At last! Our new upcoming, updated 669 day ITINERARY!!! Especially exciting news for Jess!!!

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It’s easy to spend lazy afternoons lounging on the cabana. Here’s the link to this fabulous vacation rental.

“Sightings on the Beach in Bali”

Muddy white horse getting a bath in the river.
  • With my 70th birthday in 16 months (no, Mom, I’m not wishing my life away!), Tom decided to surprise me with a new plan, after the Antarctica cruise ends on February 8, 2018, we’re heading back to Africa! 

    My 70th birthday is on February 20, 2018 and hopefully, we’ll be celebrating at Jabula Lodge in Marloth Park, South Africa, with all of our friends whom we’ve stayed in close touch since our departure on February 28, 2014, a full four years ago.









































































































































































































Sumbersari,
Bali to Denpasar, Bali		 1 road trip 10/29/2016 –
10/29/2016
Hotel – Kuta,
Bali		 1   10/29/2016 –
10/30/2016
Flight –
Denpasar, Bali to Sydney, AU		 1 red eye 10/30/2016 –
10/30/2016
Hotel –
Sydney, Australia		 1   10/30/2016 –
10/31/2016
 Cruise – Sydney to Perth  16  RC Radiance of the
Seas 		  10/31/2016 –
11/16/2016 
 Cruise – Perth to Sydney  17  RC Radiance of the
Seas 		  11/16/2016 –
12/3/2016 
 Tasmania #1 Penguin Beach House  44    12/3/2016 – 1/16/2017 
 Tasmania #2 Anchorage Waterfront  44    1/16/2017 – 3/1/2017 
Cruise –
Sydney to Sydney 		 12  Celebrity Soltice   3/1/2017 – 3/13/2017 
 Sydney House – Fairlight  House – Manley 40  3/13/2017 – 4/22/2017 
 Cruise – Sydney to Seattle   24  RC Explorer of the Seas   4/22/2017 – 5/15/2017 
 Hotel – Vancouver Marriot Pinaccle 2  5/15/2017 –
5/17/2017 
 Cruise – Vancouver to Seattle – Alaska   9  Celebrity Soltice   5/17/2017 – 5/26/2017 
Flight –
Seattle to Minneapolis 		 0   5/26/2017 – 5/26/2017
Hotel –
Minneapolis Family Visit		 42   5/26/2017 – 7/7/2017
Nevada Family
Visit 		 21    7/7/2017 – 8/1/2017 
Costa Rica –
Atenas – La Perla de Atenas 		 114    8/1/2017 – 11/22/2017 
Flight –
Costa Rica to Fort Lauderdale		 0   11/22/2017 –
11/22/2017
Hotel – Fort
Lauderdale, Florida		 1   11/22/2017 –
11/23/2017
 Cruise – Ft. Lauderdale to Santiago 15 Celebrity Infinity  11/23/2017 –
12/8/2017 
 Cruise – Santiago to Buenos Aires,
Argentina 		 15 Celebrity Infinity  12/8/2017 –
12/23/2017 
Hotel – Buenos Aires  – not booked 31    12/23/2017 – 1/23/2018 
Flight –
Buenos Aires to Ushuaiai, Argentina		 0    1/23/2018
Cruise –
Antarctica – Ushuaiai to Ushuaiai		 16 Ponant Le Soleil  1/23/2018 – 2/8/2018 
Flight –
Ushuaiai to Buenos Aires		 0   2/8/2018 – 2/8/2018
Flight(3) –
Buenos Aires to Nelspruit, SA		 3   2/8/2018 – 2/11/2018
Neslpruit to
Marloth Park, South Africa		 0 road trip 2/11/2018 – 2/11/2018
South Africa
– Marloth Park		 88 Tom’s 70th BD gift to
Jess		 2/11/2018 – 5/10/2018
Rwanda,
Africa for Gorilla Expedition		 7 flights TBD 5/10/2018 – 5/17/2018
Victoria
Falls, Zimbabwe/Zambia		 7 flights TBD 5/17/2018 – 5/24/2018
Cruise –
Zambezi River		 7 flights TBD 5/24/2018 – 5/31/2018
Flight –
Zambia to Nelspruit, South Africa		 2 flights TBD 6/1/2018 – 6/3/2018
Neslpruit to
Marloth Park, South Africa		 0 road trip 6/3/2018 – 6/3/2018
South Africa
– Marloth Park		 88 return stay 6/3/2018 – 8/30/2018
Total Days
Booked – More to Follow		 669

No words can describe my surprise and excitement when Tom sprung this happy news on me as we swam in the pool.  Sure, he knew I was chomping at the bit to return to both our human and animal friends in Marloth Park but I’d expected it would be several years out. 

Was he motivated by the fact that many of our vaccinations are good for ten years and by then, we’ll be into the sixth year of world travel when we were originally inoculated in the US in 2012, shortly before we began our journey?  Or perhaps he was motivated by the reality that we aren’t getting any younger and this long journey can be challenging, especially arriving from South America.

What a fabulous villa this has been in Sumbersari, Bail.  Note Tom’s head in lower right as he lounges on the sofa out of the sun while I finish the post at the dining table.

Not only did we long to return to Africa to stay in Marloth Park, living in the bush with wildlife surrounding us, we’d yet to see the gorillas in Rwanda, cruise on the Zambezi River and see the largest waterfalls in the world, Victoria Falls by none other than a helicopter.  As we pieced together today’s itinerary, it all became a reality. I’m so excited!

Each time I’ve brought up this topic in our future travels conversations, Tom said he’d be delighted to return although we still had a lot of world to see.  Long ago, we agreed that all decisions we make must be unanimous.  We’ve followed that edict to the letter. 

This has to have been our favorite dinner time view.

Now, he’s come my way on this topic when he too realizes, we may not be able to do this forever.  Although I didn’t nag him on the subject (I don’t nag), he knew my heart longed for Africa one more time.  Many who’ve visited the continent feel this same affinity to returning someday.  Knowing he’s now as enthused as I am, makes my heart sing.  Thank you, my dear husband, lover, travel companion and friend!

Speaking of birthdays and life’s milestones, Tom 65th birthday will be spent the day we arrive in Buenos Aires, Argentina on December 23, 2017, another special day to celebrate.  I’m certain we’ll have no trouble making the event celebratory in Buenos Aires!

As you peruse this itinerary, you may wonder…Is this the end of our travels which at that point, as stated above, which will be only a few months shy of six years from the onset of our world travels?  As we’ve stated in many posts over these years, health will always be the determining factor.

High tide view from the villa’s second story veranda.

We’d anticipated that “getting tired of it” would be as crucial a reason to end this year’s long journey as for any health reasons.  As time has marched on and we’ve became more and more adapted to this peculiar way of life, this reason would no longer be an issue for either of us. 

When we first began, we made a pact that if one of us wants to stop, we would.  Now, that prospect is somewhat of a joke.  Every so often we ask one another the question, “Are you tired of this yet?’ 

Invariably, we laugh at the preposterousness of the question.  It would be comparable to one asking, “Are you tired of being happy yet?” 

There are many unknowns in this world we live in, risks and dangers we can hardly bear to imagine.  But, as always, we continue on with love and hope in our hearts and minds, in awe and humbled by the world around us, and always longing for more.

Dog on the paved road.

With the kindest of good intentions, many often wish us, “Have a nice holiday!  Enjoy your vacation!” to which we always say a simple, “thank you.”  We look at one another with crinkly eyes twinkling, as wide smiles spread across our faces while these unspoken words spin simultaneously through our minds, “This is no holiday or vacation.  This is our lives! 

Its not always profound.  Its not always exciting.  Often, its challenging and frustrating.  At times, we have no choice other than to adapt to our surroundings, making the best of what may be excruciatingly difficult for a period of time. 

Isn’t that how life is for all of us?  We’re all longing for fulfillment in one form or another whether its for today, tomorrow or the future yet to come.

May you find life fulfilling, now and always.

_________________________________________


Photo from one year ago today, October 14, 2015:

Cars and trucks could easily fit inside the ferry in Savusavu, Fiji.  Prices vary by weight as shown here at the ferry company’s website.  For more details, please click here.

Change in plans for US visit in May…

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We’re in awe of the ornate detail in the Hindu statues.

“Sightings on the Beach in Bali”

The dogs on the beach show little to no interest in humans. But, they certainly enjoy hanging our together. These five were actually in a group of eight although it was impossible to get all eight in one photo.

From time to time it becomes necessary to change plans for a particular visit to a country. In a perfect world, the decisions we make we can follow through to completion. 

As we all well know, decisions may not be perfect, including ours, when we consider travel plans. Most often when we find it necessary to change plans, it doesn’t have a bearing on others. 

In this case, it does, for which we apologize to our family members if they are disappointed for the necessity of our making these changes. 

Another beautiful statue in the neighborhood of villas on the beach.

The biggest consideration in this change is the cost which escalated greatly over this past year. Over these past many days, we calculated the expenses on a spreadsheet to include the six weeks RV rental period, fuel, campground fees, US $3, IDR $40,004, per hour for generator use fees to run the refrigerator and the AC (at night only), and many ancillary fees that go along with renting an RV.

Recreational building/gathering place for villa owners/residents in the area.  This location is also where the security guards use it as a base overnight during their watch.

The total cost came in at no less than US $20,000, IDR 266,705,981. That included only the time spent in Minnesota.  With meals our daily costs would have been in excess of US $500, IDR $6,660,000 per day, definitely outside the realm of our budget especially for this extended period.

Then, we had to consider the added cost of making our way across the northern tier of the US to drive to Minnesota. In the summer, these expenses are outrageous. 

Hindu offering display.

Instead, once our Alaskan cruise ends on May 26th, we’re flying directly to Minnesota. Although the grandkids will still be in school for a few more weeks, we’ll have time to see them after school, in the evenings, and on weekends. 

During the school day hours, we hope to spend some quality time with our adult kids (if possible based on their work schedules) and visiting Tom’s retired siblings and old friends.

Kitchen on-site for resident’s use for entertaining guests in the recreational center.

The pluses to this big change? We’ve booked a hotel within 25 minutes of all of our kid’s three homes. We can visit them. They can visit us. The hotel has two indoor pools the kids will love.  We’ve booked the hotel reservation as having three children with us, enabling all of us to use the pools at once.

There’s never a shortage of exquisites views as shown from the recreational center.

We’ve negotiated a great rate which we’ll soon share. The car rental for this period will be in excess of US $2600, IDR 34,632,000 for a midsized vehicle for the six weeks, although not quite as costly as some other parts of the world.

As for meals, a complimentary breakfast is included for us and “three kids.” The hotel room will have a small refrigerator and microwave. Costco roasted chickens, here we come! 

Colorful statue in a front yard temple in the neighborhood.

With our intermittent fasting, we may only have a full meal in the evenings when we’re dining with family or friends. We’ll see how that works out. Since we never eat three meals a day (rarely two) our food costs won’t be outrageous.

A more contemporary statue at a new home construction site in the neighborhood.

With the change to a hotel allowing for greater mobility and a certain degree of practicality, we’re able to cut the cost almost in half ultimately making the time in Minnesota all the more enjoyable.

More details will follow. Happy day to all!


Photos from one year ago today, June 16, 2015:

An indoor organic farmer’s market in the mall in Trinity Beach, Australia, where we often shopped for vegetables. For more details please click here.

Photos of road trip continue…One year from today…Fulfillment, happiness and knowledge…

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This appears to be a Balinese boat, called Madurai, one of many designs that we spotted in the fishing harbor in Negara which is quite a site to see.

“Sightings on the Beach in Bali”

  At first, we thought this might be a log or debris, but when we saw it moving quickly from left to right, we knew it was a sea creature.

Our lives are filled with milestone dates as we continue to travel the world. Whether it’s an anniversary of the date we first left Minnesota, first left the US, embarked on our first safari, walked the hills of Tuscany, wandered the lost city of Petra, or sailed in the dangerous waters of the Gulf of Aden in the Red Sea.

As our journey continues, we find the true meaning of our passion and purpose to become one with the world in ways we can maneuver based on our personal desires, our ages, our health, and our financial considerations.

This appears to be a Muslim Madurai boat design.

In our minds, we’re doing it well, better than we anticipated, better than we dreamed possible. It’s not a case of flattering ourselves for a job well done thus far. 

A similar design is common on these Madurai boats located in the fishing villages of Pangambengan and Perancak.

It’s merely a matter of acknowledging to ourselves and to one another that we’ve reached the pinnacle of our intent…fulfillment, happiness, and knowledge of a world we never knew existed until 43 months ago. How naïve we were. How educated we’ve become, and yet, with so much more to learn in the future.

Today is a milestone that in one year we’ll be back in the US, arriving in Seattle, Washington after a 24-day cruise from Sydney, Australia. For the time being, we’ll have scoured the South Pacific as much as we desired and may, with so much world yet to come, never return. 

Smaller boats docked along the breakwaters.

We’ll stay in the US for two months visiting family and then, off we go again, bookings and plans already intact with the same degree of excitement we’ll have begun, at that point, almost five years ago.

As we peruse our travel map located to the right of today’s post (feel free to click on it for details), good grief if the completion of seeing the world were our entire objective, we’ve only experienced the “tip of the iceberg” so to speak…and that, too, coming up on January 23, 2018, on our booked Antarctica cruise.

Its hard to conceive of the time and effort to create these detailed decorations.

But then, seeing the entire world is entirely impossible, even if one began decades before us. It’s a big place.  Does spending time in a few cities in a country, on a continent constitute really “seeing” it? Or, does living there for two or three months at a time determine how well we’ve come to know the life, the culture, and the treasures it offers for us to behold? 

Many of the boats are similarly designed with attention to religious detail.  Some are of Hindu design and others are of Muslim design.

To us, none of this matters. What matters is the fulfillment, happiness, and knowledge we glean along the way, at times with a degree of angst and discomfort and even, at times a degree of disillusionment and disappointment.

This appeared to be a maintenance/utility boat.

Then again, even these types of perceptions are all part of the process of learning and growing as human beings, of stretching our wings to soar above these vast lands with grace, humility, and awe.

The number of fishing boats in the harbor is astounding.

Yes, we are in awe of it all even with the biting flies, the relentless mozzies, the muddy paths, the steep roads, the hours-long harrowing drives, the scorching heat, the suffocating humidity, and at times the seeming to never end cloudy and rainy days and nights. It’s all a part of the experience.  If it were perfect, it would have little meaning after a while.

We couldn’t believe how much creativity was required for the designs of these fishing boats.

So, yes, we’re in Paradise here and again in Paradise wherever we may be at any given time, for the experience, for the selfish joy, for a starlit night like none other where we need only reach to the sky for a handful of stardust we sprinkle in our own eyes as we smile in pure wonderment.

Some of the boats in the harbor were small and less decorative.

Today, we share more photos of that joy we’ve encountered here in Bali, Indonesia in a remote location far from the popular tourist points of interest making our own way to see that which becomes closest to our hearts, a simple beauty, a profound opportunity, to discover what life is really like in faraway lands. 

Gratefulness. It prevails.

Photo from one year ago today, May 16, 2015:

As we were winding down our time in Kauai, the albatross chicks born in early February would begin to fledge within a month. It had been an amazing experience to watch them grow over the many months and finally to see their fluff fall away as their feathers suitable for flying grew in.  For more photos, please click here.

Itinerary for the next 666 days…In five days, we’ll leave NZ…In six days, we’ll board a cruise in Sydney…Tomorrow…two great videos!

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Colorful sunset over the farm.


Our itinerary for the next 666 days…more to come in the future…

 Sydney Hotel 1  4/15/2016 – 4/16/2016 
 Cruise – Sydney to Singapore  14 RC Voyager of Seas   4/16/2016 – 4/30/2016 
 Bali House  59  4/30/2016 – 6/28/2016 
 Hotel Singapore 7  6/28/2016 – 7/5/2016 
 Hanoi Hotel 3  7/5/2016 – 7/8/2016 
 Cruise – Mekong River – Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City  15 Viking
Mekong
  		  7/8/2016 – 7/22/2016 
 Phuket House  41  7/22/2016 – 9/1/2016 
 Bali House  59  9/1/2016 – 10/30/2016 
 Sydney Hotel  1  10/30/2016 – 10/31/2016 
 Cruise – Sydney to Perth  16 RC Radiance of the Seas   10/31/2016 – 11/16/2016 
 Cruise – Perth to Sydney  17  RC Radiance of the Seas   11/16/2016 – 12/3/2016 
 Tasmania #1 Beach House  44  12/3/2016 – 1/16/2017 
 Tasmania #2 River Waterfront  44  1/16/2017 – 3/1/2017 
 Cruise – Sydney to Sydney  12 Celebrity Solstice   3/1/2017 – 3/13/2017 
 Sydney House 40  3/13/2017 – 4/22/2017 
 Cruise – Sydney to Seattle   24  RC Explorer of the Seas   4/22/2017 – 5/15/2017 
 GAP 5/15/2017 – 5/17/2017  2  5/15/2017 – 5/17/2017 
 Cruise – Vancouver to Seattle – Alaska   9 Celebrity Solstice   5/17/2017 – 5/26/2017 
 Seattle to Minneapolis – drive through Yellowstone – hotels  13  5/26/2017 – 6/8/2017 
 Minneapolis Family Visit – RV rental  42  6/8/2017 – 7/19/2017 
 Nevada Family Visit – Stay with son Richard in Henderson 11  7/19/2017 – 8/1/2017 
 Costa Rica – Atenas House 114  8/1/2017 – 11/22/2017 
 Hotel – Fort Lauderdale – Not booked  1  11/22/2017 – 11/23/2017 
 Cruise – Ft. Lauderdale – Santiago, Chile  15 Celebrity
Infinity		  11/23/2017 – 12/8/2017 
 Cruise – Santiago, Chili – Buenos Aires, Argentina  15 Celebrity
Infinity		  12/8/2017 – 12/23/2017 
 GAP Buenos Aires – Hotel or vacation homes 31  12/23/2017 – 1/23/2018 
 Cruise -Antarctica – Ushuaia, Argentina – Ushuaia, Argentina – 16 Ponant
Le Soleal		  1/23/2018 – 2/8/2018 
 Total number of days  (153 days cruising) 666

Each time we’ve posted an updated itinerary at least one reader writes asking if our journey will end at the conclusion of the posted itinerary. If and when we’re forced (for health reasons) to change the course of our travels, we promise to post our intent of the necessity of doing so. 

Also, we’ll certainly continue to document that process (health providing) including medical treatments, settling in to a new location whether temporary or permanent and the resulting expenses for all aspects of such a transition.

While on the way to shop we stopped for cows crossing the road.

Is there a chance the above won’t transpire? (Warning: morbid talk here). If we stay relatively healthy and are able to continue on, we may find life comes to an end for one of us during the journey. One way or another, we’ll notify our readers.

As we age, along with the rest of us, we realize that life may change at some point. Actually, life will change at some point. For now, we don’t worry or concern ourselves with that eventuality. 

The farmer offered to stop the flow but we insisted they carry on.

Striving for good health, living in the moment and joyful planning for the future are the main focus of our nomadic lifestyle. As we peruse our above itinerary it’s hard to wipe the smiles off of our faces. If happiness is instrumental in living a long and healthy life, we should be around for awhile.

A few stopped to check us out as the crossing continued from the paddock.

No, we aren’t slapstick happy every single day. Like the rest of us, we have quite uneventful days. We have other days where we may feel worried or angst-ridden. On occasion, we have fitful nights spent worrying about the well being of family and friends. 

But, overall, a powerful sense of contentment surrounds us. Yesterday, on the deck with 47 alpacas within our reach, we felt the endorphin rush of interacting with nature. Laughing, commenting, smiling while handing them an open palm of their grassy treats, we can’t help but appreciate every moment of our lives.

The cows were being moved to milking. Moving them must be a daily occurrence.

For however long this journey lasts, we remain grateful each and every day. Grateful for the experiences, grateful for the good health and grateful for the opportunity of sharing it with all of you!

Photo from one year ago today, April 10, 2015:
One year ago today, we wrote about “Birdie,” a Red Cardinal who visited our veranda in Kauai more times a day than we could count. I chopped batches of unsalted organic macadamia nuts, almonds, pecans and walnuts feeding them to him and his “wife” when they came to visit.  He sang a song when I didn’t get the nuts outside to him quickly enough. To hear his song in our video, please click here.  To see the year-ago-post, please click here.

How we’re spending the two month gap between two visits to Bali…Partial Itinerary…Moo…baa…neigh…

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This is our favorite cow to visit when we’re on a walk.  She always sticks out her tongue and does a little dance when she see us.

When preparing yesterday’s post, we realized it may sound a bit confusing regarding our back and forth for two trips to Bali. The bulk of the decision to go back and forth revolved around the fact that Indonesia has strict visa regulations with stays only allowing for 30 days (with 60 days possible). We’ll figure that out soon.

Recently, these fillies/colts were born.

As a result, we thought it might clarify the plans we made for the almost two-month gap in between the two separate bookings for the same property. In part, the owners gave us an excellent price on the villa with a full staff but preferred to get more for the high season. 

The walk in the area is always lovely.

If we’d leave and return, they could get higher rates than we’re paying during the peak season, resulting in excellent pricing for us during the two separate visits on either end of the peak season.

Also, during this two-month gap, we found a two for one special on a Viking Mekong River cruise, providing we paid the cruise fare in full at the time of the booking which we were happy to do for the savings.

Cattle seem interested in humans as we’ve found on walks and drives through the countryside.

In these two transactions, we saved several thousand dollars for venues we may not have found affordable at the full rates and fares. The more countries we can visit at the best possible prices and terms the greater our worldwide experience. 

There are numerous varieties of long-horned cattle in New Zealand.

It’s not that we’re on a mission to visit every country in the world. It’s not practical in today’s world of war and terror.But, we are on a mission of visiting the countries we find interesting and enriching as we continue on our world journey.

The gap between the two Bali stays made sense when by coincidence and admittedly diligent planning and research, we’re not only excited about the time we’ll spend in Bali but also the two months in between and shortly thereafter, as shown below:
                                                                                         # days                        Dates





































































 Sydney Hotel 1  4/15/2016 – 4/16/2016 
Cruise –  Sydney to Singapore  14  RC Voyager of Seas   4/16/2016 – 4/30/2016 
 Bali House  59  4/30/2016 – 6/28/2016 
 Hotel Singapore 7  6/28/2016 – 7/5/2016 
 Hanoi Hotel 3  7/5/2016 – 7/8/2016 
 Cruise –  Hanoi to Ho Chi Min City  15  Viking Mekong    7/8/2016 –
7/22/2016 
 Phuket House  41  7/22/2016 –
9/1/2016 
 Bali House  59  9/1/2016 –
10/30/2016 
 Sydney Hotel  1  10/30/2016 –
10/31/2016 
 Cruise – Sydney to Perth  16  RC Radiance of the Seas   10/31/2016 – 11/16/2016 
 Cruise – Perth to Sydney  17  RC Radiance of the Seas   11/16/2016 – 12/3/2016 

Luckily, the time in Bali will be low-key and relaxing while the interim period will be a whirlwind of flights, hotels, cruises, and comings and goings. Having this hectic schedule is good for us when at times, we can easily fall into the “homebody” mode staying put in one spot for a while. 

Discovering these horned cattle was a first for us in New Zealand.

The above itinerary over a period of seven months requires seven flights, four of which we’ve yet to book. We have plenty of time to book the remaining flights.

Don’t get me wrong…we love quiet times in the country. Without a lazy bone in our bodies, we keep our days full of activities we love to do, ultimately highly fulfilling. 

Many cattle are dehorned.   But, we don’t believe that process is done on this breed.

Although it may appear we’re occasionally “couch potatoes” which on occasion we are, we’re actually quite active most days of the week, not unlike many of our readers, who say they’re busier in retirement than when they were working.

Young bulls down the road from our house.

Of course, living on this farm in itself provides enough daily stimulation, activity, and entertainment as we spend considerable time outdoors enjoying every single moment. 

They often approach to check us out.

With the diligent use of repellent I’m able to spend all the time I’d like outdoors, as was the case when we lived in South Africa, Kenya, and other parts of the world where mosquitoes, biting flies, and sandflies are an issue.

On our usual walk, Mount Taranaki with our favorite cow on the right and a few sheep who often baa at us.

Today, it’s raining with heavy winds with more rain in the forecast. As summer winds down in New Zealand, apparently the much-needed rains have arrived. Knowing this is good for all the grazing animals in the countryside, we’re happy to see the rain, greening their pastures.

Tomorrow, on the day of my birthday we have a planned evening out and a special story with new photos we hope our readers will find entertaining. Happy day to all!

Photo from one year ago today, February 19, 2015:

It was one year ago today, we made the treacherous trek to the Queen’s Bath in Kauai, a known dangerous place to visit. Making our way down this area was challenging. Had we known how dangerous it was, we’d probably wouldn’t have done it. At times I grabbed any sturdy branch I could hold onto and when possible hung onto Tom to keep from falling. When we were done, I was glad to have challenged myself but also realized the practicality of such risky treks makes no sense at this age.  For more photos of Part 1 of this story, please click here.

Day 10…No sunshine…Acceptance of conditions throughout the world…

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The guard at the gate to the Government Building in Suva, the capital of Fiji.

Since arriving in Pacific Harbour it’s been cloudy and rainy for no less than 17 out of 21 days. While in Savusavu, we experienced similar amounts of rain occurring almost every day during the three-month stay. 

As positive as we attempt to be about conditions where we’re living at any given time, it would be ridiculous to say we’re not looking forward to the coo, sunny climate of New Zealand, definitely not in the tropical climate category. 

At this point, it’s hard to believe our four months in Fiji are coming to an end. Overall, we’ve enjoyed Fiji, mainly for its friendly locals, beautiful surroundings, colorful vegetation, sparkling sea, and some of the finest organic produce, grass-fed meats and free-range chicken on the planet, all at affordable prices.

Recently, dining out on several occasions has been enjoyable with many options befitting my diet, which wasn’t the case in either Savusavu or Trinity Beach when most menu items included starches, sauces, and sugar.

Distant view of the Government Building in Suva.

Fiji is truly an affordable place to visit for the long term when staying in a vacation property and perhaps at different times of the year, it rains considerably less, making it all the more ideal vacation/holiday spot during those periods. 

We remind ourselves that literally everywhere in the world has aspects that may not be ideal to the average traveler or even the long-term resident. Years ago, we often discussed how many Minnesotans retired to Arizona and Florida for the great climate.  But, after visiting both states and watching weather reports over the years, we’ve seen and experienced that their winters can be cool with inclement weather.

When we first left Minnesota to travel the world, we spent our final two months in Scottsdale, Arizona, a beautiful desert community, a haven for many retirees, making final preparations to leave the US long term.

It was warm when we first arrived in Scottsdale in early November 2012 but quickly became cool requiring we wear jackets most days. We never had an opportunity to use the pool outside our condo door. It was simply too cool.

The long fence surrounding the Government Building in Suva.

During our Scottsdale trip, we rented a vacation home for a week in Henderson, Nevada for a family gathering over Christmas. There too, it was very cool and we never used the pool in the backyard. 

On many earlier visits to son Richard in Henderson, Nevada, we recall very cool weather in the winter months. Tom and I easily recall waiting outside a casino after a show for the valet to return our car, freezing while we waited 20 minutes.

Where is the ideal year-round warm climate? Does it even exist anywhere in the world?  If it’s warm, it’s usually humid. When it’s humid, there are usually mosquitoes and a wide variety of insects and…lots of rain.

The more we travel the more we accept these realities, especially when we’ve spent such a huge portion of our travels living in a tropical environment. Over the past 12 months, we’ve lived on four islands of Hawaii, Trinity Beach, Australia, and Fiji, all considered tropical climates, all of which included clouds/rain at least 50% of the time.

The top of the President’s house in Suva.

In the past 12 months, we’ve only spent 18 days cruising. Although we spend a lot of time discussing and planning cruises, some years we spend little time actually doing so. 

In other years it’s much more such as in the upcoming 12 months, beginning on January 5, 2016, during which we’ll be sailing on five cruises encompassing 76 days, approximately 21% of the year. 

Most often, conditions on cruises are highly satisfactory with little inconvenience and adaptation required; no insects, air-con comfort throughout the ship, comfortable beds and seating, relatively good food, no shopping or cooking required, no housework, and frequently, good enough weather to spend a little time each day lounging by the pool. 

Sure, we’ve experienced rough seas on several cruises and a few bouts of “cruise cough” a harsh inevitable reality on some sailings. Once it starts it’s difficult to avoid, especially when one of us “catches” it and transmits it to the other. 

The beach in Suva has several seating areas.

Illness is a downside of cruising for which we’ve promised to be even more mindful of in our upcoming cruises.  No handshaking, touching, and too close proximity to others.  Plain and simple. 

There were a few occasions we excused ourselves as graciously as possible to leave a dinner table when upon being seated near or next to a coughing passenger. This is an awkward must-do. Even so, we’ve fallen prey to the cough on three or four occasions. 

We wash our hands no less than 12 times a day but need to increase the frequency and beef up other methods we’ve implemented over these past 11 cruises. More on that later.

Why cruise? Mainly, the opportunity to visit many parts of the world in a short period, the highly pleasing social interactions, and the relatively easy living onboard a ship continue to provide a tremendous draw for both of us.

ANZ National Stadium in Suva mostly used for rugby and football, popular sports in Fiji.

As we begin the countdown to departure and the end of 2015, not so much anxious to leave Fiji as opposed to looking forward to the next leg of our journey, we reflect on this past year as being one of considerable enjoyment, personal growth, and discovery. 

With many plans and new countries on the horizon, we hold onto our seats for yet another enriching “ride” in the awe-inspiring world in 2016.

Happy day to all!

Photo from one year ago today, December 27, 2014:

Family day at the beach park on Christmas Day, posted one year ago today. Although it was raining, Vincent and Miles (not shown in this photo) were more interested in looking for fish in the shallow tide pools than stopping to eat. For more details, please click here.

Part 1…Booked two new vacation homes…Filling an 88 day gap in the itinerary…

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View of Penguin Beach across the street from the new house we booked in northern Tasmania. Today’s photos were copied from the owner’s listing on VRBO.

Choosing a location to fill a gap from December 3, 2016, to March 1, 2017, was challenging. In the Southern Hemisphere, where we’ll still be at the time, that period is during the high season, summer holiday, when kids are out of school and families from Australia travel to relatively nearby locations.

Should any of our readers be interested in renting this lovely property or learning more about it, please click here for details and pricing.

Many Australians stay in the South Pacific when they go on holiday to save both time and money and to get to warmer climates readily available on many choice islands during the cooler seasons.

This is comparable to travelers with families in North America who tend to stay on the continent and in the Caribbean when they travel as a family during school breaks whether winter during the Christmas season or summer.

Ah, a spacious living room with views.

As we perused many locations in the South Pacific during this time frame, we were stymied, having the most difficulty we’ve had in the past. Prices topped the charts, far exceeding our budget, which in extreme cases, we’re willing to adjust if absolutely necessary.

However, this gap didn’t represent a scenario that drove us to be willing to stretch the budget when we have bigger fish to fry in the future when we travel to a new continent in 2017, after leaving the US for a visit.

Another issue impeding our success in finding new locations has been the realities of a slow Internet signal we faced in Australia and now again here in Fiji, as it jumps back and forth from online to “limited” many times per day.

Fully equipped kitchen with an average-sized refrigerator (yeah!), an oven and a microwave, and a dishwasher! 

In the past week, Mario has worked hard to resolve these issues and it has improved considerably although still presenting problems in the afternoons the perfect time for us to do research after I’ve completed the daily post.

After thoroughly scouring HomeAway with no luck, using the link on our site, we clicked another link on HomeAway’s page (at the bottom), VRBO, a popular site owned by Homeaway as well.  

We’ve found it easiest to peruse one site at a time rather than jump back and forth trying to figure where we left off when there are often 1000’s of options listed in a single area.

We always keep the table set for the next meal, inviting the preparation of good homemade food.  However, there are many restaurants in the area some we may actually try.

We chose to spend three months in Tasmania after hearing such glowing reports on our last cruise and on publications online as to its beauty, its people, and its wildlife. As an Australian island, with manageable visa requirements, wifi, and the ability to shop for foods at various local farms, this is an ideal location for us.

The challenge was totally predicated on finding a property with water views, wifi, and a fully equipped kitchen.  A few days ago, Tom expressed a great idea. Why not take this gap, dividing it in half into two six week segments and stay on two distinctly different areas of the island? 

I loved this idea. It would give us an opportunity to casually explore the island from two entirely different home-based locations. We could travel the north portion of the island at our leisure and then, be close to the capital city of Hobart, the most popular tourist location on the island.

The private house has three bedrooms. Note the flat-screen TV on the wall. What a treat!

We’d been turned down by several property owners who didn’t want to “tie-down” their property with one renter over the entire summer holiday making it unavailable for possible “regulars” who’d yet to book at this distant future, willing to pay premium prices for the short term rentals during peak season.

The task was challenging, breaking it up into two options, Group 1 and Group 2, the north and close to Hobart, respectively. After days of research with the WiFi on and off, we both vigorously spent the past few days on a mission. We narrowed it down to eight options at the VRBO site. 

I sent Tom an email with each listing and together, albeit slowly, we reviewed all the pluses and minuses of each property, finally narrowing it down to a mere three properties, one in Group 1 and two in Group 2. 

The sunrise over Penguin Beach. Can’t wait to see this in person! Then again, we’re not wishing for time to pass quickly. We’re very content where we are now in Savusavu, Fiji even on the seemingly endless rainy days, still continuing yet today.

Contacting each listing owner separately with basically the same verbiage, except for the variances in dates between the groups, we heard back from one last night, after which we booked it paying the deposit at the Australian version for vacation rentals, Stayz, a secure site. 

Later in the evening, we heard back from a second but decided to wait overnight for a possible proposal from the third owner. Alas, early this morning an email had arrived with the third proposal. After once again reviewing each of the remaining two options, we decided on the third, accepting by email and shortly later, paying the reasonable deposit once again at Stayz.

Both properties are confirmed and we couldn’t be more thrilled. Today, we’ll share the first location with a few photos, a single-family house, located in Penguin, Tasmania.

We couldn’t be more excited knowing that penguins actually wander about the beach. Here’s a quote about Penguin from a site describing areas of Tasmania:

“Penguin

Penguin is a picturesque seaside town with a pretty esplanade, scenic walking trails, great coastal drives, and a quirky collection of penguins on the street.

Sitting on the edge of mighty Bass Strait, Penguin takes its name from a nearby penguin rookery and it’s obvious this town dearly loves its little feathered friends. There’s a 10-foot penguin that makes a quirky photo opportunity, while the real thing can be seen each night at Penguin Point.

On Sundays, Penguin hosts Tasmania’s largest undercover market with more than 200 stalls selling food and wine, woodcraft, and second-hand goods.  The coastal road between Ulverstone and Wynyard is a beautiful scenic drive with sweeping ocean views, great picnics spots, and clean beaches for seaside walks and fun.

Look out for the expansive wild garden that blooms year-round between the road and railway line and explore one of the many walking tracks across the Dial Range, with stunning views over Penguin and the north-west coast. There are plenty of eateries and places to stay.

Penguin is a 15-min drive (17 km) east of Burnie.”

Those who have followed us these past years know how this location is suitable for us and how much we’ll love our time spent in Penguin.

We’ll be back tomorrow with Part 2 and the second booking in Tasmania, where we’ll be closer to the capital city of Hobart. At least while we’re still housebound in rainy weather, we’ll be busy logging the new locations in our spreadsheet and updating the itinerary. Stay tuned.

Photo from one year ago today, September 24, 2014:

One of the last photos of Vancouver as we began to make our way toward Hawaii on a cruise on the Celebrity Solstice. For more details and the final Vancouver post, please click here.

Hotel bookings…How to get free rooms!…Hotel nuances…One year ago, great last photo of Paris…

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Note the wide beak on this beautiful duck.

There’s no magic, coupons, or complicated processes required to acquire free hotel nights when traveling. It’s a matter of a few steps to get the process rolling.

We have a link on this website to the right of what you’re reading now for Hotels.com. You may wonder why we suggest you use the link on our site. Simple answer. We receive a small commission (very small) for every one of our readers who uses the links on our site.

There were several bodies of water along the edges of the rainforest.

These small commissions help pay a tiny portion of the cost for maintaining our site on a year by year basis.  Using our links does not result in your paying higher prices for products or services than you’d pay to go directly to the web addresses for these various companies. It just helps us in a small way.

For those of you who use our links, we really appreciate you clicking on our site as opposed to clicking somewhere else. That’s all it takes. We thank our readers for participating in our links.  Also, we have multiple travel-related links on our site. For today’s purposes, we’re describing one of those which we used yesterday to book a hotel.

The most exciting aspect of our rainforest hike was spotting pelicans.

Today, we’re going to take you through the necessary steps to acquire free nights in hotels that may work for those who travel only a few times each year:

1.  Click on the hotels.com link on the right side of this page.
2.  Sign up for an account, saving your user name and password, keep in a safe place.
3.  Feel free to add a credit card to be saved for future use. This is a secure site and sure, things can happen, but we’ve felt comfortable doing so. 

If you prefer not to leave a credit card on file on the site, you can add it each time you book a reservation and you’ll still receive full credit. Suggestion for those worried about security: Talk to your credit card company asking their policy if your card number is stolen. They will explain that you are not responsible for any charges you did not make. 

A number of ducks hanging out in the freshwater lake at the edge of the rainforest.

Our credit card numbers have been stolen twice in the past three years and have been easily resolved by the credit card company canceling the old card and immediately shipping us a new card, usually overnight. We were not responsible for any of the unauthorized charges. 

We check all of our credit cards online by setting up a “favorite” with the link. Every few days we check to be assured that no charges are posted that we didn’t make. It takes less than one minute. 

Most likely, this was the mate of the pelican photos we posted today and yesterday, found in the wild.

It’s easy to set up a request with each of your credit and debit card companies to send you an email each time a charge is made if you prefer not to check it online. We live in a world that is high risk of identity theft. Taking the initiative to ensure your safety and security is entirely up to you.

4.  Once your account is set up, you can proceed to check for hotels entering your preferred dates and location.  If you choose to check at a later date, click on the link on our site to enter to check hotel prices at any time.  Once you stay 10 nights at a hotel you’ve booked through the site, you get a free night. Easy. You can easily access your Rewards status at any time by logging in and selecting the link on the site under “Your Account.”

When booking your free night, make sure, once you’ve selected the hotel and date for the free night, that you check the box that asks if you want to use the Rewards you’ve accumulated. Otherwise, your credit card will be billed.

Another unusual palm trunk.

Yesterday, we booked a hotel in Sydney on January 4, 2016, when we’ll have flown in from Fiji, spending one night in Sydney until January 5th when we leave on a cruise from Sydney Harbor.

The hotel is near the port, not quite walking distance but no more than a two-minute drive. Most likely the hotel will have a shuttle to the pier. If not, minimal taxi fare will get us there.  Our bags are too heavy to haul the several blocks.

Fallen bamboo

Hotels in Sydney are expensive. Using our Rewards credit toward a free night, which varies depending on how much you’ve paid for past reservations, required we pay a small amount as shown below in our receipt:

Hotels.com Confirmation Number : 123456789 (number changed for security)

Booked: Online – Friday, August 14, 2015 3:50:26 PM GMT+10:00

Booking Details

Guest Name:  Thomas Lyman Room Type: Standard Room, 1 Queen Bed, Non Smoking – Advance Purchase
Check-in: Monday, January 4, 2016 Check-out: Tuesday, January 5, 2016, Number of Nights:1, Number of Rooms:1
Hotel Details: Holiday Inn Old Sydney the Rocks
55 George Street
The Rocks
AU+61292520524
Charges: Monday, January 4, 2016: $248.99 (AUD $337.90)
Hotels.com® Rewards free night applied: -$202.43 (AUD $274.39)
Sub-total:$46.56 (AUD $63.11)
Total Price:$46.56
Amount paid:$46.56
Amount still due:$0.00
The sun peeking through the rainforests at certain times of the day plays an integral role in the growth and development of the forests.
Many hotels booking have the option of choosing a non-refundable rate or a fully refundable rate. If you feel there’s a possibility your plans could change, pay the slightly higher amount for the refundable rate. For us, we always choose the non-refundable rate based on our intent of getting the best rates. This fact is universal on all websites used for booking hotels. 
As shown above, yesterday we paid the excess amount, over and above our Hotels.com Rewards credit of US $202.43, AUD $274.39 which was the additional US $46.56, AUD $63.11. Had the hotel been a lower cost than the US $202.43,  AUD $274.30 we wouldn’t have had to pay anything which is usually the case.  But, as mentioned above, Sydney is more expensive than many cities, comparable to the rates we paid in Paris and London a year ago.
Soon, we’ll be booking 10 nights in a hotel in Vietnam to fill in a gap until the upcoming river cruise. Every 10 nights we book, pay for, and use, we’ve received one free night. In essence, this results in a 10% discount which may not seem like much. One doesn’t receive credit for the free night when it’s used, only for the paid in full nights.
The grounds of the swampy area were covered with fallen leaves and branches, suitable habitat for many small creatures.
However, travelers all over the world are booking hotel rooms with no credit. Of course, we always verify that this site is providing us with the best possible price plus…the accumulation of paid nights for an eventual free night.
If you have questions or need assistance with this, please comment at the end of today’s post. We will reply and share our combined comments with our other readers who may have the same questions.
We may not stay in any more hotels in a year than the average traveler. It may, in fact, be less often. We spend most of our nights in vacation homes or on cruises. 
A considerable part of rainforests consists of swampy areas.
Most years we don’t spend more than four or five nights in a hotel, usually between cruises or for long flights such as is coming up when we fly to Sydney, staying overnight in a hotel and flying to Fiji the next day.  Otherwise, we’d have had to wait at the airport for 10 hours, not our cup of tea.  
Whenever we encounter the possibility of knowingly spending more than eight hours in an airport awaiting a flight, we opt for a hotel stay, always considering our objective of reducing the possibility of travel stress. With easy hotel check-in and checkout these days, this usually makes sense for us.
The trunk of a species of a palm tree in the rainforest.
How picky are we in choosing hotels? Here are our criteria for selecting hotels:
1.  Location:  Convenient to modes of transportation, next flight, cruise pier, and activities we plan
2.  Reviews: In most cases, we don’t select anything under four stars unless it’s a short overnight stay awaiting a flight or cruise.  In these cases, we’ll consider a 3.5 star. As in the above-stated reservation, its list as a 4.5 star (out of a possible 5 stars). (Cleanliness and good repair are indicated in the star ratings).
3.  Availability of wifi: Preferably free although at times we’ve paid a fee when other good options weren’t available.
4.  Bed options: Tom and I do fine in a queen bed and for short stays that works fine. In many vacation homes, including here, we only have a double bed and somehow we make that work. However, we’d never chose that option in a hotel which may indicate a lack of replacing the beds and poor updating and maintenance. In many countries, bed size is a cultural thing. We don’t expect king beds as we travel.
Pelicans are beautiful up close.  Little do we realize their exquisite markings when seeing them at a beach.

Of course, there are many amenities we prefer such as complimentary coffee and tea service in the room, and an on-site restaurant when we’ll be dining. On a single night, hotel stay, a restaurant is less important to us when its nothing to us to miss a meal.

(I don’t eat breakfast except on cruises and when at a vacation home, Tom has a small serving of bacon and egg casserole I make and freeze in packets of three servings which we defrost one package at a time. Neither of us cares for lunch, even while cruising. Our way of eating causes a tremendous lack of appetite and we chose to eat only when hungry). 
This life of travel requires a tremendous amount of work and planning. For us, we enjoy the planning and details. If we didn’t plan well in advance life could be chaotic at times, a situation we prefer to avoid at all costs and efforts.
An ibis pecking on the grounds near the rainforest.
Neither of us succumbs to drama and chaos. Luckily, our personality types have grown to a point of avoiding confrontation, instead kindly asking for what we need and want. Complaining is not a part of who we are. 
If we book a hotel and don’t like it, we express our views in a review. If our room isn’t clean or appropriate, we’d kindly ask for another (which rarely occurs when booking 4 stars or more). If we booked a hotel for a longer-term, we explain why we don’t like it and work toward a refund after we’ve found other options. (This hasn’t happened).
Please feel free to ask any questions regarding this topic (or another topic if preferred) by commenting at the end of today’s post. You may do so anonymously if you’d prefer. We don’t see your email address and can only reply to you here. We usually respond within 12 hours.  We love hearing from our readers!Have a fun-filled weekend!
                                             Photo from one year ago today, August 15, 2014:
We both smiled when we downloaded this photo. It’s so Paris! Two weeks was a long time to spend in Paris and we were ready to head to London the next day, traveling on the Eurostar (the Chunnel train), excited for the first time experience of traveling under the English Channel on a train. For more photos, please click here.

NEW UPDATED ITINERARY!…September 7, 2015 to May 15, 2017…Includes two gaps yet to fill…

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The house is surrounded by lush vegetation, including many large coconut and palm trees and endless varieties of shrubs and plants.

With considerable enthusiasm, we share our upcoming itinerary for the next 617 days from the time we leave Trinity Beach, Australia beginning on September 7, 2017:

 Location or Ship  Days  Address or Ship  Dates
 Sydney Hotel   1   9/7/2015 – 9/8/2015
 Fiji Rental  88    9/8/2015 – 12/6/2015 
 Fiji Rental #2  29    12/6/2015 – 1/4/2016 
 Sydney Hotel  1    1/4/2016 – 1/5/2016 
 Sydney to Auckland – Cruise  14  Celebrity Solstice   1/5/2016 – 1/19/2016 
 New Zealand Farm  87    1/19/2016 – 4/15/2016 
 Sydney Hotel  1    4/15/2016 –
4/16/2016 
 Sydney to Singapore – Cruise  14  RC Voyager of Seas   4/16/2016 – 4/30/2016 
 Bali House  59    4/30/2016 – 6/28/2016 
 Hanoi Hotel – to be booked  10    6/28/2016 – 7/8/2016 
 Hanoi to Ho Chi Min City – Cruise  15  Viking Mekong    7/8/2016 – 7/22/2016 
 Phuket House  41    7/22/2016 – 9/1/2016 
 Bali House  59    9/1/2016 – 10/30/2016 
 Sydney Hotel  1    10/30/2016 – 10/31/2016 
 Sydney to Perth – Cruise  16  RC Radiance of the
Seas 		  10/31/2016 – 11/16/2016 
 Perth to Sydney – Cruise  17  RC Radiance of the Seas   11/16/2016 – 12/3/2016 
 GAP 12/3/2016 – 3/1/2017  88    12/3/2016 – 3/1/2017 
 Sydney to Sydney – Cruise  12  Celebrity Solstice   3/1/2017 – 3/13/2017 
 GAP 3/13/2017 – 4/22/1017  40    3/13/2017 – 4/22/2017 
 Sydney to Seattle – Cruise  24  RC Explorer of the
Seas 		  4/22/2017 – 5/15/2017 
Total number
of days		 617

With 128 days in gaps to fill, we still have our work cut out for us. However, the options are many with both gaps beginning in Sydney. With our visas only allowing 90 days in Australia at any one time, we surely can find places to stay in the outlying areas of Sydney.

This colorful plant is eye-catching.

Although Sydney is an amazing city which left us breathless when our ship arrived at the amazing port of Sydney Harbour, it’s expensive to stay in or near the city. There are suburban areas an hour’s drive from the city or more that may be less expensive for longer-term visits.

Also, we’re considering other island countries in the South Pacific.  Soon, we’ll begin looking at our options, especially due to the fact that the first gap falls over the Christmas season

In Hawaii, these red  leaves were growing on Tiki plants. Here, they are called Cordyline.

For now, we’re taking a short break from spending money on deposits and searching for vacation homes online. The cost of the wifi for our “borrowed” hotspots is running around USD $103, AUD $140 every three weeks for 16 gigs which I use almost exclusively. Not one to do much browsing when not preparing for a post, I end up using half of a gigabyte a day for research and uploading each day’s post.

Without the separate hotspot, we wouldn’t be able to post with the poor connection here or, it would take all day to upload the photos. When we’re busy looking for vacation homes, I can easily use a gig or more in a single day.

In the interim, we’re awaiting the posting of new cruises by the cruise lines. Generally, they aren’t available online until 18 months from sail dates. Thus, we’re not too far away from seeing new listings.

Back steps leading to the owner’s area of the house. We’re on the ground level while they are above us.

When we have gaps as indicated about, we enter an estimate on our spreadsheet of how much we anticipate we’ll spend during the gaps, based on our current cost per day. 

Yesterday, we entered all of the important data on the spreadsheet for the three new cruises, three of which we’d yet to enter. It’s a time-consuming process that, if it is for only one cruise, is less intimidating.

With no chaise lounges down by the pool, we’ve yet to use it.  This steep stairway prevents us from hauling chairs down these steps and back up each day.  We’ve been able to get a short stint in the sun on our veranda where there are two chairs.

There are three separate worksheets in the Excel workbook where we log all of our travel and expenses;

  1. The itinerary with booked rental costs and estimated other expenses (based on history)
  2. A record on a separate tab for deposits paid, how paid and balances due with due dates
  3. Another separate tab (worksheet) for cruises only, which includes such items as cost, cabin number and cabin size, tips included or paid separately, name of the ship, and any cabin credits that may be included.

Those of you who are experts in the accounting industry may argue with our record keeping but for us, it works. (We keep a special tab for tax deductible items). We’ve investigated possible travel related apps that may make our record keeping a little less time consuming but at this time we haven’t found one that attributes to the vast amount of travels we’re doing.

A tiny blue flower.

Are there any aspects to this itinerary that we’d change if we could? Our only hesitations have been staying in Fiji for a total of four months, at two different properties which lessen the long period.

And, we also have hesitated over the two separate stays at the same exquisite Bali house broken up into two segments partly due to visa restrictions. However, at certain points, staying put for awhile greatly supports our budget. We’d have loved to spend the entire four months at the Bali house at one time.  

This gulley runs off the side of the property. Situated into a hill/mountain, the runoff is good as we observed with it raining during our first month in Trinity Beach.

However, in Bali, we were able to negotiate an extremely reasonable rate by leaving the property over the expensive “high season” enabling the owner to collect higher rates during the middle three months. Its these kinds of decisions, that may be seen as illogical to some, that allow us to stay in much nicer, higher priced properties that we may have otherwise avoided.

In every case, there’s a motivation to our decisions, none of which we expect to regret in the future provided each of the properties we’ve book meet our expectations based on the online representation. 

More colorful Cordyline.

There’s been only one experience, our very first in Belize, our first vacation home outside the US, that we felt wasn’t fairly represented from which we moved after the first week. There was no running water other than for a few hours a day and the screens (holes too large) didn’t keep out the no-see-ums, making staying there utterly impossible when I had no less than 100 raging, itching bites all over my body.

At that point we lost our prepaid first month. A week later we found a condo directly on the ocean in a fabulous resort for our remaining two months in Belize turning a less than desirable situation into a wonderful memory.  If you haven’t read about that experience, check our archives from January 30, 2013 to February 6, 2013 during that difficult experience, right out of the chute.

A sunny day in Trinity Beach inspired me to take photos in the yard.

Overall, we’ve had our fair share of “safari luck” which we feel continues today while we thoroughly enjoy our Trinity Beach home and our thoughtful and gracious property owners, Sylvie and Andy.

Today, we’re off to explore a little, staying in the north part of town as opposed to the south where the “show” holiday is packed with locals and tourists who are attending the local Cairns carnival and craft shows.

Have a wonderful weekend, dear readers!

                                              Photo from one year ago today, July 18, 2014:

The pier is Funchal where we boarded the Sea Born catamaran for the whale and dolphin watching. Please click here for details.

Part 2…The gap is filled!…

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The house in Phuket, Thailand was built around its private pool.

With the decision and full payment made for the Viking Mekong River cruise next July our next decision was to decide on where we wanted to stay for the remaining 41 days until we return for our second leg in Bali, we perused the map and literally 100’s of vacation homes in the countries we were interested in visiting.

The dining room overlooking the pool.

Based on a 10 day gap in the itinerary prior to the cruise which we’ll fill with a hotel in Hanoi with an excellent opportunity to tour the city and the duration of the cruise, we had 41 days yet to fill after the cruise ended and before returning to Bali.

There are several areas to lounge by the pool.

When considering vacation homes, the close proximity to the location before and after is usually a huge factor along with an attempt to get the best possible property for the best possible price with the amenities that are important to us.

Most often, close proximity to the ocean when possible has been a driving force.  However, as we searched for Southeast Asia, oceanfront and ocean view properties were through the roof.

An additional seating area in the dining room.

We asked ourselves this question, “Would we be willing to forgo an ocean view for a mere 41 days to be living in a beautiful house with a pool, in brand new condition with all of our favorite amenities and with an opportunity to drive a short distance to the ocean at will?” 

Our answer was “yes” especially when it would take us to a new country we’d yet to explore together, Thailand, a country I’d visited 30 years ago BT (before Tom).

A modern kitchen with granite countertops and stainless steel appliances.

The island of Phuket, Thailand suffered a tremendous loss of life when a tsunami ravaged the island in 2004, a story that was heard around the world. We recall watching the devastation on the news, hearts breaking over the horrific stories told by those who were thrust into the disaster and miraculously survived, many losing loved ones or seriously injured.

This might have been a good spot for countertop dining.  But, from what we’ve seen throughout the world, that concept is not always popular.

It’s been over 10 years since the devastating tsunami and Phuket has been rebuilt to become one of the choice islands in the world to visit. My fond memories of its wonderful people and the astounding beauty of this special place surely was instrumental in my suggesting it to Tom, as we searched for the ideal property for many hours.

Sipping a cup of coffee while lounging in these chairs in the morning will be easy to take.

Finally, we landed on this home that is more than befitting our needs and wants to give us a chance to visit yet another country on our worldwide journey. Yes, there are other countries in Southeast Asia that would have worked for us, but Phuket stood out among the rest.

Here is the link to the listing of the house we chose in Phuket, Thailand.

View of the living room with a flat-screen TV and hopefully comfortable furniture.

We’ll rent a car during our stay enabling us to explore, shop in the outdoor markets, and see the points of interest. Many who visit Thailand often visit Bangkok (on the mainland) as I did years ago. With the congestion, traffic, and noise of the big city, we’ve opted to stay away and will choose a flight directly to Phuket.

Alternate view of the living room.

During our expansive search, we attempted to find a vacation home in Vietnam but were unable to do so at a price in line with our budget. They were either very inexpensive apartments in the center of the cities or outrageously expensive massive homes in the countryside, neither of which worked for us.

Both bedrooms have king-sized beds and overlook the pool.

It was at that point we began perusing the bordering countries, any of which would be easy to navigate and with affordable flight fares. We’re confident it all will work out well.

Master bedroom alternate view.  Both bedrooms have en suite bathrooms.

Enjoy these photos today that we “borrowed” from the property owner’s listing on TravelMob, a newer vacation home rental site we’ve only recently utilized, owned under the umbrella of our favorite HomeAway site which owns many of these types of websites. The property owner, Gregory, has been wonderful to work with, and based on reviews he continues to provide excellent service throughout the rental period.

Jacuzzi tub and separate walk-in shower in master bath.

Tomorrow, we’ll be back with a very special story of an event that literally brought tears to our eyes with a sense of joy and a feeling of awe that we’re excited to share.

Outdoor dining.

                                                 Photo from one year ago today, July 6, 2014:

The mountains and hills of Madeira were often shrouded in dense clouds, creating a magnificent scene, one we never failed to notice. For more details, please click here.