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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Be well.

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

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

A peculiar event in time…Approaching our three year anniversary of traveling the world…Tomorrow, stats and expenses for first three years…

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A friendly man on his horse after a hard morning’s work took time to say, “Bula!”

What we’re sharing today is somewhat hard to believe. If we hadn’t been caught up in this situation along with the rest of the digital-savvy population of Savusavu (the majority have cell phones), we have thought this story was pure folly.

Beautiful scenery on a cloudy day.

Sunday, the first in November, is designated in Fiji is the time to change the clocks for Daylight Savings Time. In this part of the world, it’s not a case of “fall back” as many parts of the world do when changing their clocks back one hour.

(Ironically, the first post we wrote on March 15, 2012, was regarding changing clocks. Please click here for that first post).

But, instead, in this part of the world, it’s “spring ahead” one hour. It’s spring here in the Southern Hemisphere where some things are opposite or different than those in the Northern Hemisphere, including the day of the week.

A horse turns our way as we drive down a narrow road.

This website clearly explains time changes in the Southern Hemisphere:

“Across the southern hemisphere, where summer and winter are reversed, countries that observe daylight saving time (DST) move time in the opposite direction.”

So is the case, here in Fiji. On Sunday, we’ll turn our digital clocks and watches forward one hour. OK, no big deal, right. Well, this past Sunday, one week early, Vodafone, the local cell carrier, turned the clock forward by one hour on all cell phones throughout the area.

A baby pig nursing.

THIS WAS AN ERROR.  Done on the wrong Sunday and left for everyone throughout Savusavu to figure out. We didn’t have a clue. Our phones, without a cell service contract and only a phone SIM card in mine, still showed the “real-time” yet to be changed.

Honestly, we didn’t know a time change was coming. We have no TV, no local news, and no way we’d be notified of this fact. As written in yesterdays’ post, we pay little attention to the time when only a few times of the week, we walk to the road to meet Rasnesh for a sightseeing or shopping trip.

Locals use bamboo to make these fishing rafts.

We’d planned to meet Rasnesh at 11 am to head to the village for our usual Thursday visits to the Vodafone kiosk, the Farmer’s Market, New World Market, and Fiji Meats. At 10:55, we walked to the road to meet Rasnesh, carrying the huge insulated Costco beach bag, the cloth Africa bag, and the smaller insulated bag. 

At 11:05 he still hadn’t arrived.  He’s always early, never late. Standing in the hot sun, sweating in the humid air, we decided to call him. Had something happened? Should we go back inside and wait until his usual call to let us know he’s arrived?

View across Savusavu Bay from opposite our home.

Ratnesh laughed when he heard my voice and realized why we were calling, “Oh, Jessica, you didn’t know about the time change thing, did you?” We did not. We didn’t even know a time change was coming on November 1st when in many countries DST isn’t observed.

Apparently, the entire village in their beautiful easy-going spirit decided to go along with the new time, changed in error, one week early, by cell phone provider Vodafone. We laughed out loud over the unique charm of these people, their gentle acceptance, their laissez-faire attitudes, of “what will be, will be.” 

A small makeshift hut along the highway.

There was no drama, no angry accusations, no requests for compensation, and no threats to cancel contracts.  They simply “went with the flow” and the “new time” one week early. No questions asked. Many of us throughout the world can learn a lot from these gentle people.

If this happened in many other countries all hell would break loose until it was corrected and in part, we’d expect this response: What about the stock market, airline flights, bus schedules, and the times banks and businesses would open? It would be total chaos, affecting literally every citizen, every business, and every entity in some manner.

These handmade rafts are ideal for hauling as well as fishing.

We asked Rasnesh if he wanted to come to get us in another hour? He explained he was available and would be here soon. We laughed over this peculiar situation. Our only concern was our upcoming appointment for Saturday, our three year anniversary, to be at Namale at noon to tour their facility, take photos, and then celebrate our anniversary with a lunch in their gourmet restaurant.

We arranged it with Rasnesh to pick us up at 11:15 “old-time,” not new Vodafone time, in order for us to make our 12:00 pm appointment. By Sunday, the time should be correct, providing Vodafone doesn’t accidentally change it one more time.

The views are lovely driving along the Hibiscus Highway.

Frequently, based on our travels and GPS on our phones and computers, our clocks often automatically change to the wrong date and time. Over the next several days, we’ll update everything digital to ensure we have the correct time after the “official” time change. 

Tomorrow, we’ll be back with the “numbers” of our three years of world travel, past anniversary photos of us, and links to our early posts. We hope you’ll share this special day with us.

Photo from one year ago today, October 30, 2014:

A colorful smoothie truck at the Farmer’s Market in Maui. Unfortunately, smoothies contain carbs, fruit, and sugar preventing us from partaking in these tasty treats. For more details and photos in Maui on this date, please click here.