Finally....the FINALE!

I know, I know. I have been home for almost 3 months without completing my blog. I am not going to apologize, though. I am proud of the commitment I made to keeping up with the blog as much as I have. Here are the last two entries smashed into one. Enjoy!

After leaving Namibia, one of our greatest and most adventurous ports of call considering the dune bashing, we began our long, wet trek across the Atlantic Ocean. I have crossed oceans before, but never on a ship and I honestly wasn’t looking forward to the whole thing. Being at sea for this long meant lots of duties, shows, and time for me to get bored, be stuck in my tiny cabin, etc. We sailed for 3 days to get from Namibia to St. Helena, Jamestown. Jamestown is a lovely little island halfway across the South Atlantic Ocean, isolated from the world by miles of water. It is a literal dot on your map, and tiny speck of land of only 50 sq. miles. Our ship had to use its tender services to get to the little town of St. Helena and when we arrived you would have thought we had brought along the Queen of England! Ha!

The native people on the island are a mixture of indigenous groups from Africa and South America mixed with British who settled here many years ago. They have mail service once every month and most grew up and live forever on this island. Upon arrival we were greeted with brochures about the island, its history and sites to see. The locals were SO EXCITED to have visitors. We soon found out that ship s stop here about 5 times a year, but because of rough seas they hadn’t had any ships in many months. We were literally the first outsiders they had seen in months. They had a market set up with a fall festival sort of feel. All the local shops had booths sets up. Our map pointed out personal homes where baked goods were being sold, etc. It was so refreshing to be somewhere not overwrought with tourism and money. These people were just glad to see us. Period. For our day there, Laura, Rose, and I decided to take on the main activity in town. There is this HUGE staircase referred to as “Jacob’s Ladder” that stretches up the steep cliffside. It is hundreds of steps and we had to take it on. We climbed and climbed and climbed, becoming more thankful we didn’t have a show that night with each and every step. We took 100 steps at a time with short sitting breaks on the steps themselves. We had a good time, but it was definitely tough! Ha! We proudly reached the top for a great view of the little village and our home, floating out in the bay close by. Our day was a short one in St. Helena, but it was a good one. A lovely city with even lovelier people. We quickly headed back to the ship, grabbing a certificate to commemorate our big climb! Ha! Ha!

We continued sailing for a whopping 5 sea days after leaving St. Helena to reach the mainland of the America’s! We sailed into the stunning port of Rio de Janeiro, excited to explore our LAST city before heading back HOME!!!! It had been an incredible experience, but home sounded sooooo good. I was thankful that Laura was sailing with us because she kept me excited and ready to see the next thing and take advantage of being in this last port of call. We immediately headed out with Brett and Elena to Corcovado, the famous peak in Rio that holds the monumental “Christ the Redeemer” statue. We got a taxi and then took the railroad car up the mountain. While anticipating the summit we got to talking with a young family in front of us from Greenville, SC! What a small world! We had fun at the top exploring and taking in views that we never could have anticipated. Rio is an amazing and unique city with a great landscape of steep mountains that seem to just sprout up out of nothing along its beaches.

To finish off our day in Rio Laura and I decided to splurge on a big meal. We headed out to one of the famous Churascurrias in the city. These restaurants are a meat-lover’s dream. We went to one called “Fat Pig” (translated) that overlooked Sugarloaf Mountain. We sat down and began partaking from the endless salad bar that also included sushi, pasta, etc. It was overwhelming, but we had not even scratched the surface. The main star at the restaurant is meat. We were given disks that were green on one side and red on another. When we wanted a server to come around with more meat selections we were to turn our disks to the green side. We quickly learned that the servers didn’t really care to follow this rule and came by no matter what. They would pass by carrying large skewers of every type of meat imaginable, all cooked perfectly and ready to be put onto anyone’s plate who was willing. We ate fillet, loin, hearts, pig, cow, chicken, duck….EVERYTHING! We were in pain from having such full tummies, but what a meal! Ha! It was unforgettable!

Laura had to leave right away and quickly traveled to the airport after ending the evening’s meal. I had one last night on board the Voyager, but one thing was different: my accommodations. Because the new cast had arrived and needed to move into the cabins, we were all given passenger cabins in which to stay for one night. We had an absolute ball! Elena and I had a bottle of champagne we had saved from a passenger named Ted from the Netherlands and we thought there was certainly no better time to open it than this night. We all took showers and got into our Regent bathrobes and stood out on our balconies chatting, laughing and taking in the last night on our mobile, luxury home. What a trip! What an experience. None of us knew what we were getting into when this all began, but as I spent that last night on board, sleeping in my pillow-top, luxurious bed and thinking about everywhere I had been I was just so thankful. I was thankful that I had made it I had literally traveled around the Western Hemisphere. I am 22 years old. This is insanity.

The next day was rainy, making us happy to leave Rio. We drug our bags through airports and with each stop at a security point or terminal exit we said goodbye to one or two people. I flew to Atlanta with Rose, Karen, and Melanie. From there I rode the shuttle through the ATL airport with Karen. Soon, though, my plane was the last to leave and I sat alone, waiting to head to Louisville. I was so excited. The arrival was a blast! I had friends and family waiting there and I went straight to lunch at Lynn’s Paradise Café! SOOO NECESSARY! What a homecoming.

After being home for a while and talking with friends it still amazes me the gift I was given during this contract. My friends, Betsy and Lance, were talking with me and joked, “What do you even have to look forward to now? You are 22 and have traveled the world!” I know what they’re saying. I don’t know yet what to look forward to. I have been auditioning for the next job and waiting for the next adventure. I don’t think it’s going to be on a ship, but who knows? I know that the Lord has blessed me so far in allowing me to be a working actor that can support himself by performing. It’s been fantastic! My hope now is just that my journey would stay in line with what God has planned and laid out for my life. May the next step be one that is in line with Him. Thank you for following along, dear reader. I love you. Really- I can’t believe someone besides my mother may actually be reading this. Thank you, though. Until next time…I’m looking forward.

Tripp Hampton, your loyal friend and travel buddy