One of the nice things about being on a cruise is that you can visit lots of different places and not have to keep repacking luggage and changing hotels constantly.

I love being aboard a ship and all things marine. Viking cruises don’t allow children and have less passengers so, although we pay for the difference, it’s well worth it.

Unfortunately, the food is incredible and we are always finding a new meal to partake in. The sailing experience is of course not what it was when I was a child. But I wonder how much of that is a child’s memory, novelty, and modernity.

We took a trip up the Bosphorus Strait, which splits Turkey between Europe and Asia, connecting the Mamara and Black Seas. Being here is all so exotic. Turkey had never been on my bucket list until recently and I’m not sure what it was that made me want to come here but I’m so grateful for the opportunity. Perhaps it’s wanting to learn about a Muslim culture at a time when there’s so much rampant racism about people we know so little about. Even though I’m only a tourist, I am deeply moved by everything I’ve seen.