Move...Faster

My husband is awesome. He often spoils me with wonderful gifts and truly makes spending time together a priority. Recently, he out did himself! This winter when snow was falling by the foot and the stress of Christmas was upon us, he booked us on a warm, relaxing seven day cruise! Since this is our fourth cruise together we kind of consider ourselves cruise veterans and pretty much know what to expect. I expect a lot of relaxing, sleeping, drinking, eating...and fighting crowds.

I hate crowds. Yeah, yeah everyone hates crowds but for me (and I'm sure many other MSers) crowds actually cause me pain. I can't stand taking little tiny steps and walking at a slow pace while trying not to step on anyone. Basically I have walking 'road rage!' When I take those short little steps my balance is challenged and the muscles in my legs have to remain tight while I'm walking on my tip toes. I physically can not follow slow walkers and as rude as it may look I need to quickly zoom past. Yeah, if I was in my car I guess I'd be all up on the person's bumper in front of me, but not shaking my fists or honking the horn or anything! I mean I'm not walking so fast as to break a sweat or elevate my heart rate, but when I walk at my own pace I am able to extend my legs and step with my whole foot. The down side is since I'm walking at such a quick pace it does take a lot of energy so I do have to stop for breaks every once in a while, but who would think the lady with MS would be leading the pack?

See, that's just the thing, people with MS are usually in pain. Since something in their body is hurting or numb the thought of walking, or doing anything quickly is daunting. True, it's safer to stay with the pack or even behind it but in my experience moving quickly (at my own pace) is always the best option.

So as annoying as it will be to get stuck walking behind the other 2,240 (or so) passengers I'm sure 'Vacation Megan' won't mind too much, I'll just keep up my dodging and weaving... with a margarita in hand of course.