We live on a big planet. From my home in Western North Carolina, halfway around the world to Bangkok, I spent more than 30 hours from tarmac to tarmac. En route to a Far East Cruise on Silversea Cruises' Silver Whisper, I flew United Airlines from Asheville to Charlotte to San Francisco to Tokyo to Bangkok. Some of my fellow cruise passengers, I learned later, broke their flights in Tokyo for two or three nights, not a bad idea if you're traveling this far.

I arrived at The Peninsula Hotel, on the Chao Phraya River that flows through the heart of Bangkok, at 2 a.m., slept for a few hours, then walked the streets near the hotel. Thailand's capital is a lovely city, friendly and inexpensive (I paid the equivalent of 30 cents for a can of Coke). With only a few hours to explore, I only got a taste of Thailand, though I had spent several weeks here 25 years ago.

At 3 p.m., I boarded a bus to transfer to the ship, two hours away. Expecting the Silver Whisper to be a small ship, I was surprised to see that it rose 10 decks. Measuring 28,258 gross tons (which indicates not weight but cubic space), the 382-passenger has one of the highest space ratios (gross tons divided by the number of passengers) of any cruise ship. What this means is Silver Whisper never felt crowded or congested.

Indeed, stepping out of my stateroom at 7 a.m. on the first morning of my cruise, I walked almost the entire length of the ship before encountering another passenger, even though the sailing was full. At lunch in the main dining room (The Restaurant) on the first day of the cruise, only nine other passengers were present. The rest presumably were dining at the Terrace Cafe (for the lunch buffet), The Pool Grill or in their staterooms.

Our 10-night itinerary on this Far East Journey takes us from Bangkok to Singapore, with an overnight in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; port calls in the Sultanate of Brunei; Kuching and Malacca, Malaysia; and four relaxed days at sea. I will be filing video, photos, audio interviews and commentary. Please tune in.