Caring for one’s health while traveling the world…More historical railroad photos..

An old Telegraph machine.

“Sighting from the Veranda in Costa Rica”

Yesterday morning Tom spotted this massive insect in the pool. He scooped it out of the water with the pool net placing it next to his foot for a frame of reference. If it revived, we would have put it back into the garden, but, alas, it did not recover.

As we’ve mentioned in prior posts, we’ll continue to share photos we’d had yet to post over our remaining days in Costa Rica. With only 29 days until we depart for Florida and two nights upcoming in Nicaragua this weekend, we’ll have plenty of photos to get us through until our final departure.

We apologize if some of the photos we’ll be posting during our remaining time in Costa Rica are similar to others. In each case, they are “new” versions of scenes that may be familiar. We do the best we can with photos keeping a specific filing system that prevents repeats day by day. Of course, “favorite photos” posted during our last few days at any location are always repeats.

An antique printer.

With only four days until we depart for Nicaragua, I’ve begun gathering a few items we’ll bring on the weekend trip.  We won’t be checking any bags for this short trip, only carry on; the computer backpack and one wheeling duffel bag. 

Traveling so light will seem weird when we always carry “literally everything we own” with us from country to country. As much as we’d like to be those people who can travel with only backpacks, that’s not us. Typically, those travelers aren’t traveling non-stop for five years (so far).

Juan Ramon wanted us to watch a video on an old computer of the festival on the last day the trains would arrive and depart Atenas.

As the month winds down, we’ve begun thinking about upcoming tasks once we return from the weekend trip to Nicaragua. Next week, on November 2nd, we have the physical exams required by the Antarctica cruise line to be certified by the physician that our health is sufficient enough to embark on such a cruise in such an isolated location, impossible-to-reach by medical evacuation.

Toy trains on display at the museum.

As always, I’m hesitant about going to a doctor. If it weren’t for the necessity of doing so, I’d continue in this lengthy recovery period of this gastrointestinal thing. It’s not gone, and, I’ve concluded, this may be a chronic reality of my long-term health.  

Miscellaneous railroad equipment.

I’d already seen three doctors in Australia for this condition and am now convinced I’m like many seniors worldwide with a stomach problem that requires mindfulness about what, when, and how much is eaten and drank.

Some fuel gauge.

The biggest problem is the bloating in the morning which if I don’t drink anything but plain water, improves throughout the day. I’m fine after eating a normal-sized dinner. It’s rarely painful, especially now that I’m still taking the PPIs. 

More odds and ends.

I continue to eat lots of vegetables, healthy sources of protein, small amounts of full-fat dairy, eggs, and herbal teas. I’ve tried eliminating many foods, but nothing changes. It’s the way it is. I must learn to live with it and stop waiting to wake up one day to find it totally resolved. It’s not going to happen.

A variety of jacks were used on the railroad.

Thus, like many of you, I’m re-framing my thinking to accept this reality and maintain the positive outlook that has been my “m.o.” all these years. By no means has this condition prevented Tom and me from having a wonderful time every day? We all have aspects of our lives we must learn to accept.

Insulators for telegraph of electric wires.

Based on the fact I have no pain, am completely and fully mobile and able to do everything I’d been able to do prior to this condition, I can’t complain. As always, we’re both so grateful for the quality of our lives and the blissful experiences we encounter every day.

May you find many aspects in your life giving you a sense of gratefulness.

Photo from one year ago today, October 24, 2016:

On our last full day in Bali, owners of the villa Francoise and Egon took us out to dinner at a restaurant on the beach. It was finally time to leave Bali after a total of four months (in two separate two-month stints). For more photos, please click here.