But all is not well on such a flight: the human body has trouble adjusting to an instant six-hour time shift, lost time is unfortunately mostly sleep time, and close quarters with 290 other people is optimum disease-transfer territory. I may have caught pneumonia onboard; or I may have brought it with me and provided it opportunity to flourish.

Boarding Viking Legend I assume I am suffering from jet lag and attempt to tough it out. I go on the local tours, which aren't too strenuous; but back off when wearing all my winter clothes can no longer keep me from getting the chills.

On the third day I cave and ask concierge if they have a doctor on board I can see. No; but they can arrange for me to see a doctor ashore or have a doctor visit me onboard. The next thing I know two stunningly-handsome young men in bright red emergency suits are knocking on my stateroom door to check me out. Surprise: kind of hard to keep a low profile about this now!

Oops, I am taking a ride through Linz, Austria, in an ambulance. This is definitely not part of my planned itinerary!

A blood test and x-ray later I am admitted into the hospital with serious pneumonia in my right lung. More not-planned-for stuff! But I am too gone to complain. While my cruise ship sails off down the Danube with Betty Lou, I am imprisoned ashore with intravenous tubing. Not the very-best-ever day of my life.

The next day I figure out I have these choices:
        A: follow the doctor's recommendation and stay hospitalized five days
        B: stay one more day and rejoin the cruise carefully in pathetic mode
        C: abort and go home
With Betty Lou's okay (good thing for mobile phones!), I choose "C".

The cruise concierge helps me catch up with Viking Legend via taxi and train; but all the hospital and travel logistics take time, and it is now too late to fly. So it is one last night aboard and then an early start on our flight home tomorrow (now from Vienna, Austria).

I am amazed (but thankful) concierge can arrange an international flight in zero time. We had never flown with Aer Lingus before, but it works out well.

We arrive in Boston in time to catch the very-last bus to Nashua and are home before midnight (which is, of course, six hours later than yesterday's midnight, the reverse jet-lag problem).

The next day I see my doctor who agrees I have right-side pneumonia and extends my medication for the standard 7-10 days. If I behave I don't need to enter the hospital though (yea!): for two weeks nothing too strenuous; by four weeks back to normal.

One of the fringe benefits of most any travel is that it helps you appreciate home. In this case, especially so! Or, as a Time magazine editorial once memorably put it, "the difference between vacation and hell is whether you can come back".