Stuff happens…We’re injured…

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This is how the steps collapsed under our feet.

It was Thursday this week, the night of our anniversary. We came back to our villa after a lovely dinner to relax and enjoy the windy, bug free evening. It was 8:30 PM. 

Opening the wide sliding glass door, the  powerful ocean breezes rushed in filling our living room with the fresh scent of the ocean and the thick evening humidity, pleasing to our senses. 

Suddenly, I remembered that I’d left out a few kitchen towels to dry on the canvas lounge chair on the veranda. With the strong winds, I suggested to Tom that we venture outside to collect the towels and check out the status of the surf which wildly crashed in front of us.

Corner view of broken steps.

Still in our casual and comfortable dinner clothing as depicted in yesterday’s post with our anniversary photo, with me in flat sandals, we meandered out to the veranda in awe of the wind. The kitchen towels were about to blow away with one of them already on the ground. I grabbed two. Tom, gentleman that he is, grabbed the one askew on the ground.

Taking my hand, he led to off the wooden steps. As my foot hit the top step, a thought flashed through my mind, “Oh, I didn’t realize these sandals were wobbly.” I’d worn them many times and their flat arch support heels provided a stable step.  I don’t drink alcohol so I certainly wasn’t teetering.

Within a second, we were falling, crashing, banging.  In an instant, I found myself saying over and over, “Oh, my God!  Oh, my God!” On my way down, I hit my head on the strewn about wood, as the stairs broke apart, collapsing under us, then hit me mid-back and then…my tailbone. “Oh, my God,” I muttered again. Tom had also fallen. Immediately, our attention turned to one another.

Left view of the steps where we fell.
He’d cut and bruised his right shin, droplets of blood seeping through his white pants, one of the few white pants he wears on the cruise ships. How will I get the blood out, I thought, good laundress that I am, without a washer?

Lying in a pile atop the crumbled stairs, as Tom nervously gather me in his arms, I immediately assessed my situation,  My first thought, “Can I move my legs?” Yes, I can.  “Can I turn and move my torso?”  Yes, I can.  “Can I get up?” With Tom’s arms gently coaxing me to a standing position, I stood up. We went inside to assess our injuries.

Tom’s right shin was scraped and bruised, comparable to the knee scrapes we experienced as kids from falling off of our bikes.  No broken bones, no stitches required. My injuries were less obvious having banged my head, my mid-back and my tail bone on the jutting chunks of collapsed wood on the way down.

I could walk, I could bend, I could twist. There were no cuts, no obvious signs of injuries. Hopefully, I thought, my injuries would result in severe bruising. 

Should this accident have occurred at a resort in the US, ambulances would have been called, staff would have gathered around and perhaps, one might have contacted an attorney. The steps broke under two normal weight individuals.

Side view of steps.

We could have easily notified the security guard or the restaurant staff. Instead, we chose to tend to our injuries notifying management in the morning. These steps were for our exclusive use and could easily wait until morning. Most certainly, the salty air and intense humidity, rotted the wood and lessened the hold by the nails. We blame no one. 

Tom fashioned an inventive ice pack for me and I parked myself on the not-so-comfy sofa after taking two Aleve, for the remainder of the evening.  Without a doubt, we were both worried. Would my condition worsen over the night or the next few days? 

Much to my surprise I slept through the night, carefully lying on my side with a pillow propped up against my back to avoid turning over. Awakening at 6 am, the first thought in my mind was the frightening fall and secondly, the food I was yet to prepare for our share of the upcoming Minnesota Pot Luck Dinner with our Minnesota neighbors on either side of us. 

I didn’t feel up to cooking but decided that standing for 10 to 15 minutes at a time would do more good than harm while I’d take a break from the ice pack. Neither the sofa or nor the chairs in our villa provide good back support to warrant sitting for an extended period.

Tom helped in the kitchen and the time breezed by. By 10:30 am, we had most of the food prepared.  We decided it was time to inform management of our “accident” and the necessity of repairing the collapsed stairs. 

Of course, the conscientious staff was highly concerned and anxious to tend to our needs.  We only asked that they launder Tom’s bloody pants and repair the steps. Later in the day, Tom’s meticulously laundered and ironed pants were returned.

Within a matter of minutes, workers appeared at our villa to attend to the repairs.  With the loud noise of the hammering and pounding we decided to sit by the pool. Another gorgeous day was calling to us. 

Gingerly positioning myself on the un-padded lounge chair by the pool, I knew I wouldn’t last long. The cool water of the unheated pool provided some relief but less than an hour later, we walked back to our villa, determined to park myself with ice on the padded lounge chair on the veranda until it was time to shower and dress for the party. The workers were still pounding. We didn’t care. 

We were pleased with management’s handling of the situation. They were both respectful and very concerned, again checking with us over the next 48 hours.  There’s nothing more we would have asked of them.

On the way back to our villa, I dropped my smartphone on the cement cracking the screen in several places.

Having only purchased the no-contract phone for about $900 in December and now unable to easily read the Kindle app at night in bed, my heart sank.  My phone had been a constant companion while reading by the pool, the veranda or sitting in the chairs on the beach outside our door. Still able to receive a WiFi signal on our phones without a contract, I’d also been able to easily use Skype on my phone as discussed in the Skype post of several days ago.

Tom, bless his patient demeanor said nary a word, other than, “Don’t worry, lover. We’ll figure it out.” Gosh, I’m traveling the world with the right guy!

The remainder of the day whisked by and suddenly we realized it was time to get ready for the party.  Feeling better from the ice, the rest and the Aleve, I was confident we could go and have a good time.

It was not only a good time but a great time. The laughter, the chatter, the Minnesota stories got my mind off of my aching body. The drinks, the food, the ambiance in their lovely “owned” villa, found us all in a frenzy of endless story telling. We had a blast! 

Our new Minnesota friends kindly offered to mail my phone to a repair shop in the US when they return on March 22nd. I graciously declined, not wanting to impose. But after careful consideration, we came up with a plan. Maybe we would take them up on their generous offer.

Here’s our idea:
1.  Find a reputable smart phone screen repair company online.  Contact them alerting them that my phone will be arriving the week of March 23-30 for repair.
2.  Prepay by credit card for the repairs.
3.  Place the phone in a padded envelope with the repair company’s address.
4.  Give our Minnesota friends postage to mail our phone to the repair company.
5.  Instruct the repair company to rush the order, mailing it our mailing service…to go into the box being shipped to us for pickup on April 13th in Miami when our ship arrives.

This should work regarding the phone.  As for me, we’re hoping my injuries will resolve in a week or so, bringing me back to my former feeling-well self, cheerful, joyful without a worry in the world. 

In the interim, there’s no doubt that we’re guarded. Today, its more tender than yesterday, not uncommon in bruising injuries. I sit here, as we “speak” Tom’s nifty ice pack in tow, which he thoughtfully adjusts every 20 minutes or so, from my back to my neck to my tailbone.

Ah, yes.  _ _ _ _ happens!  Everywhere we go, there we are. We take with us, wherever we may be, all of life’s challenges, mishaps, heartbreaks and sorrows. No one is exempt. 

The difference for some, is the ability to tap into one’s well of strength and determination along with an innate desire to carry on.  I can only hope and pray that no matter what we encounter on our journey, that we’ll continue to strive for that strength and determination.

Be well, my friends.

Photos from a walk…Living life on our terms…Our anniversary was yesterday on the 7th…

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Our waiter took our anniversary photo last night after dinner. 

As we’ve mentioned in past posts, we don’t have transportation while in Placencia Belize. We made a hard decision when we moved to Laru Beya on February 5, 2013. With the cost of our rental doubling for two remaining months that we’re here and a budget staring us in the face, we opted to only rent a vehicle as needed.

Palm fronds we discovered on a walk yesterday.
So far, other than the one week in early February that we buzzed around in a rented golf cart at $350 per week, we’ve managed just fine much to our mutual surprise. We thought we’d feel trapped. We don’t.
These are obviously fake cactus used to light the road at night. See the orange one on the left.
Our resort has golf carts, motorbikes and cars available if we need one on a moment’s notice. Most likely, later in the month, we’ll rent a car to explore some of the surrounding villages after heading to the capital city of Belmopan where we’ll extend our visas for the final time.  Its an hour and a half drive north of us.
Local sculpture.  We often see variations of this style.
Without a doubt, there is a huge temptation as one travels the world (from our limited experience thus far) to splurge to fuel one’s perception of what a “vacation” looks like with frequent siteseeing expeditions.  Most of these outings in this remote area require guides resulting in fees upwards of $300 for the two us for a five to six hour day trip.  Some are more.
Another lighted fake cactus next to another local sculpture.
We’re not on vacation. We’re living in foreign lands. When we lived in Minnesota, we seldom visited any of the local “tourist” attractions after our kids grew up. Who does unless one has out of town company or on an outing with grandchildren?
Sculpture of cactus plant.
When we designed our budget, a process that continued over a period of many months, we created a plan that, health providing could last us for the remainder of our lives leaving our investments and savings in tact.  Should we vary from the plan, everything changes.  Suddenly, we could begin depleting our resources. 
Locally crafted painted working fountain.
Remembering our motto, “Wafting Through Our Worldwide Travels with Ease, Joy and Simplicity” we carefully map out our finances to stay within the budget, compensating from one month to the next should we unintentionally vary as we did when making a decision to move to Laru Beya. 
Locally painted sign advertising Sweet Mama’s Restaurant.  Notice the wood French fries
in the in the wood basket on the upper left side of the sign.  Cute.
We only dine out twice a week now (ordering whatever we’d like), cooking in the remainder of the time.  We don’t get massages and spa treatments.  I do my own manicures and pedicures and now Tom is considering having me cut his hair. Yikes. We don’t have to go that far!
We’ve learned to re-use items we may have tossed in our old lives.  We hand wash our underwear, bathing suits and tee shirts.  We don’t order beverages when we sit by the pool.  When cooking we increase our bang for the buck by making enough to last another night, thus reducing our cost.
We don’t dine in the “extra charge” restaurants while on cruises or purchase beverage packages that can run up to $800 per person per cruise.  The only beverages we purchased aboard ship are those with our dinner, one or two cocktails for Tom, iced tea for me (for which there’s no charge). 
We had a small 3″ cactus plant like this in Minnesota in a south window. 
grew 1″ in 26 years. This plant is about 3-4 feet in diameter. 
If we purchased the cruise beverage packages with an average of eight cruises per year, we’d spend an extra $10,000 per year or more.  If we purchased the excursions on the cruises, we’d spend another $10,000 per year.  It changes everything.  It takes out the “ease, joy and simplicity” we so much relish in our new way of living.  We’d rather spend our money on no less than a balcony stateroom for extra space and comfort than on extra charges we don’t really need.
Is this mindfulness difficult?  Do we feel deprived?  Not at all. Especially when its attached to the reality that we can go on forever if our health holds up and if we so choose. 
We’d rather generously tip our maid Gloria, our server, our cab driver and all the Gloria’s and Estevan’s we’ve yet to meet than take a one day outing where all the tourists rightfully go while on their much deserved once or twice a year vacation.
Living our lives on our terms. Everyday may not be an exciting adventure. It may be only a walk along the road, enjoying the local art and culture.
It truly is a splendid life.                          

Real estate for sale in Belize…Offered by our Minnesota neighbors, here in Belize…

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The lagoon side of the house.

This morning we took a short hike to see the home being built across the road on the lagoon, by our new friends and neighbors from Minnesota here at Laru Beya.

Upon completion and landscaping this meticulously built and designed home will be a virtual paradise for the discriminating buyer.
Tomorrow night we’ll have our Minnesota Pot Luck dinner with our new friends, neighbors and the builders and owners of this unique property.  We’ll surely have plenty of stories to share about our lives back in The Land of 10,000 Lakes (now they say its over 15,000 lakes).
View from the rooftop to the lagoon.
As for tonight, today is our anniversary and we plan to celebrate it in style at a gourmet dinner next door, only feet from the ocean, the sound of the waves, slapping at the shore, music to our ears.  Happy Anniversary, my love.  Thanks for this pleasing, low key, low stress lifestyle of our own. 
  Closer view of the rooftop’s spiral staircase that, can you believe, we climbed up without handrails (as yet) with only ropes for a guide.  Not big on heights, I hung on to Tom for dear life, managing to go up and down without screaming.  Once handrails are installed not only on the stairway but fully around the rooftop, this will be one of the best viewing spots in Placencia.

The house is currently listed on MLS but what we saw today is much more complete than the photos depicted on the listing.  Thus, we’ve added some photos of our own.

The lagoon and marina.

Spending most of my career in real estate and now retired, I can’t quite get real estate out of my blood.  This is a fabulous well constructed and designed property, ideal for those seeking a primary home in a tropical climate or as a second home that could be fully furnished and stocked to be utilized as a vacation rental home, such as those that we are renting all over the world.

The beautiful kitchen is almost completed.

The property is reasonably priced at USD $575,000 with its expansive ocean and mountain views offering easy access to the Caribbean Sea via a deep lagoon suitable for larger boats.

 The future pool will be completely round.

Close to shopping, restaurants and adventure activities, this home presents the utmost of desirability for the those seeking not only an investment property in this rapidly expanding area but a virtual paradise for one’s personal use and pleasure.

With our new friends from Minnesota, their Minnesota area code and phone number are displayed on this sign.

Yet to be completed, there were no less than 11 local workers hustling about the property zeroed in on various projects with the hope of completion in the very near future. 

Tom was checking out the rooftop bar.  The railings had yet to be installed making it a little freaky to walk around so many stories above the ground level.

As is common in tropical areas, the pace is slower than that which we’re used to in more metropolitan areas of the world.  As we’ve so well experienced in our time here since January 29, 2013, the slower pace definitely is not as a result of laziness in the case of the workers. 

From what we’ve experienced the work ethic is strong in Belize from the quality of the individuals we’ve met.  It appears to be more a matter of balancing one’s life making time for family, personal activities, hobbies and strong community involvement.  Those of us from the fast paced, stress inducing lifestyles so common worldwide, have much to learn from the Belizean lifestyle.

Soon, this enchanting property will be sold and in the hands of the perfect buyer seeking a complete lifestyle change or a modern, unique upscale home providing them with a respite from the stresses of daily life elsewhere.

Shopping in Belize…Shopping in the US from Belize and more photos…

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Karel’s Barber Shop doesn’t open until 10 am.  We’ll come back next week for Tom’s much needed new “do!”  Of course, we’ll post photos of that!

It was a fine day. We love the charming little village of Placencia.

Once again, Estevan appeared at our door promptly at 9 am to drive us to Placencia Village for our weekly errands which this week included a haircut for Tom, a trip to the fish market, a stop at the drugstore, a visit to the vegetable stand and finally a trip to the largest of the grocery stores in town. 

Tommy’s Restaurant.  Guess who got a kick out of this?

The neighbors on either side of us are from Minnesota and Friday night we’re having a Minnesota Potluck dinner making the shopping expedition all the more enjoyable.  What would we find that would be reminiscent of Minnesota?

As it turned out, the barbershop doesn’t open until 10 am and the fish market was out of fish.  We asked Estevan to drop us at the end of the peninsula, leaving us to walk the full length of the road through the village, stopping along the way. Next week, we’ll arrive later for Tom’s haircut and again check with the fish shop nearby.

Another quaint shop along the main road in the Village.
Cooler today, the walk was pleasant and relaxed. With Estevan picking us up in two hours from the larger grocery store at the opposite end of the peninsula, we had plenty of time to take photos, stop at each of the several small grocers along the way looking for ingredients for the items we’d planned to bring to the potluck dinner.  We kept the dishes simple knowing certain ingredients may not be readily available.
 Tom, outside the grocery store where we shopped today.

Shopping.  A necessary part of life.  Unless one lives on a farm, weaves their own fabrics, makes their own clothing, doesn’t use any toiletries, doesn’t drink alcohol, doesn’t require any medications, and on and on.  We shop.

Some of us enjoy shopping in stores, others online, others both, others not at all.  I lean toward the online category.  Tom falls into the “not at all” category.  Back in the US a year could go by without stepping into a mall, preferring the anonymous lurking online comparing prices, products, and reviews

Local clothing well priced on display outdoors.

With a plan to go pick up a box of necessary supplies at the UPS store near the pier in Miami on April 13th, where will also ship our excess luggage to my sister Julie, we’re busily placing our online orders. 

 The local pharmacy, at the top of the stairs.

How will we receive our items without paying the $10 per box/per day fee that UPS charges to “hold” purchased items?  We’re having the approximate 10 boxes shipped to our mailing service in Nevada, Maillink most of which have free shipping.  They’ll store all the items until we instruct them online, to open all the boxes, place every item into a larger box and ship the larger box to us to arrive at the UPS store in three days.

Check out the verbiage on this sign.  Love it!

The potential cost of this box:  $65 plus perhaps $20 additional in case UPS receives it a day early, holding it for two days.  While we’re port we’ll pick up the box and bring it aboard the ship.  This maneuver increases our cost for the items by about 20%.  We can live with this. 

An indoor clothing store filled with local fashions.

You may ask, why not rent a car when we disembark the ship for the eight-hour layover in port and drive around and buy the items?  Ten items, ten possible stores, the price of the rental car, the gas, the day spent feeling stressed is why to avoid that scenario

Notice the colorful signs on this corner, pointing in every which way to other businesses.

Plus, many of the items we must receive in the box will include the rental of the XCOM Global MiFi device we’ll be using while cruising for two months and later in Italy for the summer. 

Cowfoot soup is on the menu today.

Another example is my favorite tea, Pouchong, an Oolong tea introduced to me by my son Greg  (thanks Greg!) a number of years ago, the only tea I drink.  We gave up many favorite items when we left the US.  I gave up many favorite foods when choosing this strict way of eating.  I was not willing to give up this tea!

Omar’s Restaurant, covered in flowers and vines.

But buying the tea in itself presents a problem. One of few companies that stock this tea, (one cannot find this tea in a tea store) is a well managed, customer service orientated online store, Adagio Teas which I’ve used for years.

The Placencia mail delivery vehicle!

Last week I visited their site to place an order for enough tea to last me for the next six months, which amounts to one pound of tea at $58 per pound.  With no room in our newly revised luggage for a greater amount, I figured they’d send it anywhere in the world where we can receive mail, not necessarily in Kenya or South Africa.  This requires careful planning.

The Placencia Post Office and Social Security Board.

With a new mailing service address, I updated my shipping and credit card billing address in their system as I quickly breezed through the checkout process as I’ve done so many times in the past.  A message appeared: “we aren’t able to process your order.”  Duh?

One of two banks in the Village.

My first reaction was that I made an error in entering the credit card number, the expiration date, or the little 3 digit number, that I had entered in the appropriate fields. I re-entered all the information. Again rejected. 

 The local cemetery in the village.

Immediately, I brought up the website for that particular credit card to make sure the past payoff had in fact processed. Every month we pay off all of our credit cards to avoid interest charges and also to keep them free to use when our cards don’t charge exchange rates fees.  We’d recently charged several upcoming cruises.  Perhaps, they hadn’t processed the incoming payoffs.

Organic, pesticide-free produce.  We purchased this entire batch for US $12.

Nope.  A credit of ($.97) appeared on the account.  There’s no reason for the transaction to be rejected.  I wrote an email to Adagio Teas, almost panicking. What if my teas days are over?  I’ve tried dozens of other teas.  None appeal to me.

Within a few hours, I received this response:

“Hi Jessica,

Thank you for your message. Could you provide a little more information?  It would help us to know the billing and shipping addresses you are using, and whether you are trying to place the order from outside the U.S.
 
Last year we had a large number of international fraud attempts, and we put in place more stringent fraud prevention measures. You may be getting caught in these measures, but we’re happy to help figure things out.
 
Please visit us again soon, and let us know if we can be of any further assistance.
 
Adagio Teas
http://www.adagio.com“

OK. I get it. Their system detected that we’re in a foreign country, Belize, and the transaction was blocked. I wrote back to them immediately. They entered my email into their system as “safe.” Yesterday my order went through using the same credit card. The tea is en route to Las Vegas to be among the items to be shipped to us in Miami. Once again, Adagio Teas provided fast and courteous customer service.

A well-stocked pharmacy.  I needed to buy a pair of reading specs for reading Kindle on my smart phone while in bed after the contacts lenses come out.  $10 (US) for an adorable pair in white.  With no TV in the bedroom we read books.  We do adapt, don’t we?  For the first time in years,  we’re both are relaxing enough to enjoy reading novels.

I knew about this risk while in the early planning stages of our worldwide travels.  This is the first time I’ve encountered it.  Its time to begin thinking about acquiring a VPN, a virtual private network that reroutes the connection to create the “appearance” of the inquiry coming from the US, an entirely legal and convenient tool used by many expats and businesses. 

With plenty of food on hand for our share of the Minnesota Pot Luck dinner on Friday night and for our dinners over the next week, we’re rather content.  Tonight we’ll have a homemade meal of more coleslaw, which I made earlier to ensure it’s well chilled, fresh steamed wax beans, and a big platter of sautéed locally made sausages with buttery caramelized onions.

Tomorrow is our 18th anniversary. Our plan is to dine out but with so much good food on hand, we may decide another night’s dinner at “home” is a perfect way to celebrate.

Our upcoming itinerary…The next 801 days is here…Scroll to end of post to see…

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The beach in front of our villa this morning, cloudy, wavy, and cool in the ’70s.

Our itinerary is in a state of flux as we await the postings of upcoming cruises. Cruise lines post a portion of their cruises approximately 18 months in advance and others at 12 months.  We’ll see a cruise listed for 2013 or 2014, hoping it will recur again in 2015.  However, many do not repeat the following year.

Our more imminent concern is a cruise posting to get us out of South Africa around March 2014 to travel along the safer western coast of the continent.  If it is never posted we’ll fly from Nelspruit, South Africa back to Europe. 

With our upcoming lightened luggage load on April 13th which we’ll handle when our ship docks in Miami for the day, we’re more comfortable with flying as necessary.  We’ll pay for the allowable two bags each as required, neither of which will be overweight. 

We’ll always prefer to travel by cruise provided the daily expense stays within our budget.  There are many cruises available that meet our needs to get from one location to another. Unfortunately, the cost is often prohibitive, at times upwards of $10,000 for 14 to 15 days!  That’s not for us!

With political unrest in many parts of the world, we remain in close contact with the US Department of State as to the safety of visiting any of the countries in our itinerary.  We’re not foolhardy. If there is an imminent danger, we’ll change our plans, regardless of the potential loss of any deposits paid.

Should this happen, we’ll rebook the time period for a location, we’ll enjoy as much and go on with the remainder of our plans.  We’d decided this strategy when we began our research.  Of course, we’ll post changes as soon as they occur.

As you can see our current bookings end on May 14, 2015.  This is NOT the end of our journey.  As we travel on we’ll continue our research, which we both find quite entertaining.  We’ll make decisions for traveling on, health providing.
In 801 days, we’ll have only experienced the “tip of the iceberg,” speaking of which…perhaps Antarctica is on the agenda.

So here it is folks, our next days with more to follow.  Items marked in turquoise are booked cruises.

Locations # Days Dates
Belize Rental 62 2/5/2013-4/9/2013
Cruise Belize
to Miami  		 4 4/9/2013 – 4/13/2013
Cruise Miami
to Miami		 7 4/13/2013-4/20/2013
Cruise Miami
to Barcelona 		 11 4/20/2013 -5/1/2013
Cruise
Barcelona to Barcelona		 4 5/1/2013 – 5/5/2013
Barcelona
Hotel 		 1 5/5/2013 – 5/6/2013
Cruise
Barcelona to Dubai		 15 5/6/2012 – 5/21/2013
Dubai Hotel   13 5/21/2013 – 6/3/2013
Flight Dubai to Barcelona 0 6/3/2013-6/3/2013
Hotel Barcelona 1 6/3/2013-6/4/2013
Cruise Barcelona to
Venice 		 12 6/4/2013-6/16/2013
Venice to Tuscany – Train 0 6/16/2013
Tuscany Rental – 17th century
villa		 76 6/16/2013 – 8/30/2013
Tuscany to Rome – Train 0 8/31/2013
Rome to Kenya – Flight 2 9/1/2013
Kenya Rental – Diani Beach
house		 90 9/1/2013 -11/30/2013
Kenya to South Africa –
Flight		 1 11/30/2013
South Africa Rental – Kruger
National Park – House		 116 12/1/2013-3/26/2014
Kruger National Park to
Durban, South Africa – driver		 0 3/26/2014
Cruise Durban
to Capetown – waiting to book		 4 3/26/2014 – 3/30/2014
Cruise Cape
Town to Genoa Italy  – waiting to book		 18 3/30/2014 – 4/17/2014
Drive Genoa,
Italy along French Riviera to Cannes		 1 4/17/2014 – 4/18/2014
Cannes to
16th Century Stone House, Cajarc, France		 30 4/18/2014 – 5/17/2014
Stone House
to Lisbon – Flight to Madeira		 1 5/18/2014
Madeira, Portugal 76 5/18/2014-7/31/2014
Spain, London, France, Portugul (free time to explore) 66 7/31/2014-10/26/2014
Cruise
Barcelona to Miami 		 14 10/26/2012-11/9/2013
Cruise Miami
to Miami  		 7 11/9/2014 – 11/16/2014
Miami Hotel  1 11/16/2014 -11/17/2014
Cruise Miami
to Los Angeles – Will book 6/1/2013		 13 11/17/2014 -11/30/2014
Hawaii Rental
– Big Island		 46 11/30/2014 – 1/14/2015
Kauai Condo
Rental		 120 1/15/2015-5/14/2015
Estimated
Days Remaining from 3/5/2013		 801
5/14/2015 on…we’ll begin adding to the end as soon as bookings become  available

The magic of Skype…

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Willie waiting to Skype with his “aunt” when we were in Nevada for business.

As a kid, I remember fantasizing about being able to “see” using the phone. In the 1950s there was talk about such technology eventually existing, being referred to as Phone-A-Vision (or something like that).  Here we are many years later and this technology not only exists but works rather well.

With the advent of cell phone service providing free long distance in the US, we weren’t frequent users of SKYPE in our old lives.  

For a period of time, I had worked in Nevada, leaving my husband and family behind. (Knowing I’d be gone for several months I brought along our precious little dog WorldWideWillie). With the ease of calling family members on my smartphone, there was little need to use SKYPE. Shortly after I arrived in Nevada my little sister Julie suggested we talk via SKYPE rather than on the phone.

For those of you unfamiliar with SKYPE please click here for a detailed description.

Julie and I began to use Skype on a regular basis.  Willie, a huge fan of Julie, went nuts when he’d hear her voice coming from my laptop while seeing the live video of his “aunt” who had often visited our home.  After only a few occasions, he’d anxiously wait by the computer for me to Skype Julie. He’d bark at my laptop looking up at me with pleading eyes, to make the call.

With both voice and video turned on while talking to Julie, I was able to walk around the house with my laptop showing her where I lived, the inside of the refrigerator, a new gadget I’d purchased, or the bruise I got on my leg when making the bed;  lots of “sister” stuff.

Since leaving the US we’ve talked to family members and friends using Skype.  As soon as we moved into our villa in Laru Beya, I immediately called Julie to “show” her our new place while we giggled in awe of this amazing technology. 

It was necessary to work out a few glitches with Julie to ensure a clear connection.  Discovering that turning off the video aspect along with her calling me using the Skype app on her iPhone, I was able to answer for perfectly clear reception on either my Android phone or on my laptop using the Skype app installed on both devices.

You may wonder, if we no longer have cell service, how can we make a Skype to Skype call using our smartphones? LaruBeya has free WiFI throughout the resort. Our unlocked smartphones (meaning we aren’t locked into a cell contact, our phones are classified as unlocked GSM and thus enabled for SIM card use) don’t currently have SIM cards but are able to pick up a WiFi signal wherever it is available: at this resort, at a Hotspot or any other location that offers free or a pay-for-use wireless Internet connection.

Using Skype, we have no bill to pay and no account to maintain.  All we need is a Skype name for others to easily reach us.  As long as the computer or phone’s sound is turned on, an incoming Skype call rings to a familiar musical tone.

What if both the computer and the phone’s sound is on and a Skype call comes in?  Whichever device we use first, to “pick up the receiver” via clicking on the old fashioned phone handle icon, is the device on which we will take the call.

Since arriving in Belize, we’ve discovered a vital fact about Skype that has saved us a considerable sum. We can call any US toll-free numbers at no charge.  This enables us to handle business matters back in the US calling a landline.

However, if one is calling a non-toll-free number, for instance, a friend’s regular cell number, as opposed to their Skype name using Skype, it is necessary to place funds into a Skype account using a credit card and to pay per minute use. For example, while here in Belize, if we call the local cab company for a driver, we’d have to pay for the call on Skype.  Why?  They don’t have a toll-free number.

We deposited $10 into my Skype account for this purpose which remains intact in the account, less $2.10 for one local call we made at the end of January when inquiring about a golf cart rental. Were we to call family or friend’s landlines or cell phones without their using Skype on their end, the call on Skype would be approximately $2.89 per minute.  As you can see, this adds up.

Back in Minnesota with a shared cell service plan, our average minutes use was a combined 800 minutes per month, resulting in approximately 22 minutes per day for each of us. While outside the US, if we each used the 22 minutes per day, our monthly cost through SKYPE (or through our old Verizon account which we’d investigated) would be $2312!

You may ask, why don’t we have SIM cards installed in our phones for use in Belize?  Simple.  We can use Skype for free.  Why use up minutes on a SIM card when we can use Skype at no expense?  If we had SIM cards, we’d suddenly find we’re frequently loading minutes onto the card while spending huge amounts a month in cell calls.  Plus, we’d eventually end up with dozens of unused balances remaining on SIM cards from all over the world.

As for the magic…my eldest sister, Susan, living in Boulder City, Nevada has been unable to use a computer these past years due to a medical condition. We last spoke on January 3, 2013, the day we left the US. 

In her career she owned a successful travel agency, traveling the world experiencing many cruises, mostly on upscale cruise lines.  How fun it would be to share our experiences with her!  She educated us on cruising when we visited her in Nevada over Christmas, tips that we’ve treasured from the moment we boarded the ship.

Without a laptop and only recently receiving a Kindle Fire, a gift from her daughter, Susan had yet to load Skype. I wanted to speak to her!  While “Skyping” with sister Julie a few days ago, an idea hit me! 

What if I call Julie on Skype at a prearranged time.  She picks up the Skype call on her iPhone verifying that we have a clear connection, (without using video which requires more bandwidth). With her landline next to her, she dials Susan’s landline while pressing the SPEAKER button. 

She sets both phones down on the desk and says to Susan, “I have a surprise for you on the phone!”  Susan cringed.  She doesn’t like to talk to people she doesn’t know on the phone.  Who does?  She made the assumption that whoever was on the line was a stranger. 

Speaking in a normal voice, I said, “Susan, it’s me, Jessica!  I’m calling from Belize through Julie’s Skype!”  

The three of us squealed with delight. Once again, we were together! The sound was clear, free of background noise or static.  It was as if I had called her directly on Skype.  We chatted on endlessly in our usual way with an enthusiastic interest in one another’s lives and well being. 

Well, of course, I can’t expect Julie to be an intermediary on all future calls to Susan. But now, she is highly motivated to take the easy steps to install Skype on her Kindle Fire, making it possible for us to chat anytime we’d like at no cost, anywhere in the world. I’m looking forward to that!

Another “workaround” worked for us in our world travels!

Last week, while talking on Skype with son, Richard in Henderson, Nevada, he was using his smartphone and I was using my laptop, both voice and video were clear. His funny pug Monty, heard my familiar voice, snorted, and licked the phone. See, dogs like Skype, too!

Thanks, Julie!  Thanks, Skype!

What did we do in the past 24 hours?…

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Today, during our usual walk along the beach, we took this photo of the sprawling dock at Robert’s Grove Resort, located next door to our home at Laru Beya Resort in Placencia, Belize.  We find ourselves enjoying the resort next door’s four restaurants and health club.

We’re not on vacation. We’re living our daily lives in a manner not dissimilar to other retired couples, wherever they may live, wherever we may live.

Most days, we don’t awake to a day of planned activities as vacationers often do, ensuring every moment is filled with “getting your money’s worth.”  Usually, we plan an outing once a week or less, weather permitting.   

Dinner at Robert’s Grove Resort again last night, their usual Saturday night barbeque. Along with this scrumptiously prepared pig, there was all you can eat jumbo shrimp, crab legs, grilled red snapper, barbeque chicken, and a wide array of salads.  Dessert was homemade eclairs and Bananas Foster. I didn’t try any.  Tom couldn’t resist. 

Our intention, from the beginning of our planning for this many year’s long travel experience, was to live in an area for one to five months, exploring at our leisure, embracing its people and its culture, leaving behind any feeling of urgency, stress or a lengthy list of “must do’s.” 

We knew that ultimately this state of mind would ensure our ongoing happiness and contentment.  It has.

Arising early as do most seniors, the first thing item on the agenda after starting the coffee is to open the floor-length shades and sliding door to inspect the nature of the day, letting the fresh warm air fill our senses. It’s beautiful, almost every day.  A cold spell came through the past few days with temperatures in the 70’s with a bit of rain off and on. Today, cool, windy, and clear.  Perfect.

Wearing bathing suits all day, washing them with us in the shower each night before dinner, keeps our laundry costs to a minimum. I wash our underwear each day in the sink with a Tide lookalike, hanging it to discretely dry on a canvas chair on the veranda.  By evening, we can slip it on again, dry and fresh from the salty air. 

Tom relaxes with a cocktail before dinner at Robert’s Grove restaurant.

When we dine in as we will tonight, we wear shorts and tee shirts which, when dirty we leave in a mesh bag for the resort’s laundry service. Its returned hours later, wrinkle-free and neatly folded, still warm. Our laundry bill in the past month has been $19. 

Our divinely sweet Mayan maids, Gloria and her equally lovely helper Melinda are scheduled to arrive every Saturday and Wednesday morning at 9 am. Usually, it’s between noon and 4:00 PM. We don’t care. We adore them, their demeanor, their generous spirit, and their hard work. We try to clean up as much as possible before they arrive, trying to lighten their load.  We’ll tip them generously when we leave here in a little over a month’s time.

The aroma of the locally grown coffee provided by the resort fills the air;  the taste, the temperature, impeccable. Pouring ourselves, each a cup, ready for the day, we park ourselves as we often did in our old lives, on the now comfy sofa as opposed to the less comfy chairs (we rearranged the furniture a few days ago). 

Checking email, Facebook, financial matters, and balances on our credit cards each day has become as commonplace here in Belize as it was in Minnesota. 

We find that paying off our credit cards frequently gives us peace of mind in avoiding huge balances and potential interest charges with the constant influx of required final payments for upcoming cruises and rentals.  Our cards don’t charge exchange rate fees.  That’s worth more to us than any other perks

With the weather cooler and windy, I wore jeans to dinner for the first time in two months.

If we’ve spent any money in the prior 24 hours, I log the purpose and the amount on our Excel spreadsheets, placing the receipt in a file all of which I’ll soon scan, later tossing the needless slips of paper.  No point in dragging paper receipts all over the world. I do this daily. I check the budget, daily.  Obsessive?  Perhaps. But we always know where we are financially. It avoids worry. We both prefer that. 

Some days, we make breakfast, others we do not. We eat when we’re hungry, not at a set time unless we dine out. We both seem to get hungry at the same time or maybe we simply accommodate each other’s mention of hunger. Either way, it works for us. 

The walk along the beach invigorates us both, surprisingly a good workout as our feet drag through either the water or the soft sand, moving at a good clip. We can either head left or right on the beach.  We alternate, never tiring of the scenery, the smell of the sea, or the bright sun in our faces.  

Lounging by the infinity pool is a daily occurrence.  Often we’re engaged in lively conversation with other guests or with the villa owners from Minnesota, across the walkway from us. (They share mutual Minnesota friends with Tom! Small world!) We languish in the sun for an hour moving to the shade after an hour.

 Today, the little bird, a Kiskadee, and a crow friend stopped by while we lounged by the pool.
(Click on the link to find the Kiskadee toward the bottom on the page).

After pool time, we return to our villa again lounging on our veranda until close to 5 pm when the no-see-ums attack with vigor requiring us to escape indoors until after dark when they seem to dissipate to some degree. 

While preparing dinner, usually one of a small list of meals that we enjoy considering our limited diet, I drink hot tea and on occasion, Tom will have a cocktail.  We love the evenings, our meal, our conversation, and the sound of the waves lapping at the beach, only 15 feet from our veranda.

Tonight’s dinner, again our favorite, our gluten-free, grain-free, sugar-free, starch-free, low carb pizza will go into the oven soon at 375 degrees for 25 minutes until bubbly.  Luckily found Italian sausage, Chinese button mushrooms, jumbo green olives, and organic onions to make this pizza. With no available grated mozzarella cheese at the store this past time, I improvised slicing the cheese instead. No, we didn’t bring a grater. No, we’re not tired of the pizza. “They” say we all rotate only 10 meals, over and over.
After dinner and dishes, we again pick up our laptops, while the TV with US station hums quietly in the background, neither of us paying much attention as we chatter on endlessly laughing at funny Facebook entries, smiling over the photos of our grandchildren and other family members. 
In the endless quest to refine and research our upcoming travels, we find ourselves often busily clicking away at night, sharing tidbits we find along the way:  a rental car agency in Kenya we could use, a grocery store nearby our vacation home in Madeira, a pub within walking distance in Tuscany or a cruise we may consider in the future. 
By 10:30 pm, we head to the comfortable king-sized bed each bringing along our smartphones neither of which possess a cell phone service although they each have WiFi available from our resort, both of which are loaded with books to read on our Kindle apps.  With no TV in the bedroom, we both read in the dark until we each doze off, peacefully sleeping through the night. 
So, there it is.  Our quiet days on the road, not so glamorous, just living life, enjoying each other, sharing our story with thousands of loyal readers all over the world which in itself adds so much to our experience.  Thank you for joining us.

Countries we’ll visit, real estate to explore, plus photos…

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Famous long sidewalk in Placencia Village with houses scattered along the way.

After spending most of my career as a real estate broker in Minnesota, USA, real estate in Belize peaked my curiosity and Tom’s as well.  With our possible plan to “settle somewhere” when and if we tire of traveling, we’ve decided to research real estate when we find an area particularly appealing. 

An excellent example of local property design, the restaurant, the “Caribbean Breeze Coolspot,” offers sweeping views of the lagoon and the mountains from the deck.

With our newly discovered wanderlust, we can’t imagine living in one locale for an extended period.  But, let’s face it, advancing age may require a fixed location some time down the road

House along the drive into Placencia Village.

How can we make this potential eventuality fun and exciting, rather than a dreaded eventuality of aging?  Taking care of our health is firmly implanted in our lives.  As we all know, unforeseen medical issues can occur in a flash, no matter the attempts one has made to avert it.  We’re products of our genes, our environment, and past bad habits, that can haunt our DNA for a lifetime.

House on the way to Placencia Village.  There’s a tremendous amount of poverty in Belize.

Keeping a positive attitude isn’t a guaranty either, as much as we’d like to believe it is.  So, we’ve decided to live now, as if we’ll live long and healthy lives, full of energy, full of passion, and full of hope.

House we see each time we walk along the beach heading south on the Placencia peninsula.

This hope precipitates a desire to explore what options will be available to us for not only our pleasure but also for a certain degree of ease of living.  Would Belize fill that bill?  We don’t know.  We’re yet to define a frame of reference from one locale to another.

Occupied house near the pier at Monkey River.

We will have visited the following countries including many of their cities and regions in the next two-plus years. Health providing, we’ll add many more in the years to come.  With a three and a half month unplanned gap in Europe in 2014 and a plan to explore more countries during that time, perhaps we’ll add three to four more countries to this list.  (These are listed in no particular order).
1.      USA
2.      Belize
3.      France
4.      Italy
5.      Spain
6.      Turkey
7.      Greece
8.      United Arab Emirates
9.      US Virgin islands
10.  Honduras
11.  Grand Cayman
12.  Bahamas
13.  Puerto Rico
14.  Grand Turks and Caicos
15.  Portugal
16.  Egypt
17.  Jordan
18.  Kenya
19.  South Africa
20. Panama
21. Mexico
22. Guatemala
23. Costa Rica
24. Columbia

With ten upcoming cruises from April 2013 to November 2014, we’ll have an opportunity to look at properties while in port along the way, both for sale and for rent. This process may not give us a definitive view of our eventual long term location but may inspire us to return to live in a particular locale for a number of months to better acquaint ourselves with the lifestyle.

House along the canal leading to the lagoon, leading to the Caribbean Sea.

So often, while on vacation, we’ve all fantasized about moving to the location to live an idyllic life lounging on a pristine sandy beach, with the waves lapping at our feet. 

In only a short time, we’ve come to realize in our own naivety, that however romantic and inviting a location maybe, in time, we all settle into the comfortable and the familiar which hopefully brings us a sense of contentment, fulfillment, and a certain degree of happiness.

More visas needed???…Check, check and recheck!…

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Our cruise company sent us this email message a few weeks ago:

“Dear Mrs. Lyman,

Thank you again for booking with Vacations To Go!

I wanted to send a quick email to remind you that one or more of the ports of
call, you will be visiting, will require a Visa.

If you are a U.S. citizen, U.S. permanent resident or a Canadian citizen
residing in Canada and have not contacted CIBT, to verify your visa
requirements for this sailing, please contact them as soon as possible.

All other, non-US or Canadian citizens must verify proof of citizenship, and
visa requirements with the embassy, consulate or immigration office of the
countries in their cruise itinerary.

Vacations To Go has partnered with CIBT, one of the nation’s largest passport
and visa services companies in the country, to assist U.S. citizens, permanent
residents and Canadian citizens in obtaining any required visas or a passport.
Visas may be purchased within six months of the start of the vacation but,
please be aware that for some countries it may take up to 30 days to secure a
visa.

If you are a US citizen or permanent resident and need to obtain a visa,
click here.

If you are a US citizen and need to obtain a passport, click here.

If you are a Canadian Citizen residing in Canada and need to obtain a visa,
click here.

For visa or passport questions, call CIBT customer service at 1-877-841-8602.
Be sure to identify yourself as a Vacations To Go customer and reference
account 45585. CIBT is available from 7:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. CST, Monday
through Friday.

Please let me know if you have any questions!

Sincerely,

Joaquin Contreras
Travel Counselor
Vacations To Go
jcontreras@vacationstogo.com“

We have total faith in our cruise counselor, Joaquin, and his company Vacations to Go for providing us with the most updated important information, superb customer service, and the best possible pricing.  I imagine, that the above letter is a standard letter sent to upcoming cruise passengers via the cruise lines on their behalf resulting in the “travel agents” presenting the information to their clients. 

Upon reading this letter, we followed the links to CIBT, a highly reputable visa and passport company per online reviews, the Better Business Bureau reports, and recommendations by VTG. 

Previously, we had used  VisaHQ, a company located on Embassy Row in Washington, DC in order to obtain our second passports (to find detailed information about the necessity of having a second US passport, please type “second passports” in the search box on our home page to go directly to our posts regarding the necessity of a second passport.)

With these links and information on hand, we proceeded to go to CIBT to set up an online account.  When asked, “what country will you be visiting?” I was stymied.  With four countries requiring a visa in our upcoming cruises through June 2013, my hope and expectation would be that we could apply for all four at once. 

Those countries requiring visas include Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, and United Arab Emirates. The other dozen or more countries in our upcoming eight cruises in 2013 (two more scheduled so far for 2014) do not require a visa for stays under 30 days. 

The dilemma we faced after receiving this letter:
1.  To apply for a visa, one must send their passport to the processing company along with a stack of ancillary documents, based on each country’s particular requirements.
2.  To avoid paying extra processing fees, as much as $150 per visa, one may apply early to ensure the documents are received in time for the cruises and…to get one’s passport back with the documents. When we ordered our second passports they were sent to us by registered mail to our mailing service in Nevada which we picked up when we went to Las Vegas for Christmas.
3.  Thus, without having established an address here in Belize and the potential for slow transit from the US to Central America, it’s likely should we try to apply now for June, there’s a high risk of not receiving our passports and visas in time before we depart on April 9th.

After Tom and I discussed this at length, after confirming that we did in fact need visas for these four countries we’ll visit on our cruises from May to June, we came up with this plan:
1.  Complete all the paperwork while here using our portable printer and scanner.
2.  Begin the process of applying online while here, leaving out the mailing of our passports until we get to Miami on April 13th when our ship, the Carnival Liberty, docks at the Port of Miami for approximately 10 hours.  
3.  Grab a cab, heading directly to a UPS store near the pier, mail our documents registered mail to CIBT, pick up our forwarded awaiting mail and packages we’d pre-arranged to arrive on April 13th, mail our excess luggage to my sister in Los Angeles, get back on the ship and continue on to the next cruise.
4.  In the packet to CIBT, we’ll have requested the visa and 2nd passports to be sent to our hotel in Barcelona Spain, where we’ll stay one night, May 5th, boarding our 15-night cruise in the morning through the Suez Canal to see the Great Pyramids, Giza, Cairo, The Sphinx, and more (will post details later), where three of the four visas are required. 

Whew! This is cutting it very close…one night in Barcelona with documents being delivered in a very narrow window. Of course, the hotel would gladly hold the package for us for a few days.  But what if it didn’t arrive, or was lost? 

Suddenly, we both felt a twinge of stress.  Our only piece of mind would be to have them sent from the US to Barcelona, the quickest, most expensive way.  We were willing to bear this expense. And yet, there still was no guarantee.

Our goal thus far has been to keep stress at a minimum, avoiding that angst-ridden feeling one takes on in bed in the middle of the night, interrupting sleep, a familiar feeling from our “old lives”, a feeling that seems unavoidable in the hustle and bustle of daily life.  

Lounging on the veranda yesterday, creating a definitive plan we both could live with, a thought occurred to us simultaneously; let’s call CIBT explaining our dilemma and see what suggestions they may offer. 

Since we no longer have a cell phone plan, using Skype and SIM cards as needed, we knew we could call their toll-free number using Skype, incurring no cost at all.  We discovered much to our delight, that we can call any business in the US without incurring any costs, as long as they have a toll free number.  They answer on their regular phone systems while we call on Skype for free.  Nice.  Thanks, SKYPE!  

Dialing their toll-free number, we were connected to a representative within 30 seconds. The call was clear with a bit of an echo.  Explaining our dilemma to the representative, she asked us to kindly wait and she’d be right back.  Watching the clock on Skype, she returned in less than a minute asking us the names of the cruise lines for these two upcoming cruises.  We responded that the May 6th cruise was with Royal Caribbean and the second was with Norwegian Cruise Lines.

Again, we were on hold for a short time. She returned to the phone with glee in her voice, “I have good news for you!” We held our breath. “You will not need pre-arranged visas on either of your cruises. You’ll receive them on board your ship at the time you disembark to go on your excursions.  Both of these cruise lines have an arrangement with these countries to provide visas at their ports of call.”

We squealed with delight.  Tom, or shall I say, “doubting Thomas” wanted more verification of this, worrywart that he is.  Immediately, we contacted Joaquin, our cruise guy by email.  An hour later, we received an email confirming that CIBT is correct, we don’t need to obtain visas in advance for the four countries, not always the case, but in these particular two situations, we could relax.

Had we not “called” receiving this valuable information, we would have followed the procedures online, paying the expenses of upwards of $600, while dealing with the stress of the timing.

Who knows how to travel the world for 5-10 years or more, managing all the details, documents, financial and medical concerns?  We don’t.  But we’re learning, day by day in bite-sized pieces with so much more ahead of us.  We’ll flounder, we’ll make mistakes, we’ll trust when we shouldn’t and wrongfully mistrust when we should.

Lesson learned.

A walk on the beach…Changing our ways…

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This photo of Tom clearly depicts our quiet, contemplative, uncomplicated lives, relatively free of stress. 

Tom always jokes that he never imagined that his retirement would include walking other the necessary steps from his comfy chair to the bathroom, the kitchen, the bedroom, and the yard.  Yes, he was quite the handyman, fixing and fussing as needed, walking about the house.  We never took a walk together in our neighborhood.

As I began planning our worldwide travels over a year ago I budgeted for rental cars for most locations fearing that Tom would seldom want to walk to nearby restaurants, shops, and pubs.

Living in Belize for an extended period, the cost of a rental car or even a golf cart was prohibitive.  After all, we are on the secluded peninsula of Placencia, a four-hour drive from Belize City where our ship arrived. 

Upon arriving, we resigned ourselves to occasionally renting a golf cart as needed.  Much to our liking, we now have our own cab driver Estevan, whom I’ve mentioned here, who will take us anywhere we’d like to go for reasonable rates during daylight hours leaving us to “hoof it” for dinners out at night.

With multiple good restaurants nearby requiring no more than a 10-minute walk each way, our transportation needs are fulfilled.  We dine out two or three times a week and love rotating our favorites, especially on the nights they offer their stupendous buffets.  If we go on an adventure, transportation is provided.  So, we walk.  Tom walks.

After moving to Laru Beya on February 5th with a massive expanse of white sand beach in front of our villa, Tom surprised me when within a few days of arriving he suggested we walk the beach, a popular tourist outing.  I always treasured walking in our old neighborhood with our precious little dogs to their favorite spot, Poop Park, often walking with our equally wonderful neighbors and their little dogs. 

As long as the temperature was above 10 degrees we walked. The pads of their little feet would quickly freeze at lower temperatures.  Often, our World Wide Willie would stop dead in his tracks looking up at me with sorrowful eyes that asked me to carry him home when he’d had enough and of course, I did.  In the snow, on the ice, I carried him home, all 22 pounds of him, often as much as a 1/2 mile.  I loved walking.  Tom, not so much, having never walked the neighborhood with me once in 22 years.

Each day we began to walk along the beach at a lofty pace, in the water or on the sand, carefully watching for stray rocks, shells and bits of glass, engaged in idle chatter or in quiet contemplation. 

We can change, can’t we?  Life circumstances often unplanned, force us to look at our often rigid ways, leaving us open to change, to grow and to learn.  Some take advantage of the opportunity, others do not.  We revel in watching each other depart from that which we knew as familiar and comfortable, to the new people we are fast becoming. 

The chairs here aren’t comfy, the kitchen supplies are limited, finding foods for our way of eating is challenging, not owning cars is peculiar and no Walgreen’s is daunting. But we change to accept the differences, growing and learning in the process, all the while reveling in our personal ability to adapt. 

As I over-packed for almost a year in Minnesota all the things that “I couldn’t live without” much of which is now packed to be shipped to my sister in Los Angeles when we get to Miami on April 13th, I realized that I too could let go of things, learning to live without the comfortable and the familiar.

All the kind and generous advice others gave us regarding our excess luggage could only have meaning to us when we discovered it on our own, in our own time, on our own terms.  We’ve changed.  We’ll continue to change.

Suddenly, we look at one another with new eyes, with a new interest, knowing that wherever we maybe we’ll learn new ways of life, we’ll release old ways that don’t work in a new environment and, without a doubt,  we’ll walk, we’ll walk and we’ll walk.