The Traveling Widower

Tag: National-Geographic/Lindblad

  • Another Long Trip Home

    Crowded airport terminal with a long line of passengers waiting in front of check-in counters, large windows allowing natural light, and several advertisements visible in the background.

    March 28th, 2026

    De-embarkation day is always a bit sad, especially when it was a fun trip like this one. You get your cabin well organized so it’s sort of like having a dorm room in college (for some of us at least), and you have a group of new, short-term friends to have lunch and dinner with. And then it’s all over. 

    A long hotel hallway featuring numbered doors and carpeted flooring in blue tones, illuminated by ceiling lights.
    Last look down steerage level

    We had pulled into port  in the early morning, relatively close to the airport (about an hour drive). Cruise ships was clearly not the main business here – we were parked between container ships, and got to watch them unload one of the ships – never seen that before.

    A cargo ship docked at a harbor with cranes, ready for unloading. The scene captures the ship's hull, the cranes, and a portion of the quay.

    The mobile cranes are huge – they look a lot like the rigs used to move space boosters to the launch pads.

    The San Jose airport is pretty well organized – check-in was about 5 minutes, and security about the same. Unfortunately, Houston will not be the same. The TSA nightmare continues – last evening, about the time I would be traversing security today, the wait time was 4 hours. I would not be making my flight, even with CLEAR which was shutdown today for a while. So, I’m nice and relaxed, sitting in a lounge at the San Jose airport, working on a blog post until my flight leaves in 3 hours. No stress for today at least.

    View from an airport window showcasing airplanes on the tarmac with mountains and blue sky in the background.

    I hope that volcano does not decide to blow before the plane takes off. That would be my luck.

    Home tomorrow, I hope. Peace.

    (Note: I have two posts in progress from the last two days of activities – many more pictures. I was just bored at the airport and decided to write a bit. It’s become a habit..a better one than drinking or smoking).

    A brief update – the flight from Costa Rica left about 30 minutes late, due to a medical emergency from the baggage handlers loading up the plane. We wound up landing about 40 minutes late – not so good for all the passengers with 2 hours to get to the next flight. I made it through customs in about 5 minutes – Global Entry is worth it if you are traveling overseas a lot. I just breezed on through. Baggage took a while, and the wait times to go back through security were not too bad. I might have made it. But it was nice not having to try and run through the terminals which most everyone else on the flight was doing. I cannot really run with my Forest Gump brace on…or with it off as well. So, I’m happy to be sitting comfortably in the airport Marriott. I’m really beat from the trip anyway.

    One other thought on that topic – I spoke with an airport employee as I passed through security, just to ask about the TSA lines and delays. He said that it has improved just a bit, since that person in the White House said the TSA agents would be paid next week. Most of them he knows are not sure they believe that will happen since the president says a lot of things and then changes his mind. But at least there is some hope that the delays may improve a bit in the next few days. That would be very nice. I’ve got another trip in 2 weeks.

    I might as well finish the story instead of starting another post.

    My flight to Sacramento was scheduled for 10:15AM this morning (Sunday), but I decided to play it safe and got over to Terminal E early….before 7AM. Even then, there was a sea of humanity in line. Even worse, they did not bother to open the CLEAR line, or the TSA Precheck. Everyone got to suffer together.

    Long queue of travelers waiting in line for standard security screening at an airport, with a colorful decorative display overhead.
    Crowded airport terminal with a long line of travelers waiting at check-in, colorful decoration hanging above.
    A crowded airport terminal with a long line of travelers waiting in line, surrounded by a modern architectural design and colorful art installations hanging from the ceiling.
    Sign indicating estimated wait time of 15-30 minutes at an airport check-in line with passengers in the background.

    The lines were well organized, and everyone just shuffled along until they got to the few TSA screening stations. After that you waited in another long line to go through the x-ray scanners. All told, it was about an hour from start to finish. Not that bad. I did like the little signs they posted along the way, with the estimated time from that point.

    I did get to see a whole bunch of ICE agents standing around, drinking coffee, and with one exception, not doing anything useful. Your tax dollars at work. I felt so much safer having them there. Not.

    And yes, I did finally make it home. I need a real vacation.

    And just to add insult to injury (I’m not sure that fits, but it sounds good), that guy in the White House issues an executive order to pay the TSA workers, and now the lines have suddenly disappeared in Houston. There was nothing stopping him from doing this a week ago. Would have been nice to a lot of travelers, myself included.

  • Not Again, More Monkeys, and TSA at Houston

    A scenic beach view with clear blue water, kayaks on the sand, and people enjoying various activities. Palm trees frame the foreground, with mountains in the distance.

    March 24th, 2026

    I’ve been really pleased with the way things have gone on this trip so far, in terms of my health. I’ve been monitoring my BPM, taking my blood pressure daily, and trying my best not to stress out about anything. I did fine on the one hike early on that went up a five or six story circular staircase, and going up and down the stairs on the ship. Well, today did not start out too well. I started out OK, but then read an article about the 4 hours wait time to get through TSA at IAH. I’ve only got 2 hours between flights, and need to go through customs and TSA security again. I sent e-mail to the Lindblad travel agency, asking about switching to a flight the next day, and will probably go ahead with that. This morning I was scheduled to head over to a tropical island to hang on a beach and go kayaking. I was looking forward to that. I was sort of ready when I heard the call to board the Zodiacs to head to shore. Crap – I had to throw everything together in a hurry. I wound up at the end of the line, out of breath. And then the heart issue hit – dizzy, racing heart, palpitations. Double crap. I leaned against the wall, tried to relax, but much like the last time, it was not stopping. I was right next to my cabin, so I ducked in and sat down. What to do. I called for the ships doctor. She got there in a few minutes, checked my pulse which was going down, told me I definitely should not be snorkeling, and stayed with me for a bit. She said I should just relax, and go to the beach anyway. My BPM had creeped down below 100, and since I had already greased up with sunscreen, I figured what else could go wrong? Don’t answer that please.

    I made the right choice. The beach was beautiful, just a 5 minute Zodiac ride, and with lots of chairs in the shade. If nothing else, I figured I could just take a snooze. But, after resting for 20 minutes, I wandered over to an empty kayak, and pushed off for a slow paddle around the bay. 

    A scenic view of a calm beach with palm trees and clear water, taken from a kayak. Several people are kayaking in the background with boats and a sandy shore visible.

    There was not really that much to see – the water was clear, but other than some really small fish, there was nothing worth sticking the GoPro underwater. I paddled across the bay where a bunch of other folks were hanging out – there were a couple of crocodiles sunning on a rock – none of us were interested in getting a closer look. They can swim much faster than any of us could paddle. And in my current condition, I would have been slowest kayak. Chomp.

    After 30 minutes or so, I had enough sun, and figured it would be best to just rest. Something I’m not very good at. 

    This island, Coiba used to be a notorious prison, especially during the Noriega days – anyone sentenced here basically disappeared. After things settled down in Panama years later, they made this into a protected national park, which is part of a very large marine ecological zone. These islands are linked with the Galapagos and other Pacific Islands, for quite a few fish and mammals – Hammerhead sharks, Whale Sharks and Humpback Whales migrate through here. So, this beach also had a small, somewhat primitive museum / visitor center, and access to the islands is very limited and controlled. Not that I was planning to do any hiking on jungle trails, wearing kayak shoes. There are lots of birds, and mammals on the islands including Howler and Capuchin monkeys. One Capuchin decided to check out the beach, and made for a good photo op – I wish I had brought one of the Sony’s, but the Pixel 10 worked fine.

    A white-faced capuchin monkey climbing a green palm leaf against a clear blue sky.
    A monkey walking on a wooden railing, looking upwards with a curious expression, surrounded by greenery.
    A monkey climbing a palm tree, with green palm fronds in the background.
    A white-faced monkey standing on a wooden surface, surrounded by green foliage.

    There was also a large monitor lizard hanging around the museum, just asking for a selfie or two, and a friendly vulture stood in line waiting for the shower. 

    Close-up of a textured lizard head resting among green grass.
    A black vulture standing on green grass, showcasing its distinctive dark feathers and gray head.

    Eventually, a Zodiac came to ferry us back to the ship, where I planned to just hang out and relax the rest of the day. The next few days will be all about hiking, and learning a bit about local culture. Hopefully, my heart will behave itself for the remainder of the trip.

    One more photo – a moth settle outside one of the dining room windows. Made for an interesting composition.

    A white moth resting on a glass surface, with a blurred view of blue water and green hills in the background under a clear blue sky.

    Peace