One more day…Wrapping up the details…This and that…More favorite photos…

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Tom and I after dinner on his birthday when my clothes were dirty from my flying lobster tail landing in my lap.

Yesterday, I finished packing except for a few toiletries we’ll need today and tomorrow morning. Tom has waited to pack until today, but all of his clothes are neatly folded, button shirts plastic wrapped and stacked on the extra bed in his clothing bedroom.

Gee…its been nice for each of us to have one extra bedroom to store our clothing, making packing all the easier and more convenient. We’ve rarely made extra bedrooms a criterion in selecting vacation homes. If they have more than one bedroom, great. If not, we carry on.

When we originally planned our travels in 2012, we’d expected family and friends would visit from time to time. This hasn’t occurred much when we’ve been too far away in most cases. 

Tom’s sisters and brothers-in-law visited us early on in our travels in the vacation home in Henderson, Nevada, our kids and grandchildren visited the Big Island and my sister visited Kauai this past March. A few other visitor possibilities have arisen but unfortunately, we didn’t have enough space at the time.

Making three bedrooms or more a criteria would greatly reduce the opportunity to visit certain countries when prices for vacation homes may be higher in some locations due to demand with an overall higher cost of living.

We spent time with the honeymoon couple, Samantha and Danny at dinner. This photo was taken by our taxi driver after a dinner out at the Arts Village.

As a result, we’d chosen location and price as our top priorities, number of bedrooms as a matter of convenience, not a necessity. Since we plan almost two years out, if family or friends would like to visit, we’ll always know well in advance what’s booked in the future and if it will work.

This Pacific Harbour house has actually been one of our favorite houses as far as houses go, although we haven’t had a view other than exquisite vegetation which has been fine. The private pool has compensated for a lack of oceanview. On a few occasions, we’ve had both with more yet to come.

Anyway, on to this and that…many months ago when we lived in Trinity Beach Australia, we were contacted by a couple from the US, around our ages, who planned to travel the world for two years to then settle down. 

They’d asked lots of questions as to the feasibility and the particulars and we were happy to offer suggestions.  Tom had met them online at the popular cruisecritic.com and, we’ll be on the same cruise in two days, departing from Sydney. 

It’s not unusual to meet other passengers on cruisecritic.com well in advance of the cruise with plans to meet in person once on board the ship. At this point, we have three such meetings planned for this cruise, two separate groups for private excursions for six, a planned dinner, and of course, the couple traveling the world for two years who’s cabin in on our same deck.

Tom, on the night of his birthday for a fabulous dinner at the Pearl’s gourmet restaurant, Seduce, definitely deserved a five-star review.

As we chatted back and forth with Doreen for over a week via email we realizing writing was taking too much time, we decided to speak on Skype which worked much better. We covered a lot of ground. Our site has tons of information on the “how-to” of world travel from what we’ve learned over these past four years on continuing research. 

But, with over 1250 posts to date, searching through our archives for each entry is time-consuming, especially for the less experienced web users. We’re always happy to assist in any way we can. Of course, after these 39 months of travel, we still have a lot to learn but feel we have a handle on many areas of concern.

Last night, I heard from Doreen once again after a few month’s hiatus to hear they’ve been enjoying living in an apartment in Sydney and are busy packing for the cruise. We made a loose plan to meet in person at the first organized cruisecritic.com party which most likely will be held within 24 hours of boarding the ship. A notice will be posted in our cabin as to the dates and times of parties.

It’s from these events (as well as simply sitting about the ship) we usually have an opportunity to meet many other travelers, some on vacation/holiday only and others who travel frequently. 

This photo is so me…lots of disgusting looking seafood which I find delectable.

At times we hear of others who’ve sold everything, as we have and are traveling permanently like us, but we’ve yet to meet anyone, as yet, who has no home base. We’ve met many couples and individuals who’ve been traveling long term or to many locations over a period of years with a home base they return to from time to time. 

However, we often find tremendous enjoyment in meeting others who may not travel more frequently than once or twice a year or less. After all, there’s more to us and to them than travel. All of us have a diverse range of interests that has nothing to do with where we live or where we visit, providing many opportunities for engaging conversation and commonality.

Tonight, we’ve decided to dine in having “breakfast” for dinner using our remaining eggs, cheese, fresh mushrooms, onion, and tomatoes. Mainly, we’re motivated to dine in more due to the fact that we didn’t want to wear anything that may need washing other than the few casual items we’re wearing today, than in using any leftover items. 

Leaving tomorrow (Monday) at 7:45 am, and with rain today there’s no further opportunity for another load of laundry. Yesterday, with the sun out off and on, we managed a bit of pool and chaise lounge time. We both have a little tan base which will enable us to spend 40 minutes a day at the ship’s outdoor pool without the necessity of sunscreen.

(From considerable research over these years, we’ve discovered that the use of sunscreen prevents the absorption of Vitamin D. Only about 20 minutes on each side should be a small enough dose of sun to reduce the risks of skin cancer and yet add an excellent dose of the vital vitamin. More sun exposure may be risky, especially for fair-skinned individuals such as Tom).

This photo from Christmas Day at the Pearl is so “Tom,” who loves good meat and sweets.

Thanks to all of our readers for continuing to share in our ongoing journey over this past year when we’ve stayed in locations for longer periods than we may in the future; eight months in Hawaii and four months in Fiji.  During these longer stays, we’ve come to realize that future bookings will most likely not include four months in one location, except for one. 

The only country where we’ll live for four months is upcoming in Bali beginning in April when we’ll live in the same property two times, two months each, with a two-month break in between, all due to visa restrictions.  The property was irresistible, affordable with the ocean and a pool, and breaking it up into two segments should work well for us. More on that later.

After tomorrow’s post which will automatically upload while on our way to the Nausori Airport in Suva, which includes all of our expenses for both islands and a grand total for the four months we’ve spent in Fiji. The next morning you’ll see a post about our one-day stay in a hotel in Sydney with a few photos. From there, posts will be aboard ship and on the excursions, we’ve planned.

Happy day after the New Year’s celebrations and may those still working, may you have an easy and painless entry into the new year when heading back to work. 

Photo from one year ago today, January 3, 2015:

This sign served as a valuable warning to keep us and others from exploring beyond this point when we visited Lava Tree Park one year ago. For more details, please click here.

Tricky aspects of booking flights and cars…Favorite Fiji photos begin today…

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Savusavu Bay and Nawi Island, a site atop a hill in the village.

Generally, we book flights using the Expedia link on our website. It doesn’t know us from anyone else and with prices no more or less than using Expedia through the web, it puts a few extra pennies in our coffers in the small amount of commissions we may earn on some bookings.

Many travelers use the various flight booking apps offered online many that bring up multiple web pages at a time with a wide array of quotes for the flights. After trying many of these over the past years, we’ve found the pricing we get through Expedia is no different than anywhere else. 

The hot springs where many locals cook their potatoes and root vegetables.

The airlines will charge the highest possible fares and although rates can change by the hour/day/month, with all the flights we booked we prefer not to spend days researching to save only a few dollars, if anything at all.  

Saving USD $10, FJD $21 for a flight is nowhere near as important to us as in savings the $1000’s we can often save on vacation home rentals or for cruises by spending hours on that type of research and subsequent negotiations.

The view from our veranda in Korovesi, Savusavu, Fiji.

It’s an entirely different scenario for the average traveler when booking hotels and airfare. Most hotels don’t negotiate and airfare is their only way of saving a few dollars, resulting in the fervent desire to save on the airfare.

Unless we’re staying for an extended period in a boutique hotel, we seldom ask for special pricing other than those offered via promotions, coupons, corporate discounts, and senior citizen pricing. 

The bay where many sailors moor their sailboats.

We’re thrifty but we don’t embarrass ourselves in asking and asking for special treatment and pricing when none is necessarily warranted.  Of course, when we write stories and do reviews about a particular property arranged in advance, we may ask for special room and meal rates or comps which are generally provided based on their desire for the additional publicity. 

In most cases, it’s happily provided once they have an opportunity to investigate our site to see how serious we are in documenting our experiences available to our vast numbers of readers worldwide (for which we’re very grateful).

The busy village hops with business most days.

When a few days ago, we were in a booking frenzy, not to be picked back up until we’re situated at our next location, we not only booked the hotels in Singapore and Hanoi but we also booked the flights from Singapore to Bali on April 30th after our cruise ship arrives. 

Then we booked the return back to Singapore from Bali on June 28th at which point we’ll be staying in Singapore for a week. This was not accomplished as easily as one may think with many airlines with poor ratings as indicated on this site which we check each time our flight options include airlines we don’t know as safe.

Tom, in front of a giant palm frond on the property.

In today’s world, no air travel is entirely safe. Choosing an airline with good ratings for maintenance and no recent disasters at least provides an added layer of peace of mind. Also, reading reviews from travelers on the more obscure airlines can add another layer of comfort.

Bail is an Indonesian island that has many fewer unregulated airlines prompting us to be especially careful. It’s easy to take for granted that most country’s airlines are managed and inspected regularly when this is not always the case. Of course, there are always exceptions.

View of the coral reef from the highest point in the neighborhood.

With the airline rating site opened as an additional page on our laptops, we both went to work with safety as the priority, as well as price. Non-stop flights are always a top criterion when possible. We’ve already spent endless hours waiting for connecting flights in less than ideal airports and prefer to minimize this necessity when possible.

If we had our way, we’d cruise everywhere. Unfortunately, geographically, this just isn’t possible. As a result, getting to and from Bali on two separate occasions is tricky. 

Badal joined us when we took photos from atop the highest point in Korovesi and continues to visit us each night during dinner.

We spent hours researching and finally, when we found a good airline, Jetstar Asia (with the highest rating of 7) at a reasonable price for the round trip fare (for our first of two visits to Bali) we quickly booked it. Prices can change on a dime. We’ve yet to book the second trip to Bali where we’ll return two months after we leave (visa restrictions).

As we booked the round trip, it took the first leg of the flight without issue (we paid each leg separately as required by that particular airline). Then, the Internet went “limited” and the return flight showed an error. Expedia took us directly to the airline’s website per their regulations as opposed to allowing us to complete the booking at Expedia.

Taken at the chicken lady’s home which proved to be too difficult to access regularly for eggs.  Subsequently, we purchased our eggs in flats of two and a half dozen at the Farmers Market.

We had trouble booking the return flight when the signal kept slipping in and out, resulting in the necessity of us calling the airline directly. To avoid long-distance charges, we used Hotspot Shield as our VPN with an US web address and Skype avoiding any long distance charges. Thus, being on hold for 10 minutes wasn’t as annoying as it could have been.

A competent rep came onto the line with a thick accent somewhat hard to hear and decipher on Skype but we managed to book the return flight plus pay for our reserved seats at USD $10, FJD $21.  No free seats were offered. The cost of the roundtrip flight Singapore to Bali was USD $586, FJD $1251 for both of us including the costs for our seats on both legs.

Two curious baby goats checking us out. 

The rep encouraged us to pay for our luggage, movies, and other perks but we declined. We have no idea what our luggage will weigh by next June when it’s changing as we restock supplies and clothing. We can do this later either online depending on the quality of the wifi signal at the time or by phone if necessary.

After that was resolved, we decided, while we were “on a roll” we’d go ahead and book the rental car for three months in New Zealand. In a little over one month on January 5, 2017, we’ll be boarding a cruise from Sydney to New Zealand, a perfect example of “using cruising” as a means of transportation as much as we can. 

Everyone in Savusavu works. These fishermen catch fish to resell and for their families.

We were able to book a suitable rental car for the 88 days in New Zealand for a total of $1836 with the best rates from rentalcars.com, a site we frequently use. Oddly, the better-priced vehicles didn’t have air conditioning. 

In checking the weather in New Zealand during that period, it will be cool, not cold, mostly in the 60F’s, 15.6C’s and 70F’s, 21C’s. If we didn’t have a manual transmission with the car jerking around, I’d be OK without AC. 

The Blue Lagoon’s beautiful waters.

The constant jerking of a manual transmission makes me carsick and the AC helps tremendously. Thus, we opted for no AC and an automatic transmission with which I won’t get carsick.  Having not driven a manual transmission in 30 years and with the car rental company adding me as a driver at no extra charge, this works well for us. Tom won’t have to grocery shop with me each week.

Tomorrow, we’ll have another new booking to share as we work on it today. We prefer not to post information about a future booking until we’ve actually paid the deposit and wrapped up the pricing and details, thus avoiding confusion. 

The beach at the Blue Lagoon.

Of course, from time to time, we can’t help but share our “dreams” of locations for the distant future that are too far away to book. It’s nearly impossible to book anything further than two years out.

Soon, we’re heading on our final trip to the village without the necessity of a visit to the Farmers Market or the grocery store. We’ll pick up my prescriptions at the pharmacy, purchase a new phone SIM card and pick up our final two roasted chickens at Helen’s Fiji Meats. Over the next few days, we’ll continue to consume our remaining foods on hand, leaving anything new and unused for the staff.

The island with three trees.

Beginning today, we’ll be posting our favorite Fiji photos and on Sunday, our departure date, we’ll upload a short post with our expenses for the three months we’ve spent in Savusavu. Two days and counting.

Happy weekend to all wherever you may be!

Photo from one year ago today, December 4, 2014:

It was at this point one year ago that we became even more worried about the lava flow on the Big Island as it moved closer to our area of Pahoa. Would we have to move to another location to accommodate our soon to be arriving 12 family members? For more details, please click here.