All The Feels

There's no doubt Sixthman cruises can be fun, crazy, and exciting. But sometimes a cruise can mean much more than you'd expect. The following message was sent to us after our sailing season this past spring, and we realized that THIS is why we do what we do. It's is exactly how we want you to feel. All of you, from Kid Rock's Chillin' the Most Cruisers, to the Walker Stalker Cruisers and everyone in between.

I've removed the cruise and band names from the original message, because that's not important right now: 
 

"Thank you for hosting ______. Today marks a year since I booked my cabin and I wrote something:

Last year I booked what would be some of the best days of my life. Some of the most positive days of my life. When I booked this trip, my feeling at that time was more along the lines of, "I get to see my favorite band play and meet them again!" But after, I realized that was such a small part of it, a bonus even. Of course I loved seeing ______ and all the other bands, but what really caught me was the people. The whole vibe was just..... I've never felt like that in my entire existence.

I felt truly happy. All these years wondering where do I belong, where do I fit in. It's there. Literally, THERE. Everyone was so nice and I felt free and positive. I didn't feel judged, not for my hair, not for the way I look, not for anything because honestly no one cared and everyone was so accepting.

They're just the greatest bunch. I enjoyed meeting my friends, old & new, even if I was too shy and awkward for my own good (I tried guys). I need people like that in my life every day. With the Internet and social media, these people technically are there every day, just as long distance relationships.

On ______, I felt like I could do anything & achieve anything. I felt so inspired and motivated to be the best me I can be (and I probably was). That's how real life is supposed to be, that's the attitude that I should have for my whole life. I know I have to make the best of what I have.

I don't know how a post about booking a cruise became a speech about how I view my life. Every time someone asks me, "How was your trip?" all of this is what I want to say, but how could I go on a long winding story about that without being looked at like a weirdo? So I just say, "It was good."

There will always be people who say, "It's just a cruise, calm down." I know it is, but it's so much more, too. It's one of those things where you have to be there to experience yourself. I learned life lessons that I didn't know I needed. I'd do it all again in a heartbeat. I don't regret going. It's one of the best decisions I have ever made in my life.

I don't know why I'm sharing this. It felt right for me to do it but mostly, I wanted to say thank you. Thank you so much for showing me what life could and should be."

Sound familiar? I hope at least some of it did. And if you know the feeling, I hope you were able to fill in the blanks with your own cruise name and favorite band or actors names, regardless of which Sixthman community you belong to. To be honest, this was kinda-sorta how I felt when I stepped off my first Rock Boat back in the day. 

Sometimes these vacations come along with more than just music, even though the music is probably why you signed up to sail originally. The communities that are drawn to each of our events are so extremely special, and we hope you find inspiration and motivation not only from the bands you follow, but from each other. 

For the record, this particular comment was written by a Parahoy Cruiser from Malaysia named Adora (far left in the picture below). Thanks so much for traveling halfway across the planet to cruise with us, and for sending us your thoughts and allowing us to share your experience with others! 

To leave you with a random (but relevant) fact - there's actually a word for this whole "no one gets how cool this trip was" thing. It's "exulansis," which means, "The tendency to give up trying to talk about an experience because people are unable to relate to it, whether through envy or pity or simple foreignness." (Ok, so it's not in the REAL dictionary, but it's in the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows. And on Google, which gives it just a tiny bit of credibility, right?) 

*bye-five*
~jen