Anchors Away! Next Stop - Everywhere!
Yep—I'm in Siam! Well, what we now know as Thailand. For centuries, this fascinating country was called Siam before officially changing its name to Thailand in 1939. After World War II, it briefly reverted to Siam in 1945, only to adopt the name Thailand permanently in 1949. Whatever you call it, it's a land rich in history, culture, and unforgettable experiences. But before I dive into my adventu...
For the second time, we arrived in Singapore on June 17th. Ongoing global geopolitical tensions have made marine fuel both scarce and costly. To support our continued journey, Villa Vie secured millions of dollars' worth of marine-grade fuel in advance, ensuring both stable pricing and reliable supply. Singapore serves as one of the key locations where this fuel is available, which is the main rea...
You may have noticed a slightly differently look to the website. I moved the website to a new server and updated much of the software used. A few other minor changes were made. Please let me know if things don't work as expected. Travel Log for June 3rd to June 9th, 2026 I was excited to visit Manila in the Philippines, and we arrived there on Sunday, June 7th. A shuttle bus took us from...
As I write this, we've past our 100-days at sea anniversary. In the past 100+ days, we've visited 7 countries and stopped at 19 different ports. Time has gone by quickly, even the cruising days at sea. Lately, I've upped my social presence. Normally, Connie's the "Social Butterfly" in our family. With her being off ship, I've forced myself to step up and try to meet more people and ...
In my previous blog, I jokingly mentioned my confusion about using the term "sailing". A reader, who has been a mariner for over 45 years emailed me and let me know that the correct nautical term is "steaming". This is also funny and outdated, as I don't think there are many ships powered by steam anymore. I may stick with the incorrect nautical term of "cruising". Below, you'l...
We continue to float/sail around the Indonesian islands slowly. Why do they call it "sail" when we use engines and not sails? I guess "engining" around the ocean would sound funny. What would you call it? Maybe cruising the Indonesian islands? We recently picked up a bunch of new residents, and some that have already been onboard and are returning. Lately, I've been trying to be more sociable...
Before I get to the travel logs, I thought I would share a little bit about how our life on the Villa Vie Odyssey has been going. In a couple words - pretty good. Since we arrived in Bali, Indonesia, we haven't had as many "sea days", where we slowly head to the next port. The new routine has been spending 2 to 4 days at a port, travel for a day or two then spend another 2 to 4 days at the next po...
With the events taking place in the world, fuel prices have sky-rocketed and are becoming scarce. At least in Asia and Australia, fuel is getting hard to find. Australia imposed a restriction on providing fuel to "foreign" vessels. They're giving priority to domestic ships, which caused the Odyssey to re-evaluate our travel plans. Since fuel wasn't going to be available in Darwin, we did...
In 2004, when we started travelling fulltime in a motorhome, I wrote an article about "slowing down" and enjoying life. Now that we're cruising fulltime, this philosophy is being applied every day to the maximum. Not only as a philosophy, but also literally! The ship usually cruises at less than 10 knots. This is less than 12mph. I look out over the ocean and can spen...
The sailing to New Zealand from Australia went smoothly. However, we quickly got our indoctrination into this groundbreaking method of cruising. The Villa Vie Odyssey is a "proof of concept" for the idea of living fulltime on a cruise ship, sailing around the world. The Odyssey has only been sailing as a "residential" ship for 15 months. This is her first trip around the world and new lessons...
