 |
| View from our hotel room in Mumbai, overlooking the Arabian Sea. |
We arrived at our hotel, Sun-n-Sand, overlooking Juhu Beach on the Arabian Sea, and we couldn’t be more pleased. But, more on our trip tomorrow when we’re coherent enough to write a post.
A few-hour nap, a nice dinner in the hotel’s restaurant, followed by a good night’s sleep, and we’ll be good to go.
See you soon with the “rest of the story.”
Sweet dreams.
 |
| Four years ago, in 2016, we spent three months in New Plymouth, New Zealand, living on an alpaca farm. In the early evening, a group of the babies got together to play, running through the paddock, making us laugh over their playful antics. For more photos, please click here. |
If shopping is your thing, Heathrow Airport would be heavenly for the shopping/spending enthusiast. Fortunately, that’s not us. We breezed by the designer shops without giving any thought of looking around, even if it may help us kill a portion of the eight-hour layover in between flights.
Perhaps, we’re foolish and old-fashioned to prefer a live server, taking our orders when in what appears to be a mid-range establishment. If it were a fast-food spot, we’d get it. But this is the first time we’ve encountered this scenario in all of our years of world travel.
I suppose this will be the wave of the future. No humans, only machines. However, on the British Airways flight from Phoenix, Arizona to Heathrow, we experienced exceptional service.
The plane wasn’t entire, and I wandered about looking for three empty seats in a row for the possibility of laying down to get some sleep during the 10-hour overnight flight.
A kindly male flight attendant said, “No worries. I’ll arrange this for you.”
Moments later, he found me and escorted me to an empty row of three seats. He’d swapped out my existing aisle seat for a man sitting in a middle seat, enabling me to have an entire row to myself. Tom was left several rows behind me as opposed to us being across the aisle from me.
The three seats didn’t allow for comfortable sleeping with the seat belts jabbing in my side and back, but after grabbing some of the plane’s little pillows to cover them, I was able to get comfortable enough to sleep for about three hours.
Tom said he’d slept a total of 40 minutes, not enough to ease the nagging discomforts of lack of sleep more prevalent at this age than ever before in our lives. He’s exhausted, and I’m not far behind him. The three hours of fitful sleep left me weary, especially now, and I am nodding off from time to time.\
We’d accidentally left our converters to be used with our adapters in the checked bags, and now, when the battery dies on my laptop, I’ll be out of luck. The clock is ticking down as I type fast and furiously.
Had I known how well Tom’s old laptop would work once I reformatted it, I’d have ordered a new battery. Too late now. His new Chromebook should last all day, as he sits there busying himself to divert his attention from being so tired.
But, this is temporary. In another four hours or so, we’ll be boarding the final leg of this long journey and be able to rest a little better than sitting on a hard chair in a restaurant.
In another 15 hours, we’ll arrive in Mumbai, and surely the excitement of being in this crazy busy city will get our adrenaline flowing. Upon arrival, we will
immediately attempt to adapt to the time zone by eating and sleeping at times consistent with our location. We’ve found doing so helps us to avoid jet lag.See this:
“Phoenix is behind Mumbai by 12 hours 30 minutes.”
This is halfway around the world. This will be the most significant time zone difference we’ll have experienced in over seven years. We’ll keep you updated as to how this goes.
As my battery dwindles, I need to wrap this up. Hopefully, we have time to check for typos. We’ll likely miss a few in our sorry states of being.
We’ll be back in 24 hours or so with more, at which point we’ll be settled in our hotel and have had a bit of rest.
Photo from one year ago today, January 30, 2019:
 |
| The littlest one followed the adults as they were on their way out of the Crocodile River next to Marloth Park. Take care, dear readers. For more, please click here. |
 |
| At lunch, that day, two years ago, one of the chefs on our Antarctica cruise, on Ponant Le’Boreal, was preparing a beef and vegetable stir-fry outdoors. We all partook of the delicious offering but decided to dine indoors. It was a little too cold to eat outside for our liking. For more photos, please click here. |
Last night, we played our final round of buck euchre with Gene and Eugene. As always, it was pretty enjoyable. Tom and I speculated over how fun it would be to find players in our future travels.
However, that’s highly unlikely. That particular card game is popular in the Midwest and is seldom played in other parts of the world. When we return to the US in about two years, we’ll play cards again with his family.
Tom’s sisters and brothers-in-law only spend their winters in Apache Junction, Arizona, and Minnesota’s balance of the year. Most likely, next time we visit Minnesota, it won’t be during the cold winter months, and we’ll see his family and our kids and grandchildren in Minnesota, once again.
This morning, as I sit here preparing today’s post, I’m feeling at ease. Most of our packing is complete, and all I have left to do is restock my 28-day pill case and empty the food in the refrigerator.
We’re bringing all the remaining non-perishables and perishables over to the sisters to see if they can use anything. If not, their friend Margie (another Margie) will bring everything to the local Food Shelf where she volunteers.
We’ve weighed all of our bags except for the supplies bag, which is always questionable in meeting the weight restrictions, in this case, 50 pounds (23 kg) per bag.
Assuming we won’t have easy access to a pharmacy for toiletries, I’ve had to pack enough to last for three months; two months in India and 29-days on the following cruise from Mumbai to London. Once we arrive in the UK, and then Europe, we’ll easily find the products we use.
Last night’s six hours of sleep was filled with crazy dreams and frequent periods of wakefulness. Tom experienced the same. But this morning, upon awakening, I felt fine and ready to tackle the remaining tasks for the day.
Our new friend, Jodi, kindly volunteered to take us to the airport. This is so appreciated, especially since we must leave during rush hour at 5:30 pm. With the traffic, we should arrive by 6:15 pm with our first flight departing at 8:40 PM.
We’ll fly all night for 10 hours, and as mentioned, we’ll spend 8 of the daytime hours at busy Heathrow Airport. We’ll attempt to find a place to plug in our equipment and busy ourselves online.
Here are our combined final expenses for our 82 days in the USA, beginning on November 8, 2019 and ending today:
| Final Expenses USA | US Dollar |
| Vacation Home AZ | $ 3,626.00 |
| Gifts & Misc. | $ 325.00 |
| Airfare | $ 872.00 |
| Rental Car | $ 996.78 |
| Groceries | $ 4,100.32 |
| Dining Out | $ 2,082.00 |
| Supplies & Pharmacy | $ 1,674.05 |
| Total Cost (82 days) | $13,675.83 |
| Average Daily Cost (82 days) | $ 166.78 |
We did not include the cost of new digital equipment and clothing, but we did have the cost of supplies we purchased for the next three months.
Also, we paid no rent while staying with friends Karen and Rich for three weeks in Minnesota, nor did we pay rent during the 11 nights we spent with son Richard in Nevada. Of course, we hosted several dinners out in sincere thanks for their hospitality.
Here in Arizona, we paid the rent as mentioned above from 12/09/2019 to 1/31/2020. The property manager gave us a discount to compensate for our early departure, today on January 29th.
Most likely, we’ll upload a post tomorrow during our 8-hour layover, providing we have access to wifi and a place to plug in our equipment. If not, sit tight. As soon as we get settled in the hotel in a few days, we’ll prepare a new post.
Thanks for all the warm wishes from many of our loyal readers/friends. We so appreciate your kindness and words of encouragement.
We’ll be back at you soon! Take care and be well!
Photos from one year ago today, January 29, 2019:
 |
| We could only guess why this particular lioness hadn’t been hunting and eating. For more photos, please click here. |
This trip to India will be my first foray into testing my “new normal” after having open heart surgery almost one year ago on February 12, 2019. Of course, there’s a little apprehension about the prospect of the long upcoming flights and the busy days in India where we’ll be on a guided tour for 55 days, doing something new and different every day.
The past year was spent with considerable downtime, allowing me to heal at my own pace, rarely feeling rushed or imposed upon with responsibilities and obligations I couldn’t easily handle.
Now that we’re facing a very long flight of almost 30 hours, this time in coach, not business class, which includes an 8-hour layover and two overnight flights on either end, no doubt, I am a little apprehensive.
Neither of us can sleep sitting up. Sure, once in a while, we nod off while watching a show, perhaps dozing for five or ten minutes at most. Also, the seats on a plane aren’t nearly as comfortable as a recliner or sofa in any of our past vacation/holiday homes.
Oddly, this flight includes two overnight flights. That transpires due to the fact of the various time changes and the 8-hour daytime layover in London. I’m not looking forward to it. Then again, neither of us ever looks forward to flying, mainly due to layovers, lots of waiting, and uncomfortable seating.
As for the priority lounge, we’ve decided to check them out once we arrive at Heathrow Airport. We’ve been reading varying reviews on these lounges and feel it’s essential to see what they’re like before spending the extra fees, some of which are close to $200 for the two of us. We shall see.
As for today, we’ll slow down the socializing, although this afternoon, after we’ve done the laundry and packed what we’re keeping into our respective suitcases, we’re meeting up with Eugene and Gene for one final round of buck euchre.
After playing cards, we’ll head back to our place to have dinner and do any last-minute packing. Although we don’t have to leave for the airport until late afternoon on Wednesday, we’d like to have almost everything handled by the end of today, leaving us free for a few last-minute tasks such as returning the furniture to its original positions tidying up the park model.
Tomorrow, we’ll post the final expenses for our 82 days in Minnesota, Nevada, and Arizona in the US, which began on November 8, 2019, and ended on January 29, 2020. I’ve already put together all of the numbers but didn’t include the cost for new clothing and digital equipment we’d purchased while here.
Regardless of a smidgen of apprehension, I’m mentally and physically prepared for the challenge ahead, as is Tom. Once we are settled into our hotel in Mumbai we’ll be greatly relieved to have this long journey behind us. From there, it should be pure pleasure, and we’ll share every moment.
Happy day and evening to all!
Photo from one year ago today, January 27, 2019:
|
||
| This was an exciting sighting for us, the elusive Nyala which we’d never seen during this past year in South Africa. From this site: The handsome slate-brow marked with white vertical stripes and spots on the flanks. Rams appear more charcoal-gray in colo from this site. The rams have long inward curved horns 650 mm (26 inches) and a white chevron on their face. They have a ridge of long hairs along the underparts, from behind the chin to between the hind legs, they also have a mane of thick, black hair from the head along the spine to the rump. Rams weigh 115 kg (254 pounds) and measure 1.05 m (41 inches) at the shoulders. Ewes are much smaller and do not have horns, and weigh 59 kg (130 pounds) and stand 900 mm (35 inches) at the shoulders. Ewes are chestnut-coated with even more prominent white stripes on the flanks. For more photos, please click here.
|
 |
| Two years ago today, we wrote: “This is unreal…the Black Browed Albatross on Steeple Jason Island, remove tall grass from these massive “pod-like” structures, adding mud and vegetation to make it a freestanding pod on which they can nest. Here’s a young chick making a little noise while atop their elevated nest. That’s amazing!” See the post here. |
This morning I headed out to Safeway one last time for a few grocery items to fill in the blanks over the next few days. I received a $10 credit on the things I purchased from using up my rewards points. Tonight, we’ll eat breakfast again for dinner to use the remaining bacon and eggs we have on hand.
Tomorrow morning, we’ll do the laundry and finish packing our clothing bags and weigh them. We’re allowed two checked bags each, weighing a maximum of 50 pounds (23 kg) each. This should work fine for both of us.
We removed the duffel bag in Minnesota and replaced it with a good quality wheeling carry-on-sized bag. We’ll pack our heavy jeans and coats in this bag. Here’s what we currently have for luggage, including carry-on bags:
1. Tom’s clothing: 50 pounds
2. Jess clothing: 50 pounds
3. Small carry-on bag: 40 pounds (we’ll check this)
4. Carry-on backpack computer bag: 20
5. Carry-on bag (doubles as a handbag): 15 pounds
6. Carry-on yellow Costco bag which holds medications and prescriptions, my small pillow and blanket: 15 pounds
We’ve tried to reduce this load, but after these seven-plus years of world travel, we don’t see how we can narrow this down any further as hard as we’ve tried. Thus, we’ll continue as always.
As mentioned in an earlier post, while in the hotel in Mumbai for two nights, we’ll reduce our load to eliminate some weight and leave a bag behind at the hotel for two months.
Then, besides packing, we’re thinking a little about the Coronavirus but not as much as some may. There have been only a few cases so far in India, and they’ve been testing all arriving passenger’s temperatures at all major airports. So far, they’ve sent 12 passengers back to China, refusing them entry. Hopefully, this diligence continues.
This morning I purchased more wipes, not only for our hands but also for surfaces that we’ll wipe down wherever we go, including the armrests and tray tables on both planes and all characters in our hotel room, including phone, remote, door handles, etc.
Today, our 100 disposable face masks will arrive from Amazon. I had a hard time finding these online, including at the Amazon site. We’d seen a news report in China where people were lined, hundreds deep, at a pharmacy hoping to be able to purchase face masks when they were almost sold out.
We’re taking every precaution we can, and we are striving to be sensible and practical. However, if we’d had plans to visit China at this time, I am certain we would have felt it necessary to change our plans.
Last night, we hosted a happy hour for our neighbors and Tom’s family. We gathered around the outdoor table and enjoyed a few hours of lively conversation, snacks and drinks.
Worrying is pointless; precautions make sense. We continue with hope in our hearts that all will be well.
Have a meaningful Monday!
Photo from one year ago today, January 27, 2019:
 |
| This was one of the youngest kudus we’ve seen this season. For more photos, please click here. |
 |
| In Kauai, Hawaii, on this date in 2015, our friend Richard, who sadly has since passed away, sat behind the impressive magistrate’s desk, gave us a feeling as to how it would have been to visit his office in St. Louis, Missouri might have been, before he and wife Elaine moved to Kauai. For more, please click here. |
 |
| “Hot tub by candlelight” with Little lounging in the cement pond on a hot evening in the bush. For more photos, please click here. |
 |
| On either side of the face are two hanging red-tipped pieces of skin. When the Helmeted Guinea-fowl moves about, these swing around as would a pair of dangling earrings. Ah, the beauty of the wild! A photo from six years ago today at this link. |
When none of Tom’s sisters required a used computer, when they each had well-working devices of their own, their friend Jodi (and now ours) volunteered to take it off my hands rather than dropping it off at a recycling facility.
Subsequently, I reformatted the drive, and it’s now running like a brand new laptop. This may be more of a thrill for me than for Jodi! At noon, I’m heading over to Jodi’s park model to set it up for her.
Recycling any personal possessions provides a great sense of satisfaction for the donor and the recipient, not only for environmental reasons but also for the joy of transferring your treasured items to someone who will enjoy the use of the thing.
Perhaps for sentimental reasons, it’s gratifying to know the recipient will carry on the legacy of a particular item that may have been a big part of the donor’s history.
Whoa! My old laptop has been around the world! I’ve pounded out millions of words on that keyboard after using it since January 2015, when I purchased it while in Big Island, Hawaii, at a Costco store.
And I’ve uploaded 2725 posts (as of today), done so with our passion for the world, our ability to continue to travel, and the fantastic people and wildlife we’ve been blessed to meet along the way.
Of course, all remnants of the past have been deleted, and only a fresh palate remains. It’s not so much that I’ve been emotionally attached to it. More so, it symbolizes all the experiences we’ve gleaned along the way since we purchased it five years ago.
As we donate clothing to Goodwill, mainly when it was a favorite item, it makes us wonder who may one day own that item and hoping they will enjoy it as much as we did.
We live in a “throw-away society” described as follows: “The throw–away society” is a human society strongly influenced by consumerism. The term describes a critical view of overconsumption and excessive production of short-lived or disposable items over durable goods that can be repaired.”
We observe this throughout the world. It’s not exclusive only to the USA. Even in some of the most remote areas of the world, we’ve witnessed rampant disregard for our planet and its future.
Each of us has the opportunity to play a small role in passing on our used items that we’ve since replaced, especially when we take a little time to bring them up to a usable condition for the recipient.
No, we aren’t perfect in this area, nor will we ever be. But we began to appreciate it more when in 2012, we sold or gave away everything we owned to travel the world.
At this crucial time in our lives, we began to understand this concept of letting go of “stuff” we didn’t need and, hopefully, putting it into the hands of those who may.
Soon, we’ll begin packing. We’ve discovered we need further to lighten our load for the constant traveling in India. We’ll donate some items, and those we’ll need down the road, we’ll send to our mailing service to be held until we can use them again.
Trying to figure out how to handle “stuff” is a fact of our peculiar lives. We do our best to do so in a manner that befits our appreciation of our world and the many gifts it has to offer…those we cannot hold in our hands but only in our hearts and minds.
Be well.
Photo from one year ago today, January 25, 2019:
 |
| We spotted a giraffe with two male impalas in Marloth Park. For more photos, please click here. |
 |
| Tom and his four sisters (two weren’t able to travel to Arizona). From left to right (back row); Colleen, Tom, Mary Ellen with Rita, and Margie (front row). |
 |
| Gorgeous lounge area on the veranda. |
 |
| Laurie and Craig’s home and veranda overlook the golf course. |
 |
| Fifteen attended the barbecue, including some friends. |
 |
| The smoker in Laurie and Craig’s backyard with meats ready for the final cooking. |
 |
| It was hard to believe how quickly these ostrich chicks have grown from the tiny little things they were six months ago. For more photos, please click here. |
 |
| This photo taken in 2014 when we toured the Panorama Route was posted last year on this date. This handsome cheetah we met at Moholoholo Rehabilitation Centre was recovering from poisoning due to an attempt to kill him for his hide. He won’t return to the wild due to the risk of being killed by his species. He’s been made an “ambassador” to represent the rehab center in saving his and other species from becoming endangered. Watching him through the electrified fencing, we were anxious to get inside for “hands-on.” Here‘s the link from that post. |
Of course, we’re concerned about the outbreak of Coronavirus in countries throughout the world. As of today’s stats, here is a breakdown of the countries impacted by this deadly virus: “The disease has also spread to at least seven other countries: Thailand, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, and the US.
No doubt in no time will the virus reach India, which is adjacent to China. However, in the article below, it appears India is proactive in screening passengers entering the country, although this one step is no guaranty the virus won’t enter the country. See this article below:
“India screens over 9,150 passengers for Coronavirus (from this site)
Updated: 22 Jan 2020, 06:25 PM IST
This puts a bit of a damper on our travels, especially after we suffered from the outrageous virus we contracted on our last cruise in October, which lasted for over six weeks, resulting in the worst cough either of us ever suffered.
 |
| We’d posted photos from 2014 on this date in 2019. Tom volunteered to feed the vultures raw meat. He wore a leather sleeve on his right arm from fingertips to shoulder. As soon as our guide put the raw meat into his hand, several vultures flew at him to grab it, leaving two to fight over it. Exciting, to say the least. See the year-ago post here. |
 |
| One year ago, we posted this photo we’d taken in 2013 while on a road trip. Bourke’s Luck Potholes was our favorite photo of the day on our three-day tour of the Panorama Route and Blyde River Canyon. See the original post here. |
Yesterday, after completing the post, I headed out shopping. I don’t care to shop for anything other than groceries which I find quite enjoyable. Browsing through any department store makes me cringe.
I wasn’t this way in my old life, but with my limited wardrobe over the past seven-plus years, knowing I have to toss something from my one suitcase of clothing to maintain the consistent flight approved weight if I purchase something new. This fact makes shopping less than fun.
Over the past three years, I have been using a blue cloth grocery bag as a means of carrying the necessary items with me when we’re going out for an extended period.
On shorter outings, I only bring lipstick to be stuffed into my or Tom’s pockets. (Many women’s pants don’t have pockets). Now that my flip-open RFID phone case has space for ID, cash, and credit cards, I no longer need a wallet.
Over the past three years, I’ve become tired of using the navy blue grocery bag. With the long and arduous upcoming flight to India, I reconsidered if I wanted to carry that blue bag one more time. I do not.
What I wanted to find was a cloth-type bag that can be squished enough to fit under the seat on an airplane and yet large enough to hold what I usually carry with me onto the plane: phone, camera, cosmetic bag, hairbrush, earpieces, and charging cords and a wide array of odds and ends.
(With this upcoming flight, we’ll need to bring along a few toiletries based on traveling for almost 30 hours, including an eight-hour layover. In checking information on British Airways, it appears they provide toothbrushes and toothpaste, our biggest concern).
As it turned out, I found the perfect item at TJ Maxx, a black Steve Madden padded, parachute material bag that zips with several pockets, all secure, leaving the contents relatively theft-proof. Sure, a thief could steal the entire bag off my arm, the reason I haven’t carried a prominent handbag all these years. This new bag is more of a carry-on type bag.
The next item I wanted was a fitness watch. I’d ordered one online in December, and it never arrived. I am now awaiting a refund. If I don’t see it come through in the next few days, I will contact the credit card company to remove the charge, especially since I have an email apologizing for their error in not sending out their product.
After the trip to TJ Maxx in Mesa (a 20-minute drive), I followed the road circled the mall to the Best Buy store. They had several models, but many included music and Amazon’s Alexa.
Since Alexa doesn’t work in most countries, I saw no need to purchase the more expensive Fitbit Fitness watch. I selected the FitBit Charge 3 that suited my needs at a fixed price of $149. I’d shopped quite a bit online over the past week researching models and settled on this particular watch.
Yesterday, while wrapping up the completion of setting up Tom’s old laptop for my use, I also set up the watch itself and the app for the device on my phone and the computer.
By dinner time, I had everything set up and was thrilled with the results. I love my new FitBit. Overnight, last night I downloaded all the photos from my old laptop onto our external hard drive, My Passport.
Now, I can reformat the drive on my old laptop and offer it to Tom’s sisters if they’re interested. If not, we will recycle it at a proper facility, as mentioned.
Tom just left for the Mesa airport to pick up his sister Rita from South Dakota, staying with Margie for a week. It looks like some fun card playing is on the agenda! There will be nine of us, including Mary and Eugene’s son, Kevin, who’ll be leaving in three or four days.
Once Tom brings Rita to Margie’s home, we’ll pack up food for me and beverages for both of us. This morning Tom purchased a roasted chicken for me to bring today since they’ll all be having sandwiches and chips.
That’s all for today, folks. We’ll be back again tomorrow with more.
Have a fantastic Wednesday!
Photo from one year ago today, January 22, 2019:
 |
| Basket, the Bully, was feeling sad after his right ear was nearly torn off in what must have been as a result of a fight he most likely provoked. We comforted him with pellets, apples, and carrots before he took his nap in the hay. For more photos, please click here. |
