Lessons learned on a really big boat...

Lesson One: Feminine Wiles
I learned how to walk in the high heels (highest that I have owned to date) on rough, choppy water in a long NARROW corridor. (I can't walk in a straight line anyway.) Ha. So I looked like a fool. Eh, I'll probably never see most of those people again. The few that I will see again already KNOW that I can't walk in heels. They won't judge me.
Lesson Two: Synchronized Swimming
Keep your feet away from other people's faces. It's kind of self explanatory.
Lesson Three: Trust the Waitress
We had the most AMAZING waitress on the ship. She recommend the best things on the menu and if we didn't order them-she brought them anyway. That's exactly how we got the BEST food. By the end of the week we had some of our friends coming over to our table to get the recommendations before they ordered. Ha. LOVED IT! LOVED HER!!! She was from Thailand. She might be my favorite Thai woman. Ever.
Lesson Four: Travel in a backpack.
I didn't check luggage this trip. I survived the entire week out of a backpack. I plan on continuing to do this my entire life. Or at least as long as I can carry a backpack.
Lesson Five: Miracles happen.
Four women. Four adult, grown women shared exactly one shower and one electrical socket, (not even an outlet) for an entire week. All four of us could get ready for dinner in an hour and a half. (and we didn't even touch the boat blow dryer because it was frightening!)
Lesson Six: Transitions
A) Two of the girls on the trip had a rough time gaining their sea legs. I had no problem. Now, I've been home for a week, I've been fighting bouts of vertigo and rocking.
B) The number one comment I have received since I got home has nothing to do with my tan. (I am flesh colored now.) The number one, most received, comment that I have had was "Did you lighten your hair?" Apparently my hair knows that it was once blond and doesn't like the darkening concept either.
Lesson Seven: Well...the final lesson for the trip might be a lesson adapted from Belize.
Really...there's no place like home. As much as I loved playing with monkeys and my other great adventures, one of my favorite moments from the trip was squatting down in front of my nephew and giving him a stuffed turtle that miraculously fit in my bag. He mirrored the squat, looked at me with a huge smile and said "Yaya!". That beats any vista, animal, or food that any vacation could give me.