Osoyoos’s Egon Landsberg, 93, holds up his boarding pass for the MSC Poesia, a cruise ship he’s scheduled to board on Oct. 9 that will take him to the Eastern Seaboard of North America before heading to Europe. Photo by Paul Everest - Click on picture for larger image
OSOYOOS TIMES-September 29, 2010
By Paul Everest – Osoyoos Times
It’s difficult not to be a little envious of Egon Landsberg’s travel plans.
The 93-year-old embarked on Sept. 27 on a journey that will take him across much of the Northern Hemisphere over the course of a year.
As a prelude to a cruise that leaves Quebec City on Oct. 9, Egon will drive solo across Canada to his son’s home in North Bay, Ont.
His son will then drive him to Quebec to catch the MSC Poesia, a cruise ship from Italy, which will be Egon’s home for 12 months and will carry him up and down the Eastern Seaboard of North America, including a visit to the Bahamas, before heading across the Atlantic Ocean to places such as Iceland, England, Spain, Russia and Denmark, just to name a few.
Egon, who has lived in Osoyoos for 33 years, said it took him seven months to plan and book the cruise on the Internet.
“I could not live without my computer these days,” he said.
Thoughts of driving across Canada and heading out to sea by himself don’t daunt Egon as he said he is in great shape and has a great deal of living yet to do.
“There comes a time when you have to make a decision about what you’re going to do with your life,” he said. “The alternative is assisted living and I’m not ready for that.”
He has no qualms about discussing his age or the risk of travelling alone and said he plans to make arrangements with the ship’s crew, should he not complete the journey, to be buried at sea.
Having gotten a “good taste” of cruising during a vacation in Panama last winter, Egon is looking forward to his epic adventure and wants to be around other people.
He has played music his entire life in North America and Europe and plans on making a few friends on the ship by sitting down at the piano.
Originally from Switzerland, Egon said he knows 1,200 songs by heart and has played music on a number of American military bases and music halls throughout Europe, bringing along his organ in a motor home.
Egon will leave behind the condominium he has lived in at the White Sands complex on Spartan Drive for 15 years and anything he values has been put into storage.
He said he’ll worry about finding a new home if and when he returns, adding this isn’t the first time he’s packed up and taken to the open road.
In 1964, he said, he quit his job as an importer, bought a convertible and played music in Europe for three weeks as a “paying hobby,” lugging behind one of the first electric theatre organs in a special trailer.
Egon’s new journey isn’t about reliving days gone by, however, it’s about what’s ahead.
“I’ve put a line under the past,” he said. “I’m starting fresh.”
[email protected]
