Sailing Away

Recently, I wrote about my becoming a cruise travel writer, albeit unintentionally. It appears that this specialization is paying dividends. I have been invited on an 8-day/7-night river cruise on the Columbia and Snake Rivers as a hosted travel writer. My job is to experience the cruise and then hopefully sell an article about it. And, I’ll be taking photographs as well.

Needless to say I am excited about the upcoming trip. I’ve long wanted to take this particular cruise and was intending to pitch the idea to magazine editors in the hope of getting an assignment. Fortunately for me, Un-Cruise Adventures is willing to host me on speculation, even without the assignment. And, they graciously offered a discounted fare for me to bring a guest, so my lucky husband gets to come along too.

The topic suits me; I love cruising, and especially “small ship” cruises. I once worked as Purser and Hotel Manager on a 60-passenger cruise ship; sailing in Alaska, Mexico and the Sacramento River delta in California. But, believe me, I’d rather be a passenger than one of the crew. Those people work long, hard hours.

Pictured here is the S.S. Legacy, the ship on which we will be sailing. The cruise departs from downtown Portland, heads east up the Columbia and Snake Rivers to Clarkston, WA; then, sails west all the way to Astoria before returning to Portland.

Following my journey, I’ll post a blog about the trip here, so stay tuned!