What are the destinations and departure sites of the cruise? There can be the additional cost of flying or driving to the port where you will board the ship. What are the different activities and shows you can do and see on the cruise? Most cruises offer you many options to choose from. Some have a wider variety of activities, some have less. Make sure you know everything the cruise offers to its guests. You can easily discern this by evaluating your options. Who are you going on the cruise with? Some cruises have special themes, but others have no special designation. A cruise that is centered around adults may be better for you if you don’t have kids. If you’re single, you might even want to consider a singles cruise. What are the ports of destination? Oftentimes, cruises stop at various ports so you can enjoy off ship activities. Perhaps you’d like to take advantage of the opportunity to go sight seeing? Or else, you might find the best place for observing whales. Besides enjoying the scenery, you can do things like water skiing, biking, and even rock climbing.

As soon as you discover the best cruise for you, its usually possible to use the Internet to book it. There are lots of choices, but bear in mind that many of the best cruises are fully booked long before the departure date. Look for a cruise that has activities that interest you, but don’t spend too much time making up your mind!

When I was growing up, my parents took an annual two-week camping trip that took us to many places in the U.S. and Canada. They’d pack the car with all the equipment, clothes, and food for them and their brood of five kids. Eventually the family grew to seven (plus the occasional friend who came along). As you can imagine, there were plenty of adventures and memories to fill a book! In fact, on many occasions Mom would say, “Someday I’m going to write a book about these trips!” For some reason, the book never made it to paper. While the list is long for several reasons (for starters, seven kids!), my guess is it was because she was never completely clear about what form the writing would take. Would it be a travel guide, a comedy, or a how-to or how-not-to book? Could it be all of those? Erma Bombeck was a popular writer during those times. Could my Mom stand up to that example of using real-life stories to humor readers? Oh, the pressure. And so, the book remained in her mind and unwritten.

The writing process is different for everyone, but sometimes the potential writer never starts because they don’t know where to start or where to take the subject if they do have a start. Sometimes, they feel like they’re standing at a crossroads, with signs pointed in dozens of directions with varying distances for each one. They are frozen with indecision about what step they should take first. If indecision isn’t the problem, fear rears its ugly head and stops the writing dead in its tracks.