Extra expenses while cruising…

Posted by worldwide-admin on January 10, 2013 with 0 Comment

After seven days aboard ship, we’ve begun to get a handle on what we’re spending while cruising, over and above the cost of the cruise itself.

So far, based on cash remaining in our wallets for this cruise (which we’ve kept locked in our cabin safe) and the bill on the TV, we’ve spent $759 from the moment we arrived at the pier in San Diego.

This total includes cash tips at the pier, tips throughout the cruise. Tips were included in the price of the cruise but we’ve experienced extraordinary service warranting some additional tipping. In addition, we’ve charged the $399 WiFi bill and bar tabs. Tom’s cocktails (Courvoisier and 7 UP) are $7 each and my diet tonic with lime i$2. We each have two to three of these each day at most.

Coffee(too strong), milk (which we don’t drink), hot tea, iced tea (too strong), and “tap” water (purified, they say) are free. All bottled beverages vary in price, ranging from $2 to $5.

To save on
the cost of beverages beside our cocktails, we brought along about 30 quart-sized powdered packets of our favorite beverage, Crystal Lite Iced Tea. Ice and water is provided in our cabin and available in the restaurants.

With our trusty Contigo chill-holding, handled mugs in tow, we’re able to make our own iced tea to enjoy throughout the day, hauling them with us everywhere we go. We’ve calculated that we’ve saved no less than $300 for the entire cruise by having our own beverages on hand.

Yesterday, simply by buying and sending the six grandchildren one postcard each, as we’ll often do when entering new countries, we spent $16.

Each night, we’ve given our waiter in the Grand Restaurant an “extra” $10 in cash although a 15% tip was added to the original cost of the cruise which totaled $ 5,545.48 (for both of us in a balcony cabin of 186 square feet).

Dubrokov been amazing accommodating my strict gluten-free, grain-free, starch-free, and sugar-free diet, bringing me extra piles of steamed vegetables and larger portions of salad. Luckily, the menu references gluten and sugar-free options.

Everything we’ve heard about venturing out on any of our cruise ship’s offered excursions has made the idea
of spending $100 to $300 for the two of us has been unappealing.

Yesterday, an excursion was offered for a “self-guided” tour of Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala for $48 per person. The passengers were to gather in a designated area only ten minutes from the pier to be handed a map in order to travel about on their own. Duh? $96 (for two) for a map and a finger pointed in a direction? No, thanks.

Oh yes, there were other excursions such as the $188 (for two) bus ride to the Western Highlands of Guatemala, to the home of the living Maya and the ancient city of Iximche, now in ruins. This four-hour outing included lunch in a local restaurant.

Tuesday night we heard of a couple on the ship suffering from food poisoning after such an outing. This is not to say the local restaurants are selling “tainted” food but our tender tummies may not do well eating and drinking local fare, especially with no time to become adapted.

Another offering for yesterday was a trip to visit a block of historical buildings on cobblestone streets. The cost was $199.50 per couple.

If this were our annual “vacation” we may have budgeted for some of the excursions and be enthusiastic to take advantage of every such opportunity. Knowing that in no time at all, we’ll be living in one interesting and historical locale after another, we’ve decided to wait to venture out on our own or with locals we meet along the way.

As I have mentioned in the past, our interests lie in “living” in the various countries from one month to four months (planned so far) allowing us to feel more like a resident than a tourist.

We aren’t as much interested in familiar tourist attractions with long waiting lines and barking salespeople, although we will visit the Great Pyramids, the Sphinx, Giza, the French Riviera, the Mayan ruins in
Belize and many more.

Although the ship has many stores offering high-end merchandise including clothing, jewelry, art, duty-free liquor, and various sundries, we are so well equipped, we don’t have a need or desire to purchase anything.

Tom downloads the daily Minneapolis Star Tribune newspaper and has many books, as do I, on the Kindle apps on our phones and computers. When not busy, we may spend an hour or two reading each afternoon.

As for the Internet, while at sea we use the ship’s pricey plan at $.24 a minute on the $399 plan, allowing each of us to stay in touch with family and friends for
about one hour per day.

While in port, we can use the XCOM Global Wi-Fi device, which finally started working yesterday after the company’s tech support discovered they’d set up the device incorrectly for us. We are being credited for the days we were unable to connect at $14.95 a day.

In only four days, this Sunday, we’ll be seated at the bow of the ship at 4:00 or 5:00 am to get a first-hand view of the ship’s entrance into the Panama Canal, its locks and dams where the Pacific Ocean meets the Atlantic Ocean. This was our motive for selecting this particular 15-day cruise.

We’ve attended three of five aboard ship seminars thus far on its rich history, its politics, it’s culture, and its people along with the interesting story of the building of the canal.

We were told by the presenter that this ship barely fits (by 24″ on each side) into the locks and dam system. This will be an interesting sight to see through the 8 to 10-hour trip through the canal. Tom is excited that in
May, we’ll also cruise through the Suez Canal, another interesting bit of history we’ll also enjoy.

It all boils down to the tone of our new lives together: we’ll only experience that which appeals to us, not what a cruise ship director or travel agent may encourage us to do and not, “what everyone else may do.” Yes, sometimes we will follow the mainstream, the crowd, doing the expected.

More often, we’ll wander about in our own time, visiting with locals on our own schedule, living life, loving life, and enjoying this interesting end enriching time of our lives.

All in all, cruising is expensive. We’d budgeted $1400 for extra expenses on this cruise and no doubt we will end up in this range. That averages about $7000 for the 15 days for a daily average of $466, almost twice as much as we’ll spend on the other seven cruises we’ve booked so far.

This cruise was special as our first out of the chute as the first leg of our worldwide journey and especially meaningful to Tom, as a history buff with extensive knowledge of the Panama Canal all of which I now find fascinating. I had no idea how much he actually had already learned about the canal on his own over the years.

See…we learn new things about one another spending 24 hours a day together. Not too bad, eh?

Footnote: Norovirus is still raging aboard ship. Now the waiters fill our plates in the breakfast/lunch buffet line as opposed to our scooping up our own choices. Also, a staff person stands at the entrance to every area, at each elevator, and in doorways holding huge pump bottles of hand sanitizers requiring every passer-by to partake.

In addition, we’ve been washing our hands before leaving and upon entering our cabin several times per day. We brought along 500 sanitizing wipes (having stuff pays off!) which we use to clean our phones, our mugs, and any other items we may touch. So good so far.

Norovirus and the sun…

Posted by worldwide-admin on January 8, 2013 with 1 Comment

Last night while dressing for dinner we heard an announcement over the loudspeaker. Inaudible from our cabin, we brushed it off as most likely a promotion to spend money, dismissing our inability to hear it as insignificant.

Last night, while dining in the formal dining room, the Grand Restaurant, comfortably seated by the window at “our table” number two (the best waiter on the planet) with our over-sized navy blue cloth napkins on our laps, we were content. Suddenly, the boat seemed to lurch sideways, rocking from side to side for several minutes.

Tom reassured me, when he noted my obvious concern, that everything was in order and that in moments the ship would straighten out, back on course. Returning to a lively conversation with a lovely couple next to us, we never gave it a second thought.

After dinner, we scurried to the Celebrity Theatre for the 9:00 pm musical/comedy show, a medley of impersonations of past and current “divas.” I was reminded of Simon Cowell berating performers on both “American Idol” and “The X Factor” as to sounding comparable to a “second rate cruise ship act.”

However, cruise-ship-like the performance, we enjoyed every moment, chatting all the way back to our cabin as to the professional performances. As we entered our cabin we noticed an envelope sitting atop the well-turned down bed. Hum, we both thought, “another promo” as I tore open the envelope.

Not the case. Inside the envelope was a letter that began:

“January 7th, 2013

Dear Celebrity Century Guest,
During this sailing, there has been a small percentage of guests onboard who have experienced gastrointestinal illness, thought to be Norovirus.”

The content of the letter continued to make an earnest effort to minimize the potential hazards of such an outbreak on board, extol the virtues of frequent hand washing and inform us that attendants will be standing outside each restaurant, restroom, and elevator equipped with an ample supply of hand sanitizer.

We were encouraged to immediately contact the ship’s medical facility for a “complimentary consultation and treatment” should symptoms of nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea be experienced to any degree.

As a captive audience, we can hardly jump into our car and head far away. Nor can we really stay away from other guests and public areas. Caution on our part will prevail but, there were 11 days on this particular cruise.

This morning, while attending the second in a series of five seminars on the building of the Panama Canal, its history, its culture, its politics, and its people, an announcement was made before the presentation: Last night, at dinner time, the ship was turned around subsequently heading to the nearest port of Acapulco to “emergency evac” of an unknown number of sick passengers.

That event was what distracted us during dinner, the sudden turning of the ship, and eventual landing at a pier to drop off the ailing passenger(s) to awaiting medical professionals. Do we need to worry?

We’ve decided that we will exercise caution by excessive hand washing, avoiding touching our faces, frequent washing of our mugs both inside and out, washing our sunglasses, and making every effort to avoid touching railings, doorknobs, tabletops, and chair rails.

It’s evident that the ship’s staff is on high alert while we also take responsibility for remaining diligent every step of the way including reminding each other of potential risks.

________________________________________________

Growing up in California, sunning has always been a favorite pastime of mine. Living on a lake in Minnesota these past 26 years has provided limited periods of time to lounge in a lawn chair, unpredictable weather a frequent deterrent during the short summer months.

Mindful of the dangers of excessive sun exposure these past few decades, I’ve limited my sun time to a few hours each week during the summer and weather permitting. Tom, on the other hand, a pale Irish boy, burns easily, preferring to stay in the shade, slathered in sunscreen.

On occasion, we’d lounge together in the row of crisp white lounge chairs that lined our yard, laughing, talking, and taking in the warming effects of the sun. In less than 30 minutes, he’d be a rosy pink while I tanned easily.

As a vital part of “cruising life,” time spent lounging on the comfy padded lounge chairs by the various pools is both relaxing and enjoyable with some of the finest people-watching to be found.

With many tropical locations as part of our worldwide adventures, we discussed how we’d manage our sun exposure to avoid the risks while enhancing our exposure to much needed Vitamin D. Besides, a bit of a healthy glow of a tan works well with our skimpier warm weather clothing.

We’ve mutually agreed that daily exposure of a maximum of one hour would not only be safe and healthful but would free us to enjoy other activities if we so choose. Today, day #5 aboard ship, we spent our usual one hour by the pool accompanied by a live band commencing their act with the song, “Love Boat.”

Lying on our stomachs to “work the backside” our faces squished into the navy blue cushions we looked at one another smiling, the little crinkles around our eyes accentuated by our positions, our sunglasses perched atop our heads. Tom asked, “Do you know that song?” as the well-played music blared from the nearby stage.

“Yes,” I laughed aloud. “I know that song.”

For a moment, time stood still as we gazed deeply into each other’s eyes, knowing that at exactly that moment we were thinking the same thing. “This is our new life. Not a vacation. Not a trip. But a new life that ends only when we want it to or, when it must end due to unforeseen reasons.

Whether its Norovirus or the hot sun, (soon we’ll be only 9 degrees north of the equator), cautious we shall be, not to the point of diminishing the quality of our experiences but enough to ensure we’ll make every effort to avoid these and other risks that we surely will face in this “new life” of ours.

Walmart in Mexico?…What?…

Posted by worldwide-admin on January 7, 2013 with 0 Comment

Last night’s view from the deck of our ship, the Celebrity Century, overlooking another ship in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

Over the years, we’ve chuckled that we aren’t the best photographers. Our subjects are usually off-center, blurry, and often unrecognizable. Laughing about our lack of photo-taking skills over the years, we’ve depended upon family members taking photos of memorable occasions, storing them helter-skelter on our computers, marveling at the fact that they are actually exist.

As an otherwise digitally adept person, I’ve always accepted that my lack of photo-taking skills was purely a result of a lack of interest as to how a camera works. Tom, not particularly handy with digital equipment in general, followed suit.

As our blog has grown, we’ve both agreed that we must make an attempt at photo taking and editing photos as needed. Mistakenly, we have assumed that our new digital phones could suffice as a photo-taking medium for our travels, having taken a number of reasonable photos here and there.

Live and learn. With poor Internet connections on the cruise, XCOM Global wasn’t always working close to land as hoped, the former ease we’d experienced uploading photos from our phones to our laptops, we realized that we needed to buy a camera now as opposed to waiting until we get to Europe, our original plan.

As our ship, the Celebrity Century, an under 2000 passenger ship small enough to fit in the Panama Canal, makes its way from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean via the Panama Canal six days from today, the scenery will be worth sharing.

Yesterday, as we neared the pier in Puerto Vallarta, we saw a Wal-Mart! Ha! Here we are on the first leg of our worldwide adventure on our first outing off of the ship and they’re within walking distance was a Walmart. Good grief!

Not Wal-Mart shoppers in general, we were suddenly excited about the prospect of walking to the store, about 1/2 mile from the pier to purchase a new camera. Surely, they’d have familiar brands and, it would be a good experience for us to make a
purchase in a non-English speaking country.

No English indeed. Not a word. The busy store, jammed with locals and few tourists had price signs in pesos. Oh, oh, I didn’t bring my phone with my money conversion app. We found a bank inside the store asking the conversion rate to discover that about 12 pesos were equivalent to a US $1.

The camera selection was limited. My brain was scanning through my memory of the hundreds of cameras I had researched online and their prices.

We decided to buy a familiar brand at a low price. If we didn’t like it, we’d replace it when we
arrive in Europe in April. Our purchase, a 16.2 mp Samsung ST66, digital, 5x zoom, 4.5-22.5mm, 1:2.5-6.3, 25 mm. I have no clue what some of these numbers mean. We’ll learn. We have all of the time in the world.

Walking around Puerto Vallarta wasn’t ideal. The cab drivers continually barked at us to take a taxi downtown to the shopping area. With no interest in shopping in general, let alone after the hour spent in Walmart waiting for the camera to be rousted up from their “warehouse,” we were ready to walk back to the ship with unruly traffic whizzing past us as we walked the narrow sidewalk.

Thirsty and unable to find a cold drink without ice (we were skeptical of the local water), we made our way back to our ship, sweaty from the heat, and anxious to cool off with a cold icy drink in the air-conditioned comfort of our cabin. We charged the new camera, took a few photos, showered, and dressed for dinner.

In any case, we were glad that we’d ventured out, proud of our purchase at US $102, pleased to find the familiar USB and electric plugs in the box along with instructions in English.

Again last night, Tom ventured into foods unknown and tried the shrimp and scallops risotto.
Having heard Chef Ramsey extol the virtues of a well-made risotto, he was ready to give it a try. I had made it a few times over the years with him thumbing his nose at the prospect of a single taste. Last night, he marveled at the exquisite taste. I bear no resentment. He’s stepping outside the box. I’m thrilled.

Tom’s risotto. He loved it!

After the delightful dinner in the Grand Dining Room, at 10:00 PM we attended a hilarious comedy show in the Celebrity Theatre as the ship rolled from side to side.

After dining on a big meal of Caprice salad, braised lamb shank, wedge salad, and Tom’s uneaten Brussels sprouts, I felt queasy for the first time since boarding the ship, resting my head on Tom’s shoulder from time to time during the show.

My Caprese salad.

We both had a fitful night’s sleep. By 6:30 am Tom was showered and dressed ready to head to breakfast in the Island’s Cafe while I languished in bed trying to muster the energy to get up. How could I be so tired?

I haven’t exerted much energy these past four days, other than two high-intensity interval training (HIIT) sessions in the ship’s health club and the approximate 10,000 steps we walk daily according to my FitBit pedometer.

It must be the winding down after many months of preparing to leave, both the physical and emotional toll, or perhaps, just a poor night’s sleep after all.

Forcing myself to get up after Tom left for the restaurant for coffee and to read his online daily newspaper, I managed to meet up with him a short while later, still sluggish but ready to enjoy the next two days at sea.

By 1:00 PM, we’d managed to attend two classes, the second in a series of five informative and well-presented sessions on the history and culture of the country of Panama and the building of the Panama Canal. Our second course was by geology/paleontology professor, Dr. Connie Soja on the Coral Reefs of the Mexican Riviera.

How enriching, during this time of new discoveries in our lives to be learning more about our world? Our mutual interest in these and other such topics all become relevant to our travels. We couldn’t be more content.

With yet another 12 days on this cruise followed by another 8-day cruise to Belize, we are comfortably settling in, not into a cocoon so prevalent in our past but into a wider scope of wonder, experimentation, and new experiences.

It’s good. It’s very good. Photos will follow.

Cruising right along…4th day aboard ship…

Posted by worldwide-admin on January 6, 2013 with 0 Comment

I’ve started drinking coffee again after a six-month hiatus. Honesty, I don’t know why I ever stopped drinking coffee. I just did.

Now, as I sit overlooking the sea, the gentle sensation of the ship rolling my chair to and fro, my big mug filled to the brim with a slightly too strong brew, I am content.

Tom reminds me, “We are not on vacation. This is now our lives.”

A smile planted on my face, I try to grasp this reality. This is our lives. Right now, until the end of January except for a short few days respite in Boca Raton Florida with friend Carol, we’ll live at sea, 23 days aboard ship in January 2013. We’ll always remember this.

Or perhaps, we won’t remember if over time this new life of ours has days blending into one another as we did in the past. We remember tidbits. We remember special occasions. We remember sorrowful events. We remember laughing so hard we snorted and cried. Do we
remember all of the days in between? Not so much.

So, how do we ensure that these days, simple in their nature, stay alive and meaningful in years to come? Live in the moment. Document them here.

Yesterday, we anchored in Cabo San Lucas. We didn’t go ashore on the tiny tendered
boats in choppy waters to be dropped off at a mile-long stretch of one shop after another, luring tourists, beaconing passengers to spend, spend, spend. That’s not us. No trinkets, we agreed. No jewelry to attract attention. No home for which to bring baskets, artwork, handmade rugs, and pottery.

We stayed onboard when perhaps 70% of the passengers went ashore. The average cost of an excursion off the ship was $200 per couple at each port of call. There were six such events on this cruise. We did the math. Our eight cruises with an average of six excursions would total $9600, not in our budget. We’ll wander, if we so chose to the various ports-of-call on our
own.

We are cruising as a means of transportation, to do exactly what appeals to us. Today, we’ll go to church at 10 am, have an assessment by a personal trainer/physical therapist at 11 am, have lunch at the fabulous buffet, attend another class on the Panama Canal (coming up in our itinerary in a few days), spend one hour in the sun as we did yesterday building a base tan without burning.

By then, it will be almost 4 PM. We’ll relax in our cabin, catching up on email and Facebook, shower, and go to dinner whenever we’re hungry. We’ll dine in the fancy included-in-our-fare
dining room, once again trying new foods.

Last night, we watched the disappointing Minnesota Vikings game in our cabin with dinner on our laps. On Friday night, Tom enjoyed two appetizers; Carpaccio and gluten-free fried frogs legs. He liked them. He’s trying new things. Outside the box. I’d already made these items at different times in our old lives, Tom always turning up his nose. But, I didn’t complain when he tried them on the ship enjoying each item.

Soon, we’re getting off the ship to wander about Puerto Vallarta on our own. We’ll report back what we’ve discovered.

This is our lives. No expectations. Our only stress is moving from one means of travel to another, the bags, not so bad now, definitely to be reduced in the future. We’re OK for now.

This is our lives.

Newspaper story about our adventure…

Posted by worldwide-admin on January 5, 2013 with 2 Comments

We’ve got press! The story below was published in the Chanhassen Villager and other western suburbs publications. Some of the facts aren’t accurate, such as Tom ha two sons and my having a son and daughter, when in fact, it is the opposite. Guess that’s how media works. We won’t fuss about the details.

The story hits the major points. Our readership has catapulted in the past few days since the story was published on January 3, 2013, the day we sailed on the Celebrity Century out of San Diego. Thanks to all of our current readers and our new readers for following us! Thanks to our wonderful friend Chere Bork who was highly instrumental in getting the story in the right hands and son Greg for finding the article and posting it.

Here’s the link to see the article in the paper. Please give it time to load.

http://www.chanvillager.com/news/chanhassen/former-chanhassen-couple-begins-worldwide-adventure/article_8d0eb428-7e2d-5a13-9bab-67e8737b8459.html?mode=story#.UOfAIiJv_II.gmail

Former Chanhassen couple begins worldwide adventure

Tom and Jess Lyman

Some folks don’t know what they’ll be doing in a week. The Lymans have plotted out their travel itinerary for the next 880 days. From left, Tom and Jess Lyman, formerly of Lake Minnewashta, and now, expats and world travelers.

Travel itinerary*

Posted: Thursday, January 3, 2013 5:06 pm | Updated: 8:15 am, Sat Dec 29, 2012.

By Unsie Zuege uzuege@swpub.com | 0 comments

Bon voyage. Today, Jan. 3, Tom and Jess Lyman, former Lake Minnewashta homeowners in Chanhassen, begin their worldwide wandering. They sail from San Diego today, go through the Panama Canal to Fort Lauderdale, then sail to Belize, then Africa, and Europe and beyond. They may be gone for five years or 10 years, depending on their health and other circumstances. They don’t plan to stop until they find the destination of their dreams or until one of them is tired of living out of a suitcase or just plain wants to stop.

The Lymans won’t be on the road constantly. Instead, they’ll use a series of cruises (already booked through 2015) to transport them to and from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic, to South America, to Europe, to Africa, and then to Hawaii. In between they’ve booked rental homes where they’ll stay no less than one month and no longer than five months at a time. Their rentals include a condo in Dubai, a home in Tuscany, a beachside cottage in Kenya, a home in the Kruger National Park Reserve in South Africa, and a 16th-century stone house in Cajarc, France. They’ll plan on meeting their families on the Big Island in Hawaii for Christmas 2014 where they have a rental and plan to stay through March 31, 2015.

Looking toward retirement.

Nearly a year ago, as Tom Lyman looked forward to his retirement from Burlington Northern, Minneapolis, at the end of October 2012, he and Jess, his wife of 21 years, discussed what they might do once Tom retired. Jess had retired in 2010 after a career in real estate and professional management.

Tom is 60, Jess is 65. Each had been married before and divorced. When they met more than 20 years ago, they recognized kindred spirits and eventually married, blending their families. Tom has two adult sons. Jess has an adult son and daughter. Between the two, they have six grandchildren.

Like scores of other baby boomers, the Lymans considered renting a condo, townhome, or small home in Florida or Arizona in winter, spending their days golfing, socializing with similar snowbirds, relaxing, and enjoying a slower pace.

After 43 years working 14-hour days and enduring a daily two-hour commute, being able to spend more time at home with Jess and his genealogy hobby would be welcomed.

But as they talked, they realized that doing the same old, same old didn’t have much appeal. As a couple they’d spent most of their free time at their Lake Minnewashta home, working on home improvements and entertaining their circle of friends.

“It was time to step outside the box,” Jess said. “Tom and I had both married young and had children in our 20s. We always had to be responsible and our lives revolved around our families.”

Life change

As they looked at approaching retirement, they realized it would be more enjoyable if they were healthy. Although Jess was always slim and fit, she had chronic pain and had high blood sugar. Tom was 40 pounds overweight.

About a year and a half ago, the couple changed their diets to low carb, gluten-free, sugar-free, wheat-free, and starch-free. Tom lost 40 pounds and Jess’s chronic pain went away.

“We’re in good health now,” Jess said. “That was our goal, to be in good health in our retirement. I could not have done this three years ago. The food thing is such a big thing. We don’t eat any grains, not oatmeal, quinoa, any beans, corn, or rice. It literally changed our lives.”

Can we afford it?

While their bodies became healthier, they had to do a similar checkup on their finances.

Jess and Tom ran the numbers. How much would it cost to do the typical retiree thing? They created spreadsheets of their cost of living if they did the typical retirement community life. They estimated their costs for housing, food, clothing, entertainment, and utilities, dental, medical and prescriptions, household goods, car upkeep and maintenance, and everything else they could think of.

And then they compiled spreadsheets of the costs of traveling. The cost of staying in rental homes, not only in the States but in Europe and Africa, food, transportation, special insurance, passports, visas, technology to keep them wired and in touch with family and friends.

“Our baseline was, ‘How much would it cost to rent a condo in a warm climate? How much would we spend a month in retirement?’ That was our magic number,” Jess explained in a phone interview two weeks before their January departure. “Could we make our travel number match that number and not tap into Tom’s pension? We didn’t want to do this and get into financial jeopardy.”

After a lot of research, number-crunching, and Internet research, the numbers worked.

But it would mean a drastic change to their lifestyle. Instead of settling into a warm climate condo to call home base, the Lymans decided they’d travel, trying out different locations and seeing the world until one of them didn’t want to travel anymore. No home, no car, few possessions except what they could pack in six pieces of luggage.

World Wide Waftage

Jess describes herself as a detail person. How detailed? Visit the Lyman’s website called World Wide Waftage at http://worldwidewaftage.blogspot.com/

It’s the culmination of online research “eight hours a day, seven days a week,” Jess explained. Their website is organized into categories: Tom and Jess’s blog posts, itinerary, travel documents, medical issues, health insurance, travel costs, smart decisions, planning mistakes, Internet access, products they like, vacation houses, cruises, retirees, baby boomers, and senior concerns.

It’s so complete it prompted the question, “Are you going to write a book about how to plan for a trip around the world?”

“I’ve always wanted to write,” Jess said. “I always thought that when I retired that I would write. But I needed to find a vehicle to inspire me. So I decided to do a blog for our family and friends to avoid constantly emailing.”

In addition to the emotional preparations the couple is experiencing — saying goodbye to children and grandchildren, selling their home, having an estate sale and the reality of living out of six suitcases, Jess writes about all the small details necessary to make such a trip as worry-free and efficient as possible; details like getting wills and living wills written and into the hands of a trusted family member, doing taxes while out of the country, explaining why a second passport is necessary for the type of traveling they’re doing, questions to ask when buying a mobile phone for international use, arranging for a year’s worth of prescription meds, what to know about health insurance, getting Wi-Fi in remote parts of the world.

“When we planned our retirement and our plans to travel, we asked ourselves, ‘How well can we do this?’” Jess said. “It’s predicated by our health. If we get tired, we’ll stop.”

Cruising to Cabos San Lucas…Be there tomorrow…

Posted by worldwide-admin on January 4, 2013 with 1 Comment

To our readers: We will be adding photos here as soon as we are near land and able to use XCOM Global Mifi device which doesn’t work away from land. We are at sea all day today arriving in Cabo San Lucas at which time we’ll upload photos. The cruise ship’s wireless connection is too slow at this time to upload any photos.

The Celebrity Century which we boarded yesterday in San Diego, California.

It felt as if someone had pulled the plug and I’d slithered down the drain. To say I was exhausted was an understatement. Tom was his usual perky self, ready to dance the night away.

Dining in the Grand Dining Room last night, a table for two by the window, ensconced in the gentle rolling of the ship, we found ourselves relaxed and at ease for the first time in the many months of planning our year’s long journey to see the world.

Our dietary restrictions were generously accommodated with gluten-free references to the well-appointed menu, offering a wide array of what one might consider being upscale dining. Surprised that we weren’t herded about as cattle at a buffet line, we chatted with nearby guests and teased our articulate Croatian waiter. We couldn’t wipe the smile off of our faces.

All the while the exhaustion was creeping up on me and after our four-course dinner, capped off with a scoop of rich sugar-free vanilla ice cream, I was ready to go back to our cabin.

We’ve yet to unpack other than the items we had had in a duffle bag in San Diego, a few pairs of jeans, underwear, a small bag of toiletries, and my workout clothes. Soon, we’ll leave our “comfy chairs” in this casual dining area after a hearty breakfast and head back to our cabin to see if the overflowing toilet is repaired. Ah, so it begins? No big deal, we laughed. The toiled overflowed in Scottsdale too.

Leaving San Diego was a combination of a test of our organizational skills and our resilience to stay calm when our soon to be turned over vehicle (to son Richard who generously took it off of our hands) was so loaded with “stuff” that we had no choice but to pile luggage on my lap
on the drive to the pier.

Some items were to be left for Richard who flew in from Las Vegas to pick up the car and my sister and her partner who drove from LA, all of whom came to see us off at the pier. The remainder was our orange Antler luggage, two computer bags, two duffle bags, and my bulky overloaded handbag. (We “converted” Tom’s”murse” into a computer bag. Now he likes it).

Arriving at the pier to unload our bags at noon proved to be another pleasant surprise. We drove into the baggage drop off area next to the ship and in less than five minutes our bags were tagged
and hauled out the SUV by a burly porter (to whom we gave a generous tip).

In moments, we were on our way to the Fish House Restaurant less than 1/4 of a mile away to meet up with Julie, Maureen, and Richard for our final goodbyes. (We drove past the USS Midway, wishing we had time to explore. We’ll save that for another time).

Having said our goodbyes to our other three adult children, their significant others, and the six grandchildren (who Tom lovingly refers to as the “pallbearers!”) in Minnesota only two months ago and again over the phone in the past few days, we now were faced with more goodbyes.

At 2:30 PM after entering through two relatively painless checkpoints and security, hundreds of passengers before us, we found ourselves aboard the ship. Our luggage would be outside our door within a few hours while we were free to roam the ship after a mandatory 3:30 lifeboat training session in our designated muster station.

I felt my heart racing for a moment when instructed as to how to wear the life vest. While
drawing a deep breath, I looked over at Tom, suddenly feeling at ease. Many years ago, he’d been a volunteer fireman having proven to be highly competent in emergencies. No doubt, he’d take good care of us. My pulse settled down and a calm washed over me. Everything would be OK.

Our luggage had arrived in part when we returned to our compact cabin. We were missing a bag
with all of our power cords and another with my space foam neck pillow and Tom’s unfinished bottle of Courvoisier which we had anticipated would be confiscated.

Passengers are not allowed to bring alcohol aboard the ship which they tag to be returned upon the day of departure. We were aware of this but it was a shame to toss a bottle of VSOP which no one we knew wanted. Finding our way to security we discovered our two bags. Not only was alcohol not allowed but no power strips, extension cords, and multiple adapters were allowed onboard due to a potential fire hazard. With only two electric outlets in our cabin, we knew we’d have to
improvise.

Now, we’ll return to our cabin, hopefully finding the toilet repaired. We’ll unpack our bags,
hang our fancy clothes in the shower to un-wrinkle for tonight’s formal night and find our way to begin the much-anticipated process of having fun.

Of late, many have asked us, “Are you excited yet?”

We’ll respond in unison, “This is our life now. One doesn’t wake up every day and say they’re
excited. Some days, we’ll be excited. Some days we won’t think about it. But, most days, we’ll be happy simply being together, wherever that may be.

New Year’s Day…We made it to San Diego…One more day…Happy New Year!

Posted by worldwide-admin on January 2, 2013 with 3 Comments

Having offered to put us up for the two days before we sail away on the Celebrity Century to begin the first leg of our worldwide journey, my darling niece and her hospitable husband welcomed us with open arms into their close-to-the-beach home in San Diego with sweeping ocean views.

Not only was our bedroom and private bath perfectly prepared for our visit, but they also cooked an amazing meal befitting our way of eating: prime rib, roasted Brussels sprouts and asparagus, and a mixed green salad with homemade cucumber relish. We were in heaven, relaxed, and at home after the long drive from Scottsdale in New Year’s Day traffic.

Packing the car in Scottsdale with not only our excessive amount of luggage, including miscellaneous items we’re giving to the family before we depart on Thursday, was a daunting task. Tom, with his usual determination, managed to load it all in the back of the SUV, including the flat-screen TV we had brought along “just in case.” (Which proved to be a worthwhile decision when the bedroom TV in Scottsdale was too small to see to lull us to sleep. We’ll unload it tomorrow on son Richard).

On the drive, we stopped at three locations for breakfast unwilling to wait in the hour-long lines for New Year’s Day. Desperate to get something in our stomachs, we stopped at a McDonald’s figuring we’d find something edible within our diet constraints. I can’t recall the last time I ate anything at a McDonald’s. It may have been 10 years ago or more.

Ending up with an awful southwest chicken salad (having requested gluten-free), I had to send back when it wasn’t. It was covered with some crispy fried things with a side of dressing loaded with sugar (which I didn’t use). Much to my shock, the uncut chicken breast was basted with high fructose corn syrup! I wiped it off several times with a napkin in a futile effort to “clean it.” That’s what we’re feeding our kids?

Tom, without any choices he’d consider, ordered chicken nuggets and fries. You’d think after a year and a half of our stringent way of eating, he’d enjoy junk food from his past. Not so much. Back on the road, we darted in and out of holiday traffic, hoping to arrive in time for dinner.

Today with one day until departure, we’ll be running around to complete our final tasks: a trip to the bank to get some arbitrary amount of cash yet to be determined, a venture into a local drugstore for a few last-minute toiletries, a trip to Goodwill to drop off my warm clothing that we won’t need where we’re going so far and a preliminary trip to the cruise ship port to scope out our upcoming arrival tomorrow morning when boarding begins around 10:30 am.

We’ll find a nearby restaurant for lunch with my sister and eldest son who has come to see us off at the pier. He is taking our SUV off of our hands either to sell or keep as an extra vehicle. It all worked out after all. We’ll drive ourselves to the pier, unload our bags, meet them for lunch and off we go, hoping they will be able to take a photo of us at the railing of the ship (we’ll post this photo if we get it).

Are we excited yet? Almost. Almost excited, holding our emotions at bay in an effort to stay focused on the endless steps necessary to get situated on board the ship. After all, we are taking virtually everything we own with us, not an easy task. There will be no home to go back to in order to repack. There will be no new inventory of clothing and supplies to prepare for the next leg of the journey. This is it.

Tentative? Yes, a little. There’s no going back now. Nervous? A little. We are embarking on the first cruise of our lives and yet, we’ve booked eight of them! Crazy? Yes, a little. After spending a lifetime trying to do the “right thing” we feel that it’s time to take a few chances.

In the realm of things, what is the worst that will happen, provided no unforeseen disaster occurs? We won’t like it or, we’ll become seasick that doesn’t resolve after a few days. Yes, either of these could occur. What would we do? We’ll cancel all of the remaining cruises, lose a portion of the deposits we’ve paid (we’d get most of them back in full as long as they are outside the 90 day cancellation period), and venture on as planned, flying as opposed to cruising.

Over the past year since deciding to embark on this adventure, we’ve discussed every possible scenario we could imagine and how we plan to respond. As for the unforeseen, which will undoubtedly occur, we shall hopefully utilize rational thinking with the utmost consideration as to what is the best plan for us.

We’ve taken many precautions that will prove to have been for naught and we’ll experience many situations for which we’re unprepared. We accept that reality which, it itself, is half the battle.

We’ll tire of hauling our bags. We’ll tire of looking at the same stuff day after day. We’ll tire of not having a car. We’ll tire of figuring exchange rates and paying exorbitant fees to convert, cash. And, we’ll tire of language barriers.

But, we won’t tire of one another as we find ourselves pleasingly and, not surprisingly enjoying being together day after day. That, my friends, is the greatest part of our journey.

Next time we “see” you here on our blog, we’ll be writing from the Celebrity Century. We’ll be unpacked, ready to experience the 23 days of cruising in the month of January and for now, we’ll be “home.”

Goodbye, Arizona!…Hello, World!…A New Year. A new life.

Posted by worldwide-admin on December 31, 2012 with 0 Comment

Early Sunday morning while rummaging through the food-sparse kitchen in our Scottsdale condo, I realized we had little time to go out to eat with packing, the utmost in our minds. Having given away most of our food supplies, we had few ingredients on hand to make breakfast.

With a plan to go to Tom’s sister’s birthday party in Apache Junction, I started cooking a rack of baby back ribs I had taken out of the freezer the night before in an effort to wipe out the remnants of any unused food.

With a bottle of barbecue sauce on hand (no time to make homemade) I could make the ribs to bring to the party, along with additional chicken and ribs we had promptly frozen, leftovers from Christmas. Perfect! Any easy dinner for all!

Breakfast was another matter. Scrounging through the fridge, I found a package of organic grass-fed hamburger I had also thrown in the refrigerator to defrost the night before. With no ketchup, no salad, and of course, no buns and only hamburger patties and cheese it could be a hearty, albeit boring, breakfast.

As the ribs cooked, I fashioned three uneven hamburger patties adding only salt and pepper (the only seasonings left on hand) tossing them into the pan with the ribs.

Fifteen minutes later, Tom and I sat at the dining room table overlooking the pool, with a paltry single burger laden with three squares of unknown cheese for me and two for Tom. We looked at each other, then our plates, then back at each other again. We smiled at the exact same moment, improvise, we most certainly thought at exactly the same moment.

We knew we were getting “it” under control, “it” is the ability to make do with what we have on hand, a process we surely will master in time. We started it two months ago when we came here and the low profile toilets became plugged every other day and we came to discover that drinking the tap water was at “one’s own risk.”

We muddled through when the frying pan was too small to make a decent breakfast so I learned to “bake” omelets in a glass pie pan covered with no-stick foil along with a giant single baked coconut flour pancake to-die-for baked in a 9 x 11 Pyrex glass baking pan.

Eventually, I purchased a lightweight frying pan that now feels like a burden when trying to find a place to pack it today. There’s simply no room in our bags for a frying pan. Bye, bye, frying pan. No more of this foolishness. We’ll make do with what we have. We’ve learned our lesson.

After eating the cheesy burger balls, we returned to the repacking of our stuff, sucking the air out of the space bags finding we needed to use the seventh bag, an older black Samsonite we had brought along for the warmer clothing we needed while here.

It would have been great to fit everything into the six orange bags. We mutually agreed that we’ll ditch the black bag as we learn to pack leaner along the way, a necessary evil for homeless travelers such as ourselves. We’ll get better at this.

Later in the day, we were out the door to the party a mere half-hour drive to Apache Junction, leftovers in tow, a little tired, a little anxious, and definitely a little preoccupied. Tomorrow, Tuesday, we leave for San Diego. Two days later, we board the Celebrity Century to begin our worldwide journey.

After an enjoyable evening with Tom’s three sisters and two brothers-in-law, ending with a heartfelt round of goodbyes, we headed back to our condo for the last time. These two months proved to be valuable, to gather and learn our digital equipment, to organize financial matters, to prepare and execute our wills and living wills, to prepare our taxes, and to arrange our insurance.

More than anything, these two months were used to prepare our hearts and souls for this life-changing and mind and heart-wrenching experience of a lifetime that we enter cautiously optimistic, with a little fear, a lot of hope, and a wild sense of adventure.

So, we say goodbye Arizona. We don’t know when we’ll see you again. We say hello world, we’re on our way. We’ll see you soon!

May all of our readers have a very happy New Year filled with opportunities for personal growth and discovery. We’re never too old to learn.

Six days to departure…more details…a little angst…

Posted by worldwide-admin on December 29, 2012 with 0 Comment

After a fitful night with my painful shoulder, I awoke with a sense of uncertainty. The departure date is looming. Why am I feeling this way? It should be a joyful time full of wonder and excitement and yet this morning I found Tom in the living room long before I ambled out of bed, not well rested at 7:30 am, quietly perusing his online newspaper. He, too, seems a little out of sorts.

This will pass. When we’re standing on the deck of the ship waving goodbye to loving family members who insisted they are coming to see us off at the pier to hug and then wave a genuine “Bon Voyage,” we’ll feel better, I’m sure. This is to be expected.

After all, we are leaving everyone we know and love behind to selfishly go on the adventure of our lives, leaving us with a legacy of stories to tell our grandchildren while hopefully seeing them along the way, adding to their own life experiences. My emotions grasp at this morsel of wisdom filling my soul with hope and anticipation.

While on the return five-hour drive back to Scottsdale on Thursday, leaving the Henderson house spotless and in tip-top condition, we made a new ‘to-do” list of items we need to address in the few remaining days until we head for San Diego where on January 3, we’ll board the first cruise ship for our many year’s long adventures.

Having decided we wouldn’t do any further cooking with only four days to go we made our way to one of our favorite breakfast, restaurants, US EGG after I worked out at the local LA Fitness where I joined as a temporary member for the two months here. Lately, we’ve been eating one big healthy meal early in the day with a lighter meal in the evening.

Tom devoured his scrambled eggs, bacon, and sausage while I feasted on their fluffy three egg, chicken, bacon, avocado, and cheese omelet. After several cups of coffee, we headed out to begin knocking off our long list of ‘to do’s”.

Our first task was yet another trip to our bank, one of many in preparing for our world travels. We had opened two new “travel accounts” not linked to our regular accounts that our bank had suggested provides additional security. Keeping lesser amounts in the travel accounts to use as needed, we keep our basic funds, secure in separate accounts.

Then off to the tailor shop to pick up Tom’s three pairs of pants for the cruise, that were swimming on him after his recent weight loss.

The day zoomed by as we made one stop after another, reveling in the satisfying feeling of getting the mundane tasks completed, including shopping for last-minute toiletries, a trip to the post office, a short visit to Costco.

Back at the condo, Tom busily worked on insurance paperwork while I became preoccupied with sorting and consolidating our lofty two year supply of vitamins and supplements, all the while wondering how they’d all fit into our luggage.

Today is the day to begin the repacking of all the clothing, shoes, swimwear, cruisewear including dressy clothes, formal nights, Africa clothing, boots, hats, special gear, gadgets, electronics, and every other item we’ve mentioned in this blog over the past 10 months as necessary for us homeless travelers.

Our handy little suction vacuum in tow, the process will begin shortly. The goal is to complete the packing today with our plans to leave Scottsdale on Tuesday, driving to San Diego for our final two days staying with family not far from the pier. Tomorrow, Tom will find a sports bar so he can watch the Minnesota Vikings game, and later we’ll head to Apache Junction for Tom’s sister Colleen’s birthday party.

Once we close our bags in the next few days they won’t be opened again until we are aboard the Celebrity Century for our 15-day cruise through the Panama Canal. We’ll keep aside two days of clothing to wear in San Diego in addition to that which we’ll wear on boarding day.

Oh, it’s getting close, so close. It’s hard for us to believe after all the planning. There’s still much to do before the 3rd. We’ve made it this far. We’ll muddle our way through the rest. Stay tuned. More will follow.

We survived it all..December 21 and MIFI rental for world travel…

Posted by worldwide-admin on December 27, 2012 with 0 Comment

As Tom’s three sisters and two brothers-in-law walked out the door yesterday, the day after Christmas, they asked us of we were getting excited.

Tom, not giving me a chance to answer, chimed in, “You know what? Jess planned all of our world travels. And I just went along with it, figuring that the world was gonna’ end on December 21st and it wouldn’t matter. So now, it does matter, and it’s time to start getting excited.”

We all roared with loud bursts of laughter. I had nothing more to say after that. They were all headed back to their winter homes in Apache Junction, Arizona, and us, today back to our awaiting vacation home in Scottsdale to hook up with them again on December 30th for final goodbyes and sister Colleen’s birthday party.

Yesterday morning, we met up with my dear sister Julie and her significant other at son Richard‘s office in Henderson to have our wills and health care directives witnessed and notarized which will be secured in the family member’s hands while we travel. Yes, it was morbid doing this, but a necessary element of our travels and life itself.

Handing Julie our complete medical files put our minds at ease that should we ever need anything she’ll have it readily available. Julie like me, embroils herself in the details, making her a logical choice. Of course, she would immediately notify all of our children if anything happened to us.

In addition, we have designated Julie as our contact person. We will report to her with the contact information, phone numbers, and email for property owners prior to departure and arrival at each location. For instance, if we are due to arrive in France on a certain date and Julie doesn’t hear from us within 24 hours, she will immediately notify our adult children and begin the process of finding out what has transpired. This is important.

We’ve all heard stories of travelers being kidnapped, lost in a jungle, or any other possible scenarios. It’s unlikely any of this will occur to us. In the event, an unforeseen situation does occur Julie will be highly diligent in tracking us down.

This provides all of our families with a sense of security. Although a little time consuming, it’s also a comfort to Tom and me to know that a nearly immediate effort would be instituted to “find us” if we’re missing. Julie, a TV producer, is an experienced world traveler with many worldwide contacts. It’s logical for her to be assigned this task. Thanks, sis!

Yesterday, we ordered our MIFI from XCOM GLOBAL that provides us with global wireless Internet access for up to five devices from a small wallet-sized device. I’ve mentioned this many times on this blog finally placing our first order. Pricier than we anticipated at $538 for the first month, we bit the bullet.

The usual cost for using the device in one country is $399 a month plus shipping which may be as much as $100 each time it is shipped to us, with the high cost of international shipping. We refused the $3.95 a month insurance for the device, at another $120 a month.

The reason this particular first month’s rental was so high is due to the fact that we chose to try the device while cruising through the Panama Canal, which including it being set to work not only in Panama but also Mexico, Columbia, and the US while we’re in ports of call. While at sea, it won’t work being too far from a cell tower.

During those periods of time, we’ll use the ship’s Internet access at $395 which provides us each with one hour online per day for each of the 15 days for this first cruise. This is expensive at $26.33 at roughly $13.17 apiece per day.

MIFI from XCOM GLOBAL, although represented on their website that they offer unlimited access, will not allow more than 750 megabytes in any three day period. If we do, they will turn off the system. This allows us each 100’s of email messages per day, many more than either of us currently receive.

We had decided that this would not be sufficient online usage for us. We have personal business to conduct, ongoing travel research and arrangements, and of course, email messages from family and friends. Thus, when Internet access if of poor quality or unavailable, we will order the device to be sent to us. At this point, we anticipate using the MIFI approximately six months of the year since many vacation homes will have high-speed Internet access.

We are asking everyone to please continue to send us an email with text only beginning January 1, 2013, while we’re using the MIFI. Receiving text-only email messages will mean “the world” to us being so far removed from everyone we know and love. Please keep the communication coming minus the videos and multiple photos. Posting those videos and photos on Facebook will enable us to see them when we aren’t monitoring our usage. We love hearing from you.

Today we’re heading back to Scottsdale, after more sorrowful goodbyes, for our final four days before our trip to San Diego for two more days before boarding our cruise to the Panama Canal, taking us away at long last. It’s hard to believe it’s finally only one week away.

We have to repack all of our bags, clean our condo, finish our insurance planning, go to a birthday party, and brace ourselves for what is yet to come.

Author: worldwide-admin