Today’s photos are from this date in 2013 while we were living in Boveglio, Tuscany, Italy. See the post here.
Planning a cruise isn’t a singular booking event. Around it includes flights, ground transportation, rental cars, and hotels. Also, we booked our upcoming nine days in Henderson, Nevada, and one month in Minnesota while we await the cruise to Galapagos.
Such bookings, from the time we leave here on July 28, included:
- Flight from Orlando International Airport in Florida to Edinburgh Airport in Scotland
- Transportation from the airport to the hotel in Edinburgh. TBD
- Three nights in a hotel in Edinburgh while we await the cruise
- Cruise Edinburgh to Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Flight to Reykjavik, Iceland
- Transportation from airport to hotel. TBD
- One night in a hotel in Reykjavik
- Cruise from Reykjavik, Iceland, ending in Boston, Massachusetts
- One night in the hotel (airport hotel) in Boston
- Transportation to and from the restaurant from the hotel to visit my cousin in Stoughton. TBD (We will rent a car in the next few days).
- Flight from Boston to Las Vegas, Nevada
- Transportation from Las Vegas Airport to the hotel in Henderson Nevada
- Nine-night stay at a resort in Henderson (No rental car during this period-Uber is a better and much cheaper option).
- Transportation back to Las Vegas Airport (Uber)
- Flight from Las Vegas, Nevada, to Minneapolis, Minnesota
- Rental car in Minneapolis for one month stay
- Stay for one month in a hotel in Eden Prairie, Minnesota
All of the above has been booked (and primarily paid in advance) except for those items noted at TBD (to be determined), including a rental car in Boston and Uber in the other cities, which we’ll book at the time.
At this point, we’ve yet to book transportation to Quito, Ecuador, but we will do so during our nine-night stay in the resort in Henderson, Nevada, as well as book hotels and holiday homes for our extended stay in Ecuador. While in Ecuador, we’ll book our plans to visit The Pantanal and other venues in South America.
Whew! If any of our readers have thought it is easy to live this life of world travel, consider the above. This is only for two months. When I think back to how we ever managed to book our travels for two years out (at the beginning of our world travels), they can see it’s not as easy as it looks.
Once Covid hit, everything changed, and we couldn’t book anything for more than a few months at a time, except for the extended period we spent in Africa, minus several trips away during that period for new visa stamps and five trips back to the US for me and six times for Tom (when his brother passed away and I stayed behind).
It’s a lot of work planning, but there are times when we aren’t rushed, and we enjoy it. As we often say to each other, “It’s the nature of the beast.”
So even when we spend extended periods in one location, we often spend many hours planning and booking for the future. People often ask why we spend so long in some areas, and for us, the answer is two-fold; one, we enjoy staying long enough in a location to learn about its people, culture, environment, and nature. Secondly, it’s a nice break from constantly planning and booking for the following location. Overall, it’s easier when we don’t plan too far ahead.
As for yesterday’s fun phone conversation, our dear friends Rita and Gerhard called yesterday afternoon. As mentioned in many prior posts, we met them in 2018 in Marloth Park. They were long-time readers of our site and, as a result, decided to come and experience Marloth Park; during their many months in Marloth Park over the past five years, our friendship grew, and the four of us shared many beautiful memories.
We’ve been in close touch since they left Marloth Park in 2022 or 2023. Yesterday, they told us they were returning to Marloth Park in October. Of course, we won’t be there during the six weeks they’ll be there. We’re thrilled that they’ll be renting our old house and can see all of our animal friends and send photos of our favorites.
They may be able to work it out to visit us in Nevada in September, but we shall see how that goes. It was great to hear their voices from their home in Vancouver, Washington, where they’ve been busy working on their home. They’d been away a long time and wanted to do some updates.
Gosh, we love not having the responsibility of maintaining a home or paying for storing belongings we left behind. But our lives are busy in other ways, as shown here today.
Be well.
Photo from ten years ago today, July 5, 2013:
