I went with my mom for 10 days. Two days in Seattle and eight days on a Norwegian Cruise through Alaska.
The Thompson Hotel Seattle Washington is a luxurious hotel with a view of the Puget Sound and one block from Pike Market. The location was amazing.Β The hotel was an inspirato.com property. We could walk everywhere and had a lot of fun exploring Seattle. One day, I rented one of the scooters randomly scattered around the city. I rode it for hours down the entire coastline, all the way from the Seattle Great Wheel, to a short stop at a Cidery for a tasting, past Olympic Sculpture Park, past Pocket Beach, and all the way down to the cruise ship terminals. One morning I had a coffee from the original Starbucks.
The cruise was excellent. This is my second Norwegian cruise. The first was to Cuba. On this cruise, we had a balcony suite and woke up to beautiful scenery every morning. We saw dolphins, whales, otters, bears, and crabs. We stopped at Icy Straights, Glacier Bay, and Ketchikan. The weather was perfect. 60 degrees every day. We had rain one day for 20 minutes. Apparently, this is unheard of. Ketchikan measures rain in feet and not inches. We really picked a fantastic 10 days to travel through this region of the world.
Internet
Seattle: The hotel internet was great. I was able to stream movies from their wifi.
Alaska:Β I splurged and upgraded to the hi-speed internet package on the cruise. I've never had luck with the internet on a cruise. This was excellent. I was able to Livestream into my Facebook groups and use Facetime. I was connected the whole time and able to work on business tasks while traveling.
Work
I didn't see clients or have any coaching calls while I was on this trip. Took a little break I did work on my VA billing course and directory for Virtual Assistants and billers which is being released in the next few weeks.
Licensing Issues
Not an issue this trip, but, I did do my due diligence and checked with both states, just in case.
Alaska (for LCSW):
While in Alaska you will still be able to provide services to your Virginia clients via telehealth. You are not required to obtain licensure in Alaska to provide services to Virginians. If you became an Alaska resident, wanted to begin treating Alaska residents, or began employment as a licensed Social Worker in Alaska, you would need to become fully licensed in Alaska at that point.
Washington (for LCSW)
No there are no restrictions to this. Care occurs under the jurisdiction of where the patient is located not the provider.
Restaurant Recommendations
We found quite a few great restaurants by using my Find Me Gluten Free app (due to my celiac disease). I would recommend The Virginia Inn, Cinnamon Works, The Crab Pot in Seattle.
Norweigan cruise lines were excellent. Each meal was three courses and they took my Celiac, no dairy, no eggs very seriously. I did not get sick on this trip and the food was excellent!!
Highlights
~Pikeβs Place Market
~Glacier Bay!!! OMG
~Whale Watching
~ Nugget Falls
Lowlights
The COVID testing before we got on the cruise. It was nerve-wracking waiting for the results.
I scheduled an event in my insurance Billing Facebook Group accidentally in Pacific time instead of Eastern. I had the event Monday night (SEO for your private practice) https://coursecraft.net/courses/Bbhc2/a/cpmYFEvhv
Tips and tricks.
Get the wifi cruise upgrade! So worth it!!
Book your excursions once on the cruise because you get onboard credit.