Wait until you hear our harrowing experience yesterday! Right now, we’re rushing off to breakfast and to take care of a few items all of which we’ll write about and post by noon today.
We’ll be back soon…
Final day…Goodbye Belize…Thank you for a wonderful experience…
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| The sky and the sea offered us a pleasing goodbye this morning. |
Last night, full and content after a homemade meal, we lounged in the cozy living room of our villa with our two friends, Bill from Minnesota and Rene, a citizen of Belize, the general manager here at Laru Beya.
While drinking local Belikin beer (I had tea) lively conversation ensued. It was fun learning more about Belize and our guests rounding out the last of new friendships made while here. Hopefully, in the future, our paths will cross again.
We’re relieved to be packed as of this morning, except for a few toiletries, for the morning.
All of our documents are in order. This morning we took care of our bill at the front desk, which was $502.50 for the two months. This includes tours, dinners in the restaurant, cocktails, car rental, beer purchased a few times at happy hour for US $2 each, laundry charges, and tips. Our winter heating bill in Minnesota was almost as much for one month. We didn’t flinch.
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| The simple beauty of the clouds and the sky left us breathless every morning. Today was no exception. |
With everything packed a wave of excitement washed over me. Finally! I’ve been waiting for that feeling. Why not be excited with two months of cruising ahead of us, including 13 nights in Dubai? Why not start my usual “jumping up and down,” leaving behind any doubt or negative expectations?
Last night before bed at 11:00, we froze two-liter bottles with iced tea and one with water. With little time for breakfast tomorrow, we’ll stick to a piece of cheese along with a single cup of coffee each, hoping to keep the potty breaks to a minimum during the four-hour drive. Last time, we only stopped once.
This final day is ours to enjoy lounging by the pool, taking a final walk along the beach, saying our goodbyes to the staff, dining on tasty leftovers from last night, and finally letting our heads hit the pillows by 10:00 PM with pleasant dreams of our upcoming travels.
Shortly after arriving on the ship, we plan to take photos of our cabin prior to filling it with our stuff and, again a day later, after unpacking while Tom does his “magic” hiding the suitcases in the tiny space. For the 11 days of our first leg, we’ll unpack two bags each, leaving the remainder untouched to be shipped on the 13th.
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| We never tired of the view, especially when the clouds rolled by in many mornings. |
Once we have signed up for access to the ship’s Internet service, we’ll be back here with photos and the story of the hopefully seamless transition from Placencia Belize to boarding the Carnival Liberty by tender in Belize City.
Will we come back to Belize someday? Perhaps. But, we have a lot of world to see ahead of us. We’ll carry memories of Belize with us in our hearts and minds forever.
Stay tuned…
A glorious morning…Three days and counting…
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| Goodbye view! We’ll always remember or we can always check here to be reminded of how much we’ve enjoyed this resort and beach. |
After a night of fitful sleep, I awoke at 4:44, wide awake, thoughts running through my mind. “When does the “motor” stop running?” I asked myself, longing to go back to sleep.
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| The gentle sound of the sea at night has been soothing. |
Picking up my smartphone-with-no-contract from under my pillow while putting on my spectacles-for-old-age on my eyes, I continued reading the Kindle app where I left off last night. Mindless reading. Not necessarily worthy of mention.
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| This is the beach we walked almost every day in Belize. We’ll miss this. |
Fortunately, it was mindless enough that I dozed off to sleep for yet another hour, dreaming about what I had read. Oh, yes, clutter my mind with mindless drivel so I don’t go there…my own worrisome thoughts as we near the end of our time in Belize.
As I lay there the second time, contemplating arising, a refreshing thought hit my brain. No worrisome thoughts are necessary! I’m a girl (albeit an old girl) that will be cruising for the next two-plus months (except for the 13 nights in Dubai and two separate hotel nights in Barcelona between cruises) and I’ll be looking forward to the following:
1. No bed to make
2. No meals to cook or grocery shopping
3. No dishes to wash
4. No laundry (perhaps a little hand washing)
5. No cleaning (only tidying. Tom picks up after himself)
6. At least one fun dress-up night a week
7. The ocean around us with breathtaking photo ops
8. Socializing if we choose, or not
9. Three pools at which to lounge
10. Movie theatres inside and outdoors (we love movies)
11. Live entertainment if we so choose
12. Educational seminars
13. Ports to visit
14. Tom can drink and I don’t have to drive home
15. Easy access to a fully-equipped fitness center
These are the key points that appeal to me. For Tom, he’s enjoys all the above, except for the health club. These points drove my mind to a place of imagination. Imagine, we were living somewhere and were preparing to go on six cruises, almost back to back. I’d be jumping up and down with excitement. Tom would be doing his usual smile, enthusiasm tempered with no apparent jumping up and down.
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| Caribbean Sea, thanks for sharing with us! |
Can I let go of all of the things that can go wrong in the six hours from leaving here Tuesday morning at 8:00 am until we’re aboard the ship by approximately 2:00 PM? Only six hours, I keep reminding myself. Only six hours.
“Get a grip!” I tell myself, “Get a grip!”
It’s all in the details…Four days and counting…
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| Natural vegetation around our resort. |
Oh, good grief! Could there be more details to handle before we leave? It’s not as simple as packing our bags and hitting the road. We knew this going in.
It’s easy for me to remember how much work it was to handle a single two-week vacation. In 2011, Tom and I went to Hollywood, Florida for a convention. With social events many nights, the packing was challenging. It wasn’t a matter of a few pairs of jeans, shorts, tee shirts, a dress, underwear, and toiletries.
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| This wooden alligator hand-carved by a local craftsman. Up close, the detail is riveting with individually hand-carved teeth |
Yes, I’ll admit that I like a different outfit and its accompanying accessories every night. That’s who I am. People who know me well, get this, teasing me endlessly for my particular nature. However, I’ve tempered my need for a variety of adopting a “mix and match” philosophy, turning one outfit into many. That seems to work well when traveling.
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| Windy, cloudy day today. |
So, as of today, my entire travel wardrobe, including shoes, bags, underwear, bathing suits, dress-up and casual wear is situated in two suitcases packed and ready to go. I did it. I let “stuff” go. Tom has two large equally stuffed bags, packed and ready to go.
Our goal by the time we left Belize, was to have three large bags, packed with the items we’re letting go to send to my sister in Los Angeles to store until we need them. Right now, two of those three bags are packed. The third contains miscellaneous items we can’t let go: prescriptions, medical supplies, steamer, beach towels, etc.
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| While sitting at the pool today, we met a lovely newlywed couple, but ran indoors when the skies opened to giant raindrops. |
The reality, after days of sorting and resorting, is that we may end up with five large suitcases after we ship two, not three bags to Julie. The rest is carry-on.
We will fly six times in the next 18 months: Dubai to Barcelona, Rome to Kenya, Kenya to South Africa, South Africa to Morocco, Morocco to Madeira, Madeira to who knows where? We have 3 1/2 months to “kill” that we haven’t yet planned.) Most of these airlines have recently changed their checked bag policies.
A few months ago, Emirates Airlines, which we’ll fly on May 21, 2013, from Dubai to Barcelona, allowed two checked bags of 30 kg (66 pounds each). Now it’s down to one bag. The cost for a 2nd bag is in the $100’s if not more depending on the weight.
We discuss our options such as storage facilities in various locations along the way. We haven’t decided yet, but will soon.
Reading this, I am sure many may think, “GET RID OF MORE STUFF!” Sounds practical. But, a reality few ever faced, this is everything we own. We have no home to go back to in order to repack. Many world travelers do. Everything we own is with us in this villa right now. EVERYTHING! Oops! Our tax records and documents are stored with son in Nevada.
The next detail that we finally solved was getting all of our six boarding passes printed. There was some glitch between my sending them via email to the front desk. After several attempts, I contacted our cruise guy, Joaquin, who happened to be on vacation. Alas, our guy came through sending us new PDF documents for all of our cruises. Tim, at the desk, printed them all. Now, we’re set all the way through to our cruise on June 4, 2013.
The cruise lines send documents to passengers, which include luggage tags one must print themselves, using sticky paper. Who has sticky paper? Not us.
Calling the cruise lines using Skype, I verified in each case that we can get luggage tags from the porters when our bags at taken from us at the pier. On our two earlier cruises this year, they were mailed to us. These cruise lines no longer mail the luggage tags: Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and Norwegian, all of which we’ll be on in the next two months.
Of course, we have our own permanent luggage tags on each of our bags but cruise lines handle so much luggage, they want the pre-printed cabin number and name on each piece of luggage to avoid delays. Understandable.
This morning, Tom stated, “Gee, I wonder what passengers older than us, who don’t have printers or even computers at home, manage to print their documents.” Good point. As I mentioned yesterday, electronic documents attached to a person’s passport or other ID would be an ideal solution.
Yesterday, we confirmed our private shuttle for the four-hour drive to Belize City on Tuesday (on the scary road). I kindly asked if they could have either the windows open (we couldn’t open them) this time or turn on the AC. It was 90 humid degrees that day, resulting in four hours of hot sweaty bouncing on the rough, winding, treacherous road. The owner of the shuttle company promised they’d have AC working.
We’re eating all of our remaining food in the freezer. Tonight, bacon cheeseburgers (no bun), pork chops, and coleslaw, an odd combination. Tomorrow, the same and Sunday, we’ve invited our local friends for homemade low carb GF pizza and salad, our favorite staple for which we have all the ingredients.
Winding down. I keep telling Tom that within six hours of leaving here at 8:00 am Tuesday morning we’ll be on the ship, unpacking in our cabin on the Carnival Liberty (oh, please Carnival, no incidents!). I say this to comfort myself as well as Tom.
At that point, we can relax looking forward to staying put for 11 days until we switch ships at the pier in Miami for the journey across the ocean on the Norwegian Epic, a huge five-star ship.
There is nothing more we can do today. Soon, we’ll venture out to the pool for our hour of lounging in a lawn chair, dipping in the water every 15 minutes to cool off. We’ll miss the pool, the staff, the people, our friends, the expanse of the ocean at our door, our time on the veranda, our walks along the beach, the sounds of the birds, and the breathtaking vegetation.
Soon, we’ll have a new place to embrace. It’s all good.
Xcom Global MiFi device is on its way to us…Best customer service in the world!…
(We are not affiliated with this company other than as a satisfied customer). aXcess MiFi Mobile Hotspot
The world’s first intelligent mobile hotspot you can take with you around the world. This international wireless device is compact enough to fit in the palm of your hand, yet powerful enough to connect up to 5 WiFi-enabled devices simultaneously to the Internet.
Specifications
- Compatible with 3G and GSM network
- Tri-Band: 850 / 1900 / 2100 MHz (HSPA / UMTS)
- Quad-Band: 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz (EDGE / GPRS)
- Speeds of up to 7.2Mbps download and 5.76Mbps upload*
- Enables 5 Wi-Fi devices to simultaneously connect
- One touch remote connectivity
- (up to 30 foot range) – no need to connect with cable
- Compact size of 62 mm x 98 mm x 15.3 mm and 81 g
- Removable, rechargeable Li-Ion battery with charger
- Computer WiFi connection supports 802.11 b/g
*Achieving maximum speed depends on geographical
location and coverage.
location and coverage.
In an effort to avoid UPS from charging us $10 per day per item for holding packages for us while we’re in Miami Beach for part of one day, we’ve decided to have the Xcom Global MiFi device that we’ll use worldwide, sent to our mailing service in Nevada.
It will arrive at our Nevada mailbox by April 1st to be placed into one of the large boxes along with the other supplies we’ve ordered for our continuing world travels. The mailing service will wrap and ship all the items to the UPS store in Miami Beach for our pickup (by cab) when our ship arrives in port for the day on April 13th.
Once we receive the MiFi, a device that grabs the signal from Internet providers in most countries, enabling us to be online with up to five devices, we’ll activate it and be online. The device only works when we can see land, less than a mile away.
Aboard ship we’ll use the MiFi when we’re in port for the day, avoiding the outrageous WiFi charges on the ship. When we’re out to sea, we’ll use the Internet package we’ve purchased on the ship. For example, on our last two-week cruise through the Panama Canal on the Celebrity Century, we paid $399 for the ship’s service which served us well, although it’s relatively slow.
Adding the cost for Xcom Global service to the cost of the ship’s Internet service, we expect our total cost to be around $1000 per month while cruising and only the monthly rate of $395 to Xcom Global when we’re situated in one of our vacation homes.
One thinks, why in the world are we willing to pay upwards of $1000 a month for Internet access while cruising and $395 a month when staying put? For us, the answer is clear. In order to achieve the level of planning and organization we’ve chosen for our years-long worldwide travels, there are costs we must bear.
On average, we’ll only be on cruises for two months per year ($2000) and most likely we’ll only need the device for another 5 months each year (at $395 per month) which totals $3975 per year, totaling $331.25 a month.
In our old lives, our combined cell phone bill for calling and data was $185 a month. Our cable and Internet bill was $235 a month. The total for these two expenses was $420 a month which is $88.75 more than that which we’re paying to be online at all times as we travel the world. It all boils down to numbers.
Another factor we consider is our lack of spending on “extras” on cruises. We don’t pay for excursions (although we will in order to see the Great Pyramids, the Sphinx, and Giza in May. No point in one going off on our own in these areas).
We don’t dine in the “extra” cost restaurants. I don’t drink alcohol or soda and Tom drinks very little alcohol, thus our alcohol bill is low. We don’t buy highly marketed souvenirs, photos, spa services, personal trainers, go to art auctions, buy clothing, watches, or jewelry.
At the end of our cruise, our bill will consist of charges for Internet service, Tom’s cocktails and as on the last cruise, two bottles of duty-free liquor we thankfully brought to Belize. Tom’s favorite, Courvoisier is US $65 in Belize, as opposed to the US $37 duty-free, we paid on the ship. Of course, one is not allowed to drink their liquor purchase aboard the ship.
Fortunately, most locations we’ve booked for the future have wireless broadband service in the property at no charge. For example, we are certain the connection will be adequate for our 13 days in Dubai in May, although we’ll still have the device with us and will be paying for it.
However, the advantage we’ll have when out of our condo in Dubai, visiting the various sites of the city, we’ll be able to use the device as a “portable WiFi” which allows us to use “Maps” on our smartphones with full access to the Internet although neither of us has a cell phone contract! We love technology!
We aren’t so certain about the Internet service at the 17th-century villa in Tuscany Italy, where we’ll be spending most of the summer, as having anything other than a dial-up connection. The lovely owners, Lisa and Luca, don’t speak English and we’ve had a difficult time using the correct words to communicate a full description of the quality of the connection at the property.
Once we arrive in Tuscany on the June 16th, we’ll immediately test their service and if not adequate, we’ll email Xcom Global explaining that we’ll need to continue to use their service and won’t be returning the device at that time. We’ve alerted their customer service department to this possible scenario and they are more than willing to work with us.
While on our first cruise, as we were learning to use the device (very easy), we had a few questions that we sent by email. They couldn’t have responded more quickly with an immediate resolution. This company has the best customer service in the world!
Some have asked us, why “rent” this pricey device when you can purchase one for under $300? Well, let’s say this would be comparable to buying a modem from a cable company but having no service with the company.
Worldwide WiFi is not FREE. A few countries offer it for their citizens, for which they are ultimately taxed. Xcom Global has contracted with providers all over the world to allow its customers to “tap in” to the various networks.
These providers are well aware when we’re utilizing their network to the extent that they have some restrictions on usage, such as not being able to download huge files or use Skype. using the device. It uses too much bandwidth. Our understanding is that this is to prevent piracy of videos, movies, and large international files and, from using too much of their data that is distributed to their own customers.
Worldwide Internet access is a complicated issue. We have spent considerable time researching our options and are satisfied with the choices we’ve made. In time, as technology improves, hopefully, less expensive options will be available to us. For now, we feel we have the best service available for our needs.
After all, if we couldn’t be online, we’d hardly be able to share all of our travel experiences with all of you on an an-almost-daily basis.
Planning our last two weeks in Belize…Today’s photos…
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| A walk along the beach this morning on a cloudy cool day. |
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| Man-made breakwater we encountered, rocks wrapped in mesh casings about 75′ from shore, utilized to protect the shoreline from the crashing waves. |
The next two weeks will fly by. I can feel it whirring by already as we’ve begun counting how many days of groceries, we’ll need to get us through. With the hope to use as much as possible of our food on hand. We speculate that we won’t be dining out again.
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| The bar at the end of the long dock at Robert’s Grove Resort. |
Tomorrow, Wednesday will be our last trip to the village with Estevan, our cab driver. Going through the freezer and refrigerator, we’ve counted that we currently have almost enough meat to go the duration. With a few trips to the vegetable stand, we’ve got it covered.
With Easter on the horizon this Sunday, we’re planning a special dinner inviting our yet-to-remain-in-Belize, Minn Roger, our friends who returned to Minnesota last Friday, left us a good-sized package of grouper they’d caught while fishing here.
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| Local carving popular in Belize. |
Safely tucked away in the freezer, I’ve looked forward to serving the prized fillets one night soon, and
alas, the time has arrived, Easter dinner. With Tom diligently back on our stringent way of eating until we’ board ship on April 9th, all of our remaining meals will be low carb, grain-free, starch-free, and sugar-free including the Easter dinner.
The traditional Easter dinner as we knew it, is a thing of the past both health-wise and, due to the lack of
availability of the many ingredients necessary to make the ham and many side dishes. Our lives are different now.
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| This style of carving is frequently seen in Belize. |
Tom will be able to indulge a little on the ship, although we don’t eat more than twice a day. Many cruise passengers live for the lavish multiple meals and decadent desserts available at all hours. We’ve chosen a more modest approach with so many cruises ahead of us.
It would make no sense for Tom to outgrow his new slimmer wardrobe. We’ve already replaced all his clothes for many sizes smaller while in Scottsdale in December.
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| An abandoned building, part of a resort that most likely failed due to poor economic conditions. |
I strictly adhere to our way of eating at all times while Tom occasionally tries some bread and desserts which don’t appear to present any ill effects for him when consumed in moderation.
Together, today, we’ll plan the meals for our next two weeks, grocery shop accordingly taking the one mile each way walk to Seine Bight to buy additional fresh vegetables again in another week.
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| This little abandoned shack may have been a food stand or dive shack years ago. |
Once the food situation is resolved, we’ll begin the process of making to-do lists for our departure from Belize City on April 9th. Booked on two back to back cruises with the partial day layover in Miami on April 13th, we’ll take care of the tasks we have planned as described here, in prior posts: go to the bank, ship three of our large suitcases to LA while picking up an awaiting box with supplies at UPS and stop at a drugstore for miscellaneous toiletries.
When we disembark the ship, we’ll have to go through customs with the three bags. When we return to the ship a few hours later, we’ll have to check in on the second cruise as would any passenger with the box of supplies we picked up at UPS.
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| Another abandoned resort. Someday these properties will be sold and brought to life again, as the economy in Belize hopefully recovers along with the remainder of the world. It’s sad to see the loss of local employment and potential generated revenues in the many abandoned resorts throughout the country. Luckily, many well managed and funded resorts continue to thrive today. |
This morning, while writing this, I suggested to Tom that we bring one empty suitcase with us. This way, we can open the box at UPS, place everything in the suitcase, ditch the box, and check-in for the second cruise. Once aboard the ship, we’ll return to our awaiting cabin (same cabin as a prior cruise) where our remaining luggage is already unpacked and put away.
Gosh! Writing this down adds clarify to these multiple steps, a necessary reality we’ll always face, getting to and from our various destinations. In actuality, it’s the only part we don’t like. In time, it may be our undoing.
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| We met this fun-loving group of travelers (one wasn’t in the pool) that had just come off a one week charter on a giant catamaran with a private gourmet chef and full crew. They were all from Chicago with one, a former native of Minnesota. We enjoyed chatting with them. Unfortunately, they all left the next day. Yes, those are my feet in the photo! The sun was so bright, I could see to take the photo. Glad my toes were polished! |
For now, the excitement of our next adventure drives us on with a fervor and passion neither of us has
ever known. The inconveniences occur in only several hour segments, leaving us days, weeks, and months to revel in the rich experiences. Life is good.
A revelation with 18 days left in Belize…
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| Often we emphasize the view from our veranda overlooking the Caribbean Sea. We’ve neglected to take photos of our “backyard” behind our villa. These gorgeous flowers came into full bloom overnight. There’s no grass or vegetation for a “lawn,” just fine white sand. Early each morning the staff rakes the sand in the gardens as well as along the beach to keep it smooth and free of debris. |
Yesterday, as we wandered out to the pool for our daily, vitamin D enhancing, tan deepening, sunburn-free, requisite one hour of sunshine, a thought hit me right between the eyes. We’re leaving Belize in 18 days as of today and we have no sense of dread, no angst, no feeling of disappointment nor, any sense of longing to go.
It may sound like ambivalence, but in fact, it’s the opposite, a sense of elation coupled with calm and quiet acceptance. Oxymoron? Perhaps.
In other words, we’re looking forward to each and every one of the 18 remaining days in Belize plus, we’re joyfully anticipating the future two months of cruises, the trip across the Atlantic, the visit to the Great Pyramids and the Sphinx, along with the resulting 13 nights in Dubai living in a 95 story residential tower overlooking Palm Jumeirah and the Persian Gulf.
By June 16th, we’ll drive in a rental car from Venice to our 17th century stone villa in Tuscany where we’ll spend the summer. Then on to Africa, and then, on and on…
Tempering enthusiasm takes practice. I’m your basic “jump up and down,” overly enthusiastic spirit. Tom, on the other hand, merely smiles, his eyes twinkling, in a state of reserved contemplation, incorporating a touch of skepticism and caution, all the while hoping it provides him with insurance against disappointment.
Not I’ll risk disappointment! Come on, excitement! Come on, anticipation! I’m ready to indulge in my whimsical musings of what is yet to come. We’re a good pair as he tries to tone me down and I strive to “fluff him up.”
Our compromise? Live in the moment or, if willing to stretch ourselves, live in the next 24 hours. How do we see the next 24 hours? Tonight is our Minnesota friend’s final night in Belize (they own their villa and will be back). They’re returning to their home and business in Minnesota.
They’re hosting a cocktail party tonight at 5:00 PM, atop the fabulous home they’re building which we highlighted in a post on March 7, 2013, the day of our anniversary, the night we fell on the collapsed steps. Of course, we’ll attend. We’re sad to see them go. We’ll miss the day to day interaction, the commonalities we share, the laughter, and the endless stories.
For now, for the next 24 hours, we live our lives consisting of a series of pleasant, uneventful days spent engaging in mindless drivel or days of what we find to be extraordinary experiences that we will always remember. What if we don’t remember? We can always bring up this blog to jog our memories, if, hopefully, we can remember how to find it.
What do I do about my phone?…
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| Ugh!! My cracked Droid Razr Maxx HD smartphone cracked in the upper left corner. |
The day after our anniversary and subsequent injuries from the fall on the collapsed steps, I dropped my Droid Razor HD Maxx on the cement walkway. More concerned about my injuries at the time, I dismissed it with a plan to deal with it later.
Later has arrived. I’m almost fully recovered, working out again today for the first time since the fall, and ready to resolve the phone issue.
If we were in the US, I’d drive to the Verizon store or a cell phone repair shop, drop it off for the day to pick it up later in the day. Most likely the cost for the digitized touch screen replacement would have been in the $200-$289 range.
Not the case now. On a whim, when we stopped at the local office supply store in Placencia Village on Wednesday for a squishy envelope, there was a cell repair station in the back of the store. My hopes soared. The enthusiastic repair guy looked at the cracked screen shaking his head, “no.”
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| The office supply store in Placencia, Belize has a cell repair shop. |
“It will take at least a month for the repair parts to get here,” he explains, handing the phone back to me. “But I can’t even guarantee that it’d get here in a month. You, know, the mail…” he trailed, looking sadly disappointed.
“Yes, we understand,” I said equally disappointed.
Decided not to give it another thought at the time, we continued on with our shopping. Later, at my computer, I started researching my options which include:
Plan A
- Wrap the phone in the padded envelope with a prepaid UPS label (using our UPS account, our trusty portable printer, and our roll of clear shipping tape) and giving it to our kind Minnesota friends who are returning to the US on March 22nd.
- UPS will pick it up at their office on March 25th. Within four days (roughly arriving on March 29th), it arrives at the Motorola Repair facility, where it takes five days to repair (roughly arriving on April 3rd). Motorola ships it to our mailing service in Nevada (roughly arriving on April 7 and is placed in the box with our other items being shipped to us on April 8th to a UPS store in Miami Beach. We’ll be there for only eight hours on April 13th. That’s a tight time frame.
- This plan leaves me without my Android phone for 22 days, which I use as my reading device. I pick it up to read at night when we go to bed, during the night if I can’t sleep, during the day on the veranda and out by the pool. To be without it for 22 days is challenging. My laptop is too bulky for such reading. Yes, I know a tablet would have been handy, but we were trying to keep the digital equipment at a minimum (kind of).
Plan B
- Find a location in Miami Beach to repair the phone while we wait during our eight-hour layover between cruises.
- Upon researching cell phone locations somewhat near the pier in Miami, most indicated either an exorbitant cost of upwards of $300 or they wouldn’t fix it in a few hours. I contacted several repair shops by email and chat to become further frustrated with their responses. All asked to be paid upfront so they could order the parts.
Plan C
- Keep the phone in my possession since I still can read on it. We’ll arrive in Dubai on May 21st after our cruise through the Suez Canal and to visit to the Pyramids. With a 13 day stay, we’ll have time to take it to a nearby repair shop for a replacement screen. If it takes a few days, no problem. With our 95-story high rise close to the downtown area, there appear to be multiple options within walking distance.
- Keep the phone in my possession since I still can read on it. We’ll arrive in Italy, staying in Tuscany for 2 1/2 months with a rental car. We’ll have plenty of time to get it repaired.
In reviewing these options, we have to recall our motto, “Wafting Through Our World Wide Travels with Ease, Joy and Simplicity.” In other words, which of these options produces the least amount of stress? It’s clear to us, Plan C.
A possible obstacle to Plan C? The phone continues to crack (highly likely) and becomes unreadable. Solution: Bite the bullet and purchase a new unlocked smartphone at one of the many ports of call along the way. Also, we’ll be back in Miami for one day again on April 20th, the day we leave to travel across the ocean to Barcelona. At that time, decide on the repair or the new phone.
For now, we’ll put aside the cracked screen issue and go about enjoying our remaining 24 days in Placencia Belize. Our big concern for today is, when will the sun come out? Nice.
Photos from a walk…Living life on our terms…Our anniversary was yesterday on the 7th…
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| Our waiter took our anniversary photo last night after dinner. |
As we’ve mentioned in past posts, we don’t have transportation while in Placencia Belize. We made a hard decision when we moved to Laru Beya on February 5, 2013. With the cost of our rental doubling for two remaining months that we’re here and a budget staring us in the face, we opted to only rent a vehicle as needed.
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| Palm fronds we discovered on a walk yesterday. |
So far, other than the one week in early February that we buzzed around in a rented golf cart at $350 per week, we’ve managed just fine much to our mutual surprise. We thought we’d feel trapped. We don’t.
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| These are obviously fake cactus used to light the road at night. See the orange one on the left. |
Our resort has golf carts, motorbikes and cars available if we need one on a moment’s notice. Most likely, later in the month, we’ll rent a car to explore some of the surrounding villages after heading to the capital city of Belmopan where we’ll extend our visas for the final time. Its an hour and a half drive north of us.
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| Local sculpture. We often see variations of this style. |
Without a doubt, there is a huge temptation as one travels the world (from our limited experience thus far) to splurge to fuel one’s perception of what a “vacation” looks like with frequent siteseeing expeditions. Most of these outings in this remote area require guides resulting in fees upwards of $300 for the two us for a five to six hour day trip. Some are more.
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| Another lighted fake cactus next to another local sculpture. |
We’re not on vacation. We’re living in foreign lands. When we lived in Minnesota, we seldom visited any of the local “tourist” attractions after our kids grew up. Who does unless one has out of town company or on an outing with grandchildren?
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| Sculpture of cactus plant. |
When we designed our budget, a process that continued over a period of many months, we created a plan that, health providing could last us for the remainder of our lives leaving our investments and savings in tact. Should we vary from the plan, everything changes. Suddenly, we could begin depleting our resources.
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| Locally crafted painted working fountain. |
Remembering our motto, “Wafting Through Our Worldwide Travels with Ease, Joy and Simplicity” we carefully map out our finances to stay within the budget, compensating from one month to the next should we unintentionally vary as we did when making a decision to move to Laru Beya.
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| Locally painted sign advertising Sweet Mama’s Restaurant. Notice the wood French fries in the in the wood basket on the upper left side of the sign. Cute. |
We only dine out twice a week now (ordering whatever we’d like), cooking in the remainder of the time. We don’t get massages and spa treatments. I do my own manicures and pedicures and now Tom is considering having me cut his hair. Yikes. We don’t have to go that far!
We’ve learned to re-use items we may have tossed in our old lives. We hand wash our underwear, bathing suits and tee shirts. We don’t order beverages when we sit by the pool. When cooking we increase our bang for the buck by making enough to last another night, thus reducing our cost.
We don’t dine in the “extra charge” restaurants while on cruises or purchase beverage packages that can run up to $800 per person per cruise. The only beverages we purchased aboard ship are those with our dinner, one or two cocktails for Tom, iced tea for me (for which there’s no charge).
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| We had a small 3″ cactus plant like this in Minnesota in a south window. grew 1″ in 26 years. This plant is about 3-4 feet in diameter. |
If we purchased the cruise beverage packages with an average of eight cruises per year, we’d spend an extra $10,000 per year or more. If we purchased the excursions on the cruises, we’d spend another $10,000 per year. It changes everything. It takes out the “ease, joy and simplicity” we so much relish in our new way of living. We’d rather spend our money on no less than a balcony stateroom for extra space and comfort than on extra charges we don’t really need.
Is this mindfulness difficult? Do we feel deprived? Not at all. Especially when its attached to the reality that we can go on forever if our health holds up and if we so choose.
We’d rather generously tip our maid Gloria, our server, our cab driver and all the Gloria’s and Estevan’s we’ve yet to meet than take a one day outing where all the tourists rightfully go while on their much deserved once or twice a year vacation.
Living our lives on our terms. Everyday may not be an exciting adventure. It may be only a walk along the road, enjoying the local art and culture.
It truly is a splendid life.
Countries we’ll visit, real estate to explore, plus photos…
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| Famous long sidewalk in Placencia Village with houses scattered along the way. |
After spending most of my career as a real estate broker in Minnesota, USA, real estate in Belize peaked my curiosity and Tom’s as well. With our possible plan to “settle somewhere” when and if we tire of traveling, we’ve decided to research real estate when we find an area particularly appealing.
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| An excellent example of local property design, the restaurant, the “Caribbean Breeze Coolspot,” offers sweeping views of the lagoon and the mountains from the deck. |
With our newly discovered wanderlust, we can’t imagine living in one locale for an extended period. But, let’s face it, advancing age may require a fixed location some time down the road
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| House along the drive into Placencia Village. |
How can we make this potential eventuality fun and exciting, rather than a dreaded eventuality of aging? Taking care of our health is firmly implanted in our lives. As we all know, unforeseen medical issues can occur in a flash, no matter the attempts one has made to avert it. We’re products of our genes, our environment, and past bad habits, that can haunt our DNA for a lifetime.
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| House on the way to Placencia Village. There’s a tremendous amount of poverty in Belize. |
Keeping a positive attitude isn’t a guaranty either, as much as we’d like to believe it is. So, we’ve decided to live now, as if we’ll live long and healthy lives, full of energy, full of passion, and full of hope.
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| House we see each time we walk along the beach heading south on the Placencia peninsula. |
This hope precipitates a desire to explore what options will be available to us for not only our pleasure but also for a certain degree of ease of living. Would Belize fill that bill? We don’t know. We’re yet to define a frame of reference from one locale to another.
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| Occupied house near the pier at Monkey River. |
We will have visited the following countries including many of their cities and regions in the next two-plus years. Health providing, we’ll add many more in the years to come. With a three and a half month unplanned gap in Europe in 2014 and a plan to explore more countries during that time, perhaps we’ll add three to four more countries to this list. (These are listed in no particular order).
1. USA
2. Belize
3. France
4. Italy
5. Spain
6. Turkey
7. Greece
8. United Arab Emirates
9. US Virgin islands
10. Honduras
11. Grand Cayman
12. Bahamas
13. Puerto Rico
14. Grand Turks and Caicos
15. Portugal
16. Egypt
17. Jordan
18. Kenya
19. South Africa
20. Panama
21. Mexico
22. Guatemala
23. Costa Rica
24. Columbia
With ten upcoming cruises from April 2013 to November 2014, we’ll have an opportunity to look at properties while in port along the way, both for sale and for rent. This process may not give us a definitive view of our eventual long term location but may inspire us to return to live in a particular locale for a number of months to better acquaint ourselves with the lifestyle.
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| House along the canal leading to the lagoon, leading to the Caribbean Sea. |
So often, while on vacation, we’ve all fantasized about moving to the location to live an idyllic life lounging on a pristine sandy beach, with the waves lapping at our feet.
In only a short time, we’ve come to realize in our own naivety, that however romantic and inviting a location maybe, in time, we all settle into the comfortable and the familiar which hopefully brings us a sense of contentment, fulfillment, and a certain degree of happiness.