive so I left for Alberta, Canada, to work for their Caterpillar distributor choosing to live in Edmonton, Alberta. Not only did that change lead to a more reasonable salary for an IT professional but it opened the door to the rest of my career. So it is that this year alone, Margo and I have visited both ends of Canada from Prince Rupert in British Colombia to Saint Brunswick Nova Scotia. Decisions we make in hindsight may look to be unwise and yet, they marked not only my penchant for travelling but an opportunity to move rapidly up the management ranks when I did return to Australia. 

One of the more significant highlights for me was to see the US 12 meter Americas Cup yacht, Weatherly. Probably an insignificant historical foot note today but it was this sloop that Australia’s first challenger for the Americas Cup, Gretel, faced in 1962. The mere fact that Gretel, a complete novice when it came to Americas Cup match racing, won a race was outstanding. It proved to be the only time that the US defender lost a race in 111 years of competition.

Turn the page to 1977 and there I was in Newport Rhode Island. Stretching out the installation of software at a Boston bank I was able to spend weekends down at the port. I never did see any of the races but I was able to absorb the atmosphere. And yes, I came away with the tee shirt. It is now a matter of record that the birth of my daughter Lisa came about a short time after Australia finally won the cup away from the New York Yacht Club. Televising all the races to the maternity ward seemed like a good idea at the time!

The sea holds a special place in our hearts. Margo and I are drawn to the solitude that comes with sailing on its waters. Moody or peaceful, wild or calm, it’s a place that continues to draw us to the shore. Would we sail again on Viking Ocean? Was the food as good as advertised? The simply answer is yes on both counts.  

Living in Colorado and far from the coast isn’t an ideal situation but with the lifestyle afforded us today in an economy where the change indeed the challenge affords us an office wherever we happen to be, we both suspect that this activity will be enjoyed for many more years to come.


 



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