October 3, 2006 > Adventure of a lifetime

by Arnie Becker

My wife, Allison, and I made a decision in February that we wanted at least one more grand adventure before we started to explore the United States by car. We looked at all of the possibilities and then received an email with this amazing Princess cruise offer. This cruise touches on, or explores, Alaska; Petropavlovsk, Russia; Tokyo (Yokohama), Nagasaki and Muroran, Japan; and Beijing, China.

For us, one of the major highlights is going to be Petropavlovsk, gateway to the Kamchatka Peninsula. Lying on the Pacific's vast Rim of Fire, the Kamchatka is a land of volcanoes (over 162, many still active) and home to Siberia's last unspoiled stretch of taiga--a belt of evergreen trees that stretches across North America and Eurasia--where wildlife abounds.

How do you even pack for a trip that includes five formal dinners aboard ship; shore trips in Alaska where it might be cold ... and wet; excursions in Japan and China where the people are very conservative dressers; and finally, into undeveloped Siberia where the streets might not even be paved? It should be interesting!

Saturday, September 9, we embark along with about 2600 other adventurous souls on the Sapphire Princess. We fly from San Francisco to Vancouver, BC, Canada to join the ship and begin our adventure of a lifetime.

To be continued...

TCV writer and photographer, Arnie Becker, will send weekly reports on his exciting travels.