Its fun to see others following in our footsteps around the globe…More favorite photos…

Mongooses on the veranda looking for eggs.

“Sighting of the Day in the Bush”

Nature is amazing! Wildebeest males have blondish hair on their heads until they are fully mature. This keeps the older males from fighting for dominance as they assume they are females who permanently have blondish hair.

Over the years of our world travel, we’ve encountered many couples curious about our lifestyle. On occasion, we’ve met a few couples who have sold everything they own, but often they have storage, only travel for a year or two, or have an apartment or home somewhere in the world for when they decide to call it quits.

Female lion checking out her surroundings.

Our example of having no home, no apartment, no storage, no cars, and traveling for many years is somewhat unusual but is becoming less so over the next few years as more and more people find ways to retire early or as seniors in good health, take the plunge and go for it.

We met a lovely couple, LeaAnn and Chuck, while on a 24-night cruise from Sydney, Australia, heading to Seattle, Washington. They were thinking about traveling when retiring this year but hadn’t, at that time, begun the laborious process of changing and unloading everything in their lives.  

Two female lions far across the Crocodile River.

In the past few days, they’ve taken off to begin their world journey, having spent the past year preparing for this unique lifestyle. They are our ages and, like us, worked until retirement allowed for this substantial change of lifestyle.

Mom and baby zebras in the bush.

Over the past year, we’ve spoken to LeaAnn and Chuck a few times on Skype answering questions and sharing some of the issues we’ve encountered along the way. There’s been a steady stream of email messages and, of course, well wishes from them as of late.

One of the most frequently asked questions future travelers have asked is, “What happens if one of you becomes ill? Without a home, how do you manage?”

Oddly, most recently, with the necessity of me have coronary bypass surgery in a foreign country, we’ve experienced this first hand, and in the future, we’ll be able to describe exactly how we handled this trying situation.

When we don’t have the birdfeeder up due to the Vervet monkeys, the hornbills squawk at us until we give them seeds. They often sit atop the door frame or peck at the glass on the window.

In this post of May 10, 2017, we’d met another couple, Sue and Scott, also close to our ages, who’d also embarked on such a journey, leaving most of which they owned behind. We haven’t heard from them lately but wonder how they are doing and still traveling. We’ve met and communicated with dozens of other couples on a mission of seeing the world in various ways.

After a year or two, people often discover that this life isn’t for them for the long haul, and they find a home or apartment at a location that particularly appeals to them, often close to family and friends. This would be the norm, not the exception.

A zebra determined to get our attention for pellets.

If anything had stopped us from traveling, it would have been my current medical issues, but as each day passes, we feel more and more confident that we’ll be able to continue. After all, I only have a wound on my left leg that needs to heal, and surely over the next few months, while we’re in Ireland, it will heal with diligence and continued care.

Gee, sorry, I wasn’t going to mention my health this weekend, but it seemed relevant to today’s topic and many other topics we discussed.

So, now, as LeaAnn and Chuck begin their journey, we wish them the very best as we celebrate with them their courage and their resilience and the bravery required to start such a life of non-stop world travel.  

Mom and baby duiker.  Duikers usually weigh around 16 kg, 35 pounds. The steenbok, which we have yet to see in Marloth Park but Kruger, is slightly smaller.

It’s been such a joy to share this with the two of them and with the many others we’ve met along the way, who’ve written to us, and many who have stayed in touch with us via Facebook as to where they are at any given moment. How fun it is for us to see them visiting places we’ve been or places we’ve yet to see.

Three weeks from today, we’re hoping to leave South Africa to head to Ireland, our next stop in our travels. We’ve yet to book our flight (many options still available) until we are assured I won’t need more surgery on my leg. 

Enjoy your Easter holiday weekend!