Day #171 in lockdown in Mumbai, India hotel…Is a donut a fair trade-off?

Adapting to life in a new land with hiccups along the way…

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The ferry docked at the edge of the village makes a daily trip to Viti Levu, the largest island in the Fiji chain. It’s an overnight journey, arriving at 4:00 or 5:00 am. Since we’ll spend our last month on that island, we see no reason to take the ferry and will again fly on the commuter plane when it’s time to leave.

We feel compelled to share a story we’d considered not writing to avoid embarrassment for the owners of the property.  However, after careful consideration and the unbelievably fast response from the owner, Mario to resolve the problem, our comments will only enhance the perception of how lucky we are to have Mario as our landlord and how quickly he responded to our needs.

Long ago, for many years, I owned rental properties throughout the Twin Cities. Even Tom had been a landlord for almost six years when he rented his old house after he moved in with me and, prior to daughter Tammy buying the house.

The dock is available for use of boats in this small harbor.

We both realized as landlords that maintenance issues and general problems may not be known to a landlord if they aren’t reported by disgruntled renters living in the property over a period of time. 

Such was the case here in this charming ocean view house we’ve rented for three months in Savusavu, Fiji, an issue unknown to the owner based on no complaints from prior renters. Also, many vacation homes have renters for only a few days at a time.

On the night we arrived, this past Tuesday, we were exhausted from a long 24 hour period of flurried activity with only five hours sleep in between. On three separate flights, overnight in Sydney, hauling our heavy bags and little food, by the time night fell on Tuesday, we were ready for a good night’s sleep. 

As we wandered through the busy local farmer’s market, open daily, it was hard to decide which vendor to choose for our purchases. We purchased the following for FJD $22, USD $10.12: 2 red bell peppers (also called, capsaicin, here); 6 medium-sized aubergine (eggplant); 3 heads cabbage; and 8 large carrots.

Tom usually stays up an hour longer than I do, so I was the first to fall into bed to read the book on my phone to hopefully lull me off to sleep.  As soon as my head hit the pillow in the darkened room, I knew something was wrong. There was an awful, undefinable smell emanating from the pillows and blankets.

It reminded me of a small one would find in blankets that had been stored in a cupboard for many years, never to be used.  I jumped out of bed, turned on the overhead light, and pulled back the covers. In the dim lighting, I couldn’t see a thing. 

Again, I lay back down but found myself having difficulty breathing. Was I feeling anxious due to lack of sleep?  Not one prone to anxiety, I’d felt a bit panicked and confused. I simply could not allow myself to lay on the pillows. 

These are breadfruit often used in curry dishes, popular in Fiji.

No matter what, in the morning we were asking Mario for four new pillows. If we had to, we’d go out and purchase them ourselves. Again, I got out of bed, grabbed a large bath towel from the bathroom, and wrapped it entirely around one pillow, tossing the second pillow on the floor.

Shortly Tom came to bed. I didn’t want to alarm him to have an effect on his quality of sleep but I did ask him if the pillows smelled funny. He said “no” and lay down, quickly falling asleep. From sheer exhaustion and the help of one Tylenol PM, I finally drifted off, sleeping fitfully for a mere four hours, dreaming I was being bitten by bugs. I was.

Jumping out of bed at 5:00 am, I awoke Tom asking if he was OK. He, too, had a bad night, feeling as if something was crawling on him and awoke several times scratching. 

These are the sizes of the aubergine we purchased. These adjoining bowls contain a variety of hot peppers which I’d love to try but Tom doesn’t care for spicy food. 

We turned on the overhead light when daylight had yet to arrive to find zillions of tiny ants crawling all over the sheets, the blanket, and in and about the four pillows. At that point, we expected they were bedbugs. But, they were visible to the naked eye and looked exactly like miniature ants.

Bolting out of the bedroom, I stripped off my nightshirt and dashed under the shower into the hottest water I could stand. How were we going to wash off the hundreds of nibbles these creatures took on our bodies all night long? Tom showered right after me. 

We worried about everything we’d unpacked, our clothes in the closet, our luggage in the corner of the room, everything we owned possibly subject to an infestation of these tiny ants.

These are some type of sweet potato.

Trying not to overreact, as soon as it was a reasonable hour, I sent Mario an email explaining what had transpired. Our thoughts were running wild. Would we have to move out, find a hotel, lose the entire rent we’d paid for three months if we couldn’t live with the situation? 

Our thoughts ran back to the dreadful first seven days of living outside the US in Belize when the little house had no screens and thousands of no-see-ums (sandflies) were in the house biting me and there was running water only a few hours a day. It took us a week to find another property while we lost the entire first month’s rent when the owner refused to return even a portion to us.

Well, within minutes of my email to Mario, he was at the door, worried and concerned for our well being. Within a few hours, the mattress (it’s common in most countries outside the US that beds don’t have box springs) and all the bedding including the pillows were long gone. The bedroom was treated for ants and completely wiped down with vinegar and water. By noon, a new mattress and all-new, never-used bedding were on the bed, beautifully made, awaiting that night’s much-needed rest.

We haven’t seen an ant since and we both slept like babies for no less than eight hours over the past two nights, awakening both mornings back to our old cheerful selves, full of energy and enthusiasm. 

Coconuts peeled of outer shell were readily available in the market.  If we had a machete, we’d buy a coconut for the delicious meat inside.

Yesterday, we’d called our new driver, Ratness, to take us to town for more shopping when we’d done poorly on the day we arrived in our tired condition, unable to think well enough to find items we needed in the sparsely equipped little market.

Prior to visiting the grocery store, the vegetable market, and the meat market, we stopped at the roughly built Vodafone outdoor hut to buy SIM cards, one for the phone so we can call Ratness to arrange outings and another to enhance the slow wifi in the house, typical for this small island. 

When we couldn’t get the data SIM card, for which we purchased 32 gigs for Fiji $110, USD $50 to work in either of our old hot spots, I spent time online figuring out how to use Tom’s phone as a hot spot (router) when mine was already set up as a phone. Finally, I got it to work but the signal is awful. 

Tom will use the equally slow connection in the house while I’ll use the SIM in his phone, preventing us from having to share the poor signals. Next week Mario will be working on improving the quality of the connection to the house. In the interim, we’re only able to post a few photos each day when today it took over an hour to upload what we’ve shown here.

We weren’t certain of the significance of this tower a vendor was creating.

Yesterday, we shopped at a different grocery store, New World IGA, with much better selections to accommodate the remaining items on the list. We headed back to the meat market for more grass-fed meats and spent considerable time in the fabulous all organic farmer’s market which is open all week where we’ll shop for produce in the future as well.

Back at home by 1 pm, I happily put away the groceries, washed veggies, and prepared most of our dinner. It’s a little odd without the news on in the background keeping us abreast of the latest affairs of the world, but we’ve settled into a nice routine, thoroughly enjoying this wonderful little house, its terrific views, and the sounds of nature. 

With daily maid service and laundry, other than cooking and dishes, we have nothing to do but revel in our new lives as we look forward to exploring this gorgeous location.

So far, we’ve been unable to find cream cheese on this island which I often use in making a sauce for some dishes we make. But, I found funny little tinfoil bags of Marscapone I’ll use instead. Improvise. That’s us.

Tomorrow we’ll be back with photos of our new home and surroundings.

Photo from one year ago today, September 11, 2014:

It was raining most of the day on our 4X4 outing in Iceland. At the end of the countryside tour, we drove through Reykjavik to see downtown. For more details, please click here.

Mission accomplished…Tip for travelers to Australia…Solutions for us…

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This parasitic plant appears to be a face looking up to the sky with leaves in its mouth and throat.

We apologize if today’s topic doesn’t apply to you. However, in today’s world, this subject is important for both business travelers and tourists, technology while on the move.

Three years ago, we found information on technology in other countries other than our familiar USA often confusing and difficult to understand. Each country has its own means of providing Internet service to its residents and the concept of SIM cards is unheard of in some countries.

Although we’ve covered this topic in the past, with our influx of new readers who may not have had the time to go back and read our prior 1104 posts (duh), we share this update today particularly as it applies to a non-resident traveler to Australia which includes Tasmania and a few other Australian islands.

It’s winter here now with fewer flowers blooming than in spring but we love seeing flowers during the off-season.

A bit of review: When we booked the house in Trinity Beach, it listed free wireless Internet access is included in the rent. For the average user, this may have been ideal.

The signal is available in this property via a router in the owner’s house above us, making the distance alone an issue by providing a strong signal in this large property. This is not unlike a router in your own home not providing a strong signal on another level such as a basement or upper level.

Also, we are sharing that router connection with the owners who are often home and online at the same time as us. This creates a very difficult scenario. If we were typical tourists only needing access to email and occasionally searching for restaurants and  “things to do” this wouldn’t be an issue.

But for us, not only posting each day with the inclusion of many data hogging photos and our intensive searching for future travels causes us to run into considerable issues with the slow and inconsistent signal especially if we’re both online on the house’s router at the same time.

Shooting up at our vacation property from our return walk. The owners live in the huge upper level while we live on the ground level smaller though the ideal property.

Within a few hours of our arrival, we realized we had a serious situation that would prevent me from being able to upload our daily posts. As discussed in an earlier post, we had no choice but to head to a local phone store, Telstra, to search for a solution, hopefully using our own global hot spots by inserting one of their SIM cards. 

Simply put, a SIM card is a small card inserted into phones, routers, and various wifi devices that picks up the local wifi signal for which the user is charged for the data via a prepaid or billed service. Please click the link for a more detailed description.

As it turned out, Australia is locked up with cell phone contracts. There’s no such thing as the use of a global SIM card in this country. Either purchase a prepaid SIM card or a two-year contract from one of the local providers or eels one is out of luck. 

Essentially, Telstra allowed us to borrow a hot spot without a rental fee for the device while we paid for the data which we’ve reloaded on several occasions online through their website. As it turned out, I exclusively use the hot spot while Tom uses the wifi in the house. The cost of data for my use is a cost of USD $102.26, AUD $140 for 16 gigabytes of data.

Pretty bougainvillea we found on a walk in the neighborhood.

I use all 16 of these gigs every three weeks, renewing for an additional 16 gig once it gets down below 2 gigs.  Then, I go online to Telstra’s website: m.telstra.com to easily renew. Tom could easily log on to the hot spot but his data use is calculated exponentially.

It took me a few times to figure out that the online data reload won’t accept a credit card issued outside of Australia. As a result, its been necessary to pay using PayPal, a secure service we frequently use for online payments. 

Once we activated our first SIM card in Australia, I’ve never experienced an outage, difficulty getting online, or an issue uploading posts or photos. Simply put, it works well.

However, before we leave Trinity Beach we’ll return the loaned hot spot while we’ll continue to travel in and out of Australia over the next 21 months. How will we handle our wifi needs when our own hot spots won’t work here and we’ll be at hotels, on ships, and at ports of call during which we’ll be required to pay even higher fees for data for often a poor signal?

Pink bougainvillea was in abundance in Kenya during the heat of the late fall season.

The only logical solution was to purchase our own Australian hot spot (they don’t carry unlocked universal/global hot spots) and reload the SIM card as required. Ultimately the cost of the device itself was the biggest issue.  We already knew the cost of the data.

Upon visiting the Telstra store in the Smithfield Mall yesterday, spending considerable time with a rep encouraging us to take a two-year contract, we ending up deciding on the most economical decision…no contract, buy a device, load data as needed.

With a few devices available we opted for the following device as shown in this photo which includes 3 gigs of complementary data which should see me through a few days and must be used within 28 days from purchase.  Once that data is used we’ll reload the SIM card. Once reloaded, the new data expires in a year.

Our new Australia only hot spot purchased yesterday at Telstra.

Thus,  we’ll be able to be online when we go to the airport in Cairns, when we stay at the hotel in Sydney before flying to Fiji when we wait at the airport in Sydney before boarding the plane to Fiji. Once we arrive in Fiji, the device will be dormant during our entire stay, fired up again once we’re back in Australia in January for a cruise. 

Once we arrive in New Zealand later in January, again, we’ll figure out a solution that will work for us. With Fiji upcoming, we’ll do the same. There’s no country we’ve visited in the world where the wifi was an easy option considering our use, even when we were in Hawaii where we couldn’t purchase an affordable SIM card to use in our global hot spots. Luckily, the houses in Hawaii provided strong signals.

We wondered what was beyond this barn in the neighborhood.

The cost of the hot spot was AUD $99, USD $72.33.  It pays for us. You may think that as a traveler to Australia for a two-week vacation/holiday that this won’t pay for you. However, as a traveler requiring considerable data use or those choosing to avoid paying high wifi per day fees at a hotel with a poor signal, this may work for you, especially for the business traveler. 

Unfortunately, once we permanently leave Australia, we’ll have no use for the hot spot. We look at it this way…we could go out to dinner and spend the AUD $99 without batting an eyelash.  At least for now, this is the purchase that keeps giving.

Many travelers don’t realize that using wifi on their phones results in “roaming fees” that may result in $1000’s in surprise fees on their cell phone bill when returning home. 

We’d seen these droopy topped agave plants in Hawaii, also found in Australia.

We’ve heard from others about their lack of understanding in this area only resulted in a later discovery that each time they called, sent an email or uploaded photos or, logged into Facebook while on a cruise or traveling, they incurred huge roaming fees when outside their home country.

It’s an ongoing process as we move from country to country. Technology is not universal and may never be so.  In the interim, we do our best to figure out the most logical, user-friendly, and economical solutions to best serve our needs.

                                              Photo from one year ago today, August 12, 2014:

There we were at Le Louvre. It was hard for us to believe we were actually there. For more details and photos, please click here.

Reinventing ourselves in a new locale…Tolerance and patience for this new way of life…

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The rainy view of what is aptly named, Double Island, as seen from our veranda. 

It’s been raining every day since we arrived. We’ve heard this is unusual for this time of year. For now, we don’t mind. Let’s get the rain out of the way while we become acquainted with life in our little corner of the world.

This surf and dive shop were having what they referred to as a “Killa Surf Sale.” I giggled when Tom didn’t get it right away. It’s Australian lingo for a “killer of a sale.” 

It’s 2:00 pm and Tom is sitting outside under cover of the veranda roof, safe from the rain, listening to his favorite radio show. The wifi signal is better outdoors that inside the house.

As a matter of fact, today, we purchased a SIM card for one of our mobile hot spots at the local phone store.  We stopped by the phone store several days ago, but they required a passport in order to purchase the card which we failed to bring along. We had forgotten in our muddled state of mind that one must show a passport in order to purchase a new SIM card.

Peering out to the mall from inside the Telstar phone and tablet store where we purchased a SIM card for our hot spot device which we don’t yet have working. I’ll work on it later today and if it doesn’t get going, we’ll head back to the store tomorrow, bringing the hot spot and my laptop.

Once we have the hot spot working, which hasn’t transpired as yet, we can drive anywhere with navigation working on our phones. To explain that further, we have no cell service on our phones. Since the cost of calling the US is too high via the use of a cell phone with a SIM card, we’ll continue to use Skype and our Skype phone number for calls to family and friends.

This morning the service was fast and friendly at the Telstar store in the Smithfield Mall.

For local calls here in Australia, we’ll use our Skype phone number which is only US $1.25, AUD $1.61, per hour or by the minute proportionately.  As for the navigation working while we’re in the car, it goes like this:

1.  Turn on the hot spot until a signal is indicated.
2.  Connect the phone to the hot spot until the signal is indicated.
3.  Use MAPS on phone to set the desired trip location. Navigate as usual as one would with an active data account on the phone.

In our old lives, we rarely shopped at K-Mart but here is Australia, it made sense when we needed a few household items. We spent US $23.14, AUD $30 for four iced cube trays with lids, two jumbo iced tea pitchers, two pans for the oven and one microwave cover. Tomorrow, we’ll tell you what we couldn’t find anywhere!

This makes life considerably easier for us. In some countries we cannot purchase SIM cards, including in the US when we were in Hawaii. This is odd to us. Eventually, required cell contracts will disappear, allowing users to have access to local signals using online downloads and/or SIM cards. 

A cosmetic store in the mall carrying many popular US brands. Shops are similar to many in the US but aren’t necessarily familiar chain stores. Australia has many of its owns brands and providers.

In some ways, we’re impressed with how readily available technology is in Australia compared to other countries we visited. No, they don’t have high speed services where we’re located and the service is slow to say the least.  But, we’re in a mountainous ocean village which typically have poor signals this close to the ocean and with this type of terrain.

In some ways, service is tricky when Andy explained how when the Internet goes down at the shopping mall, business literally stops and the shops may close. Isn’t this the case in most countries anyway? We’re all subject to modern technology.

This appears to be a parasite type plant growing on a palm tree in the yard.

Its easy for us to recall how in Kenya, both the Internet and the power would go out almost daily. That experience made us more tolerant when these unforeseeable situations occur. With our own working hot spot we hope we’ll have better control of mapping our future exploration, even if we have to drive a distance to acquire a decent signal.

Tom’s water shoes were on the veranda. When he move them, what appeared to be a lizard took off out of sight, leaving behind this live tail that wiggled around for about 10 minutes.  Can’t imagine what this was.

Resting over these past four days, we’re finally headed to the grocery store to try to shop again today. We can’t wait to take photos of the abundance at the mall where the Woolworth’s market is located and also the mall as we walk through there once again to the Telstar store.

Candle holders? Not quite sure…

With a trip to K-Mart for a few pans and ice cube trays, we discovered a missing element of life in Australia that requires an adjustment we’re surprised to be making.

Tomorrow, we’ll share the important part of our daily lives that we’ll be missing in Australia that requires a huge sacrifice.

                                               Photo from one year ago today, June 15, 2014:

We were on our way to Funchal to renew the rental car, a task that won’t be required here in Australia where we were able to rent it for the full three months. For details and more photos from that trip, please click here.

Portuguese grocery shopping…Trying to read labels…Making mistakes…Learning as we go…

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This little bird stops by each day for a walk on the railing on the veranda and to show off her catch of the day.

Although some Europeans speak English it doesn’t appear to be the case in Portugal and certainly not in Madeira, a small island that appears to be inhabited by traditional old world citizens and tourists, usually staying in hotels that often accommodate many languages.

For us, living in a neighborhood of local citizens and a few tourists, the language barrier presents a number of issues. How arrogant of us English speaking people from various parts of the world to assume a country’s people would know our language. Why don’t we know their language?

One of the several tunnels we took to get to the grocery store.

Luckily, our delightful landlady Gina speaks a bit of English peppered with a few Portuguese words that make her all the more charming and adorable. On Saturday, Gina stopped in to introduce us to our cleaning lady Judita who doesn’t speak a word of English.

Judita will work for us on Thursdays each week washing floors, windows, changing bedding, cleaning the kitchen and bathrooms which we’ll keep tidy in between her visits. 

The temperature is rarely higher than 77F, 25C in Madeira and yet the parking lot at the supermarket has covered parking which we’ve never seen at a market.

Meeting Judita reminded us of the upcoming challenges in communicating with the local people from whom we seek services or assistance. As always, we’ll figure it out as we did when grocery shopping on Friday afternoon, the day we arrived.

Gina had left a map, making the 15 minute trip to the supermarket relatively easy. As we approached the main door, we noticed that the carts were similar to those in Italy, requiring a coin a Euro $.50, US $.70 to unlock the handle as shown in this photo below.

Tom putting the EU $.50, US $.70 into the slot to release the grocery cart.

At this point, we’d yet to acquire any Euros luckily finding an ATM inside the store. Tom pushed the cart, as usual, while I attempted to read labels. With the handy grocery app on my phone, I easily referenced my shopping list. 

There were several items we couldn’t find; baking soda, baking powder, coconut oil (although we did find unsweetened coconut flour), real cream (for me), Cremora (for Tom), Hydrogen Peroxide (for teeth), avocados, and sour cream.

Since we usually purchase a few packaged items, the label reading is kept to a minimum. Mostly, I check to ensure there are none of the items I can’t eat; sugar, gluten, starch. 

A goat lives next door on a hill with a few other goats which we can hear baaing during the day.  The sounds are music to our years, reminiscent of the goats in our backyard in Kenya.

Needing to fully stock the cupboards with basics such as spices, olive oil, and paper products, we shopped in two batches, per Tom’s suggestion. We loaded the cart to the brim with the non-perishables and checked out. Tom loaded them all into the car, returning with an empty cart ready to tackle the perishables. This is only necessary the first time we shop in a new location when we purchase the most items.

I screwed up on only one purchase, the shampoo, and conditioner, assuring Tom that the one bottle that said “Hydrante” was shampoo and the other saying “Crème” was conditioner. I thought this was a logical translation when, as it turned out, I discovered when washing my hair, that they were both shampoos. Today, we’ll buy a conditioner at the pharmacy. 

A good-sized Gecko stopped by for a visit, an obviously different variety from those we’d seen in Africa. There are few insects here, none of which are a concern, other than the occasional bee or hornet.

The total bill for our two full carts of groceries was US $309.76, EU $225.94, slightly less than we’ve paid for our first load in other countries. I don’t believe the prices were less but we’ve fine-tuned our shopping. Prices seem comparable to Italy although much higher than South Africa.

Overall, the supermarket was satisfactory with a fabulous fresh seafood counter which had a long line preventing us to attempt it in our exhausted state with only three hours of sleep. Also, the deli was filled with gluten-free and nitrate-free meats along with a vast array of cheeses comparable to Italy. 

We love this huge roll of quality paper towels that we purchased for only US $2.74, EU $2 when we grocery shopped.

The produce appeared organic although they don’t label it as such. It’s always easy to detect chemical-free produce when leaves have numerous holes from insects chowing down, an inconsistency in the shape and size of the various items, and a degree of wilting with an occasional spot of mold or slime. 

We’ve learned that this is the reality of chemical-free produce in other countries. In the US, prices are exceedingly high for organic produce when they often dispose of the less attractive items. In other countries, they put most of the harvest out for sale, letting customers pick and choose what they’d like, keeping the cost down. 

This morning’s view from the kitchen window.  Washing dishes is not so bad with a view such as this.

All in all, this is appealing to us. We certainly don’t mind finding worms or bugs in our produce, knowing that pesticides weren’t used. Of course, we wash all of our produce in purified water, placing a few cups of the water in a large bowl and rinsing each piece, changing the water as needed. 

Yesterday, Gina popped in making a reservation for us at a restaurant she recommended located in Ribeira Brava, a 10 to 15-minute drive. She suggested we ask the owner where the health club is located nearby.  Hopefully, we’ll find it.

We’ll never tire of this view which seems to call to us several times a day. I took this photo a few minutes ago as the sky began to clear from the morning’s haze.

She used a phone located in the house that we hadn’t realized was working. As a result, it won’t be necessary for us to purchase a SIM card for our smartphone. She explained that the phone was included in our rent as long as the calls were local. 

We use Skype for long-distance calls which we discovered works well from here after both of my sisters called yesterday for very clear conversations. The WiFi in the house has the strongest signal we’ve had in 19 months, showing five bars. We can both listen to podcasts simultaneously, a rare treat. 

We’ll be back tomorrow with photos from out and about today as we explore the area, find another grocery store, tackle a few of our errands, and dine out for the first time. Ah, life is good.
                                          _____________________________________

Photo from one year ago today, May 19, 2013:
No photo was available on this date.  Lack of photos on certain dates will soon cease as we move further into the year when we soon started using the new camera.

As it turned out, we both became ill aboard the ship from other passengers coughing and sneezing around us all day and night. 

Many cruises result in either a respiratory or intestinal illness. As often as we washed our hands, we’ve since learned a few lessons: Don’t handle spoons or forks in the buffet without a napkin covering our hand which we immediately toss when done filling our plates or by asking the food be placed on our plates by the servers. 

Also, we will not, in the future, use the public restrooms instead, going back to our cabin as needed. We never eat dinner at the buffet, only breakfast. For our upcoming two cruises, we’re contemplating having breakfast in the main dining room instead of the buffet, where the food is served. For details of the story from that date, please click here.

Internet issues continue…Unedited post was uploaded…Yikes!…Final mountain photos…Great photo from one year ago!

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Corner shops we passed on the mountain road.

Late last night, when the Internet appeared to have improved I reread yesterday’s post finding numerous errors I thought I’d already corrected. Usually, when writing a new post, I write directly into blogger.com, reviewing each line and making any corrections before uploading it. After I’ve reviewed it making corrections, Tom also checks it for errors. At times, we both miss errors that neither of us nor spell-check spotted.

The handmade wares offered by the locals are a common sight along the highway.

Due to the poor signal yesterday, none of my corrections were saved resulting in my uploading the unedited version. All-day, I was unable to get back into the site to verify its status to ensure the corrections took. Imagine my frustrations when I discovered that all of my errors were uploaded which may have created some difficulty for our readers. 

A more elaborate housing style pops up in the landscape. It appears there’s a river beyond these homes.

Hopefully, whatever precipitated the vastly slowed Internet connection appears to have improved to some extent last night, enabling me to go back into the site and make the corrections as originally intended. I apologize for this annoying inconvenience.

Once again, the blue sky appeared as a backdrop to the colorful hills.

Frustrating. If during the next 31 days, you don’t see a post on any given day, most likely it is due to the fact that we cannot get online. A few times on Sunday, I was able to get into Facebook, but not on into many of my other most frequently viewed sites. 

Wrought with motion sickness, I took all of these photos through the closed window in the vehicle.  It was too much effort to open the power window.

Of course, email requires less bandwidth and is readily available with the weakest of signals. Feel free to email me with questions or comments if you don’t see a post.

The landscape is lined with power lines.

With future plans in the works, we’ve had difficulty getting into the specific sites at certain times in order to look up cruises, flights, and vacation rentals. Booking the flights for our family for Hawaii in December has also been a challenge with this same issue as well.

The scenery was desolate at times.

Today, we’ll be booking our flights and rental car for Madeira. How dependent we’ve become on the Internet!  Without it, we’d have had little interest in traveling the world. How did travelers manage in the past? Or, a hundred years ago? I can’t imagine.

The red color of the earth is seen throughout Morocco is due to the high iron content.

As an avid reader, I’ve often had to try for days to upload a book I’ve ordered for the Kindle app on my phone.  Also, with only two English speaking news channels on the TV, we are dependent on the Internet to provide our entertainment during quieter times. 

Uploading shows from Graboid may take an hour to upload a single one-hour TV show requiring that we upload them during the night when the Internet traffic is low.

Another housing development.

Unquestionably, the thick walls of the Medina and in the riad have a bearing on the ability to get a clear signal.  I have no doubt that outside the Medina there’s a tremendous improvement.

Breathtaking scenery.

However, as we’ve written in the past, we’ve had issues with the strength of the signal all over the world, some countries more than others. The strongest signals we’ve had have been using XCOM Global’s MiFi rental. 

More breathtaking scenery.

Unfortunately, there are two limitations in using XCOM Global that are limiting for us; the allowance of only 250 megabytes per day, not nearly enough for our combined usage which is upwards of one gigabyte (1000 Mb) per day and, the cost at US $395 a month which is high considering the limited usage.

With the rainy spring season, the grass was green and crisp against the iron-rich soils.

We each have our own hotspots that we can’t use in some countries, including Morocco. By purchasing SIM cards that we install into the hotspots, we were able to get a good signal for example in Kenya. However, when we first arrived in Morocco, we visited several cell stores none of which carried the necessary SIM cards. With a router and service provided in the riad utilizing local Internet service, our only option has been to use it.

When we looked across this railing, it was hard to imagine that we were on that section of the road only a few minutes earlier.

Many homes we’ve rented have routers that are included in the rent. When inquiring about a prospective rental, our first question is about the availability and quality of the signal. So far, everyone has been straight with us, explaining the occasional outages and periods of poor signals that occur during the high traffic periods.

I’d wish I hadn’t had motion sickness which prevented me from fully embracing the beauty of the scenery. However, I’m grateful to have taken the photos I did since we’re enjoying seeing them now.

Luckily, this morning I was easily able to get into our site, hopefully catching my errors before uploading today’s post to the Internet. There’s no doubt that on occasion, we’ll have posting issues along with errors that we fail to catch. Although it’s somewhat embarrassing to leave errors in our wake, I accept that its a reality of posting every day.

Moving quickly while I shot this photo of what I believe to be sheep.

Writing every day is comparable to writing a school essay each and every day, hoping to get a passing grade.  Add the cumbersome task of adding photos and it can take time. It’s a case of errors waiting to happen, both mine and those predicted by the strength of the Internet. 

Another case of the road we’d traveled minutes ago.

I try not to stress about any of it. The sheer pleasure of documenting our lives during this exciting time and sharing it with readers all over the world is motivating and never feels as if its a task. Except perhaps, yesterday and other days when the signal is too poor to post or make corrections.

It amazed us how well these roads were made through these steep mountains with elevations up to over 14,000 feet, 4267 meters. At one point we were at 10,000 feet, 3048 meters suffering no ill effect from the altitude. 

Thanks for reading. Thanks for returning to read. Our lives are all the more meaningful with our readers traveling along with us.
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Photo from one year ago today, April 14, 2013:

Still on a back-to-back cruise on the Carnival Liberty as it left Miami, we giggled as we spotted the Norwegian Epic ahead of us, the ship we’d be boarding in Barcelona, Spain one week later. The story from that date describes how we managed to move to another cabin after not sleeping for several nights due to the loud noise from the disco one floor below us making our bed shake until 3:00 am. For details of that story, please click here.

On to an improved and more cost effective WiFi option…We received a package in Kenya…At a whopping US $458 in shipping fees…

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The moon over the Indian Ocean last night as we dined Nomad Restaurant at The Sand’s Resort. Photos will follow tomorrow of our two extraordinary dining experiences, the people we met, and the tour we were graciously provided of the“over the top” accommodations,  pricing included.

Once we’d discovered a newly opened DHL store in a local pharmacy in Diani Beach, we had two thoughts in mind, one; order supplies and two; return the XCom Global MiFi to begin using the two Mobile Hotspots we’d ordered to arrive with the supplies.

We figured that once the two Mobile Hotspots arrived, we’d quickly install them, ensuring they were both working and suited our needs, we made another trip back to the DHL/Pharmacy to return XCom Global’s US $395 a month device.

Let me explain what a Mobile Hotspot is for those of you that may not be aware of these devices or, if you prefer, you can click on the above link.  Simply stated, it’s not unlike the router you use in your home for wireless connectivity, either connected to your cable or satellite service. 

The difference it that when traveling, or living in a country such as Kenya, there is no cable TV or satellite service offering Internet services to homes, only to businesses.  Thus, local residents (and tourists), desiring a connection for their computers, devices, and cell phones must purchase SIM cards to install either into their cell phones, Hotspots or routers in order to receive a phone and data signal.

The end result for us is that we each needed one Mobile Hotspot and our own SIM card. Yes, we could have used one of each among us. The signal strength is diminished by each user simultaneously online. With the heavy data load, we use each day, it is practical for each of us to have our own device and SIM card.

The moon, 10 minutes before the above photo.  This shot was taken as we sat at our table overlooking the Indian Ocean.  More will follow tomorrow.

Who provides the data/phone signal to tap into?  In Kenya, it is Safaricom. By purchasing their specific SIM cards, registering it via cell phone, they provide us with a measured amount of data that we’ve purchased in advance. 

For example, we pay Kenya Shillings (KES) $1000, US $11.76, for 1.5 gigabytes of data, (purchasing larger amounts reduced the cost), enough to last us both for 3 days, provided we don’t download movies or TV shows. Our average total cost per month for 15 gigabytes of data is KES $10,000, US $117.58 (excluding big downloads) as opposed to the meager 4.39 gigabytes per month that we were allowed with XCom Global.

Don’t get me wrong, XCom Global is a great company and for the usual traveler its an excellent option. Most travelers read their email which uses a minimal amount of data and may check a few websites for restaurants and local points of interest.

But, XCom Globals’s allowed 150 megabytes of data per day (.146 gigabytes) wasn’t sufficient most days for me to download our daily posts and photos, not leaving any usage for Tom. It just wasn’t working well for us. We were cut off a few times for exceeding the allowed data usage, not by XCom Global but by their contracted providers in various places all over the world.

With our own Hotspots, when we run low on gigs, we purchase “scratch-offs” cards to load more data by entering the code on each card. We can check how much data we have left placing the SIM card in a cell phone and dialing code, seconds later receiving a response as to the remaining balance. 

Once we install the main SIM card into my phone, we can make local calls. Hans loaned us a cell phone with one of his SIM cards installed to use for local calls so we haven’t purchased a card for making calls on our own phones. The cost to call the US is outrageous comparable to them calling us using their cell phone. Not having the SIM card installed in our smartphones prevented us from incurring US $100’S per month in calls to our families, encouraging us and family members to use Skype which is free with a great signal.

With Hans and Jeri both gone for the Kenyan holiday this weekend, we are babysitting their two little dogs. This is Jessie, whom they inherited when a nearby homeowner didn’t want her. She is a completely outdoor dog, never sleeping indoors, spending all of her days and nights outside. It was hard to close the doors on her last night when we went to bed, leaving her looking at us. I wanted to pick her up and put her in the bed with us, bt we knew not to upset her routine. She’s a sturdy little dog and an excellent watchdog. For those, who knew us in our old lives, does this remind you of anyone?

I realize that this information may be boring to our non-geeky readers and mundane to our knowledgeable geeks who already have this concept in the bag. But, just in case there are a few potential travelers out there thinking of how to save on data while traveling, a Mobile Hotspot (around US $100) with SIM cards is the way to go, if and I say, if there is no free wireless data available at your hotel, resort or vacation home. 

Please keep in mind there are areas we’ve traveled, such as the Masai Mara, where the Hotspot wouldn’t pick up any signal and we were reliant upon the weak signal that they had in the lodge. Also, the signal we do receive in Kenya is often weak, making it impossible for me to edit the blog posts, particularly the photos and their captions.  I apologize for the difficulty in reading these at times.  It goes “with the territory.”

The moon over the Indian Ocean last night at 6:15 pm.

Honestly, until we arrived in Kenya, we had free wireless connectivity at every house we’ve rented thus far. This situation here in Kenya was new for us and although I love technical stuff (kind of a geek myself), Tom took a huge interest in handling the SIM card installation while I handled the installs of both Hotspots (a one-time thing).

A good feature of the Safaricom SIM card “scratch-offs” is the ability to have some free data to be used between 10:00 pm and 10:00 am during the first two weeks after downloading the new cards.  It is during this time, in the middle of the night, that we download TV shows and movies from Graboid (US $20 a month), a service that offers downloads of current TV shows and movies.

This is Gucci, whom we’re also taking care of this weekend one of the best watchdogs in Kenya.  He alerts the security guards to any activities beyond the gate. Known to viciously bite on occasion, he is gentle and loving with us, hanging out with us most days. When we return from going out, he is very cautious in determining it is really us, barking wildly, sniffing, only relaxing when he is confident that we are who he thinks we are. Gucci and Jessie are best friends, playful and protective of one another.  They love to chase the goats and the monkeys in the backyard.

If you have questions, suggestions or general comments, please feel free to comment at the end of this post or send me an email to which I will reply within 12 hours. 

As for the package we received last week. It contained the following supplies, all ordered through the US:
1.  Two Huawei Hotspots in their original boxes plus two extra batteries
2.  A few toiletry items of inconsequential weight
3.  Crystal Light Ice Tea – 18 packages that each containing a supply to make 32 quarts. This was for Tom only. I’m now content drinking real iced tea made with two teabags and one quart of purified water, having kicked my Crystal Light habit months ago.
4.  Mezzaluna Knife – We used one of these in Italy and it made life so much easier than using dull knives
5.  Coconut Oil, organic, extra virgin – one 16 ounce plastic bottle. We use this daily swishing it around in our mouths for 20 minutes which aids in the reduction of bacteria in the mouth and digestive tract. After swishing, we spit it out followed by a thorough brushing with toothpaste which results in a cleaner and healthier feeling mouth while reducing the incidence of bacterial infections. If interested in this concept, read Dr. Bruce Fife’s book, “Oil Pulling” available at all online booksellers.

That’s all folks! That was all that was in the box, weighing 13 pounds. We had all the above shipped to our mailing service in Nevada. We watched online daily as the items arrived in our mailbox.  Once all of them had arrived, we instructed the mailing service to place everything in one box, removing all the individual shipping boxes to reduce the weight. 

The 5.9 kg, 13-pound box and its contents that we had shipped from Las Vegas, Nevada, USA to Diani Beach Kenya, using DHL Express at a cost of KES $38,953, US $458 which arrived in four business days to the local DHL/Pharmacy.

The package had to be shipped through DHL for which our mailing service arranged a pickup. They are the only parcel service within hours of us and we were able to instruct them to phone us on Han’s phone when it arrived in Diani Beach.  The regular postal service in Kenya is unreliable and often packages disappear or if they do arrive, it may take months. We didn’t want to take the risk of not receiving it before we leave on December 1, 2013.

The end result of DHL’s only method of sending and receiving packages in this area is its three-day express. That’s it. No other options. The cost for the 13-pound box (5.9 kg) was Kenya Shillings $38,953, US $458!

Yes, we could have justified this in many ways.  But we chose the simple reality. Setting up the two Hotspots and sending back the XCom Global Mifi would save us a substantial monthly sum.    

These projected amounts will vary as we discover the cost of SIM cards in other countries. Plus, this is a compilation of our estimated costs for data for Kenya, not necessarily the same in other countries, although the Hotspots will work worldwide with the installation of any country’s SIM cards:

Cost reloading SIM cards using  scratch-off at US $117.58 per month =        US $ 1410.96
Cost of Hotspot devices: (one-time expense)   US $   200.00
Cost of Shipping (entire box):                        US $   458.00 
TOTAL COST                                                 US $ 2068.96
AVERAGE COST PER MONTH:                         US $   172.41

AVERAGE COST PER MONTH FOR
RENTAL OF XCOM GLOBAL DEVICE                 US $   395.00

MONTHLY SAVINGS                                       US $   222.59
ANNUAL SAVINGS                                         US $  2671.04

I supposed this is what they call a “no brainer.”  No guilt over the US $458 shipping fee with DHL. 

Tom enjoyed tracking the package’s route on the DHL website daily.  When it arrived in Nairobi, Kenya it passed through customs seamlessly continuing on its way.  It took 4 business days from Las Vegas, Nevada to Diani Beach Kenya, arriving at the DHL/Pharmacy who promptly called us to come to pick it up which we did that day on our way to Nakumatt Grocery for no additional cab fare.

As for returning the MIFi to XCom Global, we did the reverse, shipping the package out on this past Tuesday, Tom tracking it online daily, with it arriving in San Diego, California on Friday.  The cost for that small package under one pound was only US $33.00, much to our surprise.

There it is folks.  Our technology needs are forcing us to learn new ways to acquire the best possible service at the best possible price.  In reality, that will never change, as technology continues to change faster than we can keep up with no access to news reports (no TV) keeping us informed as in the past.

Each time we’ve face a challenge, we remind ourselves of the brave souls that traveled across the US (and other countries) in search of a new life, in a covered wagon with no roads, no water, no electricity, dangerous elements, no medical care, limited food and of course, no technology. 

But, everything is relative and this is “our time.” We strive to continue to embrace it, no matter our age or our interests, offering up a wealth of new knowledge that only can add to the quality of our lives as we all move into the future.

Camp Olonana Sanctuary Retreats…Photos…An ethereal dream of perfection…

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Upon our arrival at Camp Olonana, we were greeted by a Masai warrior playing a welcoming tune on his flute. Following him and our concierge Christine, who oversees the flow of their guest’s experience to the edge of the deck overlooking the Mara River, we knew we’d chosen the perfect environment to fulfill our dreams of a safari combined with exquisite accommodations and service.

After the other guests arrived at the landing strip, we began the 25-minute drive to the camp.  Our combined enthusiasm and the sightings along the way, had all of us, including Anderson, chattering on simultaneously.

The fast flowing Mara River is muddy due to erosion and lack of man’s intervention. The local Masai tribes are dependent upon its waters as well as the wildlife and vegetation. It is this river that the Great Migration crosses over and again as it makes its way from the Serengeti to the Masai Mara. We missed the crossing of the millions of wildebeest but we did travel to Tanzania to see the tail end.  By the time we made that journey, we were so satisfied with our safari experience that we hardly gave it a thought. Someday, we will return to see it at the right time and more than anything go on safari once again. Tom suggested we return the year of my 70th birthday, a little over 4 years away. 
After our welcoming ceremony ended, we were escorted to lunch on the deck.  Within minutes of being seated, our chef, Ambrose came out to introduce himself and to proudly explain, he was well prepared for my special diet. 
We’ll be including food photos, a description of meals, quality of service, and a detailed review over the next several days. With over 600 photos to manage, it is a step by step process which we are striving to present as it occurred.
Ambrose, our well-trained chef, stopped at our table to get feedback on my special meals. Often before preparing my dinner, he’d stop by to assure me that my meal fit within the criteria I had sent them weeks before arrival. Not only were my meals the best prepared and tasting since beginning this way of eating, but the presentation was mouth-watering. Tom thoroughly enjoyed the same meals as presented to the other guests. My meal was always a variation of the main choices, leaving me wanting for nothing.
The all-inclusive camp consists of 3 meals daily, appetizers, snacks, beverages, high tea in the afternoon, and alcoholic drinks at any time of day or night.  Glass bottles of purified water were presented at our table at all meals and in our tent for drinking and brushing teeth. I was so excited I failed to take a photo of our delicious GF chicken curry lunch.
All produce at Camp Olonana is organically grown in their on-site garden. A certified ecologically friendly resort, the care is given to the food, and the use of water, fuel, and electricity were refreshing in this distant setting. For example, all electrical outlets were shut off (lights stayed on) from 10:30 am to 6:30 pm and off again during the night.  In consideration of our need to recharge our equipment, we were given a power strip connected to the generator that was available 24 hours a day. Many more measures were implemented to maintain the ecological integrity of the camp, which consisted of 14 tents, a spa tent, the lodge, gift shop, offices, and housing for staff.
The organic garden located at the camp, left unlocked for us to peruse at our leisure.
Our tent was #4 a short jaunt down this stone-paved walkway. The Camp Olonana, 5000 feet above sea level and cool at night had few mosquitoes and insects. The cool nights were heavenly, requiring a down comforter to keep us warm. That was a rather pleasant sensation!
Continuing along the tree-lined path to our tent, it was comforting to know our bags were already inside with little to unpack with a short time to unwind before taking off on our first official game drive at 4:00 pm.


We arrived at our tent, grateful for the walk after sitting on the plane, the vehicle, and the restaurant for the past several hours.  The word on the sign is #4 in the Masai language, not the usual Swahili spoken in most of Kenya, a few words of which we’re learning.  Here in Kenya, Tom accidentally says “grazie” for “thank you” which is Italian. When in Italy he said “gracias” which is “thank you” in Spanish.  He says he’s always one location behind in his thank-yous.  In Swahili, thank you is “asante” the language of most of the staff at the camp, which I couldn’t say often enough, occasionally correcting Tom on his “grazie.”
The veranda to our tent.  Approaching, it took our breath away.


The view of the Mara River from our veranda. We would like to have spent more time sitting here, but with our busy safari schedule, we had little time left for lounging. We didn’t mind a bit! We came to Camp Olonanato safari and that, my friends, is what we did, hour after hour. We’ve yet to show the very best of the photos, beginning tomorrow.  You know, the old adage, “saving the best for last?”


The comfy furnishings made is tempting to lay here and watch the wildlife to saunter or swim past from time to time. Actually, we only had time to sit here for one hour during the three day period. 


Although we were escorted to our tent the first time, Tom wanted to handle the long, sturdy zipper to ensure we had no issues. Of course, it was a breeze, opening to a virtual paradise of tent interiors.
Soon, we were unpacked, with our equipment plugged in, anxious to write here to begin sharing the experience. With no Internet connection in the tent and neither of our WiFi devices able to connect, we comfortably sat in the lodge to go online to post. As we’d mentioned the connection was poor, preventing us from posting many photos until returning to Diani Beach, where still the connection isn’t strong. We slept in the bed on the left, keeping our electronics plugged in on the bed on the right.  For the first time ever, my camera ran out of juice on safari forcing us to use the 2nd camera which Tom used less often.


Shortly after getting situated, we needed to get going for the afternoon game drive, taking one last shot in the daylight of the veranda view. Exquisite.
Additional view of our tent.
Our stone bathroom in our tent after we’d unpacked. The toilet is behind the door to the right and the shower is to the left as shown below in the next photo.
The stone shower in the tent, permanently built into the tent as were the closets. The walls in the tent as shown are actual tent material, tent windows, and tent exit as shown.

Tomorrow, we’ll share the beginning of our best safari photos with many unusual sightings in the wild, animals on the hunt, animal kills, dining in the bush, gorgeous scenery, and eventually, our trip to Tanzania.

Also, interspersed, we’ll include our communal evening barbecue with entertainment by a local Masai tribe. And, we’ll share our unbelievable visit, on our last day, to a nearby Masai village where we were welcomed and toured by Chief Richard learning the way of life for the Masai, so far removed from our own reality and so rich in its content.

Wildlife photos tomorrow…

Ah…Technology fails us…Life goes on…

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Tom engaged is power lounging in our outdoor screen-less living room while searching for future cruises.Tom’s not naked. He’s actually wearing shorts.

We were unable to post yesterday.  Neither of our MiFi devices were working (weird coincidence). Now with one back up, and continuing to work on the other, we have a connection. 

Refusing to further bore our readers with ongoing Internet connectivity issues, we’ll share our other experiences since our last post on Monday. 

Although very hot and humid, these flowers against the blue sky was refreshing.

On Monday, Tom was able to watch the Minnesota Vikings game airing on Sunday, using the separate WiFi device we borrowed from Hans, our kindly landlord, who recently also loaned us a cellphone in order to be able to call for cabs. Thanks to Hans for his ongoing assistance in many ways.

If I recall correctly, these flowers also grow in Hawaii, where we’ll be in 15 months.

As it turned out, watching the game on his laptop with a relatively clear connection resulted in the use of approximately one gigabyte out of eight gigs installed into the alternate WiFi device. 

At the cost of US $45 for eight gigs of data, each game will cost US $5.63 in addition to the US $169 he paid NFL.com for the football season at an average cost of US $16.25 per game.

The small white flowers grow within these larger bougainvillea.

As much as he enjoys  watching the Vikings, we surely don’t flinch at the cost. But lately, we’ve seen a number of “must have” expenses increase, making us a little wary of how much it may cost us after all is said and done after living in Africa.  We may have to cut back on a few things.

Shards of glass are embedded into the top edge of this stone wall protecting our property from intruders climbing over the wall.  Surprisingly, this enchantingly noisy bird lighted atop the glass seemingly comfortable.

Finally, on Monday the final bill arrived in my inbox (along with charges on a credit card) for the rental car in Italy. We’d read reviews warning us of possible “up” charges and surprises when renting a car in Italy, making us skeptical to rent cars in the future, preferring the much less expensive option of using cabs.

Aren’t these breathtaking?

Brace yourself for the total for two and a half months of the smallest and one of the cheapest cars Budget Rental had available at US $3294.47!  With the addition of the unanticipated 21.5% VAT tax and service fees, it proved to be almost US $1000 more than we’d anticipated!  Ouch!

The wide array of colors of the flowers in our yard in Kenya is a feast for the eyes.

If we called a cab as many as 3 times a week at US $12 including tip per trip for our remaining 11 weeks in Kenya, the grand total would be US $396, almost 1/10th of that which we paid in Italy  It’s a no brainer. There again, live and learn. We’re learning not to feel trapped without transportation.

To think that the blooming season has just begun is exciting.  With rain off and on these past few days we expect more blossoms to appear shortly.

Also, taking a cab reduces the risk of carjacking, which apparently, is of a serious concern in Kenya, less so in Diani Beach but not unheard of.  In the US, only 30 minutes from our old home, driving was also dangerous at night in certain areas with possible carjacking and the risk of stray bullets. Is there anywhere in the world free from risk?

Could Mother Nature be more perfect in creating this well shaped Hibiscus, a common flower in many warmer parts of the world.

Yesterday, as we visited the local Internet store to purchase more data for the SIM cards, armed guards manned the doors, letting us in after thoroughly checking us out. Passports are required to enter. Also, armed guards wander inside and out of the local grocery store where we shopped once more. Plus, armed guards are situated at the entrance to the little strip mall where the grocery store is located. Passports are also required in order to purchase grocery items.

The brightness of the yellow in these flowers is not a shade I’ve seen before.

Last night, happy to stay in, we made a fabulous dinner of boneless chicken breast sautéed in olive oil and butter, breaded using egg, cream and coconut flour. With side dishes of fresh green beans, slices of a huge, perfectly ripened avocado (US $.30) with a giant salad, it couldn’t have tasted better.

We fired up an episode of one of Tom favorite shows that we’d download, “Who Do You Thank You Are?” to watch during dinner, dining at the huge glass and burl table in our outdoor living room. Later, we moved to the sofa to watch another show while munching on nuts. A perfect evening to say the least.

All these flower photos were taken in our yard.t

At night, here in Kenya, we both wear our Africa clothes from sunset on. With food on the table at dusk, the mossies love joining us for dinner, us being the best thing on the menu. By wearing our BugsAway pants and recently added BugsAway short sleeve shirts, adding a pair of closed shoes, its only necessary to use bugs spray on my hands, arms and ankles. Tom, seldom gets bitten.What’s the deal with that?

Tomorrow, more about the trip to the stores with a variety of exciting critter photos we were lucky to shoot!

Life without a phone…How’s that working for ya’?…Plus weather photos, stormy day…

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This morning, as white puffy clouds rolled in over the hills.
Soon, the sky became a little darker as the white puffy clouds began to dissipate.

Almost a year ago, before leaving the US, we did an analysis to determine the cost of keeping our cell phone service with Verizon Wireless while we traveled the world. With both of our contracts expired, we weren’t obligated to continue on.

Only minutes later, the clouds rapidly wafted into the hills.

First, we determined our calling costs in many of the countries in which we’d reside. Secondly, we determined the data costs based on our usage while in the US. In other words, what would it cost us monthly to continue making calls and using data freely as we’d done in the past?

The clouds are so close to us.  It’s heavenly!
We’ve never seen clouds from this vantage point!

The estimated total for both of our smartphones would be $2300 a month, not something we could or would be willing to pay. Also, figuring the cost without making calls on the phone, the data aspect alone would be over $1000 a month. If we considerably cut our data use, most likely we couldn’t get below $500 a month. Old habits die hard.  With no data plan, we’d have no alternative to breaking the habit of using our phones as computers.

As much as it looks like smoke, it is puffy clouds.

The basic monthly fees for service for both phones were $167 a month including taxes and fees. What was the point? If roaming calls were an additional $2.89 a minute on average, using Skype for free was a logical alternative.

The question remains, will everyone we want to speak with, be willing to download Skype taking the minimal amount of time to learn how to use it?  Not necessarily, much to our disappointment. 

The clouds dissipate quickly. Tom stood by with the camera in hand getting these shots as they progressed while I was busy in the kitchen.  I’m impressed!

As we’ve discovered over the years, many users only check email and Facebook, occasionally using search engines on their computers at home and at work, with little interest in learning to use the zillions of other applications available online at little or no cost. 

Unfortunately, this prevents us from the opportunity to speak with many family members and friends who simply aren’t comfortable using Skype. We wish we could convince them otherwise enabling us to freely call any of our family and friends with the same ease we experienced back in the states using our cell phones.

The rain, although short-lived, was torrential! While the sun was still shining Tom said, “I smell rain!”  I shrugged and dismissed his comment. Within 20 minutes, the sun was hidden behind the clouds while the rains came pouring down and these puffy clouds appeared.


While in Boveglio, Tuscany the Skype connection is quite clear with or without video. We’re more than willing to talk without video if the call receiver prefers not to use their camera.  With the huge time differences, one may hesitate to be seen online in their pj’s or otherwise, understandably so.

Also, we can send and receive Skype calls on our smartphones when we’re connected to the Internet via our MiFi device or the wireless connection in the house. The call receiver may do the same using their current cell provider’s data connection with the Skype app loaded for free. Most new smartphones have  Skype pre-installed when they purchase a new phone. 

Thus, a cell to cell call may be made using Skype on both ends without incurring any cost, unless the receiver is using a data plan that charges per megabyte on their cell phone. 

In this case, they can make the call using their cell phone from their home, using their home’s wireless connection by a simple setting on their phone before making the call. It’s easy, requiring only a few steps, and is equally easy to set it back to the Internet data service provided by their carrier after completing the Skype call.

In the past several days, we’ve had to make a few personal or business-related calls. How do we do this with no phone?  Simple. We search online for the toll-free number provided by the business and make the call on Skype with no charges on our end. 

How do we make a local call?  Again, using Skype. If no toll-free number is available, for example, when we recently inquired to a local pharmacy for a product, we used Skype‘s “for fee” service. We’d deposited $10 into our Skype account for these exact purposes last January with still $8.76 remaining as shown below in this photo.

Our remaining Skype balance after making several local calls using Skype. Long-distance calls from country to country are more expensive, considerably less than roaming cell phone calls.

The local fees for local calls in most countries using Skype are a little over $.026 per minute. That same call to the US would be $2.89 per minute without the use of a toll-free number. (Also, we still can make an emergency call from our cell phones or Skype at no charge).

Why do we continue to carry cell phones if we have no service?  As explained above, for making Skype calls, emergency calls, navigational services when we use our MiFi as an adjunct, and most often, reading books on our Kindle app installed on our phones. 

FYI:  When downloading new books, we connect our phones to the wireless connection in the house, sync the new books, and disconnect. The e-books are permanently stored in the app on our phones which doesn’t require a connection for us to read at our leisure. With no TVs in the bedroom, a bit of reading time seems to aid us both in lulling us to sleep.

Why don’t we leave the house’s wireless connection all the time?  Each location is different depending on the strength of the wireless signal.  In this house, keeping the phones online diminishes the strength of the signal to our laptops.  When downloading books, we disconnect our laptops for a few minutes in order to sync the books, turning it back on when completed.

I know we’ve addressed these cell phone and Skype concerns in past posts. However, as time marches on, we learn the nuances of the systems we currently have in place while analyzing that which we may need in the future as technology continues to flourish before our eyes. 

Much of which we now use with aplomb, will become obsolete in the near future. In the interim, we both make a concerted effort to be aware of the changes as they reach the marketplace, hoping to create greater ease of use and features as we move along in our worldwide travels.

Internet’s been down all day until now…MiFi not working here…Cold, rainy day…

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Our own hotspot. On the right is our MiFi that we’ve rented from XCom Global providing us with high speed Internet connection worldwide.  Unfortunately, due to our current location in the mountains of Tuscany, we’re unable to get a good signal.

What a day!  When the wireless broadband went down last night we were worried. Our MiFi, unable to pick up a signal since we arrived in Boveglio, for which we continue to pay monthly rental fees, recently has been a source of frustration.

Sending it back to the company for the $79.00 shipping fees each way made no sense. We’ll need it again in 60 days plus, when we venture out from Boveglio and… if we get low enough in the mountains, we do receive a signal for use with our smartphones. This enables us full access to Google Maps while driving  and the Internet for points of interest and information on the areas we’re visiting. 

Most likely , we’ll be needing it again when we arrive in Kenya (where we’ll have a better connection. It’s the mountains impeding the signal in Tuscany). 

To further clarify for new readers, there are two ways we can connect to the Internet while living in our vacation homes worldwide:

1.  Through wireless broadband available at the property (a criteria for us in our travels) similar to what you are using to access the Internet from your home or office.

2.  Utilizing a MiFi, a wireless portable wireless credit card-sized device that we rent monthly.  We cannot purchase the unit due to the unique contracts that XCOM GLOBAL has arranged with Internet providers all over the world (in most countries) that provide the device with the signal, once we’ve charged it and turned it on to connect wirelessly with our laptops, smart phones, and other wireless devices.  It’s battery lasts approximately three hours and then must be charged again for another three hours.  We are able to use it while charging.

As we drove higher and higher into the mountains of Tuscany on June 16, 2013, we’d hoped we’d continue to receive a signal all the way up on the winding mountain roads.  About 25 minutes before arriving in Boveglio, we lost the signal, never to return. 

Thus, we’ve became dependent upon the wireless broadband available in our temporary home which the owners, Lisa and Luca. assured us would provide a good signal 24/7 during our stay.  Unfortunately, they have no control on outages experienced by the local provider in the region.

Apparently, last night around 11:00 PM, service to the general area experienced an outage. Awaking this morning we were disappointed to discover that there still was no service.  

Of course, we became worried, concerned that it could be a week or more until it was restored, as had been the case when the cable TV service went out just before we arrived leaving us with no TV until about a week ago.  There are only two English speaking programs available, Bloomberg TV and MSNBC, both news channels.  \With these two news channels we are able to be aware of what is transpiring in the US and worldwide, important as we travel to some high risk areas. 

We had no expectations of watching regular US programming while in many countries. For entertainment purposes, which we all need from time to time, when we want to wind down and relax, we’d downloaded a few hundred shows and movies on our “MY PASSPORT,” a two terabyte external hard drive, its shows to be saved for days like today…rainy, cold, windy, and no connection.

Some have asked, “Why do we need to be online so much of the time?”  There are several reasons for us:

1.  To be able to write and post this blog.
2.  To be able to maintain contact with family and friends via email and Skype at all times.
3.  To be able to maintain financial matters, all of which are available online:  banking, investing, credit cards, payments for future rentals and transportation, etc.
4.  To be able to receive and view our online “snail mail” from our mailing service.
5.  To be able to investigate further locations we hope to visit in the future.
6.  To book hotels and transportation getting us from place to place.
7.  Organizing and arranging maps and points of interest for our weekly excursions away from our temporary home.
8.  Look up medical questions, instructions, recipes and language translation.
9.  Download books to read.  (Once downloaded, no Internet connection is required).
10. Book reservations for restaurants.  Had we not done this for dining out last Saturday, we’d have been turned away at the restaurant, as we observed happening to other “walk-in” diners.
11.  Staying in touch with the property owners of upcoming rentals, asking questions, making future payments.
12. Entertainment.  When all else is said and done, playing with our computers is enjoyable: games, streaming radio and TV shows, watching movies, staying in touch  with family and friends via Facebook or, simply reading the wealth of information at our fingertips, keeping our brains active and hungering for more knowledge.

Yes, we prefer to be outdoors as much as possible on a warm days experiencing our surroundings.  But days like today, remind us how much we utilize this amazing tool,  the Internet, that honestly, without it we’d have had a lot less enthusiasm or interest in traveling the world. 

We often speak of how difficult and cumbersome arranging long term travel was for our ancestors.  How they ever managed is beyond us. 

Some travelers use travel agencies which are quickly becoming obsolete with the advent of the Internet growing worldwide. With the complexity of our travels, we definitely prefer to take responsibility for making our own arrangements, connecting all the dots along the way. (Although, we’ve used Joaquin at Vacations to Go for all of our cruises and will continue to do so). 

Also, travel agents don’t often handle the single family vacation homes we’ve been able to find and subsequently rent for our preferred periods of time.

How did we entertain ourselves today while “out of touch?”  We washed more laundry, finding covered spots in which to dry it considering the inclement weather.

We made a great breakfast of scrambled eggs with sautéed onions and Crimini mushrooms with Emmenthuler cheese and a side of Italian sausage and regular bacon which we were surprised to find at the grocery store in Pescia. Together, we chopped vegetables for tonight’s dinner.

We found a deck of cards and played “Gin” for several hours for the first time in many years. We’d forgotten the rules, playing anyway and it all came back to us.  We weren’t able to look up the rules online! I won.Tom forgot that he always won years ago. I’m a lousy loser.He’s worse.

Feeling frustrated for a lack of entertainment for Saturday night and not wanting to drive the winding roads that had many warning signs, “Slippery when wet,” we’d decided to stay in tonight. Preferring to save our downloaded books in the event it could be a long period without Internet, we hesitated to spend the entire evening reading.

For the first time since we left Scottsdale, Arizona at the end of December 2012, I plugged in My Passport, external hard drive, browsing to determine which shows and movies we might watch tonight. 

Actually, with no TV at all in Kenya, we’d hope to save all the downloaded videos to watch during the almost three months we’ll be living there. Ah, what the heck! Tonight would be the perfect night to watch a few!

Moments after plugging the device into my computer, I heard the familiar little sound of an arriving email.  “We’re back on!” I yelled out to Tom, causing him to be startled. Yes, we were back on.

Quickly, I sat down in this not-so-comfy kitchen chair and began typing away, anxious to let our readers that we’re still here. Some readers, who hadn’t received the automatic emails (which is now working again) assumed that we’d either fallen off the steep road while driving or we’d quit writing. 

I’ll promise this, dear readers… If we don’t write a word for two or more days, either we’re traveling (it takes two calendar days to arrive in Kenya), the Internet is down or something unfortunate has happened to us. In every case, we will post at the first opportunity, sharing the story and photos describing our absence.

“Consistency” is our middle name or, if you’d prefer the less braggadocios version…we’re rampant creatures of habit. We don’t expect that traveling the world will ever change that!