No more St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in the Village…Questions regarding my supplement, Plan G…

    While in Marrakesh, we visited Le Jardin’s Secret Botanical Garden, where we found many unusual varieties of cacti.

Last evening, we hoped to return to the Village since it was the actual date of St. Patrick’s Day, assuming there would be more festivities. The celebrations were on Saturday night, the 16th and last night was relatively quiet. On a few occasions, we heard voices of visitors wandering through the Village to check out the offerings, which, on a Sunday, were minimal.

Nonetheless, we had a pleasant evening, enjoying our chicken salad with a side salad of lettuce, cabbage, grape tomatoes, and celery tossed with homemade dressing. It was an easy and delicious dinner. We have leftovers and will have the chicken salad again tonight (plus rice for Tom). This morning, I made a fresh green salad.

Also, this morning, I called Aflac, wondering why they hadn’t taken out the payment from our bank account for our March premium. When I called them this morning, they stated they’d taken out the payment in February, one that I thought was a deposit but was the first payment. The policy began on March 1.

They accidentally canceled my policy earlier this month, but I resolved that error by an extended phone call. Thus, I was cautious and concerned when I didn’t see the payment come out in March. Now, I hope all is fine and nothing will go wrong. Next time I go to the cardiologist on March 27, I will pay my $240 annual deductible and won’t have to think about any future bills until next year, when another deductible of $240 will be required.

Time is passing quickly. In only nine days, I’ll have the cardiac ultrasound to determine if I need another heart surgery. It seems that everything in the future regarding our travel will depend on the results of this test. If all is well, I will be on Cloud 9, and we can proceed with worldwide travel. We shall see.

Our grocery order from Smith’s via Instacart will arrive soon. Once we have everything, we’ll walk to Season’s Market in the Village for a bottle of brandy for Tom. If there are any odds and ends, we need to supplement Smith’s order.

Much to my surprise, they are often out of things I need. I just received a message from the “picker” that he has checked out. He must have found everything we needed. I’d asked him specifically if anything wasn’t available to let me know so I could choose an alternate. He never notified me that there were any issues.

Since we’re leaving Lake Las Vegas two weeks from today, I’ve begun to think about packing, although I don’t plan to start until three or four days before we depart. Since we arrived here over three months ago, we’ve accumulated quite a bit of non-perishable grocery items and toiletries. I’ve ordered a few clothing items while here to replace many items that have become threadbare.

I’m making a pile of old clothes for Goodwill, for which we’ll arrange a pickup. We’ll also find a place to dispose of my old laptop. Other than those two tasks, we don’t have any errands to run before we go. Our efforts will be inside this condo before we depart on April 1. It only takes about five hours to drive to Apache Junction, Arizona.

That’s it for today, dear readers. We’ll be back for more tomorrow.

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, March 18, 2014:

The souk is filled with tourists over the weekends, thinning out by Tuesday. For more photos, please click here.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day to those who celebrate!…

    Happy St. Patrick’s Day to our celebrating family, friends and readers!

Last night, we heard the sounds of bagpipes while putting dinner together. We ran out to the veranda to see what was happening in the Village.  Much to our delight, there was a flurry of activity in the Village.

We dropped what we were doing, put on our shoes and jackets, and headed out. The Irish music emanated from the Pub, one flight down from our floor, and wafted from other bars and restaurants in the area.

We didn’t take photos. The bars and restaurants were too busy to even enter for a few photos amid the loud activities. But it was fun to hear and see the celebrations. If it continues tonight, we will go downstairs again to see if we can take a few photos or a video to share in tomorrow’s post.

Tom is 100% Irish but rarely celebrated to any degree. Most often, he has no interest in sitting in a crowded bar with loud drinkers carrying on. Also, he doesn’t care for crowds if he can avoid them.

Before too long, we wandered back to our condo to finish making dinner, followed by a lovely meal and a relaxing evening. We couldn’t have been more content. The evening flew by quickly, and then it was time for bed. I was hoping for a good night’s sleep.

A few days ago, I wrote about trying to improve my sleep. I’ve been having trouble getting to sleep and staying asleep. I had been awake for two to three hours during the night. To compensate, I’d awaken too late in the day and repeat the same process over and over again.

Promising myself to change this undesirable pattern, I decided to get up and out of bed earlier each day since I needed to be more tired when I went to bed. So far, so good. I still have trouble falling asleep but have not been awake for so long during the night.

I am a little tired from this change, but hopefully, I will soon be able to fall asleep before 1:00 am. I am only getting about 6½ hours a night, not quite enough to feel well rested but enough to not feel awful during the day. We shall see how it goes.

I am optimistic that this issue will be resolved by the time we leave here in about two weeks. I continue to work out daily and perform my usual tasks around the house.

We just finished watching CBS Sunday Morning, and at 12:30, we will start streaming the Las Vegas Golden Knights game. I’ve already prepared tonight’s chicken salad dinner with a large green salad and hung two loads of laundry on the drying rack.

I only need to walk in the corridor one more time to complete the two miles. When I return, I will do the BetterMe exercises, and then I can relax for the remainder of the day.

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, March 17, 2014:

Colorful dresses are also offered in the souk in Marrakesh, Morocco. For more photos, please click here.

Graffiti all over the world…Last night’s evening out…

Grafitti on walls in Marrakesh, Morocco

This morning, while scrolling through past posts, searching for fodder for today’s post, I stumbled upon photos of graffiti we’ve taken throughout the world. All of these photos posted today are from our visits to various counties. When I typed in “graffiti” in the search box on our homepage, I was surprised by how many such photos we’ve taken over the years.

By the way, when searching for something on our site, please use the search box. It is located at the upper right portion of the homepage below the “translate” scroll-down box. On a side note, please try the “translate scroll-down” feature. It works for dozens of languages and may help you if you speak another language other than English.

Not unlike many cities throughout the world, graffiti is popular. This wall was painted in Asulund, Norway.

Anyway…back to grafitti…One can easily assume that graffiti only applies to scribbling profanity or other words that may or may not be offensive to some. Often, we see graffiti about a couple immortalizing their union by writing their first names or letters in hearts on many buildings, in areas of public transportation as described here:

“It is commonly found in transportation systems—on the inner and outer sides of trains, subways, and buses, and in transit stations and shelters. It is also commonly found on vehicles, walls facing streets, streets, freeways, traffic signs, statues, monuments, and bridges.”

Fancy chalk graffiti on the exterior of a cafe in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
graf·fi·ti
/ɡrəˈfēdē/
noun
  1. writing or drawings scribbledscratched, or sprayed illicitly on a wall or other surface in a public place.
    “the walls were covered with graffiti.”
    verb
  1. write or draw graffiti on (something).
    “he and another artist graffitied an entire train.”
    Our favorite graffiti art is in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Here are more comments about graffiti some of our readers may enjoy from this site:

“Graffiti (plural; singular graffiti or graffiti, the latter rarely used except in archeology) is an art written, painted, or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from simple written words to elaborate wall paintings and has existed since ancient times, with examples dating back to ancient Egyptancient Greece, and the Roman Empire (see also mural).

A colorfully painted wall on a narrow street in the Serrano Plaza area in Palermo, Argentina.

Graffiti is a controversial subject. In most countries, property owners and civic authorities consider marking or painting property without permission as defacement and vandalism, which is a punishable crime, citing the use of graffiti by street gangs to mark territory or indicate gang-related activities.[4] Graffiti has become visualized as a growing urban “problem” for many cities in industrialized nations, spreading from the New York City subway system and Philadelphia in the early 1970s to the rest of the United States, Europe, and other world regions.”

It’s funny how many topics we encounter from perusing our old posts. We always hope you enjoy this and other information we glean from our frequent research.

We encounter wall paintings (graffiti) of this type everywhere we walk. Very entertaining!

As for last night, we had a great time at dinner with Richard and his girlfriend. First, we met at Lucille’s, a popular barbecue chain restaurant with delicious food. We dined there with them when we first arrived in Las Vegas in December. The food was fresh, hot, and tasty.

We had to rush through dinner a bit because the movie started at 7:00. As it turned out, we only missed the first five minutes. But I wish we’d missed more. The movie “Argylle” was the worst movie any of us had seen in years. It was boring, especially during the first 2 hours, and utterly ridiculous, with a weak and undefined storyline and unbelievably miscast characters.

Graffiti on a wall in the city of Puerto Montt, Chili.

Without hesitation, I can say, “Don’t waste your time or money.” After we returned to our condo, I read some reviews, and most concurred with our opinions.

In any case, it was good to see the two of them, and with busy schedules these next few weeks until we leave, it may be the last time we see them until sometime in the distant future when we return to Las Vegas. Goodbyes are no longer difficult since we’ve been returning to the US more frequently these past few years.

Graffiti on a wall in Atenas, Costa Rica.

Today, we’re staying in while I exercise and make dinner. Tom is content browsing on his laptop, and I’m also pretty content. All is good here. We hope it’s the same for all of you!

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, March 16, 2014:

At the top of each of the two stairways in Marrakesh, there was a sharp turn where the steps became angled. This was particularly challenging when I was unable to hang on. For more photos, please click here.

Twelve years ago today…A precious new little life in the bush…

Norman and Nina’s daughter Natalie, the striped nyala behind this duiker, from December 12, 2022, who, at that point, had yet to be named based on gender, which we can’t yet determine. Natalie had her first foal a few days ago.

Please click the link below for a video of Natalie’s first foal, taken at Louise and Danie’s home, only a short distance from the Ratel house, where we’ll live for three months in the bush.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Ij7JDeU85Pw

Above is the link to Nina and her baby, born only hours before this video was taken by our dear friend Louise a few days ago. It will be a long time until we can determine the gender of this little one, but once we know, we will give them a name, preferably one that starts with an “N.”

This photo is of Norman, Nina, and Natalie with the bushbuck we named “The Babysitter,” who always wandered the bush with Nina and Natalie.

We can’t wait to get to Marloth Park in three months, especially since our holiday home is only a few bush houses away from Louise and Danie’s home.

On another note, our first post was written and published on March 15, 2012, 12 years ago today. We didn’t begin traveling until October 31, 2012, but we started preparing posts with very few photos as we prepared to leave our old life behind. If you haven’t read that post, please click here.

Today’s post is #4218. It’s hard to grasp the concept of us posting 4218 stories, most containing photos. Initially, we thought more about writing than photos. Still, 12 years later, we certainly appreciate the importance of photos and look forward to the time when we’ll have new photos to share each day, rather than the repeated photos we’ve been sharing lately.

When we discussed the 12 years of posting, it’s hard to believe we began so many years ago. That first post and the day we published it is as clear in our minds as if it was only days ago. We’re both smiling over this milestone anniversary.

We want to thank every one of our worldwide readers for following along with us for so long and for our newer readers who found us online over the years. Your loyalty, friendship, email, and comments are always appreciated. We’ve never felt alone in our travels with all of you beside us.

Our passion for continuing to post hasn’t diminished over the years. But I must admit, having new experiences with photos makes it all the easier to write stories daily. No doubt, it’s been a bit tedious these past several months since we arrived at the less-than-desirable house in Ecuador, where we were so far from everything we seldom took photos.

Here in Lake Las Vegas, which we’ve thoroughly enjoyed, the lack of photo ops has hindered our objective of presenting varied and exciting posts. Soon enough, we’ll be back in Africa. How long we stay there beyond the three months we’ve booked will be determined by the results of my upcoming heart scan on March 27. If the results are good, we can begin planning more adventures. If not, we’ll go from there with a new plan.

Tonight, we’ll be out for dinner and a movie with Richard and his girlfriend, and we hope to take some photos in the process.

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, March 15, 2014:

While at PepeNero restaurant for lunch, it was bright and comfortably warm from the sun in the courtyard as we were seated near one of the flowery fountains. For more photos, please click here.

Difficulty sleeping…What’s a solution?…Early riser?

Lots of cheap shoes are offered for sale in the souks in Morocco.

Most nights, when I head to bed, I hope to get a good night’s sleep. However, I have discovered that not worrying about sleeping when I am awake for two or three hours helps make the awake time more tolerable. Overall, I get enough hours of sleep, but only if I try to go back to sleep until 9:00 am or even later.

That schedule makes my days too short when I have so much to accomplish, especially now that I spend so much time exercising. I’d like more free time during the day to read, research, and perhaps even relax when I’m done with everything else.

This morning, I decided on a new plan: getting up early, thus allowing myself to be more tired when I go to bed. That new time may be 6:00 or 6:30 am like I have for most of my life. It’s only been in the past month or two that I’ve had a hard time falling asleep, and now I believe it’s because I get up too late when I’ve finally fallen back to sleep at 3:00 or 4:00 am.

So today, my new plan begins, and regardless of how I am tomorrow morning, I will get up early. Hopefully, this new schedule will work for me within a week or two. No doubt I’ll be exhausted in the interim, but it’s the only way that comes to mind as a possible solution.

This morning, I forced myself to get up at 9:00 instead of 10:00 am and started my day knowing I had to wash and dry the bedding and other laundry. Tomorrow, I’ll shoot for an 8:00 am wakeup and so forth.

We’re going out for dinner and a movie with Richard and his girlfriend tomorrow night. I hope I don’t fall asleep during the movie after dinner. If a movie isn’t entirely entertaining, I can easily nod off for short periods. Hopefully, it’s entertaining enough to keep me awake.

Also, this new schedule will help prepare me for the cardiology ultrasound at 8:15 am on March 27. I’ll have to arrange for the Uber to pick me up at 7:30 am since the location is about 30 minutes from here. By then, the new schedule should make it easy to get up, get ready, and head out the door so early.

Months ago, when we frequently had to catch an early morning flight or go on a tour, getting to the airport or venue early in the morning was a lot easier than it would be to get up early right now.

Do you have any suggestions for better sleep you’d like to share? If so, please post in the “comments” section at the bottom of this page. We’d love to hear from you!

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, March 14, 2014:

Locals commiserating in the Medina in Marrakesh, Morocco. For more photos, please click here.

Making changes…

We visited the camels on a tour from our riad in Marrakesh, Morocco 2014. The guide informed us of camel facts. It was fun to see this mom and baby.

It was another busy morning. During the first hour, I was busy chopping and dicing vegetables for tonight’s dinner, including our “unwiches” and the usual big salad I make daily. For our salad, I chop freshly washed romaine lettuce, place it in a towel, and then place it in the refrigerator to dry the lettuce before tossing it at dinnertime.

Our salads always contained lettuce, hand-shredded cabbage, celery, and grape tomatoes, all low-carb enough for my eating. Then I toss it with plain Greek yogurt, salt, and my liquid sweetener, which makes a delicious, easy-to-prepare daily salad filled with nutrients.

There have been a lot of posts online that vegetables produce toxins since they can’t run, like animals, if attacked by humans harvesting them or animals eating them. I know that lectins and nightshades in some vegetables can be harmful, so I don’t disagree with this theory. However, I am willing to take risks when certain nutrients appear to be good for my health.

If I didn’t eat vegetables, my diet would be entirely carnivore, which is too hard for me to do, although it claims to have certain health benefits. Also, I consume some dairy products, cheese, sour cream, and Green yogurt, and drink wine, none of which are considered a carnivore way of eating.

A few years ago, I tried carnivore, which didn’t agree with my digestive system. After a few months, I stopped to return to basic Keto/low-carb, which totally agrees with me. There is so much conflicting information online that one could get confused and frustrated. I’ve found that how I feel is the best measure of what works for me.

This morning, I arranged tickets for a movie and a reservation for dinner on Friday night to celebrate Richard’s birthday. The four of us will go for an early dinner, followed by the movie Argylle. I love going to a movie theatre. Tom, not so much, but he does love the popcorn and Coke. I can never eat anything at a movie theater. After 12 years of my diet, it doesn’t bother me a bit.

I never look at other’s food or snacks and feel I am sacrificing. It’s a choice I’ve made for my health, and I have no problem avoiding sugar and starch. I suppose it’s like anything else – when you choose to make a change, rather than being told you have to, it’s a lot easier, although some may differ in this assumption.

Change isn’t easy. Regularly, we find ways in which we need to make changes to accommodate our health or our lifestyle. Recently, I discovered that I sleep better if I go to bed and get up later in the morning. This is a significant change for me since I was always an early riser.

Tom usually takes a nap around 2:00 pm daily, but now he is questioning if doing so impacts his sleep quality at night. Many have reported they have similar problems from napping during the day. Occasionally, I may doze off during the day, but it’s a rarity. I keep myself busy during the day, exercising and doing household tasks, and may only sit half as much as most seniors. I know how unhealthy sitting for long periods is for retirees and others.

Soon, I will head to the ground-level outdoor mailbox to see if the doctor’s office sent my two prescriptions after my recent appointment. A few items I ordered may not have been from Amazon and ended up in the mailbox. So far today, I’ve done more than half of my daily steps and look forward to getting that done.

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, March 13, 2014:

This photo was taken in Marrakesh, Morocco, from a third-floor restaurant rooftop where we dined in the past week. For more photos, please click here.

The long term commitment…

Tom’s dinner at a restaurant in Morocco in 2014. I can’t recall the meat, but there sure were a lot of chips (as fries are called in other countries).

If someone asked me if I could commit to writing an essay every day of the year, my answer would be, “No way.” The daily constraints of taking the time and attempting to be creative would be far beyond my level of consistency and dedication to such a repetitive event.

Well, here we are, in three days, on March 15, having done these posts daily, except for the first year, posting for the past 12 years. We began in 2012, before we started our travels, to share the experiences we had even before we embarked on our years-long journey.

We initially thought we might last a few years, maybe even five years, but we never anticipated we’d be in 2024 and still be homeless and traveling most of the time. The exception has been, lately, the necessary time we’ve been spending in the US to do paperwork and medical appointments.

Now, as that time in the US is creeping toward an end, with only about three months to wrap up this time, visiting family and these important other objectives.

When we recently discovered there would be a “Jubilee Celebration” for Tom’s sister, Sister Beth’s 70th year as a nun, we’d have been on our way to South Africa on June 15. Instead, we may leave a day or two later, not arriving in Marloth Park until June 18th.

This morning, Louise and I chatted back and forth on WhatsApp when I asked her if we could change our arrival and departure dates, assuming we’d get there by June 18th, give or take a day. Of course, Louise was happy to accommodate this change. So we can relax, not be concerned about our late arrival, and attend Sister Beth’s event.

But, soon enough, we’ll be moving on and, at that time, have more exciting posts to share with all of you. Many of our readers have written about how much they enjoy wildlife photos, and when we get there, we will be on a mission to share as many photos as possible, along with pictures of social events and local food.

As far as what we’ll do at the end of the 88 days in Marloth Park, at this point, we don’t have a clue. We’re waiting to find out the results of my cardiac ultrasound on March 27 to decide where we’ll go after we’re done in Africa. We’ll be very excited to make new plans if all goes well with the test.

Today, Tom will leave for an appointment at our bank to get several documents notarized and in the mail. He’ll take an Uber for the five-mile trip and should return a few hours later.

With the pizza gone, we’re making one of our favorite dinners, keto “unwiches,” which we haven’t had in a few months. We typically go through the litany of favorite meals, cycling through every two months, occasionally trying something new. I think most home cooks do the same, repeating the same favorite meals over and over again.

Have a fantastic Tuesday. See you tomorrow!

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, March 12, 2014:

This photo was taken from a third-floor rooftop of a restaurant where we dined in the past week. For more photos, please click here.

Getting things done…

Water on the floor of the center courtyard in the riad in Marrakesh when it rained the previous night. For more, please see the post here.

With tasks we needed to complete that were on our minds, we wrapped up most of it this morning. All that’s left is for Tom to get 20 identical pages notarized at Richard’s office or our bank.

We checked the cost of having this done at the nearby UPS store, but it will cost upwards of $300. We’re hoping the bank will do it without cost, which it states it will do on its website. It will undoubtedly be worth the round-trip Uber ride for about $65.

Also, this morning, I sent all our tax statements and tax prep forms to our accountant here in Nevada. It will be a relief to have that out of the way.

As I always say, “You can run, but you can’t hide!” There’s always something that has to get done that requires lots of paperwork and, on occasion, outside help. This, we cannot avoid.

I continue to do the daily exercises from BetterMe which is going well. My muscles definitely are feeling it. As for the walking, I have been making a point of walking more in the house such as when I do laundry.

I take one item out of the washer at a time and walk it to the second bedroom where the drying rack is located. Doing so, I manage to get in an extra 1000 steps.

Soon. I will take the garbage to the trash area, a long walk down the corridor. Then I will walk the long route of the entire floor and back, another 1000 steps. A short time later, I will do several more corridor walks to ensure I get in another 5000 steps.

My goal is 7000 steps daily. Add in the yoga exercises and I am getting about 45 minutes of exercise each day which is plenty for now. It feels good to be able to do all of this without a fitness center. In the future I can do these exercises without concern as to the availability of local facilities.

Tonight, we will finish our recent big batch of homemade keto pizza. It’s been delicious! Tomorrow, we will start something new which I will make enough to last another three nights.

It may take longer to prepare the three night’s dinners all at once, but it’s so worth it when I only have to cook one night out of three and only make a fresh salad each day. By doing this twice a week and dining out once a week, we have the entire week covered.

That’s all for today, folks. Have a great Monday!

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, March 11, 2014:

This similar costume is found on many men in the Big Square. He is referred to as a “water boy” from the period when the nomads came across the desert needing water. These costumes indicated that he was the provider of water. Now, with less of a need for providing water, he poses for photos for a small sum while still carrying the cups and supplies for the water to add to his authenticity. For more photos, please click here.

Fully insured…What a relief!…A pharmacy plan?…

Silver and brass teapots and decorative items are sold in the souks in Morocco.

No words can describe how relieved I am to be fully insured as of March 1, 2024. After 11 years of unreliable travel insurance, we paid out of pocket for my four surgeries in South Africa in 2019. The freedom of knowing I am fully covered, minus a one-time-per-year $240 deductible, gives me peace of mind I can hardly describe.

I didn’t choose a pharmacy plan since the cost was prohibitive and required I purchase my few medications in the US. Plus, the copay and using US pharmacies also didn’t make much sense. I currently take a costly blood thinner, Eliquis, with a retail cost of $594 per month.

Sure, with some Medicare pharmacy plans, one can buy this drug for considerably less. But, if we’re traveling, it will do me no good. I won’t be able to walk into a pharmacy and buy this drug at a reasonable price in most countries. In South Africa, the average cost of this medication is $65 per month.

However, I will order this drug from Canadian Pharmacy Store before we leave the US again in June. Since I began taking this drug, I have been taking Apixaban 5 mg (the generic version, but the same drug) and will order from this company as follows:

Apixaban 5mg Tablet

90-day supply (180 pills at 2 tablets per day) is $71.99.

At this rate, a 90-day supply will average $23.30 per month, a far cry from any of the above. Of course, one needs a prescription from a doctor. It’s essential to check if you live outside the US to see if they will accept prescriptions from your doctor in a country other than the US.

This is another significant relief for me. Thus, before we leave the US, I’ll order enough to get me through the next several months. How long we’ll be away will be predicated on my heart test results on March 27.

As for insurance outside the US, my Plan G supplement with Aflac allows for a lifetime maximum of $50,000, so adding an emergency evacuation plan may be necessary while we’re outside the US.

There was so much research required to come to these final decisions. Also, it was good that we were in the US these past several months to ensure we could get all the paperwork done promptly. With snail mail an issue in some countries, it would have been challenging to process everything since documents have been sent to us via snail mail.

Now, as we complete the paperwork for Tom’s claim with the law firm for his lung damage (pulmonary fibrosis) from 42½ years of exposure to asbestos while working on the railroad, yesterday we received a snail mail package with 20 documents that must be notarized. We’d never have been able to do this outside the US, using a foreign notary.

Thank goodness we were here for all of this, including when Tom flew to Chicago for the required pulmonology appointment with a designated doctor. Many of our readers have inquired why we’d chosen to be in the US for this extended period. Aside from the necessity for me to have the cardiac ultrasound in a few weeks, for which I had to wait until I was fully insured, these other situations dictated the length of our stay.

Soon, when we leave for Arizona, we’ll have our taxes for 2023 done with the help of our Nevada accountant, insurance in place, the heart scan completed, and Tom’s paperwork situation under control. Hopefully, we’ll also have good news on my scan. This will be a relief when these items have been on our minds for quite some time.

Today, we’ll enjoy our delicious pizza leftovers and a big salad. All is good in the world with us! We hope the same for you!

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, March 10, 2014:

This was our favorite photo of the night in the Big Square in Marrakech, clearly depicting the color, light, and energy occurring at night in the Big Square. For more photos, please click here.

Daylight savings time begins tonight…Set your clocks and more for safety…

Daylight saving time in the world. Areas shown in the same color start and end DST within less than a week of each other.

Many parts of the world don’t observe Daylight Savings TIME (DST). Those that do include the following:

“As of 2024, DST is observed in most of Europe, most of North America, and parts of Africa and Asia around the Northern Hemisphere summer, and in parts of South America and Oceania around the Southern Hemisphere summer. It was also formerly observed in other areas.”

“As of January 2024, the following locations were scheduled to start and end DST at the following times:

Locations DST start DST end Shift
Second Sunday in March at 02:00 First Sunday in November at 02:00 1 hour
Second Sunday in March at 00:00 First Sunday in November at 01:00 1 hour
Last Sunday in March at 01:00 UTC Last Sunday in October at 01:00 UTC 1 hour
Last Sunday in March at 02:00 Last Sunday in October at 03:00 1 hour
Last Sunday in March at 00:00 Last Sunday in October at 00:00 1 hour
Friday before last Sunday in March at 02:00 Last Sunday in October at 02:00 1 hour
Second Saturday after Ramadan[b] at 02:00 Saturday before last Sunday in October at 02:00 1 hour
Last Friday in April at 00:00 Last Thursday in October at 24:00 1 hour
First Saturday in September at 24:00 UTC−04:00[c] First Saturday in April at 24:00 UTC−03:00[c] 1 hour
First Sunday in October at 00:00 Fourth Sunday in March at 00:00 1 hour
First Sunday in October at 02:00 First Sunday in April at 03:00 1 hour
First Sunday in October at 02:00 First Sunday in April at 02:00 30 minutes
Last Sunday in September at 02:00 UTC+12:00[d] First Sunday in April at 02:00 UTC+12:00[d] 1 hour

In the table above, the DST start and end times refer to the local time before each change occurs unless otherwise specified.r The shift is the amount of time added at the DST start time and subtracted at the DST end time. For example, in Canada and the United States, when DST starts, the local time changes from 02:00 to 03:00, and when DST ends, the local time changes from 02:00 to 01:00. As the time change depends on the time zone, it does not occur simultaneously in all parts of these countries. Conversely, in almost all parts of Europe that observe DST, the time change occurs simultaneously at 01:00 UTC, regardless of their time zone.

Morocco, including the portion of Western Sahara that it administers, also observes an annual time change but not related to seasonal daylight. The local time is decreased by one hour on the Sunday before Ramadan at 03:00 and increased by one hour on the Sunday after Ramadan at 02:00 (in 2024, the dates are 10 March and 14 April).”

For our fellow travelers, observing these changes wherever you may be in the world is crucial to ensure you don’t miss booked flights, trains, rental car pickups and returns, and any other time-sensitive plans you’ve booked for future travels, especially during the first 24 hours until you’ve become aware of these changes.

It’s important to check all digital equipment, even with GPS, to ensure the appropriate time change has been reset on your device. We’re often out of the US in other countries where DST is not observed; thus, the change has been irrelevant.

In the above chart, I noticed that Arizona, Hawaii, and US territories don’t participate in DST. Since we’ll be driving to Arizona in 23 days, we’ll have to change the time zone while on our way. When it’s not DST, Arizona and Nevada are in the same time zone, Pacific Time.

For everyone, including those not traveling now, please change the batteries in your smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors. Let the time change be a reminder to you to change batteries, along with changing the time on your non-digital GPS household clocks.

That’s it for today, dear readers. Have a fantastic weekend!

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, March 9, 2014:

While in the Medina is Marrakesh Morocco…Smoke began to waft through the air as wood-fired grills were started for the evening’s foods. The smells were indescribable For more photos, please click here.