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Hello, passionate cruisers! I am delighted to welcome this week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, Nikki and Tommie Jones. As regular listeners and readers of any of The Joy of Cruising books know, among passionate cruise celebrities, musicians, performers, CEOs, or global cruise personalities, we feature “ordinary” cruisers with extraordinary cruise stories. If this podcast was video, you would see me put air quotes around “ordinary” because there is nothing ordinary about Nikki and Tommie, as you will learn. But what I mean is like I have done from time-to-time, I encountered Nikki and Tommie by happenstance in one of the many social media cruising groups I am a part of. And as I am wont to do when I see a cruiser sharing reflections, photos, and videos about some Bucket List cruise they experienced, I reached out to them and invited them on the podcast to share with the cruise community. I had extra motivation to request the Jones’ to be on the show—I “met” them on an AmaWaterways FB group—and this bucket list cruise they experienced—the Soulful Epicurean French River Cruise on AmaKristina is at the top of my bucket list and booked! When this podcast episode releases, Cheryl and I will be enroute to France.
Nikki and Tommie are passionate cruisers who are happily married and headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. They are retired U.S. Army Veterans with more than 50 years of combined active-duty service. Nikki served for 20 years, and Tommie served for 30 years. ‘Thank you for your service! They are the owners of Jones Getaways by Dream Vacations. With more than 5 years as Certified Travel Advisors, travel is their life, and their goal is to help people experience the amazing of the world through travel.
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Paul C. Thornton started writing at 58 years old incited by the task of delivering a father-of-the-bride speech at his daughter’s wedding. Told to talk about memories of Kina growing up; among Disney trips, high school sports, proms, and first boyfriends, Paul divulged the most powerful memory of all, when Kina was six and his life changed forever. At the end of the talk—as they say—"there wasn’t a dry eye in the house.” It was both liberating and cathartic to release secrets that had tortured Paul for 30 years. Needing to hold on to that feeling of release and empowerment, when he returned to his hotel Paul started his memoir, provocatively titled White Man’s Disease.
Paul’s just completed book, The Joy of Cruising Again, is his fourth; the third in The Joy of Cruising trilogy, and follow-up to the fun, upbeat, award-winning The Joy of Cruising, and Cruising Interrupted. The Joy of Cruising Again is the finale of the series but Paul won’t give up his passion. Besides continuing to cruise as much as possible, Paul hosts The Joy of Cruising Podcast, a weekly conversation with one of the dozens of passionate cruisers featured in the books and other global cruise personalities.
The cruise-themed books are a stark departure from Paul’s debut: White Man’s Disease, a memoir described as “gripping and inspiring” in the press release announcing it as the winner of the North Street Book Prize for Memoir and Creative Nonfiction about Paul’s harrowing brush with death, the journey of recovery from trauma, resilience and ultimately transformation. White Man’s Disease is at once poignant, sad, tragic, funny, and compelling. (And, if I could get a dollar for everyone who asks what White Man’s Disease means, I would be a wealthy man!) Despite their very different subjects, at the heart of White Man’s Disease and The Joy of Cruising Trilogy is passion and how passionate people do wondrous things. Paul just started a sequel to White Man’s Disease; a fun, and hopefully inspirational tale called Gracefully. In addition, he is planning a podcast series that deconstructs White Man’s Disease.
Paul is originally from Brooklyn and Long Island, New York. After serving in the US Army and simultaneously earning a bachelor's degree in business, he attained his MBA and then spent concurrently, 17 years in corporate management, and 23 years in small business ownership. After leaving corporate, he started a career in higher ed. He earned a doctorate, attained tenure as a business professor, and subsequently moved into administration in Dean or Executive Director positions before retiring in 2021.
Paul lives in Mooresville, North Carolina with his wife Cheryl and considers cruising with their children and grandchildren life’s ultimate escape. Paul longs to cruise as much as the people he writes about in The Joy of Cruising Trilogy.
