I had a close call on my way to DSSA-Procul Umbra in Smootoae QY-S d3-202 - I was several jumps away in Blaa Briae IO-Z D13-46 and looking for some hard-to-find biological phenomena when I crashed much harder into the planet than I intended. Shield - gone. Hull - down to 34%. Fortunately a couple of repair limpets were able to get me sorted, but I could have lots billions of credits in biological data if that crash were worse.

I wasn't about to take that chance again. There's still a couple of first footfall data (tussock and fungoid) in Blaa Briae IO-Z D13-46 if you want it. Good luck to you.

I made the rest of the way to DSSA-HQ Procul Umbra with a solid 82 MCr in exploration data, over 2 MCr in codex data, and a whopping 4.2 GCr (yes, with a G!) in exobiology data. That's enough to earn me promotions to Elite IV Explorer and Elite IV Exobiologist, with new ship livery to match.

DSSA-HQ Procul Umbra has virtually anything a weary traveller would want, including (importantly) Vista Genomics and (more importantly) a well-stocked bar - complete with a selection of locally crafted alcohols. Staterooms are ridiculously expensive - which is to be expected this far out - and extremely comfortable, with private laundry facilities, microweave cotton sheets, and the best shower heads outside of the Bubble.

The order of my stay: laundry, shower, sleep, a real meal, a lot of drinks, sleep, then catching up with news and correspondence.

I did hear from my sister Portia - who tells me she's laying the foundations for a series of colonies called The Princess Systems, potential population in the hundreds of millions once they're all done. She tells me there's a good chance the foundations, and the modest first system, will be done by the time I get back. We'll see - she has a habit of jumping from one project to the next without getting them done.

After reading that from my sister: scan down the system for exploration data, then another real meal, another round of drinks, sleep, a shower, and restocking my ship: real fruits and vegetables, freeze-dried rations, food cartridges, fresh water, a couple of cases of cup-of-noodles, and, for the heck of it, a bottle of Proculian brandy.

Next stop is DSSA Eleanor in Cho Thua NL-C b40-0, which is about two weeks' journey from here.

Stopped off at DSSA Pegasus in Byua Aowsy MR-N D6-19 to sell exploration data - got about 135MCr out of it after the 25% "tax." DSSA Pegasus is a spartan ship, suitable for this region of space that is sparse with stars. I was able to stock up on food cartridges and cup-a-noodles and fresh water, and get a real shower, and that's about it. No cabins for rent, so I spent the night in my cabin in the Moonbow Explorer. Byua Aowsy MR-N D6-19 system itself is lovely, and would make a good colony someday.

Because this region is so sparse for stars, I need to be careful with my fuel, and that means occasionally replotting my route to hit a fuel star that otherwise makes my route less-than-optimal. Really, "optimal" is subjective here. I want to get to the next waypoint fast, but I don't want to take unnecessary risks doing it.

Onward to Smootoae QY-S d3-202, where there's a DSSA carrier that will hopefully take my exobiology data as well.

Speaking of colonization: my sister tells me that she is laying the foundations for a good colony herself, near PTN faction space. I look forward to seeing the results when I get back.

I'm taking a bit of a breather at carrier Praise The Sun located in Hypou Briaee MM-W D1-830. I managed to sell 250 million in exploration data and over 3 billion in exobiology data - that last bit moved me up to Elite III Exobiologist rank.

This carrier is pretty swank - in addition to Vista Genomics, it has livery available and a well-stocked bar. I'm going to spend a couple of credits on a cabin for the weekend, and then my agenda is a solid meal, a solid cocktail, a shower, a day in a real bed, and then laundry.

After this, next stop is the DSSA Pegasus in Byua Aowsy MR-N d6-19.

Addendum: I got an email from my sister Portia! She's been building colonies near the Bubble. I new Brewer Construction was doing that, but that all started well after I left on this journey. She says she has three systems going with more on the way. I emailed her back to schedule a vid call. A vid call from out here is going to cost a few credits but it's worth it to get in touch.

Headline up front - I followed up on the tip and found a space rich in undiscovered black holes and undiscovered neutron stars. I've already turned these in - fully DSS mapped - with Universal Cartographics, but you should be able to find plenty more nearby these, spaced about 5-8 ly apart.

First discovered black holes:

• Systimbu EG-Y F4606
• Systimbu LX-U E2-9870

First discovered neutron stars:

• Systimbu LX-U C2-1917
• Systimbu LX-U E2-8109

I took the Neutron Superhighway to DSSA Ronin (V1Q-95G) to turn in the data, and that was enough to bump up my Explorer rank to Elite III.

From here I will continue my journey to Beagle Point the old fashioned way and collect data along the way. By the time I get there I should have enough data for Elite IV in both exploration and exobiology.

As a side note, I can't recommend much about DSSA Ronin's amenities, but I was able to get laundry done, and score some fresh mandarin oranges off a pilot who keeps a few trees in his Anaconda. Those should make the next week or so much more pleasant.

Next step is a few hundred light years up or down, and then to my next waypoint at HRSC Limpet's Call.

After three weeks in the black, exploring and picking up exobiology data, I finally made it to Explorer's Anchorage in Stuemeae FG-Y D7561.

I sold quite a bit of exploration and exobiology data - although in both cases, a little short of what I needed to make Elite III in either.

After that, it was a short, almost anticlimactic hop, to Sag A*, and the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way. Bucket list goal, done.

I'm going to take some of my earnings to resupply for a very long journey ahead. My next goal is to get to Beagle Point. It's going to take me at about three months to get there. Preparing for this journey means stocking up on the kind of rations that take up little space. So, lots of dehydrated soup, with some freeze-dried fruits and vegetables as a treat - enough for six months, just in case. I'm also going to have a couple of extra fresh water tanks put in the Moonbow Explorer. What I lose in jump range I more than make up for in comfort.

In the meanwhile I'm going to enjoy a hotel room with a Real Shower and Real Bed, fresh water, whatever the best coffee is that I can find here, real food (including fresh fruits and vegetables), and the company of humans at the bar.

EDIT: I got some hot tips on a potentially undiscovered black hole. Should be fun.

2nd EDIT: I picked up a few tee shirts from the souvenir shop. Might as well, it's going to be a long trip before I can do laundry again. Also sent my sister a postcard. Postage from here to the Bubble is luxuriously expensive.

I made it to Colonia after two months in the black - not to mention a couple of moderate setbacks. Along the way I collected over 6 billion credits in data and leveled up to Elite II in both Exploration and Exobiology - not to mention discovered hundreds of new worlds, including dozens of terraformable planets.

I didn't stay in Colonia long. During my 24 hours there I got immediately to work becoming allied with both Jacques and the Colonia Council and earning my reputation with the ship module engineers. This required me to use a different ship from my highly engineered Mandalay - and so I commissioned a Python, the Moonbow Colonia, to do all the dirty work of mining ossium, delivering progenitor cells, rescuing occupied escape pods, and hunting bounties.

After 24 hours, some actual human interaction, a good night's sleep in a real bed, doing all my laundry, a thorough shower and massage, and refreshing the Moonbow Explorer's galley with real coffee, fresh water, freeze-dried foods, and instant noodles, I set back out for my next destination: Stuemeae FG-Y D7561, and from there, Sagittarius A*. I expect to be there in less than a month. Wish me luck!

In 3310, with the help of the Pilots Trade Network, I achieved:

• Three Elite ranks (Combat, Mercenary, and Trade) to add to the Exploration and Exobiology ranks I already had. Of those, Trade is Elite V - the highest rank you can get!
• Eight months of huge wins in faction work
• Bombing runs on two Thargoid titans
• A dozen highly engineered ships for every niche
• Over 25 billion credits in gained assets and wealth
• My first, and so far only, carrier, the NAC Solar Mooncastle

As 3310 comes to a close I find myself once again drawn to the Black. My trusty Mandalay is rigged for exploration, my Artemis suit is fully spec'd out to find exobiological samples in hard-to-reach places, and 99%+ of the Milky Way Galaxy remains unexplored.

3311 is going to be about the journey to Colonia, to the Center of the Galaxy, to the Farthest End of the Galaxy, and, in a roundabout way, back Home again.

"It's 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark... and we're wearing sunglasses." - Elwood Blues

"Hit it." - Jake Blues

This month was my first Booze Cruise, and by many accounts it was a particularly hectic one. I hitched a ride to Rackham's Peak with a Python built to carry 272 tons of cargo plus a decent shield, with the goal in mind of making 5 billion credits in profits and reaching the rank of Elite V.

I won't get into the details of why I think this cruise was a bit hectic and cramped, although the popularity of this particular cruise had to be a factor. I would estimate that we had 200+ Commanders in system, each of them hauling 200+ tons of wine per trip. A carrier will hold about 23,000 tons of wine at most. It is simply impossible that every commander in system is going to be able to get a load of wine from every carrier. As you can guess, this meant that when a carrier opened its wine cellar, the wine moved out very quickly. And so the main difficulty for a Booze Cruiser is getting to the carrier fast enough to collect a load of wine. This isn't an easy task and a lot of Commanders failed several times in a row to get a single load of wine from a carrier.

What really made this cruise hectic is that, for some reason or another, carriers simply weren't opening their wine cellars very quickly. At a guess, it was 15-30 minutes between carriers full of wine. That's 15-30 minutes of mostly waiting for a carrier to open, followed by a mad scramble to get to that carrier in the 4-5 minutes before all the wine was gone.

In my estimation, if I had stuck to my goal of 5 billion in profits and the rank of Elite V, I would have found the experience very frustrating and tiring. So instead, I adjusted my goals downward. I shot for 1 billion in the first 24 hours and made that goal handily, achieving the Trader rank of Elite I. For the second day, I scanned down the system (it's worth about 1.8 million credits in exploration, by the way), collected engineering materials, hunted some pirates, and did a couple more runs to get a head start on Elite II before hitching a ride back to the Bubble.

So, bottom line: Would I recommend the Booze Cruise to an experienced pilot? Yes, absolutely. The fun, comraderie, and of course, profits of a Booze Cruise are one of the great experiences of Elite Dangerous, and not to be missed by anyone.

Would I recommend trying to go from Penniless to Elite in a Booze Cruise? Yes, with one reservation. If you're not an experienced pilot used to working around supercruise's speed limits, you're going to have a hard time getting to carriers quickly, and therefore, you will have a hard time getting loads of wine, and a hard time making your first billion in trade.

Would I recommend trying to get from Elite to Elite V in one Booze Cruise? No, definitely not. In my estimation that's the kind of grind that makes the game less fun. However, it's very realistic to make a quick billion credits in a Booze Cruise, and within reason to make two billion. Meaning that you could get from penniless to Elite V with three Cruises, over roughly two and a half months. That's not bad, folks.

For more information on Booze Cruises, get in touch with the Pilots Trade Network - https://pilotstradenetwork.com/

ADDENDUM: Remember how I scanned down the system? Apparently I am the first one to do so completely. Either that or someone at Universal Cartographics made a mistake.

Today the Pilot's Federation awarded me the rank of Elite Trader. That gives me three Elite ranks (with the other two being Exploration and Exobiology.)

This isn't the same trio that is considered "triple Elite," and to earn that I need to work on combat rank. I figure that will probably take me the rest of 3310.

I owe my Elite Trade rank to the Pilots' Trade Network. In addition to regular "milk run" trades, they also run Booze Cruises where a Commander can make FAT cash. They seem to have a mature and helpful community too. Recommended.

It took me about five days to earn the ranks of Rear Admiral and Duke. Running courier missions and donating to the cause really is the fastest way to do it. Combat might be fun, but even a Reputation++ job will only yield you as much reputation increase with the Federation or Imperium as a couple of courier jobs.

Next stop: Guardian modules grind. Unless a good trade run shows up.