Some vacations are about seeing somewhere new. Some are about escaping winter, work, responsibilities, and the general nonsense of adulthood.

And then there are the trips you book because you have unfinished business.

This was one of those trips.

After taking a little break from my usual routine, I was officially back to my normal January cruising schedule—escaping the desert winter for warm Caribbean water, tropical islands, cold drinks, and absolutely no reason to know what day of the week it was.

This time, I would be sailing aboard the Norwegian Epic, departing from San Juan, Puerto Rico, for seven days through the Caribbean.

But this wasn’t just another January cruise.

I called it The Revenge Tour.

The Trip That Was Supposed to Happen

To understand the name, we have to go back to January 2022.

I had booked a similar cruise departing from San Juan and was ready for a much-needed week at sea. Flights were booked. Hotel was booked. Cruise was booked. Vacation mode was practically activated.

Then, at almost the last possible moment, I had to cancel the cruise.

Instead of spending the week island-hopping around the Caribbean, I suddenly found myself with flights to Puerto Rico, a hotel reservation, and an entire week in San Juan that I hadn’t really planned on spending there.

So I did what any reasonable traveler would do.

I went anyway.

And then everything went sideways.

To make matters more complicated, COVID restrictions were still very much a part of traveling in early 2022. Those restrictions limited how much exploring I could realistically do while I was in San Juan. This wasn’t quite the carefree version of Puerto Rico where I could simply wake up, grab my camera, and wander wherever looked interesting.

So not only had the cruise disappeared, but my unexpected week in San Juan wasn’t exactly the opportunity to freely explore Puerto Rico that it might have been under normal circumstances.

It became one of those trips where seemingly every plan developed a complication. Nothing quite worked the way it was supposed to, and by the end of the week, San Juan and I weren’t exactly on speaking terms.

That’s not to say Puerto Rico was the problem. Sometimes travel simply decides that you’re going to be the main character in a comedy you didn’t agree to star in.

I eventually came home with stories, photos, and the feeling that the trip had defeated me.

And I don’t like losing to vacations.

Time for a Rematch

Fast-forward a few years.

I started looking at January cruises again, and there it was: another opportunity to sail out of San Juan.

Immediately, I knew what had to happen.

We were running it back.

Same general idea. Same departure city. Completely different circumstances.

This wasn’t merely a vacation anymore.

This was about correcting the timeline.

Puerto Rico and I needed a rematch.

And this time, I wasn’t going to make San Juan just a place where I landed before getting on a ship.

Two Days to Finally Explore San Juan

Because my previous visit had been shaped by cancellations, COVID restrictions, and general travel chaos, I decided to fly into San Juan two days before the cruise.

Part of that was practical. I’ve learned that when you’re traveling a long distance to catch a cruise, giving yourself some breathing room is usually a good idea.

But mostly, I wanted time.

I wanted two days where San Juan itself was the destination.

I could grab my camera, walk around, find some food, have a drink, explore Old San Juan, and experience the city without the restrictions and frustrations that had defined my previous visit.

As it turned out, arriving two days early may have been one of the best travel decisions I could have made.

Because once again, apparently San Juan and I can’t have a completely normal relationship.

Around the time of my trip, airspace over parts of the Caribbean was disrupted following the U.S.-Venezuela incident. Had I planned to fly into San Juan only one day before the cruise, there was a very real possibility that my flight would have been caught in the disruption.

After everything that happened in 2022, the idea that I could have missed my Revenge Tour because I once again couldn’t get to my cruise was almost too perfect.

But this time, I had beaten the travel gods to the punch.

I was already in San Juan.

I had made it.

My luggage had made it.

And, most importantly, when embarkation day arrived, I made it to the ship.

Revenge Tour: 1.

Travel chaos: 0.

Back to the January Cruise Life

There’s something about cruising in January that just feels right to me.

The holidays are over. A new year has started. Work has returned to its normal rhythm, and somewhere around that point I inevitably start thinking, You know what would make this better? Being on a ship.

Preferably somewhere warm.

There’s also something satisfying about starting the year with a trip. Before the calendar gets filled with meetings, projects, obligations, and everything else that comes with real life, I get a reminder that there’s still a whole world outside of work.

So boarding the Norwegian Epic felt like getting back into an old routine.

Suitcase packed.

Camera ready.

Phone increasingly irrelevant.

Work email completely irrelevant.

Let’s go find some water.

The Norwegian Epic

The Norwegian Epic is definitely an interesting ship.

And “interesting” is doing some work in that sentence.

The Epic has a reputation for being a little different, and after spending a week aboard her, I understood why. The layout can be confusing, there are some design choices that make you stop and wonder exactly what meeting led to that decision, and even several days into the cruise I occasionally found myself walking in a direction with complete confidence only to realize I was going absolutely nowhere useful.

Eventually, though, you figure it out.

Mostly.

And once I settled into the rhythm of the ship, the Epic became home for the week.

Although on this particular cruise, there wasn’t going to be much time for sitting around.

Seven Days. Six Islands. No Sea Days.

If you’re looking for a cruise where you sleep until noon, spend several days lounging around the pool, and occasionally wonder whether you should get off the ship, this was probably not that cruise.

This itinerary was packed.

The Norwegian Epic had a port scheduled every single day of the seven-day cruise, turning the week into one long Caribbean adventure.

We would make our way through the British Virgin Islands, Antigua, Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Martin, and the U.S. Virgin Islands before returning to San Juan.

There were no lazy sea days separating the destinations.

You went to sleep in one place and woke up somewhere else.

Every morning meant another port.

Another island.

Another opportunity to grab the camera and go exploring.

It was exactly the kind of itinerary that sounds amazing when you’re booking it and slightly insane once you realize you’re actually going to try to do something every single day.

Wake up.

Breakfast.

Grab the camera.

Get off the ship.

Explore.

Find something local to eat.

Find something local to drink.

Take entirely too many photos.

Get back aboard.

Dinner.

Maybe another drink.

Sleep.

Wake up somewhere completely different.

Repeat.

By the end of the week, I was probably going to need a vacation from my vacation.

Spoiler alert:

I did.

And Then My Body Had Other Ideas

The trip itself was great.

The weather, the islands, the food, the drinks, the views—this was exactly the Caribbean adventure I had wanted when I booked the Revenge Tour.

There was just one small problem.

Somewhere along the way, I started getting that familiar feeling.

You know the one.

The slight scratchiness. The little bit of fatigue that feels different from regular I’ve been walking around Caribbean islands all day fatigue. That sneaking suspicion in the back of your mind that your immune system may have encountered something it didn’t particularly appreciate.

I had the uncomfortable feeling that I might be coming down with a cold—or something.

Naturally, I responded with the kind of highly scientific medical protocol one develops after years of traveling:

Hot tea.

Energy drinks.

And a generous supply of “medicinal” alcohol to keep the germs at bay.

Was this medically sound?

Absolutely not.

Did I believe a little rum might intimidate whatever germs were attempting to ruin my vacation?

Absolutely.

I had waited years for this cruise. I had already survived the canceled 2022 trip, COVID-era travel restrictions, and an airspace closure that could have derailed this trip before it even started.

A little scratchy throat wasn’t getting the win.

So I kept marching forward.

Hot tea in the morning.

Energy drink when necessary.

Something with rum in it later because, you know, medicine.

The Caribbean has been putting rum in things for centuries. Who was I to question tradition?

No Sick Days on the Revenge Tour

Under normal circumstances, if I felt something coming on, I’d probably slow down.

Maybe take a nap.

Maybe spend a day doing absolutely nothing.

But there was one major problem with that strategy:

There were no throwaway days on this itinerary.

Every morning, the curtains opened to another island.

British Virgin Islands today.

Antigua tomorrow.

Then Barbados.

Then St. Lucia.

Then St. Martin.

Then the U.S. Virgin Islands.

If I decided to spend a day hiding in my cabin, I wasn’t missing another afternoon around the pool.

I was missing an entire island.

So we compromised.

My body could complain.

I would acknowledge the complaint.

Then I would grab my camera and get off the ship anyway.

And somehow, it worked.

Whatever was brewing in the background stayed there. For the entire seven-day cruise, my energy remained at full strength.

Every morning I woke up ready for the next island.

Every day I got off the ship.

Every port got explored.

The Revenge Tour kept moving.

Apparently my body understood that it had one job:

Do not get sick until the vacation is over.

The Vacation Adrenaline Wears Off

After seven days of nonstop island hopping, the Norwegian Epic eventually returned to San Juan.

I had made it through the entire cruise.

Six islands.

Seven days.

No sea days.

Countless miles walked.

A ridiculous number of photos.

More hot tea than I normally drink.

Enough caffeine to keep a small office productive.

And an unspecified amount of “medicine.”

I walked off the ship still feeling surprisingly good, and I had one more day in San Juan before flying home.

Perfect.

Maybe I could squeeze one last adventure out of this trip.

I made my way to the hotel, dropped off my luggage, grabbed some lunch, and settled into the lobby to wait for my room to be ready.

Then I nodded off for a little bit.

Nothing dramatic.

Just a quick lobby nap after a very busy week.

And apparently that was all my immune system had been waiting for.

I woke up.

Runny nose.

Tired.

Energy gone.

My body had apparently looked around, realized there were no more islands scheduled, confirmed that I had successfully exited the ship, and immediately shut down operations.

The vacation adrenaline had finally worn off.

For an entire week, it had apparently been holding the immune-system floodgates closed through nothing more than tropical sunshine, excitement, caffeine, rum, and pure stubbornness.

The moment it sensed that the adventure was nearing its end?

We’re done here. Release the cold.

I couldn’t even be mad.

The timing was almost respectful.

Maybe Vacations Need Rest Too

If there was one lesson I took away from this trip—besides always fly into your cruise port early—it’s that no matter how much adventure you want to squeeze into a vacation, you have to balance adventure with rest.

Seven days.

Six islands.

A port every day.

Two days exploring San Juan beforehand.

Then another day in San Juan afterward.

It was incredible.

It was also a lot.

Cruising makes it incredibly easy to convince yourself that you need to maximize every minute. You’re in a different destination every morning, and there’s always something else to see, photograph, eat, drink, or experience.

But somewhere between all of those adventures, your body still needs a chance to recover.

That’s what sea days are for.

Sleep in.

Get breakfast whenever.

Sit somewhere with a view of the ocean.

Take a completely unnecessary afternoon nap.

Have a drink.

Read something.

Do absolutely nothing and feel no guilt about it.

Then wake up the next morning ready for the next adventure.

So after this cruise, I have developed a new piece of travel wisdom:

Always have a sea day or two.

Build some rest into the itinerary.

Give yourself permission to stop moving.

Let vacation actually feel like a vacation occasionally.

It’s excellent advice.

Very mature.

Very responsible.

I will absolutely remember it when booking future cruises.

Will I actually follow this advice?

…

Probably not.

Because inevitably I’ll see another itinerary with a ridiculous number of ports and think:

Wait…I can visit HOW many places in one week?

And every reasonable thought about pacing myself will immediately be replaced by one very powerful argument:

ADVENTURE!!!

So yes, future me should probably book cruises with a sea day or two.

Future me is also an idiot who likes seeing new places.

We’ll see who wins.

I Consider This a Win

At that point, there was no internal debate about what to do next.

The adventure was over.

I had gotten everything I wanted out of this trip.

San Juan had been properly explored.

The cruise had actually happened.

Every island had been visited.

The camera had gotten a workout.

I had eaten, drank, wandered, photographed, and explored my way through the Caribbean.

If my body wanted to collect its debt now, that was fine.

I considered the trip a win.

I finally got into my hotel room and officially retired for the day.

No more exploring.

No more trying to squeeze one last activity into the schedule.

No more pretending that another energy drink was going to solve the problem.

It was time to get comfortable, crawl into bed, and try to sleep some of this off before my flight home the next day.

And thankfully, the cold wasn’t even that bad.

A little tiredness.

A runny nose.

Some general post-vacation misery.

I’d survive.

And considering the trip I had just experienced?

Definitely worth it.

The Revenge Tour Is Complete

There was something especially satisfying about finally completing this trip.

The 2022 trip happened.

It went sideways.

The cruise never happened.

COVID restrictions limited my ability to explore.

I came home feeling like there was unfinished business in San Juan.

So I came back.

This time, I gave myself two full days before the cruise to properly experience the city.

This time, arriving early saved me from airspace disruptions that could have completely derailed the trip.

This time, I made it to the ship.

This time, I sailed away from San Juan.

I woke up somewhere different nearly every morning.

I explored the British Virgin Islands, Antigua, Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Martin, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

And when my body started hinting that it might be preparing a cold, I kept marching forward with hot tea, caffeine, “medicinal” alcohol, and the apparently very powerful force of vacation adrenaline.

My immune system even had the courtesy to wait until I was safely back in San Juan before finally submitting its resignation.

So I’ll take the runny nose.

I’ll take the tiredness.

I’ll take spending my final afternoon in Puerto Rico asleep in a hotel room.

Because sometimes the best response to a bad travel experience isn’t crossing a destination off your list forever.

Sometimes you just have to book another ticket.

Pack the camera.

Get there a couple days early.

Board the ship.

Grab a drink.

And say:

All right, San Juan. Let’s try this again.

Well, San Juan…

We tried it again.

And this time, we got it right.

The trip was fantastic.

The cruise was everything I wanted it to be.

The cold was a small price to pay.

I learned that vacations need a little rest mixed in with the adventure.

Whether I actually apply that lesson remains to be seen.

Because rest is important…

But also…

ADVENTURE!!!

The Revenge Tour was officially complete.

And after four years of unfinished business, I can finally say it:

January 2022 has been fully avenged.

Out to Sea. Mission accomplished.