Contemplating a Cruise

[_Gadianton]

I'm contemplating a cruise. I plan to wait until the pandemic is under control to set sail, and so the upshot is I have extra time to plan. I really want to make this trip special.

I want to go some place exotic like Egypt or South America. Let's face it, Mayan and Aztec ruins are mysterious as hell, and let's not even start with Egypt, which is off the chart in weirdness. I am really interested in what these cultures with their bizarre scripts and buildings ahead of their time were about. But, you know, this adventure isn't going to be free, and so there is a catch.

Like a lot of people out there, I have my own particular political views, and also my own views on the purpose of life, and also views on what awaits after this life. I'm all for learning about the complex relationship between Egyptian royalty and the commoner and also, how they were able to engineer anything at all with mathematical assumptions that made everything too complicated by today's standards. Yeah, they were on the horizon of these discoveries that seem basic in retrospect, but starting from scratch, how these systems of thinking that arose from nothing and came to be, must be an incredible tale in its own right. But still -- we're talking thousands of dollars to see all this.

I wouldn't mind a little tickle in the 'nads. You know what I'm saying? Great: Egypt is super mysterious and all, but it's so disconnected; so distant. What if among all that weirdness was a hint -- an implication -- that my 21st century beliefs in a free market economy and what mom and dad taught me about Aunt Sonya in the spirit world is really true? How much better would it be if mysterious and ancient people knew about my beliefs? How great would it be if the ancients supported my way of thinking as opposed to the way of thinking of the idiot neighbors I have?

Egypt: wow, it covered so much time. People living and dying for generations and generations and generations, and a mere blip in their history expands longer than the entire history of our country that is now home to hundreds of millions. What were the lives of these people about who passed their ways down countless times? But in all those countless years, decades, and centuries of survival and hardship, there's got to be some little nugget that justifies the reality I'm comfortable believing in, in order to make their existence worth while, e.g., worth ME spending thousands of dollars on to visit in person.

Crossing my fingers here that I can find a tour guide ready to make me feel special at the expense of as many ancient civilizations as possible. What would even be better, is if not just the tour guide, but the other folks touring with me also believe the same things I do, and we can all feel the shock together as the tour guide reveals that the ancients pointed toward what's comfortable for each of us to believe, as opposed to what people who we don't care for believe. Imagine, all of us reinforcing each other's deepest prejudices right there on the same boat, as the tour guide leads the orchestra!

Come to think of it, I really feel sorry for people who go out there and learn about stuff for its own sake, and not to bolster the high opinions they have of themselves. Sucks to be them.

[_moksha]

Dr. Peterson has an upcoming travel presentation with the Cruise Lady organization.

Crossing my fingers here that I can find a tour guide ready to make me feel special at the expense of as many ancient civilizations as possible.

Would you be willing to make a donation to The Interpreter and settle for him blessing a caftan, a scarab amulet from Thanksgiving Point, and possibly a balloon ride over the Nile? Sometimes we need to lower our expectations of specialness.

[_Kishkumen]

My father and his spouse went on one of these cruises with his siblings. He had a lot of questions for me about the Book of Abraham when we next saw each other on one of our visits to Utah. It was fascinating to hear what a B-list religion instructor was telling Mormons on a cruise to Egypt and Israel. I wish I could remember the questions.

I wish they had asked me for recommendations because I would have told them to travel with someone a lot better, such as Dr. Peterson or Dr. Huntsman. I would happily travel with either one of them myself. Both of these gentlemen are extremely knowledgeable and they are excellent at delivering engaging lectures.

My dream trip, however, would be a global tour with all of the Mormon superstars. We would go across the entire globe and have lectures on every continent and in every clime. I want Brant Gardner lectures in Central America. I want Richard Bushman lectures in Nauvoo. I want Peterson lectures in Baghdad. I want to punctuate the journey with temple visits. I want to walk the grounds of all of the temples in the vicinity of our stops.

And I am being completely sincere here. I have enjoyed meeting and interacting with all of these people. They are good people. They are interesting and pleasant to interact with. I may not agree with everything their church does, but I consider myself their fellow Mormon. We have so much in common, that I would happily set aside our differences to enjoy our shared experiences.

But, alas, it will not happen. Worse yet, we are on the precipice, and there is no telling how bad things will get. But, enough of that, let us dream of what might have been and savor the good things we have been fortunate to enjoy. Let us indulge in little fantasies that help us see the good things in life, even if they will never be in the form we imagine them.

[_Physics Guy]

The real thing to contemplate is being the tour guide.

Here it is about gentlemen of fortune. They lives rough, and they risk swinging, but they eat and drink like fighting-cocks, and when a cruise is done, why, it's hundreds of pounds instead of hundreds of farthings in their pockets. Now, the most goes for rum and a good fling, and to sea again in their shirts. But that's not the course I lay. I puts it all away, some here, some there, and none too much anywhere, by reason of suspicion.

[_kairos]

National Geographic has small party 30 day tours around the world with experts and tour guides at every location , private jet, 5 star accommodations and free subscription to the magazine: $100,00 per person all included!

outside of the cash costs, for me would be the time zone changes and lack of sleep once underway - at the end i probably would not know whether i was in Cairo, Rome or Provo

just sayin
k

[_Tom]

I expect that I would greatly enjoy a Cruise Lady tour of Egypt. In my mind’s eye, I can see myself holding on to Dr. Peterson in a hot air balloon as it “accidentally” crash lands on Elephantine Island (which just happens to be one of the most important of all Book of Mormon archaeological sites) or being in Dr. Gee’s and Dr. Muhlestein’s company as they point out and discuss astonishing images of washing and anointing, ritual clothing, ritual embraces, Abraham lying on a lion couch, and Abraham sitting upon Osiris’ throne on a particular panel in Karnak Temple. (I understand that one must be a worthy temple recommend holder to participate in this part of the tour.)

[_Holy Ghost]

Ahhh, Gadianton, points up the need for TBMs to be in a Mormon coccoon when venturing beyond the protective confines of one's ward/stake/country. No need to risk exposing oneself to ideas that do not fit into his or her 'world view', as it were before the journey abroad. All just reassuring confirmations of all things Mormon. Might even pickup an 8 or 9 inch "sarcophogus" trinket to have on your mantle back home, in homage to those that Chandler sold to Joseph Smith in 1835 Kirtland, from which the papyri with the Book of Abraham was found.

Interesting how that contrasts with those that travel for the very purpose of learning about other cultures, digging deeper into history, and realizing how provincial their attitudes have been.

[_Kishkumen]

Ahhh, Gadianton, points up the need for TBMs to be in a Mormon coccoon when venturing beyond the protective confines of one's ward/stake/country. No need to risk exposing oneself to ideas that do not fit into his or her 'world view', as it were before the journey abroad. All just reassuring confirmations of all things Mormon. Might even pickup an 8 or 9 inch "sarcophogus" trinket to have on your mantle back home, in homage to those that Chandler sold to Joseph Smith in 1835 Kirtland, from which the papyri with the Book of Abraham was found.

Interesting how that contrasts with those that travel for the very purpose of learning about other cultures, digging deeper into history, and realizing how provincial their attitudes have been.

Everyone who goes on a cruise or a paid tour is in a cocoon that keeps them safe from the place they are visiting.