Oh, Madeira!…We can’t wait to see you…

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The ship’s morning arrival to the island of Madeira, Portugal was cloudy and cool, later to clear and warm up.

This morning at 9:00 am our ship, the Norwegian Epic, entered the port of Funchal, Madeira, Portugal, situated 350 miles from the coast of Morocco (where we’ll be living one year from now) offering us one of the most breathtaking views of our lives.

Birds flutter around our ship, searching for a meal as the thrusters stir up the ocean floor, bringing fresh schools of fish to the surface.

The vistas of this mountainous island with peaks at high at 6100 feet is a mere 35 miles long and 13 miles wide.  The hillside is liberally ensconced in one architecturally interesting white building after another.

As the ship, the Norwegian Epic, approached the pier in Funchal, Madeira.

On May 15, 2014, we’ll return to Madeira to a nearby coastal village, Ribiera Brava, where a magnificent home awaits us to enjoy until July 31, 2014, a full two and a half months.  We’ll be arriving to Madeira after spending nearly three months in Marrakesh, Morocco.  At this point we haven’t planned our mode of transportation for this short journey, preferably a ferry or ship but most likely by air.

Our bellies full of a good breakfast in the Garden Café, we are currently situated in our favorite booth, to ensure our most advantageous views while we wait to disembark the ship to meet Gina, the owner of the house we’re renting here next year, to give us a tour of the house and the island. We couldn’t be more excited!

What awaits us today is a similar feeling of adventure we felt upon entering Belize the months ago, almost to the day. Neophytes when we left the US only four months ago, we now have a little experience under our belts with mounting opinions and ideas as to our present and future as world travelers.   

It would have taken eight years of two-week vacations to experience what we’ve done thus far in these four months. With five cruises behind us, we begin to get a “lay of the land” in cruising as well as the experience of living among the locals in a remote underdeveloped country. Our feet are “officially wet” with so much more awaiting us in the future, especially today as we explore this magnificent island.

Our MiFi is working here allowing us to upload photos we’ll take when with Gina today as we explore this tiny island and our future home for 2½ months.

We’ll be back later this afternoon with photos before the ship sails at 6:00 PM while our connection stay in tact. 

Published newspaper story about us…

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The health club is impressive on the Epic.
 All the equipment I use is readily available, not the case on the Carnival cruises.
 The massage therapists were waiting for passengers to jump on their tables.
The Chanhassen Villager had requested an updated article from us.  On April 4, 2013 they published this story, a second in a possible series.  A friend informed us that they read in the paper. 
 Photo of a photo of the Norwegian Epic on its maiden voyage in 2010.

Here is the actual article, which I wrote based on their request, submitted about a month ago.  I didn’t realize until yesterday that it had been published.

A bar and sitting area.

This story doesn’t include our most recent travels.  Below is the link to the newspaper and the story:

http://www.chanvillager.com/news/world-travelers-living-the-dream/article_8dbde70d-1b61-5488-b13f-7077dc4251b6.html#user-comment-area
World travelers living the dream – Chanhassen Villager: News
World travelers living the dream

By Jess Lyman | Posted:
Thursday, April 4, 2013 3:12 pm
Editor’s note: Earlier this year, Jess and Tom Lyman, formerly of Chanhassen, headed out on a worldwide travel adventure with no set end date in mind. We’ve kept track of them via their travel blog. This week Jess emailed a commentary on how they’re doing so far, three months into the first leg of their travel. Content to stay home, cooking great meals, visiting with family and friends, spending our requisite lounging time in front of the TV lost in mindless drivel, we were no different than the
average baby boomer population. Whatever possessed us to sell it all, leaving family, friends and a comfortable familiar life behind escapes us. Now, as we sit on our veranda, less than 20 feet from the Caribbean Sea, the constant calming sound of the sea as background music to our ears.

We left it all. On Jan. 3, 2013, and we boarded the Celebrity Century in San Diego, Calif., on our way through the Panama Canal, to begin a 5- to 10-year long journey that, at this point, knows no end.Health providing, we’ll continue on until we don’t want to any more, until we tire of hauling our luggage, or until we feel a compelling desire to stay put. When this journey began we made a pact; if one of us wants to stop, we will. Plain and simple. We’ll find a place to live for a year or more until we decide on a more permanent home or, perhaps staying put for awhile, we may be ready to begin anew, back to our life
on the move. There’s no need to decide now.

In January 2012, we began our research, deciding to document our discoveries in a blog for our family and friends with the intent that everyone would always know where we are at any given time. Much to our surprise, our blog, www.WorldWideWaftage.com has continued to grow attracting readers all over the world. With over 40,000
visits to our blog thus far, we anticipate it will continue to grow as we progress further along in our travels.
Since leaving the United States on Jan. 3, 2013, its readership has quadrupled! For the past two months since Jan. 29 with two cruises behind us, we landed by ship in Belize City, Belize, in Central America, formerly known as British Honduras, a charming, behind-the-times-digitally, English speaking country of over 350,000, rooted in history, with mixed cultures including Mayan, Creole, Mestizo, Africa, East India, Syrian and Lebanese, Chinese, Taiwanese, Mennonites, Korean and the
local Garifuna.

After a four-hour treacherous drive south on the renowned Hummingbird Highway, we arrived for a one-week stay in a cottage on the beach, later to move to the exquisite Laru Beya Resort in the cozy town of Placencia, a narrow, roughly 20-mile long peninsula. Known for its white sand beaches, relaxed lifestyle, exquisite vegetation, and adventure activities geared for the not-so-faint-of heart, Placencia’s quaint little village offers an eclectic selection of restaurants, diners, shops and small grocery stores.

Accommodating a special diet
Twenty months ago in an effort to improve our health, we embarked on a strict low-carb, wheat-free, grain-free, starch-free and sugar-free diet. Tom subsequently lost 45 pounds and for the first time in 20 years, I am pain free. Had we not taken this drastic step, it would have been impossible for us to travel to this extent. Unable to find foods we took for granted in the U.S, we’ve learned to eat differently taking advantage of the local grass-fed meat, free-range chicken and eggs and organic vegetables. We’ve adapted.

What’s next?
Plans after April 9, when we are scheduled to leave Belize? We’re off on six cruises over the next two months, including a trans-Atlantic cruise to Barcelona on April 20. On May 5, we’ll be traveling through the Suez Canal to see the Great Pyramids, Giza and the Sphinx ending in Dubai for a two week stint in the 95-story second tallest residential tower in the world, overlooking Palm Jumeira, the renowned man-made island on the coast of Dubai.

This upcoming summer we’ve rented a 17th century stone villa in Tuscany until Aug. 31 when we’ll fly to Kenya for a three-month stay in an ocean-front house in Diani Beach. After a few safaris to see the Great Migration, we’ll fly to South Africa to live on the edge of Kruger National Park where the animals roam free around the house we’ve rented.

This week we booked a two-and-a-half-month stay in a small palace with a full staff in Marrakesh, Morocco, on our way out of Africa for March 1 to May 15, 2014. The song, the “Marrakesh Express” is spinning through our heads as we’re unable to wipe the smiles off of our faces. We’re very grateful.

Yes, it goes on and on. A dream we never knew we had, a vision for spending the “golden years,” cherishingevery moment, living in the moment and anticipating the next moment to come. So far, life is good on the move.
For daily updates on the
Lymans’ travels visit their blog at www.WorldWideWaftage.com.

Check out the price of Absolute Vodka in the duty-free shop.  We brought one bottle of Cognac which wasn’t confiscated much to our surprise.

During the day today we met an amazing couple from the US, now living in France, Puerto Rico, California and New York, world travelers like us.  Sharing our stories and motivation for stepping outside the box was refreshing and exciting. 

One of the many dining areas below the massive crystal chandelier.

Tomorrow night, the four of us will dine together in the Manhattan Dining Room where we dined last night, having met another enjoyable group of passengers.  The food was mediocre, the companionship…divine!

We changed ships!…Heavenly!..Back to back cruises again, same cabin…

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Our new huge ship, the Norwegian Epic with 4200 passengers and 1750 crew. 
Comfortable bed, covers, soft towels, huge shower and vanity area.
 Cruise #1

Norwegian – Norwegian Epic, departs 4/20/13, 11 nights
Day Date Port or Activity Arrive Depart
Sat Apr 20 Miami, FL 5:00pm
Sun Apr 21 At Sea
Mon Apr 22 At Sea
Tue Apr 23 At Sea
Wed Apr 24 At Sea
Thu Apr 25 At Sea
Fri Apr 26 At Sea
Sat Apr 27 At Sea
Sun Apr 28 Funchal, Madeira, Portugal 10:00am – 6:00pm
Mon Apr 29 At Sea
Tue Apr 30 At Sea
Wed May 1 Barcelona, Spain 5:00am

Cruise #2
Norwegian – Norwegian Epic, departs 5/1/13, 4 nights
Day Date Port or Activity Arrive Depart
Wed May 1 Barcelona, Spain 7:00pm
Thu May 2 Marseille, France 8:00am – 7:00pm
Fri May 3 At Sea Sat May 4 Palma de Mallorca, Spain 6:00am – 6:00pm
Sun May 5 Barcelona, Spain 5:00am

We couldn’t be more thrilled to be on board the Norwegian Epic as shown above to find it much more modern and classy than the Carnival Liberty.  Also, with a more mature crowd there isn’t the loud blare of rock music filling the air as in typical on Carnival Fun Ships. 

 Our mini suite with balcony.  Plush amenities.

Yes, we are old, preferring the more elegant, quiet, less frenzied pace of this ship.  Initially, we were concerned about the enormous size, but after wandering about for the past three plus hours, we feel we have a handle on the layout.

 Tons of storage space not only to unpack our clothing, but to hide our bags under the bed.
With over half of our bags already unpacked, soon we’ll run to the Internet Café to set up our wireless package.  Once we sail in the next hour we’ll lose our ability to use our MiFi connection and be subject to this ships $.40 a minute charge.  That’s the highest rate we’ve seen thus far. 
  Coffee in our cabin, not available in the past four cruises.
Having budgeted for these expenses, allows us to communicate with loved ones and of course, keep our blog and photos posted on a regular basis.  The connection is secure which enables us to do our banking, pay bills online and check our credit card balances.
All of our credit cards, do not charge an exchange rate.  Thus, we use them for everything we possibly can, paying them off every few weeks, to keep them from accumulating huge balances and avoid interest charges.  So far, we’ve yet to incur a single dime in interest or fees. 
 Easy to use safe, wine cooler/fridge.

Our final bill on the Carnival Liberty came to $672 which included $159 for Internet, $100 for dinner in the Diamond Steak House, $12.50 for contact lens solution, $44.98 for one bottle of Cognac for Tom, cocktails and beverages, plus, the cruise line charged our bill $161.60 for tips plus additional tips we paid as we ordered beverages. 

Oversized shower, vanity with lots of drawers and medicine cabinet plus, an outlet. It’s an odd configuration with the sink in the bedroom and having to walk through the two sections of the bathroom when entering the cabin.

In addition, last night, we handed out additional cash tips to our cabin steward, dining room service staff, restaurant hostesses and luggage handlers.  This totaled approximately another $180, leaving us over by $82. On the prior cruises we were under budget, making it a wash. 

Our balcony for the next 15 days.  Love the two little tables.
Have to run and get to the Internet Café since we’re about to lose our signal.  We’ll be back in touch soon with more photos of this amazing vessel. Tonight we have a reservation to see the Blue Man Group, included in our fares. 
Back in touch soon.

Grand Turks and Caicos…Last port of call before Miami tomorrow…

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The beach at Grand Turks and Caicos.

Today, as we spend our last full day aboard the Carnival Liberty, we’re unable to use our WiFi device while out to sea. With only minutes left on the Internet package we purchased on the ship, I’d contemplated not posting
today. Yesterday, we burned up 70 minutes trying to post the  blog and the photos with the ship’s poor signal.

If we were to purchase more Internet time from the ship, we’d pay $.75 a minute, outrageous considering it takes about four times longer to load anything than when using our MiFi when available. For one additional hour we’d pay $45. 
As mentioned in prior posts, Xcom Global MiFi works when we are close to land in most of the countries we’ll visit. The small island country of Grand Turks and Caicos was not one of them. We spotted a few towers but their signal was not sufficient for us to get online. 
The cruise line owned beach set-up with “pay for” cabanas.

Tomorrow morning, we’ll arrive in Miami at 8:00 am.  Once in port, we’ll be able to use our MiFi as we wait for our turn to disembark the Carnival Liberty. Our goal is to be among the last passengers to leave the ship.  Most passengers will have already gone through customs and the lines resulting in shorter lines.

With our next ship, the Norwegian Epic, docked at the pier next door, we won’t be able to get on board until noon, leaving us to carefully time the move from one ship to the other. Refusing to be left standing at the pier for hours with our remaining pile of luggage in tow, careful timing is in order.
 Many passengers got off the ship to bake in the sun. We opted to stay behind and enjoy the quiet time on the ship.

Once we’re situated on board, unpack, attend  the required emergency procedures meeting at our designated Muster station, and sign up for their largest Internet package, we’ll post again. 

Once the ship sails, we’ll only be able to use the ship’s Internet package for the crossing of the Atlantic ocean for a 15 day cruise ending in Barcelona, Spain (one eleven day cruise plus one four day cruise resulting in another back-to-back, same-cabin cruise).
With only one port of call in the first leg of this upcoming cruise in Madeira, Portugal, on April 28, 2013, we’ll have little use of our MiFi. While in Madeira for eight hours on April 28th, we plan to meet with the owner of the house we’ll be renting in Madeira beginning May 15, 2014, when we’ll return for a 2 1/2 month stay in her gorgeous house overlooking the ocean. Gina will give us a tour of the house and the island, a wonderful way to spend our day in port.
 The dock at the beach set-up.

Overall, the two Carnival cruises were fine, although not memorable. The two downsides were the issue with our vitamins and the need to move to a quieter cabin. The upsides, excellent service, extraordinary food at Diamonds Steakhouse, clean environment, no Norovirus and a smooth sailing ship.

Would we book Carnival in the future? Probably not, unless we needed to use it as a means of transportation when no other cruise line was available. Would we recommend it to others? If a party cruise is your style, this cruise line is ideal.  For us, we prefer a more mature crowd and more quiet environment.
Various boats that passenger charter for a number of activities.

Stop back tomorrow to read about our move to the Norwegian Epic, a bigger ship than we’ve experienced thus far, cruise #5 since January 3, 2013.

Visiting a friend in St. Thomas…Photos…

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Note: Due to a poor WiFi connection in this location, we are unable to correct spacing issues.

The view from the deck as we waited for clearance from immigration to leave the ship.

Thirty-three years ago, I met my friend Colleen in Minnesota. She was a successful real estate agent working for me, then a broker for an international real estate franchise. 

Becoming fast friends, we shared many common interests; philosophical viewpoints, health and fitness goals, and a love of people, animals, and the environment around us.

The view from the pier as we walked to the nearby shopping area where Colleen and I met yesterday at 11:00 am at the Dockside Bookstore.

Eight years later, after many meaningful times spent together, she decided to make a dramatic life change; sell everything she owned, leave family and friends behind, and move to the US Virgin Islands.  Sound familiar? 

Over the years, Colleen worked on charter boats, often out to sea for weeks at a time, later as a massage therapist and eventually as a wedding planner for couples preparing to marry in the islands.  Single, with a gaggle of friends, she supported herself in modest comfort, never failing to appreciate the warmth of the sun, the balmy ocean breezes, and the freedom of a simple life.

 Colleen, my friend of 33 years, has lived in St. Thomas for the past 25 years

Staying in touch and, through her visits to the US, we imagined that someday I’d see where she lived.  Yesterday, at long last, I did.

The view from Colleen’s yard, although encumbered with satellite dishes offers a great view beyond the few obstructions.
It was a joy to see my long-time friend. Tom walked me to the Dockside Bookstore in the crowded shopping area where passengers from several ships were shopping in a wide array of stores. He returned to the ship, leaving me with time alone with Colleen. 
  The view of the port of St. Thomas from our veranda.
When our visit ended, Colleen brought me back to the book store, where I walked a short distance to meet Tom at a  nearby fountain. Hand and hand, we meandered through the jammed area, later returning to the ship.
  After my visit with Colleen, we walk back on the pier as we took this shot of our ship, The Carnival Liberty.  Our cabin is eight doors behind the “bridge” (on the right in this photo) on the port side.
Surprisingly there weren’t many photo ops in that area. Mostly, it consisted of relatively modern stores, not of much interest to us. We saw a few locals, as Colleen explained. Locals don’t frequent the shops by the pier, preferring their shops and malls in other island areas.
 Many sailboats were anchored in the port area.
Goodbye, my dear friend. It was good to see you. Maybe somewhere down the road, our paths will cross again, if not in this life, perhaps in the next.
Loud reggae music was blaring from this party boat as it motored beside the ship, as the crowd whooped and hollered.
 The clouds rolled in, and it began to rain shortly after we returned to the ship later in the day.

Food?…Problematic for me…

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I stayed behind while Tom enjoyed the water slide.  We especially enjoy the quiet time outdoors by the pool and in the shade when many passengers went ashore. Many returned with sunburns from the ride on the tender or the time unprotected on the beach.  With years ahead of us in sunny climates, we are careful to avoid overexposure.

Without a doubt, we knew that my strict way of eating would be an issue to some degree as we traveled the world. In Belize, it was a non-issue, buying and cooking most of our meals. 

Aboard the Carnival Liberty, it’s a huge issue at dinner.  Breakfast is easy since I can have eggs,
non-starchy vegetables, meat without sauce or fillers, and hard cheese. Mostly I order real egg omelets as opposed to the “processed” mixture that is full of chemicals and gluten with a side of bacon. It holds me all day until dinner. 
The view of the tip of Half Moon Cay, the Bahamas, a small mostly man-made tourist attraction, owned by Holland Cruise Lines and shared with other cruise lines to enhance their revenue.

Protein eaten with few carbs tends to keep a person full, comfortable, and satisfied all day. I never feel hungry or am tempted to eat off the endless tables of sweets, burgers and fries, tacos, burritos, and wraps. Free
food. Everywhere you turn.

Our first two cruises on Celebrity, the Century, and the Equinox, dinner was a breeze. They had all the gluten and sugar-free items carefully marked on the menu. Once I made choices to be low carb, grain, and
starch-free, I was home free, able to enjoy a number of options. On the Equinox, the pastry chef made me a
special dessert, a sugar and flour free Creme Brule. 

The Carnival Liberty has no such options, no indications on the menu, few cooks with knowledge as to gluten-free. Last night they brought my usual cheese plate for dessert, the cheese atop a pile of bread. Anyone with a gluten issue cannot have bread “touch” their food since the size of a grain of salt of gluten, can trigger a response. They didn’t understand when I graciously asked them to throw the entire plate away and
start anew with just the cheese.
The tenders, preparing to take passengers to the manmade beach.

Moments later, they return with the cheese and fruit. I can’t eat fruit. It has sugar that has carbs. For 20 years, I had excruciating pain. Now, for almost 20 months since I began eating this way, I have no pain.  It’s a no brainer for me.  I’m never tempted to “cheat.”  I consider anything not included in my plan as poison. Why
would I eat poison? 

Am I specific enough with the restaurant staff?  I think so. They have noted our “folio” number that I can only eat meat, fish (any type), poultry, eggs, butter, hard cheese, and non-starchy vegetables.

The tender returning from the small island filled with sunburned passengers. Again, hanging over our balcony as we began to sail away from Half Moon Cay, we were able to get this photo of the officers on the bridge only eight doors from our new quiet cabin.
If one knew food at all, they put a plate of grilled fish, a large salad, and a large side of vegetables in front of me every night with a plate of nice hard cheeses for dessert.  I’d be content. 

But, it’s like pulling teeth, drawing way too much attention to my “condition” making me uncomfortable, treating me like an annoyance and a “freak”, as if I were some picky eater that was eating this way “for fun.”

Once we began this cruise on April 9th, they required that I placed the next night’s order each night at dinner.  What??? This lovely well-meaning young woman, Julia (pronounced Yule-e-a), approaches our table (often we’re seated with other passengers), handing me the next night’s menu, waiting while I place my order. Trying to be considerate of her time, I quickly place the order of salad, meat, and a large side of steamed vegetables along with a plain cheese plate, no fruit, now “no bread”.

Invariably, my dinner arrives with rice, potatoes, corn, peas with the meat unseasoned and overcooked.  Last night I ordered the flat iron steak, rare. My plate arrived with a pile of fried potatoes, a 3 oz. well done rubbery steak and two pieces of overcooked cauliflower. 

The Caesar salad with no croutons was a tiny plate of huge pieces of romaine lettuce, dressing on the side which I had requested since they’d previously smothered no less than 1/2 cup of dressing on those few lettuce leaves. (I can have small amounts of low carb dressings, usually blue cheese and Caesar).
We can see the bridge from our balcony.

So, last night, I asked them to remove the potatoes and bring more steamed vegetables. They
returned the plate minus the potatoes with the same tiny piece of leathery meat with the two overcooked clumps of cauliflower having added a single flower of broccoli. Oh.  I ate all of it.

Thank goodness for the cheese or I’d still be hungry after each
dinner.

A short while ago, we heard that an option for tonight’s formal night dinner is lobster tail which I can have and love. I wasn’t told this last night. It wasn’t on the menu. If I want it, we’ll have to go to the restaurant soon and order it; a plain lobster tail with butter, a side of veggies, a salad. How hard is that?

Most likely their lobster tails have a bread crumb topping. It may be too late to accommodate me. They
cover all of their meats in flour laden sauces and coatings. This way they can hide tough, overly cooked,
unseasoned cheaper cuts of meat with what may be tasty, creamy, or chunky sauces.

Today, we will be contacting Norwegian cruise lines in advance, unaware at this time if they are as skilled as Celebrity was in accommodating dietary restrictions with such ease and finesse.

The pained look on the face of the servers we’ve had when reading the “notes” on me has been more annoying than the food. They keep referring to “your food allergies.”

Through all of this, I remain calm and considerate.  I am not a difficult customer.  In each case, I’ve smiled and kindly asked for the items to be added or removed, without a negative tone in my voice.

We thought that if perhaps I had a small late lunch, I could get by with less in the evening.  As we perused all of the items in the lunch buffet, there wasn’t a single piece of fish, chicken, or meat that wasn’t swimming in sauces or flour coatings. Not one. The only items I could have had were the slices of cheese, lettuce, and a
few raw veggies. Not worth it.

After a lifetime of being a dessert fanatic, having something sweet every night after dinner, most of which I baked with fresh ingredients, I have since let this go.  No longer do I crave something “sweet” or snack at all after dinner. 

Perhaps, I need to rethink my current expectation of an enjoying meal at dinner and focus more on my enjoyable companion, my hubby, and the “table mates’ often sitting with us. Of course, there’s the big glass of ice water to savor since we can’t ever get a server to come to the table to take a drink order.

All in all, we’re content. We can sleep at night.  We have our vitamins back. The shower and sink drain properly (although this morning I had to pour water into the toilet to get it to flush). More importantly, we’re safe, we have our health, we’re staying on track on our budget, we continue to meet wonderful people, we have the world in front of us and, we have each other.

Getting into the groove…Photos!

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See the baseball bat on the outdoor movie screen from a scene in The Natural that we watched while we were sunning and funning at the pool aboard the Carnival Liberty?

Our negative experience behind us, we’re finally wafting into the cruise mode. Overall, yesterday was a good day. 

Should Tom tackle this slide while I take a photo?

Breakfast was a disappointment. As a port day, every passenger on the ship, around 4000, was trying to eat in the buffet at the same time. Lines for “real eggs” were long and tables were at a premium. After roaming for a while, we decided to skip breakfast and have lunch instead.

Tom walked with me to the reasonably well-equipped health club waiting patiently while I did my usual HIIT workout. There were two other passengers working out. Not unusual.  In Belize, I had seen a total of five or six tourists working out in the health club in the two-plus months we were there. 
The dorsal fin is indicative of a Carnival ship.

Lunch was a disappointment as well.  Literally every hot food item was swathed in flour laden sauces, not befitting my GF diet. Frustrated, I had a plate of lettuce and a few fatty slices of leg of lamb.  Its only food, I thought. Dinner would be more suitable with hostess Julia, assigned to see to my nightly special orders.

Around noon we wandered out to the pool for our usual one hour of sunning and funning to discover the movie, The Natural, playing on the giant outdoor movie screen. 

Parking ourselves in two tightly arranged chaise lounges, we were excited to watch the already in progress movie, giggling over the peculiarity of watching a movie in the sun by the pool. Oddly, neither of us had ever seen this movie. In the bright sun, the screen was surprisingly clear. At one point, I meandered to the pool to cool off still able to watch Robert Redford’s then handsome face. 

Another of the three outdoor pools.

After the movie, we decided to tour the ship to get our bearings. Racking up over 5000 steps on my pedometer,
we roamed several of the eleven levels while looking for an ideal shaded outdoor spot with comfortable seating for reading and writing. 

Unable to find such a spot as we had on our two prior cruises, we’re now situated in the upper level of the dining area. With today’s clouds, heat and humidity, we’re content to have found a quiet spot indoors.

We’ve yet to go to the live show but we have another full week ahead of us.

There’s no question that we’re spoiled after our great experiences on the two Celebrity ships, the Century and the Equinox, both exquisite and well-laid-out. The Carnival Liberty is an entirely different experience;  less elegant, a confusing layout, more party orientated, noisier, and geared toward a much younger crowd although I’d estimate 25% of the passengers are over 60.  With spring break over in most countries, there are few children aboard.

The friendly staff aboard the Carnival Liberty is equal to the quality we observed on our first cruise through the Panama Canal on January 3, 2013, on the Celebrity Century. 
Hopefully, our new camera will take better photos when others take shots of us.

At dinner each night aboard the Liberty, servers memorize the first name of each guest at the table and uses them freely, creating a comfortable sense of familiarity.  We find this special touch unique and refreshing, as did our tablemates.

Again, we dined with our new friends Mary and Don while a new delightful couple joined us, Georgie and Rob.  Again, the staff danced the Gangnam around the dining hall twice during dinner service, including our waiter
Christian, dressed in a festive costume, quite the dancer to boot. We all clapped and cheered.   

Hoping to attend the comedy show after dinner, we were unable to find a seat in the overcrowded bar. Again, disappointed, we found our way to the main bar for a nightcap. I drank a pint-sized metal bottle of Michelob Ultra, a 4.2% beer. I was sloshed!  Guess I need to drink more often.

Noisy, noisy cabin! Sounds were emanating from the ceiling and the walls all night long. The loud thumping and thumping of the nightclub below us, once again roared from 11:00 pm to 3:30 am, resulting in little sleep for either of us.

This morning at 5:30, a peculiar clicking sound awakened us as we struggled to get more sleep. I’d love to move to a different cabin but with all of our “stuff,” it’s just too much work. So this is the way it will be until April
20th, when we move to another ship, the Norwegian Epic, for our ocean crossing to Barcelona. In the realm of things, a few bad nights sleep is no big deal, right?

Soon, we’ll return to our cabin to review the two bags we’re shipping tomorrow to my sister Julie in Los Angeles, lightening our load by 100 plus pounds. Tonight at 6:00 pm, we’ll place the tagged bags outside our cabin to be picked up in the for processing in the morning through customs in Miami.

Once we’re through customs, we’ll grab a cab making our way to the bank for cash, the CVSdrugstore for toiletries, and the UPS store to pick up our awaiting Xcom Global MiFi and other supplies we ordered at Amazon.com. 

Should we encounter a grocery store along the way, we’ll stop for more Crystal Lite iced tea. We hope to get back on the ship within a few hours, providing that customs goes smoothly. The bags only contain shoes and
clothing.  We don’t anticipate any issues.
I took this photo during dinner with our new tablemates, Georgie and Rob.

Although our worldwide travels give one the impression of a carefree life, I now believe that such a life doesn’t exist. Relaxation and ease are intermittent, as we all have responsibilities in daily life, whoever we may be, wherever we may land. There’s truly is “no free lunch” even when meals are included in the cost of fares on a cruise. 

In life, in one way or another, we “pay” for everything. It’s the manner in which we pay, the amount we pay, not only in money but in time, energy, and spirit that determined the value we gain in our experiences.

So far, we’re way ahead of the game and hope to remain so going forward.

It’s all in the details…Four days and counting…

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Natural vegetation around our resort.

Oh, good grief!  Could there be more details to handle before we leave? It’s not as simple as packing our bags and hitting the road.  We knew this going in. 

It’s easy for me to remember how much work it was to handle a single two-week vacation. In 2011, Tom and I went to Hollywood, Florida for a convention. With social events many nights, the packing was challenging. It wasn’t a matter of a few pairs of jeans, shorts, tee shirts, a dress, underwear, and toiletries.

This wooden alligator hand-carved by a local craftsman.  Up close, the detail is riveting with individually hand-carved teeth

Yes, I’ll admit that I like a different outfit and its accompanying accessories every night.  That’s who I am.  People who know me well, get this, teasing me endlessly for my particular nature. However, I’ve tempered my need for a variety of adopting a “mix and match” philosophy, turning one outfit into many.  That seems to work well when traveling. 

Windy, cloudy day today.

So, as of today, my entire travel wardrobe, including shoes, bags, underwear, bathing suits, dress-up and casual wear is situated in two suitcases packed and ready to go.  I did it. I let “stuff” go. Tom has two large equally stuffed bags, packed and ready to go.

Our goal by the time we left Belize, was to have three large bags, packed with the items we’re letting go to send to my sister in Los Angeles to store until we need them. Right now, two of those three bags are packed. The third contains miscellaneous items we can’t let go: prescriptions, medical supplies, steamer, beach towels, etc. 

While sitting at the pool today, we met a lovely newlywed couple, but ran indoors when the skies opened to giant raindrops.

The reality, after days of sorting and resorting, is that we may end up with five large suitcases after we ship two, not three bags to Julie. The rest is carry-on. 

We will fly six times in the next 18 months:  Dubai to Barcelona, Rome to Kenya, Kenya to South Africa, South Africa to Morocco, Morocco to Madeira, Madeira to who knows where? We have 3 1/2 months to “kill” that we haven’t yet planned.) Most of these airlines have recently changed their checked bag policies. 

A few months ago, Emirates Airlines, which we’ll fly on May 21, 2013, from Dubai to Barcelona, allowed two checked bags of 30 kg (66 pounds each). Now it’s down to one bag. The cost for a 2nd bag is in the $100’s if not more depending on the weight. 

We discuss our options such as storage facilities in various locations along the way. We haven’t decided yet, but will soon.

Reading this, I am sure many may think, “GET RID OF MORE STUFF!”  Sounds practical. But, a reality few ever faced, this is everything we own. We have no home to go back to in order to repack. Many world travelers do.  Everything we own is with us in this villa right now.  EVERYTHING!  Oops! Our tax records and documents are stored with son in Nevada. 

The next detail that we finally solved was getting all of our six boarding passes printed. There was some glitch between my sending them via email to the front desk. After several attempts, I contacted our cruise guy, Joaquin, who happened to be on vacation. Alas, our guy came through sending us new PDF documents for all of our cruises.  Tim, at the desk, printed them all.  Now, we’re set all the way through to our cruise on June 4, 2013.

The cruise lines send documents to passengers, which include luggage tags one must print themselves, using sticky paper. Who has sticky paper? Not us. 

Calling the cruise lines using Skype, I verified in each case that we can get luggage tags from the porters when our bags at taken from us at the pier.  On our two earlier cruises this year, they were mailed to us. These cruise lines no longer mail the luggage tags: Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and Norwegian, all of which we’ll be on in the next two months. 

Of course, we have our own permanent luggage tags on each of our bags but cruise lines handle so much luggage, they want the pre-printed cabin number and name on each piece of luggage to avoid delays.  Understandable. 

This morning, Tom stated, “Gee, I wonder what passengers older than us, who don’t have printers or even computers at home, manage to print their documents.”  Good point.  As I mentioned yesterday, electronic documents attached to a person’s passport or other ID would be an ideal solution. 

Yesterday, we confirmed our private shuttle for the four-hour drive to Belize City on Tuesday (on the scary road).  I kindly asked if they could have either the windows open (we couldn’t open them) this time or turn on the AC.   It was 90 humid degrees that day, resulting in four hours of hot sweaty bouncing on the rough, winding,  treacherous road. The owner of the shuttle company promised they’d have AC working.

We’re eating all of our remaining food in the freezer. Tonight, bacon cheeseburgers (no bun), pork chops, and coleslaw, an odd combination. Tomorrow, the same and Sunday, we’ve invited our local friends for homemade low carb GF pizza and salad, our favorite staple for which we have all the ingredients.

Winding down.  I keep telling Tom that within six hours of leaving here at 8:00 am Tuesday morning we’ll be on the ship, unpacking in our cabin on the Carnival Liberty (oh, please Carnival, no incidents!). I say this to comfort myself as well as Tom.

At that point, we can relax looking forward to staying put for 11 days until we switch ships at the pier in Miami for the journey across the ocean on the Norwegian Epic, a huge five-star ship.

There is nothing more we can do today. Soon, we’ll venture out to the pool for our hour of lounging in a lawn chair, dipping in the water every 15 minutes to cool off.  We’ll miss the pool, the staff, the people, our friends, the expanse of the ocean at our door, our time on the veranda, our walks along the beach, the sounds of the birds, and the breathtaking vegetation.

Soon, we’ll have a new place to embrace. It’s all good.

New camera on its way!…

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Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX30V Digital Camera 32GB Package 3 by Sony, priced at $349.

The definitive travel camera from Sony has to be the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX30V and it might just be the whole package for you. With an incredible, 20x optical zoom Sony G lens and compact body the HX30V can cover all your photographic needs with its 25-500mm focal range. Everything from portraits to landscape is a breeze with this versatile, high-quality lens. The high-speed autofocus and Optical Active SteadyShot image stabilization make for a blur-free pleasing shot and smooth handheld Full HD 1080p video. The high resolution 18.2 megapixel back-illuminated Exmor R CMOS sensor is purpose-built for mind-blowing low light performance, making the HX30V a trooper in varying light conditions. The HX30 also includes Wi-Fi connectivity, 3D shooting, and GPS functionality, making it one smooth little package.
Movie Feature – captures Full High Definition video* with audio up to 1920 x 1080 resolution at 50p frames per second for smooth action footage. Optical zoom functions whilst filming.
* We recommend using Class 4 or higher memory cards for recording Full HD video. SDHC and SDXC memory cards are only compatible with their respective devices.

Product Description

Package Contents:

1- Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX30V Digital Camera w/ All Supplied Accessories
1- 32GB SDHC Class 10 Memory Card
1- Rapid External AC/DC Charger Kit
1- USB Memory Card Reader
1- Rechargeable Lithium-Ion Replacement Battery
1- Weather Resistant Carrying Case w/Strap
1- Pack of LCD Screen Protectors
1- Camera & Lens Cleaning Kit System
1- Mini Flexible Table Top Tripod
1- Memory Card Wallet

In our “old lives” taking photos was a constant source of frustration.  As digitally adept as I have always been setting up and running electronics devices, my mind always blanked out when trying to figure out a camera.

Never owning an SLR camera, the photos I took as my kids grew up were all Polaroid, popular in the day.  When the first digital camera hit the market years ago, I was one of their first customers.  The online software, although clunky and cumbersome was a breeze.  Getting a good shot was not.

When we planned our worldwide travels and began this blog in March 2012, I used my Droid X smartphone to take photos with the dumb idea that the phone itself would suffice in our travels. Ha! It was purely my method of denial, I’d have to learn to use a real camera.

We left the US on January 3, 2013, with no camera on hand and with only the Droid X. Each time a photo “op” presented itself, I groaned in my frustration for my lack of interest in buying a camera and learning to use it.  It nagged at me several times a day. 

Need I say that Tom’s interest in learning to use a camera was not only less than mine, but his picture taking skills lagged far behind mine, a fact hard to believe. I can’t even show you any of his photos. In most cases, they end up in the recycle bin.

On our first cruise on the Celebrity Century through the Panama Canal resulted in a “port day” in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.  Awakening early that morning, a thought pulsed through my mind as a lay there contemplating our day.  It was the day to get off the ship and buy a camera. 

Posing these thoughts to Tom, he tentatively agreed but expressed concern as to where we’d find a store to buy a camera.  The ship had docked early in the morning.  Jumping out of bed we looked out the window. Alas, there was a Wal-Mart in plain sight, across and down the street from the pier!

We’d never shopped at a Wal-Mart store in Minnesota. With the closest location a half-hour drive, it didn’t seem worth the gas to drive there.  Thus, we stayed away. Once or twice in the past many years, I had stopped in for cleaning supplies or the like when I was in the area. That was the extent of our Walmart experience. 

The story of the walk to the Wal-Mart store in Puerto Vallarta and the subsequent purchase of the camera in a store where no English was spoken, is available in our ARCHIVES listed on the right side of our homepage for January 7, 2013. 

The photos we’ve posted since January 7, 2013, have been with the new camera an inexpensive Samsung valued around $100 in the US for which we paid slightly more in Mexico.  Up to this point it has served us well.  It’s lightweight, takes reasonably good photos but has limitations, the major being poor night photos and another is the necessity of plugging the camera into my laptop. 

In addition, Samsung has no memory card to slip into the laptop, an oddity in this day and age.  We knew this when we purchased it in Mexico.   At that point we were desperate.  If we didn’t purchase a camera that day, we might lose the desire to purchase one at all.  This fleeting thought had a grip on me while Tom joined in on the fanfare.

On Thursday night while the moon rose high in the sky in its glory, we anguished over our inability to get a good shot, continually running back inside to plug in the camera to review the photo.  We couldn’t, no matter the setting, get a decent shot.  The decision was made.  We need to purchase a higher quality camera.

I have been in love with Bluetooth technology, wanted a camera that was highly rated, affordable, easy to use and was WiFi-enabled. This would allow us to take a photo, immediately sending it to this blog, to Facebook or other social media or to either of our computers, without cords or cards, along with the ability to send it by email to anyone as long as we have an Internet connection.

Now one might ask…how does one have access to the Internet when we’re walking the winding roads of Tuscany with no Internet connection or, while on safari in Kenya?  Ah, we’ve got that covered. With our XCOM Global MiFi device in our pocket, we’ll be online at most times (based on the connectivity of a general area).

Taking a photo, we’ll immediately be able to send it via email anywhere we choose.  Wow!  I love technology. A WiFi-enabled camera is a fairly new technology, although there have been many attempts by a variety of manufactures to fulfill this consumer desired feature.   

There’s no doubt that we may be making this purchase a year or so too early, as advancement in this feature will grow exponentially.  Willing to take the risk along with a commitment to fully learn the new camera’s nuances, we’re anxious to get started.

On Thursday, after hours of research, we made the purchase at Amazon for the WiFi-enabled camera.  How will we receive it?  We’ve got that covered.

When our mailing service in Nevada receives the camera (shipping was free from Amazon) in the next week, the mailing service will include it in the large box of supplies we’ll receive to be held at the UPS store in Miami Beach for our pickup on April 13, 2013, when our ship is in port for the day. 

If for any reason, it doesn’t arrive by the time the large box goes out from Las Vegas, Nevada to Miami Beach, Miami, we’ll be back in Miami Beach for yet another port day on April 20, 2013, when we prepare to leave on our journey across the ocean to Barcelona, Spain.

The idiom, “the devil is in the details” prevails in our lives.  We had no delusions that traveling the world would consist of lounging on a veranda, reading a book, looking up only to dreamily stare at the sea or to say hello to a passerby. 

Moving every two to three months and the journey to get there is daunting as well as learning a new location and its cultures, maintaining our financial health, paying bills (insurance and paying off credit cards every few weeks to keep them clear for future use to avoid paying exchange fees), keeping tax records, continually updating our budget by entering every dollar spent, printing tickets/boarding passes, registering for upcoming cruises, checking airfare, booking air travel and…the most dreaded task…packing and unpacking.

Life traveling the world is glorious but as we all know, there’s no “free lunch.” There’s always a price we must pay whether its in time, monetarily, emotionally, or physically.  We’ve chosen to “pay the price” with our time and our attention to detail, with a passionate desire to get the hard parts accomplished as painlessly, efficiently, and quickly as possible. 

With only eight days remaining until we get back on the scary Hummingbird Highway for the four-hour drive back to Belize City to board our ship, the Carnival Liberty (yikes, Carnival! Hope the toilets don’t overflow), today is the day we begin to pack.

The three large bags that we’ll send to my dear sister in Los Angeles, must be packed and ready to ship on April 13th. Today, we’ll begin to make the final decisions on clothes, shoes, and miscellaneous for which we’re willing to “say goodbye.”  

Photos (on the old camera) will follow as we weave through this process. Check back if you can.

We hope you had a memorable Easter. The recipe for the Zucchini casserole is not worth sharing after all. 

Scanning and new method of shredding…Yikes, tax time!

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Receipts as they went through the Doxie portable scanner.

Our taxes have been done for a few weeks.  Per our accountant’s recommendation, we are to keep all of our receipts that may prove to be tax-deductible. 

Now that we’ve added advertisers to our site, been asked to write articles for various publications and web sites, and do a podcast (we’ll share these once published), there are some opportunities for a few write-offs. 

Of course, we can’t write off any of our vacation rentals, personal meals, cruises, and basic living expenses.  But, we can, from time to time, write off expenses relative to a specific situation.

Many have asked, “Will you have to pay taxes in the US if you live outside the US on a more permanent basis?” such as we are doing, as do many US ex-pats. The answer is an absolute “yes.” One would have to forfeit their citizenship and its resulting social security benefits for any other answer. That for us will never happen.

Receipt soaking in hot water in the kitchen sink.

With our taxes sent in by our trusty accountant Steve Thomas, via “e-file” we were left with a humongous pile of receipts we most certainly don’t want to carry with us around the world. 

We have our portable Doxie scanner with us.  A few weeks ago, we purchased a clear plastic sheet at the tiny office supply store in the village, in which to place multiple receipts, subsequently to scan, one sheet at a time.   

Yesterday, as Tom unrolled and unfolded the slips of paper, many affected by the humidity, I got to work on the scanning.  Less than an hour later, we were done.  But, on the floor lie a pile of receipts, enough to fill an entire trash can.

A while back, without a portable shredder (all were too heavy to pack), we were in a quandary as to a suitable method to dispose of these receipts. We’d decided on a plan which has served us well. Keep in mind, none of the credit card receipts had our full account numbers displayed.  In most cases, only the last four digits were visible, if at all.

Grape sized “little balls of” torn receipts.

Years ago, the full account number had been displayed.  Now with rampant identity theft and the last four digits alone on the receipt, it’s a daunting task for thieves to decipher the full number. They have easier methods in which to acquire our account numbers which I won’t mention here.

Placing the receipts into a large plastic bag, I decided to implement our method of destroying the slips without a shredder, without tearing or cutting them into tiny pieces or distributing parts of them in various trash cans. 

Dumping the entire bag of receipts into a pre-filled sink of hot water, we left them to soak for several hours. At this point, we reached into the sink and starting tearing the receipts into small pieces, quite easy to do requiring only a few minutes. During the soaking time, much of the print dissipated as the paper became the consistency of wet toilet paper.

Once the receipts were in this changed state, we reached into the sink extracting small enough portions to make ‘little balls” the size of a small grape.

Placing all these “little balls” on the back of the toilet, we drop one ball into the toilet each time we flush throughout the remainder of the day.  One ball at a time.

Yes, I know there are people that will say this shouldn’t be done for various reasons.  If you aren’t comfortable with the idea of flushing them and you don’t have access to a scanner, one can place the “balls” into the garbage, first pouring tomato juice over them.  The acid in the juice will further destroy the paper.

But then again, we all throw toilet paper with colors and dyes on it into the toilet bowl each day.  The printing on the receipts is often thermal printing, most of which dissipates during the soaking.  If we didn’t destroy these “little balls” this way, they’d end of in a landfill.  There’s no perfect disposal process as yet.  Perhaps, in time, there will be.

With one more task completed, we prepare ourselves for the tasks to be completed in the remaining days 10 days in Placencia Belize.

As for the moment, we are situated on our comfy lounge chairs on the veranda.  There isn’t a hint of a breeze and the surf is quiet and almost still. I’m sipping on a m hiug of my favorite tea, Pouchong. 

Soon, our diligent and hard-working guest services staff will arrive to clean, change the linen and restock our household supplies.  Our favorite is Gloria whom we’ve come to adore.  Her commitment and joy to serve our needs is humbling. Yesterday, we hugged in a heartfelt embrace. I will miss her warmth and kindness, so much the way of the local Mayan people. 

Gently, kindly and respectfully, she gracefully handles all of the guest complaints of which there are many.  We see and hear it every day as the constant turnover of travelers brings new complaints to handle.  She never falters in her strength and courage. We chose not to complain. It’s not in our budget.

Today, we’ll prep for our upcoming Easter dinner for four. Soon we’ll walk along the beach, taking special care to spot stingrays who often flutter about the shallow waters along the surf.  Tonight, we’ll meet up with new friends Lori and Larry for our last buffer dinner at Robert’s Grove Resort.

May I say it again… we are grateful. For the people we meet, for the friends we make along the way, for the ongoing opportunity somehow bestowed upon us, no more deserving than the next person. 

Have a happy Easter, happy Passover, happy holiday, whatever you may celebrate, wherever you may be.